September 2, 2020 • 31 mins
Ohio law enforcement officials spent over two years investigating the Rhoden murders. During that time, they received over 1,100 tips, conducted over 500 interviews and served nearly 200 search warrants.
Episode six explores this exhaustive investigation, how authorities honed in on the Wagners, and how they think the family allegedly pulled off the gruesome massacre. We’ll also look at the Wagner’s moves in the two years following the Rhoden murders, including a shocking decision the family made at the height of the investigation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the piked In Massacre, a production of iHeartRadio
and Katie Studios.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
It's been one year since eight members of the Rodent
family were found murdered in Pike County.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Now, surviving members of the family have released a lead
for information.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
A year after eight members of the Rodent family were
ruthlessly gunned down in their homes, Ohio authorities are on
a relentless search for the killers.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Over eight hundred tips have been called into police.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
We may commit much of the people of Bike County.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
That day, I said, we're not leaving until we solved this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Many different facets of law enforcement collaborated to crack the case.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The people that carried it out were trying to do
everything they could to make sure that they didn't get caught.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Law enforcement officials begin tracking down a series of leads
that point them to another group of potential suspects, the Wagoners.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
The Wagoner shop and local walmarts for ammunition, magazine, cliffs,
and materials to build brass catchers.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
According to the case indictment, the Wagoners begin conducting what
seems to be almost like reconnaissance on the Rodents.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
What do you mean a camera was? There was it
connected to something I still do this day wonder why
she mentioned that and why that conversation wasn't allowed to
go any further.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
The revelations leave those closest to the family questioning their innocence.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
I know he was upset, but was he upset because
she has been murdered?
Speaker 6 (01:20):
Or when he upset.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Because he's done it?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
This is the piked in Massacre Episode six, the investigation.
In this episode, we're going to dive into law enforcement's
investigation into the Rodent murders, how the Wagners allegedly pulled
off this gruesome massacre, and why. I'm Courtney Armstrong and
(01:46):
I work at Kat's Studios with Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff Shane.
We produced a documentary about the case for NBC Universal's
Oxygen Network in twenty nineteen and have been following the
evolution of the investigation since then. To understand the crime
and the possible motivation of the family that may have
committed it, we want to look at the months leading
up to the murders and authorities movements after. By any
(02:08):
objective standard, it was a long, arduous investigation spanning two
full years. During that time, many different facets of law enforcement.
The FBI, the DEA, the Pike County Sheriff's Office, and
the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation all collaborated to crack
the case.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Police received over eleven hundred tips, They conducted over five
hundred interviews, tested about seven hundred pieces of evidence, served
close to two hundred search warrants, subpoenas and other things.
So this was something that was huge.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
That's Mike Allen, a defense attorney, former Ohio County prosecutor,
and legal analyst for Cincinnati news station Fox nineteen.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
The Attorney General the Wine at the time said it
was a pretty sophisticated operation in the people that carried
it out. We're trying to do everything they could to
make sure that they didn't get caught. Attorney General Wine
and Sheriff Reader, they both said that the investigation was
going to be a long one and a lengthy process,
and boy, sure has played out that way.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But how exactly did investigators circle in on the Wagners
as suspects and eventually compile enough evidence to make arrests.
In previous episodes, we discussed some of the conflicts between
the Wagners and the Rodents In twenty sixteen, there was
a custody battle between Jake Wagner and Hannah Rodin and
a physical altercation between Billy Wagner and Chris Roden Senior.
It seemed like the relationship between the two families was
(03:31):
reaching a fever pitch in the months leading up to
the murders, But these two families didn't always have such
ill will towards one another. Here's journalist Jeff Winkler.
Speaker 7 (03:41):
I think early on people wanted to paint the sort
of few between the Rodents and Wagners as something like
the Hatfields of McCoy's, just because it was sort of
Hills of Appalachia backwoods kind of thing.
Speaker 8 (03:55):
But I mean, it really wasn't.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Like it, right, Like people like to say that Hatfield
and McCoy's. But I think they were probably closer and
friendlier than that version of it, right, yeah.
Speaker 8 (04:05):
They I mean the fact that they were family, mars
just split in their time between the two houses, the
fact that you know, the Wagners had been in the
area for a long time as well, just as the
Rodents had.
Speaker 7 (04:15):
It's just you had two families who were intertwined by
both blood and work.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
We got some more intimate observations from Deray. She's Billy
Wagner's cousin and Frederica Wagner's niece. Deray spoke to Jeff
about how she saw the relationship between her family and
the Rodents.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Do you know anything about Billy and Chris Roden Senior?
Speaker 9 (04:39):
My aunt said that they were very good friends, and
of course he was the grandfather of Sophia, and so
was Billy. Billy is Sophia's grandfather.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I mean, it's like they're in loss.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
They're related.
Speaker 9 (04:54):
I mean, their two grandfathers of the same little girl.
She's adorable.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Did Angela and Dani and I get along in the
same way?
Speaker 5 (05:01):
Do you know?
Speaker 9 (05:01):
It looked to me like they were clearly getting along.
And she never said anything bad about the Rodents. She
never spoke one negative thing about it, just about the
children about you know, they went fishing and they were
over at fredericaz and you know, small talk.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Right, like normal talk you'd have with another mom about
raising kids.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Right exactly, and it's just like that's all it is.
It's just family talk.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
We of course know that Hannah and Jake Wagner had
an intense relationship, but through the ups and downs. Most
would say they were in love and their relationship brought
the two families together. Here's producer Stephanie. When we started
doing our research, I personally became a bit obsessed with
better understanding the intersection between these two families and really
struggle with the motivation. What could possibly cause one family,
(05:53):
the Wagoners, to allegedly murder eight people that they knew
so well they knew them intimately. In fact, we came
across a photograph taken in twenty twelve at George Wagner,
the eldest son's wedding, and the Rodins and the Wagners
are both in this photo seemingly so happy. The only
person not there is Dana Rodin, and she said to
(06:14):
maybe be taking the photo because she later posted it
on her MySpace page. But it's mind blowing. The people
in the photo do not look like killers posing with
there would be victims, but sure enough, in four years,
the majority of the people in this picture would be
dead and the others would be standing trial for their deaths.
(06:37):
Throughout this series, we've been talking to a relative of
the Wagners who's chosen to remain anonymous. She spoke to
Jeff about her family's reaction in the wake of the
Rodent murders.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What was the feeling like in the family after that happened.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
Angela was upset because it was the mother of her granddaughter.
