Original subtitles

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- Can you imagine you've got eight deceased individuals,

But you don't have anything pointing

To one single perpetrator?

- We thought that the wagners might have had

Some involvement in the killings.

- Jake wanted full custody of his daughter.

The facebook screenshots really were so important.

- Hanna rhoden had been messaging people

About custody issues with jake.

- "I will not sign custody papers ever.

They'll have to kill me first."

- Who's gonna kill a family over custody?

That's crazy.

I don't think the motive makes sense.

- They were starting to feel the heat.

They officially moved to kenai, alaska,

But the wagners could not survive financially in alaska.

Their only choice was to move back home.

- Jake wagner admitted that he plotted the murders

Of eight members of one family.

- And then angela confessed.

- But she also had to testify truthfully

Against her older son, george.

This was a turning point in his trial.

- Mother testifying against son,

Brother testifying against brother.

The prosecution has said george knew about this,

But they don't have the evidence to prove it.

- There were a lot of questions about

Just how involved george really was.

- Who was the mastermind behind this whole plan?

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

[dog barking]

- I do got a few things that jake wrote me.

He wrote me this letter.

- Oh, yeah, he sent it to me from jail.

It says, uh, "I love you and miss you guys.

"hope everyone is doing okay.

"I really don't have much to do being in a single cell,

"locked in 23 hours a day.

"god spoke to me. I actually heard his voice.

"god is going to use all this and us

To bring his name to glory."

From what I just read, he talks a lot about god,

But I don't believe he's listening to him.

I don't think he feels bad about what he's done,

Not--not bad enough.

I blocked jake's number. I don't receive his calls.

But uh, I still talk to george every now and then.

I cannot picture, in my mind, him killing anybody.

Why would george kill anybody?

- The most anticipated murder trial in ohio history,

The case against george wagner iv.

He is one of four people accused of killing

Eight members of the rhoden family.

- We had heard that every wagner had a role,

And so everybody wanted to really know, well,

What was george's role?

- The state did not have to prove that

George wagner pulled the trigger.

All they had to prove was that he was complicit in it--

The planning, the execution, the cover-up.

- All rise.

- You may all be seated.

- George was adamant that he had nothing to do with it,

That he didn't know his family had committed these offenses.

- The whole theory of the defense

Was that here was the rest of the wagners,

And here was george by himself.

But we believed that the wagners

Just don't make any moves without the other.

- Is the state ready to call its next witness?

- Yes, your honor.

The state would call ms. Tabitha claytor to the stand.

♪ ♪

We wanted tabitha to testify,

Because she would capture the dynamics of the family.

Ms. Claytor, can you tell us how old you are?

- I am 29.

- And can you tell us who you were married to previously?

- George wagner.

- My sister, tabitha claytor--

She goes by tabby--

Married george wagner in the summer of 2012.

They had a simple wedding.

It was camouflage themed.

Tabby and george just seemed happy,

Like a simple, happy couple.

There was a lot of love.

After the wedding, tabby and george

Lived with angie and billy.

And then shortly after, my sister had my nephew.

In this picture, there is my sister tabby,

There's george,

There's chris jr. And chris sr.,

Frankie rhoden, jake,

Billy, and then there's hanna.

And there is angela up front and center in a white dress.

We kind of looked at her funny,

Because it's a superstition around here

That if you wear white to somebody's wedding,

Then you don't wish it to be a happy, long marriage.

It kind of makes me feel sad.

In that very picture, half of the people are dead.

♪ ♪

- Tabitha testified about the control

That angela exerted over and over again.

At the wagners, would you stay in george's bedroom?

- As long as I was allowed to, yes.

Towards the end of the night, she would usually

Have me leave so she could sit there and scratch his back

And talk about the day.

- So angela would come into the room

That you shared with your husband?

- Yes.

- How frequent of an occurrence was that?

- Every night.

- Angela wagner, she rules the roost.

She wanted everybody under her thumb.

During the time that you lived with the wagners,

You were not allowed to visit your family,

And your family was not permitted

To visit you, correct?

- Yes.

- And who determined that?

Who made those determinations?

