In a stunning move, George Wagner IV testified Wednesday in his own defense saying he did not know his family plotted, planned and killed eight members of a southern Ohio family — one of whom he called a friend and the other he considered a little sister.
His testimony is in direct contradiction to the earlier testimony of his younger brother, Edward "Jake" Wagner, 30, and their mother Angela Wagner, 52, both of whom entered into plea agreements with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony in the case. As part of Jake Wagner's plea, prosecutors agreed to remove the death penalty from all the cases, including his brother's.
Wagner IV's testimony came midway through the 11th week in the trial in Pike County, Ohio and riveted those in the courtroom and the thousands watching online. Wagner IV, who has sat quietly between his lawyers writing and doodling on legal pads during the trial, appeared mostly calm and provided short answers to his lawyer's questions during his four hours on the stand. His testimony will continue Thursday.
Wagner IV, 31, faces 22 counts including eight counts of aggravated murder and conspiracy in the 2016 slaying of Rhoden family members. Prosecutors maintain the Wagner family killed the Rhodens to gain custody of a shared daughter of Jake Wagner and Hanna Rhoden, whom the Wagners feared was being molested. That allegation was never substantiated.
Wagner IV has maintained his innocence even as prosecutors have spent weeks methodically framing his family as a criminal enterprise that operated as a unit: They co-mingled their money, made family decisions together, worked as over-the-road truck drivers together as well as committed crimes together.
Wagner confirmed much of that as he described a chaotic and volatile childhood lead by a doomsday-believing father who taught him and his brother how to pick locks, siphon diesel and steal semi-tractor trailers loaded with merchandise to resell. His mother, he said, was controlling and often told him he would go to hell, saying "you’re making Jesus cry” when he did things of which she did not approve.
While Wagner IV said he liked to hunt and fish and hang out with his beer-drinking buddies, his brother was a homebody, who followed his mother's instructions, was arrogant and rarely showed emotion: "He won't even let you give him a hug ... he doesn't like being touched."
'Murder is an entirely different thing'
But under questioning by his lawyer John Parker, he said he never would have imagined his family was capable of shooting members of the Rhoden family in the dead of night in their homes as many of them slept, including two new mothers with infants lying to them. None of the children were physically harmed and Wagner IV's son and niece were at their Peebles farmhouse that evening.
"In April 2016, or March of 2016, or all the way back to January, were you aware of any time
that Jake, your dad, your mom, were planning to kill the Rhodens?" Parker asked.
"No," Wagner IV said.
Parker: "Was that ever discussed with you?"
"No."
"Did you have any idea that was going to happen?"
"No."
"Did you know of any reason that your family wanted to kill the Rhodens?"
"No."
"Did Jake ever come to you and explain what was going to happen?"
"No."
"Did Jake ever ask you to help in any way?"
"No."
"What about your mother?"
"No."
"What about your father?"
"No."
Parker: "If one of them had come to you and asked you to be involved in something like this, what do you think you would have done?"
"Well first thing: I would not have believed that my family would be capable of doing something of this magnitude.
"Theft is one thing, murder is an entirely different thing," he said.
Wagner IV: Sleeping, didn't hear anything night of slayings
Parker asked his client what he would have done if his family had come to him with the murder plan.
"I don't know how, but I would have never let it happen,'' he testified.
"What would you have done to stop it?" Parker asked.
"I can't honestly say,'' Wagner responded. "But, one way or another I would never have let it happen."
Parker asked his client where he was the night before. Wagner IV testified that he was home asleep about "10-ish,'' which he described as his usual bedtime. He did not know that his father and brother had left and he did not hear the pickup truck leave, he testified.
He said he got up the next morning, was met with his brother in the kitchen and the two ventured off to tear down a building about 45 minutes away. The brothers came back to their Peebles farmhouse and the news of the slayings was on the news, he said.
It was the first he knew of the killings, he testified.
His father, he said, was "freaking out" and his brother was outside on the phone with a friend who told him his brother's ex-girlfriend and mother their shared daughter was among the victims.
Parker asked Wagner IV how he reacted to the news:
"It was more heartbreaking and more of a trauma than I've ever been through in my life,'' he testified, adding that he went into the woods behind their farmhouse for a couple hours to be alone.
The trial resumes Thursday, as prosecutors continue to work to put evidence into the record, which is an important step as those items are only those that jurors will be able to request to review once they begin deliberating.
It remains unclear when lawyers will provide their closing statements and when the case will go to the jury, which is made up of nine women and three men.
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