Authorities have arrested four members of a southern Ohio family in the 2016 murders of eight members of another family in Pike County.
47-year old George Billy Wagner was arrested in Lexington. Also arrested were Wagner's wife, 48-year-old Angela Wagner, and their sons, 27-year-old George Wagner and 26-year-old Edward Wagner. All are charged with aggravated murder. Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine says the murders of eight members of the Rhoden family were carefully planned for several months.
Although DeWine declined to discuss a motive, it appears to be related to custody of a child in the Rhoden family fathered by a Wagner family member.
Attorney John Clark, who represents the Wagner family, says the family is looking forward to clearing their names. He has noted previously that the Wagners cooperated with the investigation, consenting to interviews and providing laptops, phones and DNA samples to officials. The Wagners lived in Peebles at the time of the murders but later moved to Alaska.