- It was angela's house, so it was her rules.

- Okay.

And did george go along with those choices?

- Yes.

- Angie, george's mother, wouldn't let her have a phone,

Wouldn't let her get on the internet.

- Angela had a life insurance policy out on her.

They had all of tabitha's social security cards

And other documents.

What were the rules that angela had

For the types of sexual relations

You could engage in with your husband?

- Uh, you wasn't allowed to give blowjobs

'cause you'd go to hell,

And you had to only have sex to have children.

- And is that something that she said to you?

- She said it to me and george both.

- Okay.

- It's almost as if angela only wanted these women around

To possibly, you know, be breeders,

To have children that she could parent.

And it seemed like they preyed upon young women

Who weren't perceived to be as strong,

That they were more malleable.

- Tabby had a terrible childhood.

She was sexually abused as a child by a family member.

- I have been through similar things myself,

So I know how it can affect your life.

- Had you ever shared with george

That you had been sexually abused as a child?

- Yes, I did.

He was mad.

Uh, he said he was gonna go kill him.

And I told him no, and I sat on him until he calmed down.

- What made you leave when you left?

- Me and george were in an argument, and he slapped me.

- Okay.

Um, ms. Claytor, I'm gonna hand you

What's been marked as state's exhibit ee1.

Is that a conversation that you had with hanna rhoden

On June 15 of 2015 on facebook?

- Yes.

- And go ahead and tell us what that says.

- "that night, he wouldn't let me go outside by myself

"for a few minutes to cool off.

"so I got loud, and then he slapped me.

"then angela came out and told george

"she was gonna go get the gun,

After throwing a board at me."

- Tabitha knew she needed to get out.

- They go to the courthouse, they dissolve the marriage,

And they have a separation agreement.

- Tabby thought that she was signing

A partial custody paper

So that she would have her son sometimes.

- But they tricked tabitha into signing custody papers

Under the guise that this was a temporary situation.

Their plan was that that was a permanent arrangement,

And they rarely let her see her son.

- Tabby was devastated,

But there was nothing she could do about it.

- When george was awarded custody of his son with tabby,

Angela became the mom.

That boy did not know another mother but angela.

Tling music]

♪ ♪

- George didn't know his family

Had committed these offenses.

He wanted the killers of his friends

To be captured as well.

- Angie canepa, the lead prosecutor,

Throughout the trial wanted to paint

The wagner family as being controlling.

And they wanted to do that to kind of show that,

Hey, this family's sticking together.

- The state would call elizabeth armer

To the stand, please.

- Beth was the only real witness we had

That could speak to the concerted effort

That the family had in working together.

And that was critical to this case.

- Prior to living in ohio, where did you live?

- Before living in ohio, I lived in alaska.

♪ ♪

- In alaska, the wagners

Knew a pastor who had opened a church there

Who used to live in ohio.

At this church, jake met elizabeth armer,

Who was nicknamed beth.

Beth grew up in a mennonite community.

- She moved to alaska to escape that lifestyle

And kind of start anew.

- She was somebody who was very religious,

Very intelligent, but also pretty sheltered.

Beth and jake went on dates.

They took jake's daughter with them,

And they were married in 2018.

Angela was upset at the idea of jake marrying beth,

Because that makes beth a woman

Who's a mother figure in the life of jake's daughter.

- Like tabitha, elizabeth armer had told jake

That she had been sexually abused as a child.

She felt that was important for him to know.

- Jake also demanded to have elizabeth's passwords

To her phone, to her emails, to her bank accounts,

All kinds of identifying information.

That is just an example of the control

That they exert over the women in their lives.

Describe to us the family dynamic

Between jake and george and angela.

- Okay, so they went shopping together,

Ate dinner together, went on drives together,

Went to walmart together.

They would discuss what they were going to do,

Come to a decision, and then that's

What everybody would do.

They would make group decisions.

- Did angela ever accuse you of things?

- Yes.

She said that I had inappropriately

Touched [bleep] sexually.

- Angela accused her of trying to sexually abuse

Jake's daughter and got george riled up too.