She was just really sad, you know, that that had happened.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
When I talked to Jake and I was telling it.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I'm so sorry, you know, like, if there's anything I
can do, please tell me. And Angela she did ask
me at one point, probably about a month after the
murders had happened, if I could come down and pick
up Sothia and Jake and take Sophia to a friend's
house and stuff. So I did, and in that time,
(07:20):
you know, me and.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Jake and Sabilla in the car, and he was an
absolute wrecked rank And of course I did not know.
I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what
to ask him. I didn't know what to say.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
I was kind of just letting him just have his moment.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
And he was absolutely devastated. I mean, he couldn't talk,
he couldn't breathe, he.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
Was out of the page attack in my car, and
I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, I don't know
what to say. So of course when I find out
that they were the ones that's done this, I keep
thinking back to that time and you know, in the car,
and I'm like, oh my gosh, Like, I.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
Know he was upset, but was he upset for you know,
the right reason? Like, yeah, was he upset because.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
She had been murdered? Or on the upset because you
know he's done it and he knew. I don't know.
It was just an awful, eerie feeling.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
It really truly.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Was Pike County Massacre.
Speaker 8 (08:15):
It's the title of what has happened out here, the
tragedy that we've been covering.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
The victims ranged in age from sixteen to forty four.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Each were shot anywhere from once to nine times. It's just,
you know, a grisly scene in a gristly situation.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Let's rewind to summer twenty fourteen. Hannah and Jake's daughter,
Sophia is eight months old. Here's producer Stephanie.
Speaker 10 (08:39):
This is why this case is so complicated, because just
when I think the Wagners could be innocent, I read
something like this. Around this time, according to the case indictment,
the Wagners began conducting what seems to almost be like
reconnaissance on the Rodent family. Over the course of the
next two years, they allegedly began hacking into the Rodent's
personal computers, their phones, even their social media accounts. They
(09:03):
even reportedly use surveillance cameras to spy on the Rodents.
But why would they do that, especially according to most accounts,
Jake and Hannah were very much still dating and very
much in love at this time, So why would they
be spying? Was Angela Wagner the mom obsessed with her
youngest son, Jake Wagner's relationship with Hannah Rodin. Where the
dads Chris Roden or Billy Wagner Senior embroiled in something big,
(09:26):
where the Wagner is simply trying to get familiar with
the family patterns and better understand the Rodent property, why
would they possibly be spying.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Here's investigative reporter Jodi Barr. He's talking about a conversation
he had with Kendra Rodin, the daughter of one of
the victims, Kenneth Roden.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Kendra Roadin brought up with me in our discussions, she
mentioned a few times that there were cameras set up
around Chris Senior's home.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Wow, so Kendra Rodin actually saw cameras on the property
that now it seems as if allegedly the Wagoners had
put there.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Yeah, she told me that at Christian Year's home, that
there was a camera on that property. And she said
it was in sort of a not in the wooded area,
but sort of the field like it hadn't been mode,
but it was right near the garage at Christi Year's home.
And of course, naturally you start questioning her about the
(10:23):
cameras and you know, what do you mean a camera
was there? Was it connected to something?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Did you?
Speaker 10 (10:29):
Did?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You looked at you to try to investigate. It was
a very strange encounter, you know, when she mentioned that
and then the conversation wouldn't no further.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Well, she was probably scared, right, possibly, I.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Mean, but she's talking to a reporter. That was always
something that I've wondered about because she never got an
answer to and it was so strange, and I still
to this day wonder why she mentioned that and why
that conversation wasn't allowed to go any further.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, but I find so like the most screwed up
thing about it is at that time, the summer twenty
fourteen has when Jay Wagner and Hannah Rodin were like
hot and heavy and planning a wedding, and to know
that he was then also sort of maybe planning her
murder at the same time, or starting to at least
spy on her in some way, it's like just very dark.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I mean, there's a lot of interest obviously still in
this case. And you know, with every criminal prosecution, you know,
the state they have their version of facts, and the
defense will have its version of facts. But if this
turns out to be true, man, what a story. I mean,
what a terribly tragic ending to these lives, to everything
that was going on. If we are to believe that
(11:34):
the prosecution as alleged, you know, this paints a very
dark picture.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
We're going to take a quick break here. We'll be
back in a moment. It seems that the Wagners became
obsessed with getting soul cussed did of Sophia after Jake
and Hannah broke up, But how exactly did they think
they would gain control? As laid out in the indictment,
(12:07):
the Wagners began methodically plotting a scheme that would take
several months to actually carry out. Here again, is Jodi Barr.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
So when you read these indictments, you know they were
talking about the Wagner's movements even months before these murders happened,
and that the investigators believed that they were planning this
for quite some time before that. The Adamo says that
detectives believe that planning began January one of twenty sixteen.
The murders happened April of twenty sixteen. So you've got
(12:35):
four months of planning that's alleged to have happened here.
Four months to plan the South.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
I mean, if that's every.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Day for four months, that's the full time job.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So what exactly went into the planning? In previous episodes,
we talked about how in April twenty sixteen, the Wagners
presented Hannah Rodin with custody documents. But what Hannah didn't
know then and what police later uncovered, is that the
supposedly legal documents were fake, and that Angela Wagner's mother,
Rita Joe Nucam, was allegedly at the center of the deception.
(13:09):
I spoke to my Gallon about it. So Rita Nucom
Angela's mom. She faces three counts of forgery. A kound
of perjury and she's a notary. Can you speak to
what power does a notary have or how does that
come into play?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
In Ohio, notaries don't have a lot of power. They
are allowed, obviously to notarize signatures. You know, they have
to make sure that the oath is administered properly when
they are notarizing something. They're kind of hard to come
by here in Ohio. But I'm certain that because of
this she'll probably lose that notary's license, if she hasn't already.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Moving forward a bit in time, prosecutors ultimately claimed that
read a lie about the authenticity of these documents to
a grand jury, But in an unexpected twist, Nucom agreed
to a plea deal with the prosecution. She pled guilty
to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing official business in exchange
felony charges of forgery and perjury were dismissed. Here's Nucomb
(14:09):
speaking in court.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I feel that.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
It's not a good crazy thing long and I'm going
to live with the more.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
It's difficult to hear her because of the recording, but
she says, I just feel that it's not a good
Christian thing to lie and I couldn't live with it
no more. Jodi Barr thinks there could be ulterior motives
to Newcomb's deal.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The prosecutor said in court, though, that a hand running
expert concluded that Rita Nucomb did not sign the documents herself.
Nukemb admitted to fosterly, telling a grand jury and investigators
that she did so only because her daughter, Angela Wagner,
who was among those charged with the killings, told her
to do so. I mean there were some heavy charges dismissed.
