Nearly a decade after eight people were shot to death in rural Pike County, the trial of the final suspect in the crime could finally be moving forward.
George “Billy” Wagner III, one of four Wagners charged with the April 2016 killings, is due in court Feb. 9 for a hearing on his case.
It will be the first time in a year that he’s appeared in Pike County Common Pleas Court in Waverly, Ohio.
What’s happening in court Feb. 9?
On the table are pending motions in his case and two key decisions: where the trial will be conducted and when it will start.
Jonathan Hein, the judge for the case, is likely to address motions on Feb. 9. It’s not known whether he will reveal the coming trial’s venue or start date.
Billy Wagner decided ‘what needed to be done,’ wife said
Wagner, 54, is facing eight counts of aggravated homicide and 14 related offenses in one of Ohio’s most notorious murder cases. He orchestrated the plan to kill seven members of Pike County’s Rhoden family and one future member, multiple witnesses said in 2022 when his son, George Wagner IV, was tried and convicted of the same charges.
Wagner came to believe that a granddaughter was being molested when in the care of the Rhoden family. The child’s father was Billy Wagner’s other son, Jake; and her mother was Hanna Rhoden.
Billy Wagner determined “what needed to be done,” his wife, Angela Wagner, said in the 2022 trial. “The plan was they would have to be murdered.”
Wagner, his sons and wife were arrested and charged with the Rhoden killings in November 2018. He was jailed in Butler County from then until September 2024, when he was moved to Pickaway County Jail in Circleville. That move was in anticipation of his trial, originally set to start Jan. 6, 2025, but delayed by various filings in the case.
Venue ‘remains undecided,’ judge says
Billy Wagner’s case is active again because of two decisions of Ohio’s 4th District Court of Appeals. One affirmed Judge Hein’s decision to move Wagner’s trial out of Pike County. The other, last month, put the death penalty back on the table as a punishment if Wagner is found guilty at trial.
In an email, Hein told The Enquirer he’ll take up unresolved motions on Feb. 9, the first hearing in the case since last April.
“My primary goal will be getting this case back on schedule and setting a plan to resolve innumerable pretrial motions which remain open,” he said.
On the question of where the trial will be held, he said: “The venue decision remains undecided.”
Wagner considering options on death penalty ruling
As to the trial, that could be delayed again if Wagner objects to the appeals court ruling on the death penalty.
He is discussing that with his lawyers, attorney Mark Collins said via email.
“We are meeting with the client to discuss the options and we will know the game plan by (the) status conference,” Collins said.
Wagner not interested in plea at last hearing
In his last trip to the Pike County courthouse, Wagner faced Hein on Jan. 24, 2025, for an hour-long hearing. The judge learned then that Wagner was not interested in a plea deal in the case. He also learned Wagner could not hear proceedings well and OK’d use of hearing aids going forward.
Earlier that day, Hein imposed sentences for Jake Wagner and Angela Wagner, with emotions high in a courtroom packed with Rhoden family members. Jake Wagner earlier admitted to killing five of the eight victims and Angela Wagner admitted to helping cover up the crimes.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Venue still in play as Wagner returns to Pike County courthouse
Reporting by Patricia Gallagher Newberry, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
