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Good morning. Back in Waverly, OH, covering #GeorgeWagnerIV’s murder trial. Day 41 has started - w/ a defense witness who’s an expert in blood stain pattern analysis. (Prosecution still has not rested).. #PikeCountyMassacre #WLWT 
Testifying right now is Jonathyn Priest. He's a defense witness, testifying on behalf of #GeorgeWagner. Prosecutor Andy Wilson just asked Mr. Priest if he has a degree. Mr. Priest: "No." Interesting..
Judge Randy Deering just told jurors the court recognizes Mr. Priest as a crime scene analysis and blood stain pattern analysis. Testimony continues.. Watch live on #WLWT's FB page.. facebook.com/wlwt5/videos/5…
AFTERNOON BREAK IN OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV: I think all of the questioning today was to make Jake Wagner comfortable taking questions from John Patrick Parker. @LawCrimeNetwork
After lunch, Parker asked Jake about all of the people he has lied to: The Rhodens- I did. The Manleys - I did. BCI- I did. You lied to Beth Anne - I did. @LawCrimeNetwork
Parker then asks: "you sir, are a cold-blooded killer?"
Jake smiles: "I am."
Parker: You're a liar.
Jake: I was. @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake smiles: "I am."
Parker: You're a liar.
Jake: I was. @LawCrimeNetwork
LUNCH BREAK IN OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV: John Patrick Parker began the cross-examination by being more friendly than Wednesday. Jake seems very comfortable answering Q's from Parker. He has a sort of country boy charm. Hard to explain @LawCrimeNetwork
Parker said, "if you need a break, let me know." Jake responds smiling, "I gotcha." He starts by asking Jake about Billy teaching him to pick locks. Jake went into great detail about how Billy taught him how to do that at 10 or 11 @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake said Billy taught him, also learned by trial and error and Youtube. Jake said "I was very good." He also said he carried a pick in his wallet. Also, Billy taught him survival skills. How to evade police, enter a house @LawCrimeNetwork
A few reflections from today’s testimony in #GeorgeWagnerIV’s murder trial.. Wagner’s brother Jake was on the witness stand for a third day. Prosecutor Angela Canepa asked Jake more questions about his ex-wife, Elizabeth Armer (Freeman). 1/2
2/2 I gather the questions were asked to show jurors that Jake had a history of plotting and strategizing. At one pt., Jake said he & Elizabeth were planning a “fake divorce.” But Jake remained suspicious of Elizabeth so he planned to turn the “fake divorce” into a real one.
Jake testified that George was present when members of the Wagner family discussed custody documents that were falsified in a way designed to gain control of the daughter Jake had w/ murder victim Hanna Rhoden. #PikeCountyMassacre
As on Tuesday afternoon, Jake Wagner spent much of today reviewing earlier witness testimony in the #PikeCountyMassacre of his brother #GeorgeWagnerIV. But there were a few surprises of note. (Photo: @Brooke_LaValley @DispatchAlerts) 1/13
Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa reminded the jury that Jake Wagner cut a deal with the state to escape the death penalty in exchange for agreeing to testify. She read each of the charges against him and each name of his victims. He confirmed all. 2/13
Canepa also reminded the jury that Jake Wagner will serve eight consecutive life sentences for shooting five of the eight Rhodens to death in April 2016. She asked Wagner if he remembered that Judge Randy Deering earlier told him he would die in prison. "Yes," he said. 3/13
Lots of drama in the #PikeCountyMassacre trial of #GeorgeWagnerIV this morning as his brother Jake took the stand for the third consecutive day. After two days of responding to questions with spare, limited answers, Jake Wagner admitted regrets for the killings.