(14:52):
You know, we're investigators trying to squeeze the grandmothers to
get some information out of them.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Mike Allen seems to think so.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Now there's a lot of speculation, and in the normal case,
the first thing you'd think of is Okay, you know,
they gave her a reduced charge in return for cooperation,
and I would not be surprised if that's not the case.
But again, you know, we won't know until we get
closer to trial.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Can you be compelled to testify for the prosecution?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Sure, I mean, they receive a subpoena unless there's some
kind of legal reason why you know they couldn't. Yeah,
I mean the prosecutor could issue the subpoena. If there's testimony,
the prosecutor would probably ask the court to designate that
person as a hostile witness, and then they can use
(15:45):
leading questions.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
According to court records, the documents appointed a guardian for
Jake and Hannah's daughter in the event of their deaths.
When police later searched the Wagner home, this document was
found in a box belonging to Angelo labeled important Stuff.
I asked Mike Gallan about the legal ramifications of these
forged documents. How does it appear that these documents were
(16:09):
forged on April third? It was nineteen days before the murders.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I'll tell you what, I've been doing this for a
long time and I've never seen anything like this. It's
strong evidence for the prosecutor. The defense attorney has to
find a way to explain that away, which is probably
next to impossible. But yeah, it's that strong evidence from
a prosecutor's perspective.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
As we've discussed before, it was around this time that
Chris Ruden Senior and Billy Wagner got into a fight
as well. Here's Mike Allen recapping that confrontation back.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
In mid April twenty and sixteen, supposedly there was a
fight between Chris Senior and Billy Wagner. Nobody seems to
know what the fight was about or what caused it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Things were obviously becoming strained between the two families, but
the beginning of April also brought a lot of joy
for the Rodent film. That month, Hannah celebrated her nineteenth birthday.
Here's rodin family friend Stephann.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
It was a happy occasion, you know.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It was family get together and lots of fun, you know,
because they were fun. They were always having you know,
get together's, birthday parties, anything like that.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
They were a great family unit.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
But as the Rodent family was celebrating, the Wagners allegedly
were busy planning their murders. The Wagners already had a
cachet of firearms, but around this time they began making
their own silencers. If the Wagners did do it, it
seems likely that these would have been used on the
night of the murders. The family also bought ammunition, a
(17:43):
magazine clip, a bug detector, and materials to build brass catchers.
Jodi Barr filled us in on what some of this
equipment is used.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
For The brass catcher is a bag that hooks on
the side of a fire arm. It will catch spent cartridges,
so every time you pull the trigger, cartridges is ejected.
And if you were really interested in not leaving anything
behind as far as ballistic evidence to sound like a
great story, this bag will collect the shell casing, so
(18:13):
there's no evidence left behind. The bug detector, so purely
that helps someone find listening devices and sometimes create blat
noise to muffle sounds or discussion.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
The indictment also includes a reference to a specific pair
of shoes that the family purchased from Walmart. But why
would they need a particular pair of shoes to pull
off a murder? Here's Stephanie.
Speaker 10 (18:36):
One such theory is that the Wagners were trying to
frame data Rodin's brother, James Manly. He's significant because if
you recall, Dana Rowden's sister, Bobby Joe, made the first
discovery of bodies and called nine to one one. She
also called her brother, who rushed to Dana Roden's house
and also found their bodies. His prints were allegedly at
(18:58):
the crime scene. However, just one day before the murders.
The Wagners drove two and a half hours to a
specific Walmart to buy a particular pair of boots. They're
seen on surveillance buying these boots and they're the same
kind of boots known to be worn by James Manley.
Why would they do that?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Here's reporter Jody.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Barr from the Dyingment. I mean, there's a lot of
assertion by the prosecution that they have evidence that, you know,
these boots were purchased to frame James Manley a family
member for the murder, and that James lived the closest
to Dana, and that James ended up being one of
the first to discover Dana and you know in Hannah's
(19:41):
bodies that morning.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Right, So the idea is that they went and bought
these specific boots knowing that James Manley wore them, and
then they would in theory, wear them the night of
the murder. So it looked to police like he was
the one walking around.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
And it sounds like for a period of time investigators
might have believed that to be the case, because James
Manley was one of the first people rough in and interrogated.
Given a polygraph, I mean, if you're to believe what's
written in that indictment. It sounds like that you may
have been pretty close to pulling this all off.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It was so detail oriented.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, and you wonder this too. It's like it seemed
like a lot of detailed planning to pre plan that.
I don't really know what to think of it. Again,
I don't know anybody who's capable of doing that, and
we know it happened. It was pulled off by somebody.
But I mean, if they really bought boots to try
to frame James manly Man again, this is a heck
(20:37):
of a story. Who drinks us up? Who thinks this up?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
In April twenty sixteen, the same week as Hannah's birthday,
her mother Dana threw a baby shower to celebrate the
upcoming birth of her new baby girl, Kylie. It would
be the last time the Rodent family all gathered in
one place. Becky Ryder was a close friend of Dana Rhaden's.
She told Jeff about the excitement surrounding the baby's.
Speaker 9 (21:00):
The Dana felt overwhelmed with joy and happiness because she's
getting another grand baby that she can love and spoil
as she always loved her grandkids, you know, deeply.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Yeah, And like Hannah must have been happy too, because
she was she had a new boyfriend at that point
who was not Jake Wagner, and she was about to
have a new baby and kind of start a new
chapter of her life.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Right, Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
In photos from this event, Hannah smiles with her daughter Sophia.
We also see other family members in the photo, including
Frankie and his fiance Hannah Gilly. In just a few days,
eight members of the Rodent family would be dead. But
Deray's recollection of the events leading up to the birth
of Kylie is different. She says at that point that
(21:42):
things were still going well between Jake and Hannah.
Speaker 9 (21:44):
I believe they may have disagreements, and I think there
was disappointments, but I don't think there was any any hate.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
We've discussed in previous episodes how the people have piked
in were immediately affected by the murderers and the shroud
of fear that hovered with the small town.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I just don't understand why it happened here.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
You have a really wondering thing, like, is it like
mafia or anything like that, because it is crazy. If
I lived down there, I wouldn't stay there.
