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Ohio family charged with murder briefly called Kenai home

Ohio Attorney General's Office

 

A family that briefly lived in Kenai is in custody in Ohio, charged with the murder of another family. George ‘Billy’ Wagner, his wife Angela and sons, George and Jake all face numerous charges including eight counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of the Rhoden and extended family in rural Pike county.

The Wagners lived in Kenai between when the murders took place in 2016 and some time later in 2017. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine held a press conference Tuesday, laying out the case the state will make against the Wagners.

“We believe that the Wagners conspired together to develop an elaborate plan to kill the eight victims under the cover of darkness and then carefully cover up their tracks. We believe the evidence will show the suspects spent months planning the crimes.”

Three young children were left alive after the murders, and there has been speculationthat the crime was about custody of one them, whom the youngest Wagner, Jake, fathered with one of the victims.

“Now because this is an open prosecution, we won’t be able to say much about motive. But you’ll see from the indictments that custody of that young child plays a role in this case," DeWine said.

The murders took place in four different locations, all at the same time. The older Wagner, Billy, left Alaska with a minor record, having paid a fine for not having personal flotation devices on a boat.

 

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