- I remember jake questioning me very sternly,

Like, did you do this?

He laid it out very clearly to me

That if I had done it, that the right thing to do

Would be to string me up in the barn,

Beat me to death with a baseball bat,

And hunt down and kill my family,

And that if he didn't do it, his mom would do it.

If his mom didn't do it, his dad would do it,

Or george would do it.

I was afraid they were going to kill me.

- Elizabeth armer was our alive victim, if you will.

She became the voice of hanna may,

Who experienced similar emotionally abusive things

When living with the wagner family.

But you know, she was able to tell us about it.

- The state is making these arguments

About how tight this family was.

They must be a criminal operation.

I mean, it is not unusual for families

To live together like this in this part of the state.

- The defense contended during trial

That george had absolutely nothing

To do with the murders,

Wasn't involved in the planning,

And that he didn't even know about it.

- But a key piece of evidence was george's credit card.

The one thing that was on george's credit card

Was the phone jammer, the device that they bought

A month before the night of the homicides,

Which jam your ability to call 911

Or call somebody else in your family

To warn them, or to get help.

This was just more evidence of the extreme amount of planning

That went into this crime.

- It wasn't george who made the purchase.

It's just that his credit card was used.

Angela was the one who paid the bills.

She was the paperwork person.

Angela had access to their credit cards

For whatever she might need.

And so it was very common for them

To use each other's credit cards

Without george's knowledge.

- Brother versus brother today

In the pike county massacre trial.

It's a day everyone's been waiting to hear--

Jake wagner against george wagner iv.

- George was stunned jake was gonna testify.

He thought his brother had gone crazy.

Ense music]

♪ ♪

- In the trial of george wagner iv,

Everybody wanted to hear jake wagner on the stand.

- But jake chose not to be on camera.

- Because of an option the judge gave all witnesses

Whether they wanted their voices or faces recorded,

You will not see jake wagner or directly hear from him.

- Jake's testimony should have been available to the public.

Not being made to have to face the cameras

Was the most disgusting thing.

People were livid.

- Jake testified that it started from the day

They came across this facebook message.

- Angela was able to hack into facebook.

- Jake said that angela saw the facebook message

In December of 2015, five months before the murders.

Hanna may said,

"I'll never give them full custody.

They'll have to kill me first."

Angela shows the message to jake, saying to him,

We have to do something.

According to the testimony at trial,

Billy came up with the idea

That they had to kill hanna.

- Then jake said that billy didn't think a plan

To just kill hanna would work.

All hell would come, because chris sr.

Or frankie

Or kenneth will retaliate.

Bam. There you go.

That's when they decided to kill everybody.

- They were going to kill, basically, their friends.

And jake testified that anybody else

Who happened to be there

Was going to be murdered.

- Jake always preached.

He said, once you get saved one time,

He said, you can do whatever you want.

- He'd tell us, like, you could go rob a bank

And come home and ask for forgiveness.

He said, "you'll be fine."

He said, "you could go kill somebody,

Come home, ask for forgiveness."

He said you'd be fine.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- According to jake, billy, jake, and george

Were on their way to commit these homicides,

And he told us that they stopped

At an outcropping on a road.

- Billy got out and came back and said, "last chance, guys.

We can still not do this. We can still back out of it."

- But jake was able to persuade his father that

We do have to go through with it.

- So billy got back in the car,

And on to chris sr.'s they went.

- According to jake's testimony,

Billy wagner got chris sr. To come to the door.

George, who had the sks rifle, was supposed to take one shot.

George froze.

- That's when jake took over the weapon and shot chris.

- Jake had started out firing with the sks.

But it was billy who made his way into that home

And shot chris sr., and he shot gary rhoden.

- Billy comes outside in full-blown meltdown mode,

Hands above his head.

I can't believe I just killed my best friend.

Jake described it as basically having a breakdown.

They dragged chris's and gary's bodies

Back to chris's bedroom.

Jake said at frankie's house, he walked into the bedroom,

Shot frankie,

And hannah gilley made a movement,

So he reached across and shot her.

There's a six-month-old baby still in between them.