Speaker 11 (22:12):
I would be so afraid.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
But in the wake of the murders, many news outlets
were portraying Jake Wagner as almost a sympathetic figure. This
is how the Cincinnati Inquirer described him in a July
twenty sixteen article, a full time single dad with mounting
legal bills, with a new job that pays half of
what he was making to ensure he is close to Sophia,
but close still means the twenty three year old makes
a daily commute to Cincinnati, a two and a half
(22:37):
hour daily drive.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Anybody who was connected to this family, you know, there
was a lot of emotion from the public involved your
because of these children. So it's no surprise that Jake,
you know, a lot of people felt for Jake. Means
he's lived there with with that very young daughter, and
he's fighting to get her back.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
But it's what the family did in the wake of
the murders raised some suspicion. We know that just six
days after the Rodents were killed, Jake Wagner filed for
custody of two and a half year old Sophia, his
daughter with Hannah Rodin. In a previous episode, we talked
to Ohio criminal defense attorney Mike Allen about how this
looks from a legal perspective.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That's extremely strong evidence for the prosecution. I mean six days,
less than a week after the killings. To go ahead
and file. It can take months, you know, maybe a year,
a little bit more, a little bit less. It's not
something that goes quickly at all, and I think that
that is going to be some evidence that's problematic for
(23:39):
the defense doing it that quickly after the murders.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
It was around the same time that Angelo Wagner suggested
her son create a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the
custody expenses to the tune of twenty thousand dollars. Jack
wrote a personal message on the page saying these were
not expenses. I was supposed to have supposed to be
able to spend time with her and give her a
happy childhood. Sophia and I are just asking enough to
(24:06):
settle the fees that we acquired due to the horrific
tragedy to her mommy. He finished, I hate seeing my
daughter cry. We want to get our lives back.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
But these legal actions seemed unusual to many in the community.
He was an investigative reporter Jodi Byr.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
I do remember seeing that in the Rodent massacre Facebook group,
you know, people talking about that and just you know,
there were there was a lot of angry comments about
it that you know a lot of people in those
groups have already convicted the Wagoners. They already believed they
did it and they're guilty, and you know, so to
see that and that and how vocal the Wagners were
(24:43):
on social media, it seemed to rubble people in that
group the wrong way that that was the wrong message
that they believe the Wagoners should have been sending at
that point in time. But you know a lot of
people sowing as the brazenness of the people wrapped up
in this to make a move like that to ask
for help.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Let's stop here for another quick break. We'll be back
in a moment. In May twenty seventeen, with the investigation
in full swing, officials searched the farm of a piked
In resident named Bernard Brown. Mike Allen filled us in
(25:28):
on why police may have been interested in the property.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Agents searched his farm. I guess he's a friend of
the Wagoners and knew them for a long time. I
guess they fixed cars together, A lot of cars on
the lot. I guess Jake had stored some cars and
some other things on the property. And I'll tell you
what cars and vehicles and equipment are all over these
(25:52):
farms that have been searched. So I mean maybe something
could have been hidden somewhere, as somebody must have given
law enforcement a tip that there could possibly be something
there or they wouldn't have searched it.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Bernard Brown was not charged with anything. Authorities searched two
large trailers and took one smaller utility trailer owned by
the Wagners from his property. According to Brown, Jake Wagner
sometimes worked for him fixing cars. Brown said that the
Wagners had dropped items off at the property a week
prior to the search. It was clear that investigators were
(26:27):
becoming more interested in the Wagners. By the spring of
twenty seventeen, the family had been interviewed several times by authorities.
It should be noted that Jake and Angelo were interviewed
five times, Billy three times, and George once. Deray spoke
to Jeff about a conversation she had with Angela Wagner.
As police narrowed in on her family one day.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
She goes, I can't believe that they just won't leave
us alone.
Speaker 9 (26:51):
They just will not leave us alone.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
She goes, it's terrible.
Speaker 9 (26:55):
She goes, We're starting to get really worried that we're
going to be arrested.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So they felt that coming because.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
They wouldn't leave everybody alone.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Rumors of the Wagner's potential involvement in the Roadent massacre
quickly spread, and soon they were being targeted not only
by police, but by Pike County residents as well.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Everybody had started basically attacking then the community, accusing them
of murdering those people, like if they were in town
and people identified their vehicle, they would throw pot bottles
at them. Angela had actually went into a store one
day and some woman had actually flewed up behind Angela.
(27:39):
She was coming back out of the store and through
a glass key bottle affor and it busted her in
the back.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
In May twenty seventeen, as the community continued to turn
against them, Angela Wagner took to social media to publicly
declare her family's innocence. Here's Jeff reading from her post.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Okay, decided to tell you all a couple of things
about me and my family. What has happened to us
in the past few weeks has been devastating and it
will follow us for the rest of our lives. Hannah
was a daughter to me. I loved her dearly. Her
loss still hurts to this day, especially when I see
her every day and my granddaughter. We did not do
anything to hurt Hannah's family. We want justice just like
(28:20):
everyone else. It is real disturbing if you really want
to know what you guys are doing. Your accusations now
will hurt Sophia later in life when she really understands
what happened. Let's try to find the real monsters who've
done this.
Speaker 10 (28:34):
So let's really unpack this for a moment. Because if
Angela Wagner is in fact a martyr and had been
targeted by the town, I mean having a bottle thrown
at you, if you did not commit these crimes would
be hideous, especially the town that you love so much.
Angela and her husband lived there for generations, that had
to be really difficult. However, if they did it and
(28:54):
they just went about their lives speaking to the press openly,
you know, when I look at her photo, I've said
this before. She looks like a mom, but then she's
also grimacing in her mugshot and even during her pre
trial hearings, there's something sort of smug about the way
she presents herself. It also makes me wonder could she
(29:15):
possibly be at the center of this. Facing violent backlash
from locals and increasing attention from authorities, the Wagoners did
something that left everyone and piked and stunned. Here's Jef
Winkler again.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
Their lawyer had said that they were the primary suspects,
and so it was around that time to May twenty
seventeen that the whole family emptied out a few cargo
facilities that they had, some sheds and whatnot, loaded all
up and then up and moved to Alaska.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
When they left for Alaska, I was like, oh, wow,
they're running, And then I thought they.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
All get away with it.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
I'm the one that told them go to Alaska. Ohio
can not afford to extradite you from Alaska back home.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
But the Wagner's relocation didn't hinder the investigation.
Speaker 12 (30:08):
Investigators rated three properties in Adams and Pike Counties the
middle of May. We had previously reported those properties are
connected to the Wagner family. Now, investigators say they believe
the family recently moved to Alaska. Investigators want any information
the public has about the family.
Speaker 11 (30:24):
They moved to Alaska. But then the very following month,
law enforcement actually finally searches the properties where the Wagners lived.
That started to tighten the noose in terms of the Wagner's.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
More on that next time. Reach out to us on
our social media outlets with questions. We're on Instagram, Facebook,
and Twitter at piked in Massacre. We look forward to
answering your questions and upcoming bonus episodes. Piked In Massacre
as executive produced by Stephanie Leidecker and me Courtney Armstrong.
