Jurors convicted a man Wednesday in the killings of eight people from another Ohio family after weighing his denials and other testimony against the word of witnesses, including his brother and mother, who previously pleaded guilty for their roles.
Jurors convicted a man Wednesday in the killings of eight people from another Ohio family after weighing his denials and other testimony against the word of witnesses, including his brother and mother, who previously pleaded guilty for their roles.
George Wagner IV, 31, was found guilty of all 22 counts he faced, including eight counts of aggravated murder in the 2016 shootings of seven adults and a teenager from the Rhoden family in southern Ohio’s Pike County. Wagner sat motionless as the verdicts were read, closing his eyes or looking down.
Prosecutors say the slayings, which initially spurred speculation about drug cartel involvement, stemmed from a dispute over custody of Wagner’s niece. The fatal shootings at three mobile homes and a camper near Piketon in April 2016 terrified residents and launched one of the state’s most extensive criminal investigations.