- When I heard jake testify that he murdered hannah gilley

Just because she moved, it made me sick.

It felt like someone just punched me in the chest.

- He talks about it in the same tone

And kind of matter-of-fact fashion that I would

Just talk about running an errand or doing my laundry.

- I've never seen anyone answer as cold.

He was void of humanity.

♪ ♪

- According to jake's testimony,

In dana's home,

He shot dana five times in the head,

And then begins to walk back down to the hallway

To the room of hanna rhoden, the mother of his child.

- Hanna was in bed with her infant next to her.

She was breastfeeding.

- He shot her, and according to him,

Rolled her so that the newborn

Could have access to her breast.

- Then jake said that he shot chris jr.

Multiple times in the head.

- And it's after that that jake and billy came out here

To murder kenneth rhoden.

- Billy wagner claims that

He is not guilty of these charges,

And he is preparing to go to trial.

- We're going to, uh, recess for the day.

- The problem with jake's testimony

Is that it could not be corroborated by anything.

- In a couple days, angela is going

To testify against george.

- The woman who gave birth to you, your mother,

Is going to take the stand.

- They get angela, mom, testifying against george.

- This was a tight-knit family.

I think in many ways, you could describe it

As a greek tragedy.

- An accused killer comes face-to-face

With his mother for the first time

Since both were arrested four years ago.

- Angela wagner is one of the key witnesses

We've been waiting to hear from

During this months-long trial.

- Angela wagner was going to testify against george.

- You've got, uh, mother testifying against son

In exchange for a 30-year sentence.

- She got a sweetheart deal,

Because the state knew jake wasn't enough,

And angela had an excellent lawyer.

He got it down to flat time,

Where she gets out of prison someday.

That's how desperate the state was to get her testimony.

- Thank you, your honor.

The state would call angela wagner to the stand.

- Like jake, angela opted out of being recorded.

There was no video or audio during her testimony.

- When angela took the stand, she was talking

About the planning stages, about how billy and jake

And george would go off together to plan,

That she personally had a conversation with george

And said, more or less,

Are you sure you wanna go through with this?

And you know, he and jake both said yes.

- Angela testified that when billy, jake, and george

Left the house...

To go commit the murders,

She sent some text messages on their phones

To make it look like the boys were home...

Then immediately went upstairs and went to sleep.

I find it telling that she wouldn't even look at george.

She wouldn't look at her own son,

Because she couldn't stand to lie to his face.

She couldn't look at him and lie.

But she could lie without looking at him.

- She was possessive about the children

To a degree that is hard to comprehend.

[unsettling music]

- The alleged motive in this case was custody,

But there's so much more.

- Angela testified that their motivation

Was to protect jake and hanna's little girl.

- For angela, the whole motive of the homicides

Is, you know, something bad is gonna happen

To jake's daughter.

She testified that she worried about what was happening

To her granddaughter when her granddaughter

Was with hanna may's family.

- Jake and angela were obsessed that the daughter

Was being sexually molested.

- We have zero evidence to support allegations

That jake and hanna's daughter was ever sexually molested,

Or any evidence to support that it was about to happen.

- A huge part of this case is the sexual abuse

And sexual violence that so many of the women involved

In this case have suffered during childhood,

And even in adulthood.

There's no doubt in my mind that angela saw the world

Through the trauma that she had been through herself.

- Anytime george or jake had a girlfriend,

It was always the same stories.

Oh, well, they're sexually assaulting your children.

Just because it happened to her, she--

I guess she thought it was gonna happen to everybody.

- Do you think she really thought that,

Or do you think she just used that to manipulate

The rest of the family?

- I believe that angela used it to control everybody else,

'cause if she used that over george and jake,

It would scare them enough to do whatever she says.

- It's hard to know whether or not angela herself believed

Jake's daughter was being abused,

Or whether she just knew that that would

Be the thing to say that would motivate

The others into action.

- The testimony of jake and angela at george's trial

Was just overwhelming.

You've got family members testifying

Against family members.

- Do you wish to call a witness at this time?

- I don't think anybody could have ever imagined

What the defense was going to do.

- Yes, your honor. We call george wagner iv.