(30:59):
Editing and sound designed by executive producer Jared Aston. Additional
producing by Jeff Shane and Andrew Becker. The Piked In
Massacre is a production of iHeartRadio and Kati Studios. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to the piked In Massacre, a production of iHeartRadio
and Katie Studios.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
It's been one year since eight members of the Rodent
family were found murdered in Pike County.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Now, surviving members of the family have released a lead
for information.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
A year after eight members of the Rodent family were
ruthlessly gunned down in their homes, Ohio authorities are on
a relentless search for the killers.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Over eight hundred tips have been called into police.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
We may commit much of the people of Bike County.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
That day, I said, we're not leaving until we solved this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Many different facets of law enforcement collaborated to crack the case.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The people that carried it out were trying to do
everything they could to make sure that they didn't get caught.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Law enforcement officials begin tracking down a series of leads
that point them to another group of potential suspects, the Wagoners.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
The Wagoner shop and local walmarts for ammunition, magazine, cliffs,
and materials to build brass catchers.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
According to the case indictment, the Wagoners begin conducting what
seems to be almost like reconnaissance on the Rodents.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
What do you mean a camera was? There was it
connected to something I still do this day wonder why
she mentioned that and why that conversation wasn't allowed to
go any further.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
The revelations leave those closest to the family questioning their innocence.
Speaker 5 (01:16):
I know he was upset, but was he upset because
she has been murdered?
Speaker 6 (01:20):
Or when he upset.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Because he's done it?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
This is the piked in Massacre Episode six, the investigation.
In this episode, we're going to dive into law enforcement's
investigation into the Rodent murders, how the Wagners allegedly pulled
off this gruesome massacre, and why. I'm Courtney Armstrong and
(01:46):
I work at Kat's Studios with Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff Shane.
We produced a documentary about the case for NBC Universal's
Oxygen Network in twenty nineteen and have been following the
evolution of the investigation since then. To understand the crime
and the possible motivation of the family that may have
committed it, we want to look at the months leading
up to the murders and authorities movements after. By any
(02:08):
objective standard, it was a long, arduous investigation spanning two
full years. During that time, many different facets of law enforcement.
The FBI, the DEA, the Pike County Sheriff's Office, and
the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation all collaborated to crack
the case.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Police received over eleven hundred tips, They conducted over five
hundred interviews, tested about seven hundred pieces of evidence, served
close to two hundred search warrants, subpoenas and other things.
So this was something that was huge.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
That's Mike Allen, a defense attorney, former Ohio County prosecutor,
and legal analyst for Cincinnati news station Fox nineteen.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
The Attorney General the Wine at the time said it
was a pretty sophisticated operation in the people that carried
it out. We're trying to do everything they could to
make sure that they didn't get caught. Attorney General Wine
and Sheriff Reader, they both said that the investigation was
going to be a long one and a lengthy process,
and boy, sure has played out that way.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But how exactly did investigators circle in on the Wagners
as suspects and eventually compile enough evidence to make arrests.
In previous episodes, we discussed some of the conflicts between
the Wagners and the Rodents In twenty sixteen, there was
a custody battle between Jake Wagner and Hannah Rodin and
a physical altercation between Billy Wagner and Chris Roden Senior.
It seemed like the relationship between the two families was
(03:31):
reaching a fever pitch in the months leading up to
the murders, But these two families didn't always have such
ill will towards one another. Here's journalist Jeff Winkler.
Speaker 7 (03:41):
I think early on people wanted to paint the sort
of few between the Rodents and Wagners as something like
the Hatfields of McCoy's, just because it was sort of
Hills of Appalachia backwoods kind of thing.
Speaker 8 (03:55):
But I mean, it really wasn't.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Like it, right, Like people like to say that Hatfield
and McCoy's. But I think they were probably closer and
friendlier than that version of it, right, yeah.
Speaker 8 (04:05):
They I mean the fact that they were family, mars
just split in their time between the two houses, the
fact that you know, the Wagners had been in the
area for a long time as well, just as the
Rodents had.
Speaker 7 (04:15):
It's just you had two families who were intertwined by
both blood and work.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
We got some more intimate observations from Deray. She's Billy
Wagner's cousin and Frederica Wagner's niece. Deray spoke to Jeff
about how she saw the relationship between her family and
the Rodents.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Do you know anything about Billy and Chris Roden Senior?
Speaker 9 (04:39):
My aunt said that they were very good friends, and
of course he was the grandfather of Sophia, and so
was Billy. Billy is Sophia's grandfather.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I mean, it's like they're in loss.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
They're related.
Speaker 9 (04:54):
I mean, their two grandfathers of the same little girl.
She's adorable.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Did Angela and Dani and I get along in the
same way?
Speaker 5 (05:01):
Do you know?
Speaker 9 (05:01):
It looked to me like they were clearly getting along.
And she never said anything bad about the Rodents. She
never spoke one negative thing about it, just about the
children about you know, they went fishing and they were
over at fredericaz and you know, small talk.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Right, like normal talk you'd have with another mom about
raising kids.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Right exactly, and it's just like that's all it is.
It's just family talk.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
We of course know that Hannah and Jake Wagner had
an intense relationship, but through the ups and downs. Most
would say they were in love and their relationship brought
the two families together. Here's producer Stephanie. When we started
doing our research, I personally became a bit obsessed with
better understanding the intersection between these two families and really
struggle with the motivation. What could possibly cause one family,
(05:53):
the Wagoners, to allegedly murder eight people that they knew
so well they knew them intimately. In fact, we came
across a photograph taken in twenty twelve at George Wagner,
the eldest son's wedding, and the Rodins and the Wagners
are both in this photo seemingly so happy. The only
person not there is Dana Rodin, and she said to
(06:14):
maybe be taking the photo because she later posted it
on her MySpace page. But it's mind blowing. The people
in the photo do not look like killers posing with
there would be victims, but sure enough, in four years,
the majority of the people in this picture would be
dead and the others would be standing trial for their deaths.
(06:37):
Throughout this series, we've been talking to a relative of
the Wagners who's chosen to remain anonymous. She spoke to
Jeff about her family's reaction in the wake of the
Rodent murders.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What was the feeling like in the family after that happened.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
Angela was upset because it was the mother of her granddaughter.
She was just really sad, you know, that that had happened.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
When I talked to Jake and I was telling it.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I'm so sorry, you know, like, if there's anything I
can do, please tell me. And Angela she did ask
me at one point, probably about a month after the
murders had happened, if I could come down and pick
up Sothia and Jake and take Sophia to a friend's
house and stuff. So I did, and in that time,
(07:20):
you know, me and.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Jake and Sabilla in the car, and he was an
absolute wrecked rank And of course I did not know.