1/9
1/9
On Monday, Jake Wagner told jurors he killed five of the eight Rhoden victims, shooting them in the head, sometimes multiple times. Today, he said he never talked to his mother or brother about the homicides. But he did talk to his father. "It was very brief,." he said. 2/9
"He was frustrated with me because of what he had, per se, been made to do because of me, and asked if I regretted doing the homicides," Jake Wagner said. 3/9
LUNCH BREAK IN OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV. This morning, Angie Canepa clarified that Sophia reportedly made allegations of sexual abuse by Jake Wagner's now ex-wife, Elizabeth, and Sophia later said she made it up because @LawCrimeNetwork
she felt like Jake was giving Elizabeth/Beth Anne more attention than she was getting. Jake confirms his brother told him Elizabeth shouldn't be living in the same house and suggested she needed to go @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake said "We agreed she would move in with her friend in Nashville, she would get grants for college, go to med school and they would work on their relationship during the week b/c Jake's truck driving job took him through Nashville @LawCrimeNetwork
2/2 Jurors just went to lunch. Toward the end of the morning session, Jake said it was his maternal grandmother's decision to confess to her role in forged custody documents that prompted Jake to do the same. #WLWT
After Rita Necomb (Angela Wagner's mom & Jake's grandmother) came forward, Jake Wagner said, "To me, it felt like it was the answer I was looking for at the time.. an answer from God." #WLWT #PikeCountyMassacre
Jake shared the regret he felt about the #PikeCountyMassacre during a brief convo w/ his dad, co-defendant Billy Wagner. Jake said he told Billy he "did not" feel regret, which Jake said today was not true. He said he told his dad this b/c he worried about Billy being suicidal.
Jake Wagner spent much of the afternoon reviewing ground covered by other witnesses so far in the #PikeCountyMassacre trial of his brother #GeorgeWagnerIV. Under questioning from Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa, he offered a few new details about his family and the case. 1/11
New: The Wagner family had settled on an alibi as investigators were growing more interested in their involvement, Jake Wagner said. They were going to say they were all home together, watching a movie. He could not remember the movie's title. 2/11
New: Jake and George Wagner both worked as mechanics from mid-2017 to mid-2018, the year the family spent in Alaska. They first worked at Buddy's Garage, then Kenai Marine & Diesel. After that, Jake Wagner worked for L&R Construction Services. 3/11
Court in recess until tomorrow morning in OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV. Hearing set for 8:30 a.m. EST on the media order an Jake Wagner and other witnesses objecting to being broadcast @LawCrimeNetwork
Angie Canepa questioned Jake about GW4's relationship with Tabitha Claytor, when they were married, when she left and the circumstances ie - Angela saying "I'm going to go get my gun." @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake said the night Tabitha left, she was "in a state". Doesn't mean to be offensive but when women get in an emotional state they start slapping with both hands. @LawCrimeNetwork
As Jake Wagner continues his testimony in the #PikeCountyMassacre of his brother, #GeorgeWagnerIV today, he's offering facts in opposition to what Wagner IV's lawyers put in front of the jury in their opening statement in the trial. 1/7
Jake Wagner testified that Wagner IV joined him & their dad, George "Billy" Wagner III, on the night of the murders. In his opening for the defense, attorney Richard M. Nash Jr. said Wagner IV was at home that night and learned the Rhoden family had been killed the next day. 2/7
Jake Wagner testified that he spoke w/a friend about the killings the next day while alone in the family's yard. In his opening, Nash said Jake took that call while in the car with Wagner IV and "put on an act worthy of an Academy Award" pretending he'd just learned the news. 3/7
MORNING BREAK IN OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV. Angie Canepa took Jake Wagner back to 4:30-is A.M. on April 22, 2016. Jake says they pulled the truck into the new barn and took off all of their clothes, floor mats, ski masks, shoes, etc. @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake said he went in the house in his boxers and got "redressed." Put clothes, shoes, victims' cell phones into an old food trough to burn. Used a grinder to cut up the 3 guns and then partially destroyed with a torch. @LawCrimeNetwork
Put gun parts in a duffle bag and buried in a post hole in the new barn. The stalls weren't yet built at that point. Before Billy Wagner left with the truck, Jake said he and "my brother" lifted the false bed out of the truck and disassembled it. @LawCrimeNetwork
Stay w/ #WLWT for complete coverage of #GeorgeWagner's murder trial in connex. to the 2016 #PikeCountyMassacre. I'm heading into the courtroom to notate what Jake Wagner has to say during his second day of testimony. Jake has opted out of being filmed.... I'll update when I can.
