Mother and son given lengthy prison terms for their roles in the killings of 8 Ohio family members

[January 04, 2025]  By JULIE CARR SMYTH

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two more family members convicted in the killings of eight members of an Ohio family received lengthy prison terms on Friday for their roles in the 2016 shootings, as prosecutions near completion in what has been described as the most heinous crime in modern Ohio history.

Visiting Judge Jonathan Hein sentenced Edward “Jake” Wagner to life in prison with the chance of parole in 32 years — after 12 years on gun charges and then 20 for the murders of five of the eight victims.

It was a surprising turn, given that Wagner had pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and agreed earlier to serve eight consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole. However, Hein said he took into account other participants' sentences in the case, as well as Wagner's cooperation with authorities in solving the murders of seven adults and a teenager from the Rhoden family in southern Ohio’s Pike County.

Hein sentenced Wagner's mother, Angela Wagner, to 30 years including credit for six years served. She had pleaded guilty to her role in helping plan the slayings.

Angela's mother, Rita Holcomb, was also sentenced, receiving five years of probation, a $750 fine and a suspended 180-day jail sentence, seven days of which she's already served, for lying to investigators.

“Each generation has its own people who can prove the depths of depravity of human nature, and that’s what this case did,” the judge said before handing down the sentences in a Waverly courtroom, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) south of Columbus. “It showed the boundless depravity of people who have no respect for others, only their own self-interest in mind.”

During the emotional hearing, Andrea Shoemaker, the mother of shooting victim Hannah Gilley, scorned Jake Wagner as the “spawn of Satan” and his mother as “evil.” A group of the victims' supporters later walked out of the packed courtroom in protest as Wagner went on at length about Christian forgiveness during his final statement to the judge.

Wagner told the courtroom that two or three weeks after the murders, he prayed the most sincere prayer of his life.

“I asked God, I said, ‘Put me and my family back on the straight and narrow path, by any means necessary," he said. "I can tell you today I am not sorry that I got caught. I am sorry for what I've done, but I'm glad I got caught. I 100% believe that it was Jesus who made me get caught to answer my prayer.”

These undated file images released by the Ohio Attorney General's office, show, top row from left, George "Billy" Wagner III and Angela Wagner, and bottom row from left, George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner. (Ohio Attorney General's office via AP, File)

George Wagner IV, who is Angela’s son and Jake’s brother, was sentenced in June to eight consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The judge said he wanted to distinguish Jake's sentence from his brother's, since Jake had cooperated with authorities while George chose to go to trial. Hein said he also took into account that Angela was facing a maximum sentence of 30 years, even though she had the power to put an end to the vicious murder plot with a single phone call and chose not to.

According to prosecutors, George Wagner, his brother and their parents plotted the killings amid a dispute over custody of Wagner’s niece, whose mother was among those slain.

The April 2016 shootings at three mobile homes and a camper near Piketon terrified residents in that part of rural Ohio and initially prompted speculation about drug cartel involvement. The resulting multimillion-dollar investigation and prosecution is among the state’s most extensive.

The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr. and his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr.; 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, who was Clarence Rhoden’s fiancee; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

The patriarch of the Wagner family, George “Billy” Wagner III, is the last of four family members facing charges in the case. Hein recently agreed to move his trial out of Pike County, a small rural community intimately familiar with the case.

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