I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what
to ask him. I didn't know what to say.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
I was kind of just letting him just have his moment.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
And he was absolutely devastated. I mean, he couldn't talk,
he couldn't breathe, he.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
Was out of the page attack in my car, and
I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, I don't know
what to say. So of course when I find out
that they were the ones that's done this, I keep
thinking back to that time and you know, in the car,
and I'm like, oh my gosh, Like, I.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
Know he was upset, but was he upset for you know,
the right reason? Like, yeah, was he upset because.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
She had been murdered? Or on the upset because you
know he's done it and he knew. I don't know.
It was just an awful, eerie feeling.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
It really truly.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Was Pike County Massacre.
Speaker 8 (08:15):
It's the title of what has happened out here, the
tragedy that we've been covering.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
The victims ranged in age from sixteen to forty four.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Each were shot anywhere from once to nine times. It's just,
you know, a grisly scene in a gristly situation.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Let's rewind to summer twenty fourteen. Hannah and Jake's daughter,
Sophia is eight months old. Here's producer Stephanie.
Speaker 10 (08:39):
This is why this case is so complicated, because just
when I think the Wagners could be innocent, I read
something like this. Around this time, according to the case indictment,
the Wagners began conducting what seems to almost be like
reconnaissance on the Rodent family. Over the course of the
next two years, they allegedly began hacking into the Rodent's
personal computers, their phones, even their social media accounts. They
(09:03):
even reportedly use surveillance cameras to spy on the Rodents.
But why would they do that, especially according to most accounts,
Jake and Hannah were very much still dating and very
much in love at this time, So why would they
be spying? Was Angela Wagner the mom obsessed with her
youngest son, Jake Wagner's relationship with Hannah Rodin. Where the
dads Chris Roden or Billy Wagner Senior embroiled in something big,
(09:26):
where the Wagner is simply trying to get familiar with
the family patterns and better understand the Rodent property, why
would they possibly be spying.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Here's investigative reporter Jodi Barr. He's talking about a conversation
he had with Kendra Rodin, the daughter of one of
the victims, Kenneth Roden.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Kendra Roadin brought up with me in our discussions, she
mentioned a few times that there were cameras set up
around Chris Senior's home.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Wow, so Kendra Rodin actually saw cameras on the property
that now it seems as if allegedly the Wagoners had
put there.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Yeah, she told me that at Christian Year's home, that
there was a camera on that property. And she said
it was in sort of a not in the wooded area,
but sort of the field like it hadn't been mode,
but it was right near the garage at Christi Year's home.
And of course, naturally you start questioning her about the
(10:23):
cameras and you know, what do you mean a camera
was there? Was it connected to something?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Did you?
Speaker 10 (10:29):
Did?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You looked at you to try to investigate. It was
a very strange encounter, you know, when she mentioned that
and then the conversation wouldn't no further.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Well, she was probably scared, right, possibly, I.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Mean, but she's talking to a reporter. That was always
something that I've wondered about because she never got an
answer to and it was so strange, and I still
to this day wonder why she mentioned that and why
that conversation wasn't allowed to go any further.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, but I find so like the most screwed up
thing about it is at that time, the summer twenty
fourteen has when Jay Wagner and Hannah Rodin were like
hot and heavy and planning a wedding, and to know
that he was then also sort of maybe planning her
murder at the same time, or starting to at least
spy on her in some way, it's like just very dark.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I mean, there's a lot of interest obviously still in
this case. And you know, with every criminal prosecution, you know,
the state they have their version of facts, and the
defense will have its version of facts. But if this
turns out to be true, man, what a story. I mean,
what a terribly tragic ending to these lives, to everything
that was going on. If we are to believe that
(11:34):
the prosecution as alleged, you know, this paints a very
dark picture.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
We're going to take a quick break here. We'll be
back in a moment. It seems that the Wagners became
obsessed with getting soul cussed did of Sophia after Jake
and Hannah broke up, But how exactly did they think
they would gain control? As laid out in the indictment,
(12:07):
the Wagners began methodically plotting a scheme that would take
several months to actually carry out. Here again, is Jodi Barr.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
So when you read these indictments, you know they were
talking about the Wagner's movements even months before these murders happened,
and that the investigators believed that they were planning this
for quite some time before that. The Adamo says that
detectives believe that planning began January one of twenty sixteen.
The murders happened April of twenty sixteen. So you've got
(12:35):
four months of planning that's alleged to have happened here.
Four months to plan the South.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
I mean, if that's every.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Day for four months, that's the full time job.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So what exactly went into the planning? In previous episodes,
we talked about how in April twenty sixteen, the Wagners
presented Hannah Rodin with custody documents. But what Hannah didn't
know then and what police later uncovered, is that the
supposedly legal documents were fake, and that Angela Wagner's mother,
Rita Joe Nucam, was allegedly at the center of the deception.
(13:09):
I spoke to my Gallon about it. So Rita Nucom
Angela's mom. She faces three counts of forgery. A kound
of perjury and she's a notary. Can you speak to
what power does a notary have or how does that
come into play?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
In Ohio, notaries don't have a lot of power. They
are allowed, obviously to notarize signatures. You know, they have
to make sure that the oath is administered properly when
they are notarizing something. They're kind of hard to come
by here in Ohio. But I'm certain that because of
this she'll probably lose that notary's license, if she hasn't already.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Moving forward a bit in time, prosecutors ultimately claimed that
read a lie about the authenticity of these documents to
a grand jury, But in an unexpected twist, Nucom agreed
to a plea deal with the prosecution. She pled guilty
to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing official business in exchange
felony charges of forgery and perjury were dismissed. Here's Nucomb
(14:09):
speaking in court.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I feel that.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
It's not a good crazy thing long and I'm going
to live with the more.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
It's difficult to hear her because of the recording, but
she says, I just feel that it's not a good
Christian thing to lie and I couldn't live with it
no more. Jodi Barr thinks there could be ulterior motives
to Newcomb's deal.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The prosecutor said in court, though, that a hand running
expert concluded that Rita Nucomb did not sign the documents herself.
Nukemb admitted to fosterly, telling a grand jury and investigators
that she did so only because her daughter, Angela Wagner,
who was among those charged with the killings, told her
to do so. I mean there were some heavy charges dismissed.
(14:52):
You know, we're investigators trying to squeeze the grandmothers to
get some information out of them.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Mike Allen seems to think so.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Now there's a lot of speculation, and in the normal case,
the first thing you'd think of is Okay, you know,
they gave her a reduced charge in return for cooperation,
and I would not be surprised if that's not the case.
