As with each of the prior arraignments, surviving members of the Rhoden, Gilley, and Manley families sat several rows deep for the hearing, many still wearing T-shirts commemorating loved ones killed on April 22, 2016, including the mother of Wagner III’s granddaughter.
RELATED: Pike County Murders: Body cam shows George ‘Billy’ Wagner’s arrest
Wagner III’s ankles were also bound so that, when he occasionally stood or moved his feet, the silver chains restraining him rapped the plastic chair mat beneath him. His hair was buzzed far shorter than it had been Nov. 13 when, according to body camera video first obtained this week by the Dayton Daily News, police in Lexington, Kentucky arrested him at gunpoint.
Throughout the arraignment, Ryan Scheiderer, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation special agent and one of three targets in a revenge plot allegedly discussed by the Wagners if any were individually arrested, occasionally stared at Wagner III.
At the defendant’s table were Wagner III’s Columbus-based attorney, Mark Collins, and an entourage of fellow attorneys and private investigators, including Jim Longerbone, a former Columbus police detective.
Collins declined comment pending the finalization of a gag order, but said uncharged Wagner relatives might be made available for comment in the future.
RELATED: Father charged in Pike County murders had past brushes with the law
Last week, Wagner III’s wife, 48-year-old Angela Wagner, and their two sons, Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26, and George Wagner IV, 27, each pleaded not guilty to the same 22 counts, including eight counts of aggravated murder which carry the possibility of the death penalty upon conviction.
Jake Wagner also pleaded not guilty to allegations of unlawful sexual conduct with Hanna Rhoden, one of the murder victims with whom he fathered a child.
RELATED: Pike County investigation: 8 deaths and multiple arrests were tied to one key factor - child custody
Also charged in connection to the case are Billy Wagner’s mother, Fredericka Wagner, 76, and Angela Wagner’s mother, Rita Jo Newcomb, 65. Both pleaded not guilty to accusations they lied to a grand jury and helped cover up the killings. Newcomb additionally pleaded not guilty to forgery charges.
About the Author