Ohio Mom Pleads Guilty to Execution Murders of Neighbor
- Details
- Category: Crime
- Published on Saturday, 11 September 2021 18:17
- Written by Janet Walker
Angela Wager, 50, entered a guilty plea this week, admitting to her role in the 2016 massacre of eight members of the Rhoden family, which stemmed from a custody dispute, in a case that shocked the nation.
Wager plea agreement came six months after her son, Jake Wager, became the first member of the family to accept a guilty plea. In exchange for her cooperation, the aggravated murder changes will be dropped against her, and her sentence recommendation was reduced to thirty years in a maximum-security prison. She must also testify against the remaining members of her family who participated in the massacre.
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"Her husband and their two adult sons also were charged in the 2016 slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family. Wagner's plea comes nearly five months after her son Edward "Jake" Wagner pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and agreed to testify against the other three in a deal that would help all four avoid potential death sentences," reported NBCnews.com.
The pair have admitted to planning the murders for months, motivated by a custody battle for Jake Wager's daughter he fathered with Hanna Rhoden. Angela Wagner admitted to conspiring with her family members and transporting with full knowledge and intent machinery used to make homemade silencer and phone jams which would disable the Rhoden family's phones so they would not be able to call 911.
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On the morning of April 2016, in Piketown, Ohio, a small of the beaten path town in rural Ohio woke up five years ago to the horrifying discovery that eight members of a local family had been executed while they slept. That discovery kicked off an intense nationwide manhunt, which for nearly two years went unsolved. In November 0f 2018, all four members of the Wager Family were arrested and charged with the murders.
"The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna; Clarence Rhoden's fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden," NBCnews.com reported.
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Three children at the scene, including Jake's daughter, were unharmed.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released a statement failing Angela's plea deal. "Our society reveres mothers for taking care of their children and teaching them to do the right thing, even when it's hard. But by actively plotting the murder of an entire family and encouraging her own kids to carry out the violence, Angela Wagner abjectly failed in her responsibilities."