But again, you know, we won't know until we get
closer to trial.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Can you be compelled to testify for the prosecution?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Sure, I mean, they receive a subpoena unless there's some
kind of legal reason why you know they couldn't. Yeah,
I mean the prosecutor could issue the subpoena. If there's testimony,
the prosecutor would probably ask the court to designate that
person as a hostile witness, and then they can use
(15:45):
leading questions.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
According to court records, the documents appointed a guardian for
Jake and Hannah's daughter in the event of their deaths.
When police later searched the Wagner home, this document was
found in a box belonging to Angelo labeled important Stuff.
I asked Mike Gallan about the legal ramifications of these
forged documents. How does it appear that these documents were
(16:09):
forged on April third? It was nineteen days before the murders.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I'll tell you what, I've been doing this for a
long time and I've never seen anything like this. It's
strong evidence for the prosecutor. The defense attorney has to
find a way to explain that away, which is probably
next to impossible. But yeah, it's that strong evidence from
a prosecutor's perspective.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
As we've discussed before, it was around this time that
Chris Ruden Senior and Billy Wagner got into a fight
as well. Here's Mike Allen recapping that confrontation back.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
In mid April twenty and sixteen, supposedly there was a
fight between Chris Senior and Billy Wagner. Nobody seems to
know what the fight was about or what caused it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Things were obviously becoming strained between the two families, but
the beginning of April also brought a lot of joy
for the Rodent film. That month, Hannah celebrated her nineteenth birthday.
Here's rodin family friend Stephann.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
It was a happy occasion, you know.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It was family get together and lots of fun, you know,
because they were fun. They were always having you know,
get together's, birthday parties, anything like that.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
They were a great family unit.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
But as the Rodent family was celebrating, the Wagners allegedly
were busy planning their murders. The Wagners already had a
cachet of firearms, but around this time they began making
their own silencers. If the Wagners did do it, it
seems likely that these would have been used on the
night of the murders. The family also bought ammunition, a
(17:43):
magazine clip, a bug detector, and materials to build brass catchers.
Jodi Barr filled us in on what some of this
equipment is used.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
For The brass catcher is a bag that hooks on
the side of a fire arm. It will catch spent cartridges,
so every time you pull the trigger, cartridges is ejected.
And if you were really interested in not leaving anything
behind as far as ballistic evidence to sound like a
great story, this bag will collect the shell casing, so
(18:13):
there's no evidence left behind. The bug detector, so purely
that helps someone find listening devices and sometimes create blat
noise to muffle sounds or discussion.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
The indictment also includes a reference to a specific pair
of shoes that the family purchased from Walmart. But why
would they need a particular pair of shoes to pull
off a murder? Here's Stephanie.
Speaker 10 (18:36):
One such theory is that the Wagners were trying to
frame data Rodin's brother, James Manly. He's significant because if
you recall, Dana Rowden's sister, Bobby Joe, made the first
discovery of bodies and called nine to one one. She
also called her brother, who rushed to Dana Roden's house
and also found their bodies. His prints were allegedly at
(18:58):
the crime scene. However, just one day before the murders.
The Wagners drove two and a half hours to a
specific Walmart to buy a particular pair of boots. They're
seen on surveillance buying these boots and they're the same
kind of boots known to be worn by James Manley.
Why would they do that?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Here's reporter Jody.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Barr from the Dyingment. I mean, there's a lot of
assertion by the prosecution that they have evidence that, you know,
these boots were purchased to frame James Manley a family
member for the murder, and that James lived the closest
to Dana, and that James ended up being one of
the first to discover Dana and you know in Hannah's
(19:41):
bodies that morning.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Right, So the idea is that they went and bought
these specific boots knowing that James Manley wore them, and
then they would in theory, wear them the night of
the murder. So it looked to police like he was
the one walking around.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
And it sounds like for a period of time investigators
might have believed that to be the case, because James
Manley was one of the first people rough in and interrogated.
Given a polygraph, I mean, if you're to believe what's
written in that indictment. It sounds like that you may
have been pretty close to pulling this all off.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It was so detail oriented.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, and you wonder this too. It's like it seemed
like a lot of detailed planning to pre plan that.
I don't really know what to think of it. Again,
I don't know anybody who's capable of doing that, and
we know it happened. It was pulled off by somebody.
But I mean, if they really bought boots to try
to frame James manly Man again, this is a heck
(20:37):
of a story. Who drinks us up? Who thinks this up?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
In April twenty sixteen, the same week as Hannah's birthday,
her mother Dana threw a baby shower to celebrate the
upcoming birth of her new baby girl, Kylie. It would
be the last time the Rodent family all gathered in
one place. Becky Ryder was a close friend of Dana Rhaden's.
She told Jeff about the excitement surrounding the baby's.
Speaker 9 (21:00):
The Dana felt overwhelmed with joy and happiness because she's
getting another grand baby that she can love and spoil
as she always loved her grandkids, you know, deeply.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Yeah, And like Hannah must have been happy too, because
she was she had a new boyfriend at that point
who was not Jake Wagner, and she was about to
have a new baby and kind of start a new
chapter of her life.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Right, Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
In photos from this event, Hannah smiles with her daughter Sophia.
We also see other family members in the photo, including
Frankie and his fiance Hannah Gilly. In just a few days,
eight members of the Rodent family would be dead. But
Deray's recollection of the events leading up to the birth
of Kylie is different. She says at that point that
(21:42):
things were still going well between Jake and Hannah.
Speaker 9 (21:44):
I believe they may have disagreements, and I think there
was disappointments, but I don't think there was any any hate.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
We've discussed in previous episodes how the people have piked
in were immediately affected by the murderers and the shroud
of fear that hovered with the small town.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I just don't understand why it happened here.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
You have a really wondering thing, like, is it like
mafia or anything like that, because it is crazy. If
I lived down there, I wouldn't stay there.