Jurors in #GeorgeWagner's murder trial are on their first break of the day. Jake Wagner will resume testifying shortly. So far, he's given more testimony linking his brother George to the 2016 #PikeCountyMassacre. #WLWT
Jake said that on the morning after he helped kill 8 members of the Rhoden family, his (Jake's) demeanor was: "shockful, mournful-ish".. (Jake's words in court, under oath). #WLWT
Court just ended for the afternoon in OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV. Since lunch, Jake Wagner talked about his family buying a signal jammer to jam cell and radio signals. "I think it was dad's idea." Prevents people from calling 911 @LawCrimeNetwork
There wasn't a silencer for Billy's 40 Glock, Jake says. Tested it at Peterson Rd. to see how loud it would be. He says his mom, Angela, signed Hanna May's name to the guardianship documents. He said he and GW4 signed their names (cont) @LawCrimeNetwork
in case they died carrying out the homicides. That way, if they died, their mom would get custody of their children, Sophia an Bulvine. They modified the bed of the GMC truck that Jake bought to make a false bed @LawCrimeNetwork
Here's the action in #PikeCountyMassacre trial of #GeorgeWagnerIV through noon. At this hour, the prosecution is continuing to walk the defendant's brother through the April 2016 night the Rhoden family was killed in Pike County. 1/4
Edward "Jake" Wagner said he fired, with his eyes closed, at victim Christopher Rhoden Sr. He later went inside Rhoden Sr.'s trailer home and found the bodies of Rhoden Sr. and cousin Gary Rhoden on the bedroom floor. He took a cover from Rhoden Sr.'s bed and covered the two. 2/4
George Wagner IV, positioned under a truck outside the home, did not fire. "I told him to shoot but he didn't," Jake Wagner said. "I took his SKS (gun) from him." Their father returned to the truck and asked what happened. Jake told his father: "He (George) wouldn't shoot." 3/4
Lunch break in OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV as Jake Wagner, who opted OUT, testifies against his brother. Jake is wearing a tan jail shirt marked INMATE on the back and blue plans. Shacked at wrists and ankles. @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake sits at the stand. Looks at his brother, GW4. I am sitting behind George so I can't tell whether George looked back or not. But, Jake has looked him several times. Sometimes George's head is down @LawCrimeNetwork
Angie Canepa asks him how long he's been incarcerated. He says nearly 4 years. He describes how the family intentionally burned down buildings at the Bethel Hill Rd. property where they'd lived for 20 years. @LawCrimeNetwork
Jake Wagner, 29, testified this morning that it was his father's idea around January 2016 to "do something" about Hanna Rhoden. And he said he was initially against it 1/8
He said he was growing increasingly worried that the daughter he and Rhoden shared may become a victim of child or sexual abuse. "I had a fear for my own daughter." 2/8
"At first I blowed up and said that was my daughter's mother,'' said Wagner, who is the younger brother of #GeorgeWagnerIV who is on trial in the eight shooting deaths of member of the Rhoden family. 3/8
#GeorgeWagnerIV trial concludes it seventh week (6th week of testimony) with stunning testimony from Jake's Wagner's former wife, Elizabeth Armer, 29, who appeared calm and collected during cross examination. 1/5
Armer said her father was in the military and that is why her family moved often when she was a child. She testified she lived in an Amish-Mennonite community for seven years before she moved to Alaska, where she ultimately met Jake at church. 2/5
She recounted Wagner family meetings of which she overhead conversations of which she was not a part. She said Jake was "not very interested in learning in general," he didn't read books, was not a good writer and didn't have a good understanding of Christianity. 3/5
WATCH HERE: Chris Newcomb, Angela Wagner's younger half-brother, is on the stand in OH v. #GeorgeWagnerIV @LawCrimeNetwork
Newcomb is asked to describe the Wagner family dynamics. He said they were close.
