Jurors in the George Wagner IV mass murder trial in southern Ohio visited Wednesday several key locations pertinent to the case.
They saw the property that once housed three trailers on Union Hill Road and a camper on Left Fork Road , where eight members of the Rhoden family were slain in April 2016.
They also visited 260 Peterson Road, which is where Wagner and his family moved and lived in 2016. They sold that property and moved to Alaska in 2017. It is the site of at least six searches, said Dwayne DeWeese, the current owner who witnessed those searches.
DeWeese has said investigators took at least three guns, bullet fragments and casings from a wooded area behind the house where, he said police told him, the Wagners practiced shooting. Investigators also cut down trees and hauled away sections with bullet fragments in them.
The media was allowed to tag along on the visits after a short court hearing where media lawyer Jack Greiner argued that reporters should be allowed to view because it is part of a criminal proceeding, which is open to the public. (Note: the audio below is difficult to hear).
The 12-member, six-alternate jury will visit at least four additional sites on Thursday, according to court orders filed in Pike County Common Pleas Court Wednesday.
They are:
From 9 a.m. to noon:
Flying W Farms, 6851 Camp Creek Road, which is the home of Wagner's grandmother, Fredericka Wagner. Authorities searched the property and ponds on it repeatedly during the investigation. The farm sits atop a hill, includes several horse rings and barns in addition to a home. Court records indicate that officials found the three guns in separate "concrete buckets" on the property. They also found a knife in separate bucket; however there has never been any indication that any of the eight victims were stabbed.
Nearby property at 845 Bethel Road, which is also owned by Fredericka Wagner. George Wagner's family lived at this location before they moved to another farmhouse in a neighboring county.
From 1-4 p.m.
The house, garage and other outbuildings at 52 Havener Lane, South Webster in neighboring Scioto County. The home is the former residence of Wagner's maternal grandmother. It is the home the family lived in after they returned in 2018 from moving to Alaska in 2017.
Jurors were also to visit the Pike County Sheriff's Office impound lot, where the trailers, camper and the truck believed to have been used the night of the killings has been house. Authorities towed the trailers and camper from the land in May 2016 and stored it in a rented facility before moving them again to the impound lot.
Opening arguments in the case are expected to begin Sept. 6.
View court orders related to jury views here. A court (read: judge) must order such a visit if it on private property, which these are (and which is why there is not an order to view the sheriff's impound lot).
Questions for students:
How would you get court orders? To whom do you think you would reach out to?
Can you find any AP style errors in the above story? If so, what are they and what should they be corrected to?
1. Court orders can be issued after a hearing by a judicial officer or if in court both parties have reached an agreement. Court orders can be fulfilled if it is on private property like it is in this scenario. After some extensive searching on Google, in order to get a court order you may have to fill out a request to do so in court and the other party has to do so as well. The decision is then made by the judge.
2. I believe that in the first sentence the word "southern" before Ohio should be capitalized because it is designating a specific region.