Speaker 11 (22:12):
I would be so afraid.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
But in the wake of the murders, many news outlets
were portraying Jake Wagner as almost a sympathetic figure. This
is how the Cincinnati Inquirer described him in a July
twenty sixteen article, a full time single dad with mounting
legal bills, with a new job that pays half of
what he was making to ensure he is close to Sophia,
but close still means the twenty three year old makes
a daily commute to Cincinnati, a two and a half
(22:37):
hour daily drive.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Anybody who was connected to this family, you know, there
was a lot of emotion from the public involved your
because of these children. So it's no surprise that Jake,
you know, a lot of people felt for Jake. Means
he's lived there with with that very young daughter, and
he's fighting to get her back.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
But it's what the family did in the wake of
the murders raised some suspicion. We know that just six
days after the Rodents were killed, Jake Wagner filed for
custody of two and a half year old Sophia, his
daughter with Hannah Rodin. In a previous episode, we talked
to Ohio criminal defense attorney Mike Allen about how this
looks from a legal perspective.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That's extremely strong evidence for the prosecution. I mean six days,
less than a week after the killings. To go ahead
and file. It can take months, you know, maybe a year,
a little bit more, a little bit less. It's not
something that goes quickly at all, and I think that
that is going to be some evidence that's problematic for
(23:39):
the defense doing it that quickly after the murders.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
It was around the same time that Angelo Wagner suggested
her son create a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the
custody expenses to the tune of twenty thousand dollars. Jack
wrote a personal message on the page saying these were
not expenses. I was supposed to have supposed to be
able to spend time with her and give her a
happy childhood. Sophia and I are just asking enough to
(24:06):
settle the fees that we acquired due to the horrific
tragedy to her mommy. He finished, I hate seeing my
daughter cry. We want to get our lives back.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
But these legal actions seemed unusual to many in the community.
He was an investigative reporter Jodi Byr.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
I do remember seeing that in the Rodent massacre Facebook group,
you know, people talking about that and just you know,
there were there was a lot of angry comments about
it that you know a lot of people in those
groups have already convicted the Wagoners. They already believed they
did it and they're guilty, and you know, so to
see that and that and how vocal the Wagners were
(24:43):
on social media, it seemed to rubble people in that
group the wrong way that that was the wrong message
that they believe the Wagoners should have been sending at
that point in time. But you know a lot of
people sowing as the brazenness of the people wrapped up
in this to make a move like that to ask
for help.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Let's stop here for another quick break. We'll be back
in a moment. In May twenty seventeen, with the investigation
in full swing, officials searched the farm of a piked
In resident named Bernard Brown. Mike Allen filled us in
(25:28):
on why police may have been interested in the property.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Agents searched his farm. I guess he's a friend of
the Wagoners and knew them for a long time. I
guess they fixed cars together, A lot of cars on
the lot. I guess Jake had stored some cars and
some other things on the property. And I'll tell you
what cars and vehicles and equipment are all over these
(25:52):
farms that have been searched. So I mean maybe something
could have been hidden somewhere, as somebody must have given
law enforcement a tip that there could possibly be something
there or they wouldn't have searched it.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Bernard Brown was not charged with anything. Authorities searched two
large trailers and took one smaller utility trailer owned by
the Wagners from his property. According to Brown, Jake Wagner
sometimes worked for him fixing cars. Brown said that the
Wagners had dropped items off at the property a week
prior to the search. It was clear that investigators were
(26:27):
becoming more interested in the Wagners. By the spring of
twenty seventeen, the family had been interviewed several times by authorities.
It should be noted that Jake and Angelo were interviewed
five times, Billy three times, and George once. Deray spoke
to Jeff about a conversation she had with Angela Wagner.
As police narrowed in on her family one day.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
She goes, I can't believe that they just won't leave
us alone.
Speaker 9 (26:51):
They just will not leave us alone.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
She goes, it's terrible.
Speaker 9 (26:55):
She goes, We're starting to get really worried that we're
going to be arrested.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So they felt that coming because.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
They wouldn't leave everybody alone.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Rumors of the Wagner's potential involvement in the Roadent massacre
quickly spread, and soon they were being targeted not only
by police, but by Pike County residents as well.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Everybody had started basically attacking then the community, accusing them
of murdering those people, like if they were in town
and people identified their vehicle, they would throw pot bottles
at them. Angela had actually went into a store one
day and some woman had actually flewed up behind Angela.
(27:39):
She was coming back out of the store and through
a glass key bottle affor and it busted her in
the back.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
In May twenty seventeen, as the community continued to turn
against them, Angela Wagner took to social media to publicly
declare her family's innocence. Here's Jeff reading from her post.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Okay, decided to tell you all a couple of things
about me and my family. What has happened to us
in the past few weeks has been devastating and it
will follow us for the rest of our lives. Hannah
was a daughter to me. I loved her dearly. Her
loss still hurts to this day, especially when I see
her every day and my granddaughter. We did not do
anything to hurt Hannah's family. We want justice just like
(28:20):
everyone else. It is real disturbing if you really want
to know what you guys are doing. Your accusations now
will hurt Sophia later in life when she really understands
what happened. Let's try to find the real monsters who've
done this.
Speaker 10 (28:34):
So let's really unpack this for a moment. Because if
Angela Wagner is in fact a martyr and had been
targeted by the town, I mean having a bottle thrown
at you, if you did not commit these crimes would
be hideous, especially the town that you love so much.
Angela and her husband lived there for generations, that had
to be really difficult. However, if they did it and
(28:54):
they just went about their lives speaking to the press openly,
you know, when I look at her photo, I've said
this before. She looks like a mom, but then she's
also grimacing in her mugshot and even during her pre
trial hearings, there's something sort of smug about the way
she presents herself. It also makes me wonder could she
(29:15):
possibly be at the center of this. Facing violent backlash
from locals and increasing attention from authorities, the Wagoners did
something that left everyone and piked and stunned. Here's Jef
Winkler again.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
Their lawyer had said that they were the primary suspects,
and so it was around that time to May twenty
seventeen that the whole family emptied out a few cargo
facilities that they had, some sheds and whatnot, loaded all
up and then up and moved to Alaska.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
When they left for Alaska, I was like, oh, wow,
they're running, And then I thought they.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
All get away with it.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
I'm the one that told them go to Alaska. Ohio
can not afford to extradite you from Alaska back home.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
But the Wagner's relocation didn't hinder the investigation.
Speaker 12 (30:08):
Investigators rated three properties in Adams and Pike Counties the
middle of May. We had previously reported those properties are
connected to the Wagner family. Now, investigators say they believe
the family recently moved to Alaska. Investigators want any information
the public has about the family.
Speaker 11 (30:24):
They moved to Alaska. But then the very following month,
law enforcement actually finally searches the properties where the Wagners lived.
That started to tighten the noose in terms of the Wagner's.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
More on that next time. Reach out to us on
our social media outlets with questions. We're on Instagram, Facebook,
and Twitter at piked in Massacre. We look forward to
answering your questions and upcoming bonus episodes. Piked In Massacre
as executive produced by Stephanie Leidecker and me Courtney Armstrong.
(30:59):
Editing and sound designed by executive producer Jared Aston. Additional
producing by Jeff Shane and Andrew Becker. The Piked In
Massacre is a production of iHeartRadio and Kati Studios. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Stephanie Lydecker
Courtney Armstrong
Jeff Shane
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