When asked, Chris Newcomb said his sister was controlling. He said "when she said jumped, they jumped." Billy and Angela's relationship was "Dysfunctional." Billy was "as useless as tits on a boar. I'm sorry, am I allowed to say that?" @LawCrimeNetwork
GUNS AND BULLETS - Jury in #GeorgeWagnerIV getting a ballistics/firearms lesson. Guns/bullets are similar to those used in the killings.
Colt 1911 semi-automatc handgun, .22 caliber.
(Per Jake, he had this gun. .22 caliber killed Dana, Hanna May, Chris Jr., Frankie, Hazel) 1/4
Colt 1911 semi-automatc handgun, .22 caliber.
(Per Jake, he had this gun. .22 caliber killed Dana, Hanna May, Chris Jr., Frankie, Hazel) 1/4
GUNS AND BULLETS - Jury in #GeorgeWagnerIV getting a ballistics/firearms lesson. Firearms/bullets are similar to those used in the killings.
Glock .40 caliber. (per Jake, Billy (father) had this gun. .40 used to kill Chris Sr., Gary and Kenneth. 2/4
Glock .40 caliber. (per Jake, Billy (father) had this gun. .40 used to kill Chris Sr., Gary and Kenneth. 2/4
GUNS AND BULLETS - Firearms/bullets are similar to those used in the killings.
SKS rifle .30 caliber. (Per Jake, George IV was supposed to use this to shoot Chris Sr. from a distance but he didn't so Jake took it, shot Chris Sr through door hitting arm) 3/4
SKS rifle .30 caliber. (Per Jake, George IV was supposed to use this to shoot Chris Sr. from a distance but he didn't so Jake took it, shot Chris Sr through door hitting arm) 3/4
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Today we expect to move to Scene 3 - Dana Rhoden's home.
Bryan White, a former BCI agent who processed it, will be on stand first.
Get caught up from Wednesday via @WCPO @FeliciaDawn906: wcpo.com/news/pike-coun…
Bryan White, a former BCI agent who processed it, will be on stand first.
Get caught up from Wednesday via @WCPO @FeliciaDawn906: wcpo.com/news/pike-coun…
@WCPO PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Court has returned to session - to discuss the motion for mistrial. it was just oral yesterday - and denied.
Now it is written and being argued.
WATCH LIVE: wcpo.com/live#vidJump
Now it is written and being argued.
WATCH LIVE: wcpo.com/live#vidJump
@WCPO PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Defense attorney John Parker argues the case against #GeorgeWagnerIV is about complicity - never a question of the manner or cause of death.
He says repeated showing of gruesome crime scene + autopsy photos is prejudicial.
He says repeated showing of gruesome crime scene + autopsy photos is prejudicial.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: #GeorgeWagnerIV's trial for the 2016 killings of 8 members of the Rhoden and Gilley families is underway.
Judge Randy Deering is reading some jury instructions - opening statements will follow.
WATCH LIVE via @WCPO @CourtTV: wcpo.com/live#vidJump
Judge Randy Deering is reading some jury instructions - opening statements will follow.
WATCH LIVE via @WCPO @CourtTV: wcpo.com/live#vidJump
@WCPO PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: This will be a live tweet thread of major points made during opening statements today.
Witnesses will be separated - they cannot come in until they are called to testify. #GeorgeWagnerIV is in court in plain clothes.
Witnesses will be separated - they cannot come in until they are called to testify. #GeorgeWagnerIV is in court in plain clothes.
@WCPO PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: The jury instructions continue - including the standard warnings against discussing the case, reading about it, etc.
The jury is made up of 9 women and 3 men, plus 6 alternates (more than usual because this is expected to last 6-8 weeks).
The jury is made up of 9 women and 3 men, plus 6 alternates (more than usual because this is expected to last 6-8 weeks).