- When the defense said, oh, we call george wagner,

There's a moment where angie canepa's head, the prosecutor,

Her head springs up, and they're all

Kind of looking at each other.

- Calling george to the stand was a hail mary pass

That defense attorney had to make.

♪ ♪

Chirping]

- This entire corner is full of christmas decorations.

The whole corner is. I'm not joking.

Every tote back there is christmas.

That's fragile.

I think these might have been jake and hanna's daughter's.

[somber music]

I'm guessing these are george's boy's.

I was very close to george.

You grow up with somebody, you think you know him,

You know what I mean?

I wanted to believe george

Didn't have anything to do with it,

But uh, they were so close, you know.

It's kind of hard for me not to believe that

He didn't know anything about it.

- Angela was very controlling.

- My--my sister angela was very controlling.

- She definitely used, uh,

George and jake's children against them.

- Yeah.

- If george and jake didn't wanna do anything

For angela, she would threaten to take their children away.

- I mean, he might not have wanted to go along with it.

But it's hard telling what they'd done to him,

Or told him, that would make him wanna do it.

They were not good people.

[tense music]

- Huge development today

In the pike county massacre trial.

George wagner takes the stand in his own defense.

- Do you solemnly swear or affirm

That the testimony you are about to give

Shall be the truth, the whole truth,

And nothing but the truth, as you shall answer unto god?

- I do. - You may be seated.

- [clears throat]

- If you're the criminal defense lawyer

And your client wants to take the stand,

But you do not believe that is in your client's

Best interest, it could really blow up in your face.

- Keep your voice up real loud so the jury can hear you.

- George insisted on testifying.

He said, yeah, record me. Listen to me.

Look at my eyes. Look at my demeanor.

Listen to me. I didn't do this.

I thought he needed to testify.

- Okay, sir, please state your full name for the record.

- George washington wagner iv.

- George felt in his mind he could swing one juror,

And that's all you gotta do.

You create that little bit of doubt in one juror's mind.

That's all it takes.

- How would you describe your relationship with your mom?

- I would describe my mother as over-opinionated.

She thinks she's better than everybody,

And she tries to manipulate people.

- Did you get in arguments with her?

- Many of them.

It would end up with her yelling at me

And me cussing her, and then I'd get mad.

- Why didn't you ever leave?

- I didn't wanna take the chance of being broke

With no roof over my head.

- The false narrative is that this family was together 24/7.

George didn't like being in that house with his mother.

He didn't get along with jake.

George was out of that house as much as he could be.

- Looking at wagner exhibit 53-1,

This is your wedding photo, right?

- Yes.

- You have one arm around who? - Tabby.

- You have another arm around who else?

- Frankie.

- Did you consider him a good friend, or...?

- I considered him one of my best friends.

- George and frankie was glued.

They were hunting together, fishing together,

Riding four-wheelers together. They were together.

I went fishing with george a month after the murders.

I was fishing with a ghost.

He would blank stare. His eyes were black.

He didn't even know what we were doing.

It started to storm.

There was lightning, and we all know

You don't fish in lightning.

And we got in the truck and I said,

Well, frankie's letting everyone know that he's dead.

And I was told to politely shut the [bleep] up.

- Did you go up on union hill road

And participate in these murders in any way?

- No.

- Did you know that jake and your dad had left?

- No.

- How do you explain that?

- I just didn't know they left.

- There was no physical evidence

That george was at any of the crime scenes--

No dna, no fingerprints, none of that.

And they had no motive for george, either,

Which is much different than jake.

- Were you aware, at any time,

Your family was gonna kill the rhodens?

- No.

- Was that ever discussed with you?

- No.

- George got on the stand and used a blanket,

I had no idea any of this was going--even going on.

- Did you plan these murders? - No.

- Did you know they were gonna happen?

- No.

- If you had known this was gonna happen,

What would you have done?

- I don't know exactly how, but I would have

Stopped it one way or another.

- There is absolutely no way george wagner could have been

In the dark on this thing.

- You may step down.

- They did everything together.

Their finances were pretty much co-mingled.

