Jury convicts George Wagner IV on all counts in Rhoden family slayings

WAVERLY, Ohio — In the end, one of Ohio’s most complex and costly murder trials came down to one brother’s word against the other’s.

On Wednesday, jurors in Pike County convicted George Washington Wagner IV, 31, on all 22 counts he faced in the April 2016 killings of eight members of a southern Ohio family, most shot multiple times in the head — many as they slept — including two young mothers with infants lying next to them.

George Wagner IV was convicted on all 22 counts, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 in Pike County Common Pleas court. Geneva Rhoden thanks Rob Junk, Pike County Prosecutor after the 22 guilty verdict were read by Judge Randy Deering. George Wagner IV faced eight counts of aggravated murder and 14 other charges in the eight shooting deaths of Pike County's Rhoden family in 2016. His mom, Angela Wagner and brother, Jake Wagner, have already pleaded guilty. His dad, Billy Wagner will go on trial next year.Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (Liz Dufour, Cincinnati Enquirer)

The jury of nine women and three men deliberated a little more than seven hours Wednesday after hearing from 60 witnesses and viewing nearly 5,000 pieces of evidence that included crime scene and autopsy photos in a trial that stretched into 13 weeks.

Read the rest of the story, written on deadline, for the Washington Post, here.