- Clearly, they make decisions as a family.

They bought peterson road together.

They moved to alaska together.

Both of those homes were in george's name.

This wish to extricate himself

From the rest of them, it just wasn't--

It just wasn't believable.

- The pike county massacre trial is nearing its end.

- There was a lot of things for the jury to consider.

- If the jury finds unanimously that the state

Did not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,

Then it's a not guilty.

- Would the foreperson please hand the verdict forms

To the bailiff here?

- I think a lot of people were surprised

By the length of time deliberations took.

That was extraordinary.

Re than 12 weeks after his trial began,

Jurors are now deciding the fate of george wagner iv.

- They started at 8:30 this morning,

And they have reached a verdict in a little more

Than seven hours.

- I've been impatiently waiting for this family

To get the justice, you know, that they really deserve.

- When george was on trial, and he said,

"I didn't want any part of it," well, you had the option

To stop it and you didn't.

- George's trial was all about jake and angela.

We're doing a trial about george.

Make it about george.

Don't make it about everyone else.

- We, the jury, find beyond a reasonable doubt

That the defendant, george washington wagner iv,

Is guilty of aggravated murder

As charged in count one of the indictment.

- [sobs]

- Just heard the verdicts being read.

George wagner iv guilty on all counts.

[somber music]

- It felt like we got help--

Sorry.

From hanna.

This messages of, I won't sign papers ever.

They'll have to kill me first.

From the grave, it was telling us

What happened and who did it.

- They were so methodical in the planning of this.

They planned this out for months in advance.

- They were very tight-lipped.

They were very careful.

What we ended up with is a lot of good circumstantial evidence

And a very complex case to present to a jury.

- There was no direct evidence that george was at the scene,

But he was up to his neck in the planning,

Somewhat involved in the execution,

And also involved in the attempted cover-up.

And the testimony of jake and angela

Truly was the final nail in the coffin.

- The court hereby sentences you

To serve a mandatory term

Of life imprisonment without parole.

- It is unfair that after they did what they did,

They have the option to even live.

They don't deserve to live.

- Billy wagner is the last of four members of his family

Whose case has yet to be decided.

- Billy wagner pleaded not guilty to his role

In the 2016 killings of the rhoden family.

- Billy's case is still pending.

It's currently believed that we will try that next year.

- Everybody would rather billy just take the deal

And not put the family through this again.

They're never gonna have closure--

For generations.

This is a generational crime.

♪ ♪

- Angela wagner tended to suspect

Sexual abuse everywhere.

She managed to make the boys and her husband

Have the same fears.

It was a group psychosis.

There's no question that was what this case was all about,

Was the power and control.

The wagners were determined that they were

Going to raise these children without the influence

Of the mothers or their family.

- Angela testified that the little girl

Could have been molested at some point in her life.

And for that unfounded belief,

Eight people lose their lives.

It breaks your heart. It really does.

[birds chirping]

- This was jake's room.

Jake said that he painted this room pink for his daughter

Because that was her favorite color,

And he let her pick out the color.

- I'm ready to erase all memories of jake.

- All right.

First stroke.

Voilà.

I think that color is gonna be pretty nice, ain't it?

- I do too.

We can finally move on to getting rid

Of the rest of the wagner stuff.

This is mine and chris's home.

- You have no idea how wonderful this makes me feel.

[bird caws]

- I wanted to come here to help myself, to heal myself.

I want people to be safe

And not go through what I went through.

I was sexually assaulted.

Never told anybody about it.

I just thought it was so normal.

The wagner and the rhoden case

Was a cataclysm within my family

That kind of tore us apart.

I feel like bringing it into the light

Will help me to move on from it.

- I want people to know who the rhodens were,

Who hannah was, hannah gilley.

No matter what, I could tell her my deepest secret

And she woe wouldn't tell a s.

She took most of mine to the grave, so.

- The rhodens were so good to everybody.

If they had it and they could spare it, they would give it.

- You could see the love that this family was built on.

- I always knew that I could get help

From any of the rhodens.

The system will handle the wagners,

But the world needs to hear about the family that's gone.

♪ ♪