The Worst Family Massacre in Ohio’s History
In 2016, these three homes of the Roden family would become the scene of one of the most chilling and heartbreaking massacres Ohio has ever known. I just might tell you this is just the most bizarre story uh I have ever seen in being involved in law enforcement. On the night of April 21st into the early hours of the 22nd, eight members of the Roden family were executed in their bed.
But what made this tragedy even more chilling was the fact that three innocent children, all under the age of three, were mysteriously spared. So, who could commit such an unspeakable act? And why? Don’t go away from a mother. I think about a day and night. I lose a lot of sleep over. What happened inside those three houses would uncover a tangled web of secrets, betrayal, and a motive that no one, and I mean no one, ever saw coming.
We got to tell you what’s going on. There is blood all over the house. Okay. My brother-in-law’s in the bedroom. It looks like I beat the hell out of them. Okay. There’s blood all over. Ma’am, can you tell me what county that’s in? Is it my county? It’s my county. Yes. Okay. Okay.
I need you to get out of the house. Did you drive over there? Yes, I did. Looks like they’re dead. You think they’re both dead? I think the dead looks like someone has beat the [ __ ] out of them. Okay. Is there anybody else in the house? Not that I know of. The woman reporting the incident was Bobby Joe Manley, the sister of one of the victims.
On the morning of April 22nd, she arrived at the family farm to feed the animals, a chore that had been part of her regular routine. But what she walked into that morning would change her life forever. As she stepped inside one of the three homes on the property, she immediately sensed something was horribly wrong. The house was eerily silent, far too silent for a family that usually filled it with life.
Bobby Joe along with her brother James began to search the house, calling out to see if anyone was around. What they found next would be etched in their minds forever. In the living room, Christopher Rhoden Senior, the 40-year-old patriarch of the family, lay lifeless. His body was riddled with nine gunshot wounds, each fired from close range.
Five of the bullets had hit his face and head, while another three struck his torso, and a single shot pierced his arm, as if he’d tried to fend off the attack in his sleep. This was the only sign of resistance from anyone in the house. Nearby, in a different room, they found Gary Rhoden, Christopher’s 38-year-old cousin. Gary had been shot twice in the head with a third shot fired so close to his temple it left a muzzle stamp.
Unlike Christopher, there were no signs of struggle and it was believed that Gary had been asleep when the killer or killers struck. The brutality of the scene left Bobby Joe and James in shock, struggling to comprehend the horror before them. Without wasting another moment, Bobby Joe dialed 911, her voice trembling with fear as she reported the unimaginable violence she had just discovered.
In the next house, the scene was equally horrific. Clarence Frankie Rhoden, Chris’s eldest son, and his fianceé Hannah Hazelgilly were found murdered in their bed. Their four-month-old baby was miraculously unharmed, lying peacefully between them. However, their three-year-old child had been found asleep on the floor, unaware of the nightmare unfolding around them.
Frankie had been shot three times in the head and face, while Hannah had been shot through the eye, and then four more times. It was a cold, brutal execution. Manley then rushed to the third home, that of his sister Dana Rhoden, Chris Senior sife, where she lived with their 16-year-old son Chris Jr.
, and their 19-year-old daughter, Hannah. Hannah had just given birth to her second child only 4 days before. Dana’s fate was just as horrifying. She had been shot five times in the head, including pointblank shots through her temple and another upward shot under her chin. In a nearby room, Chris Jr. had been shot twice through the top of his head.
And in the final room, Hannah Rhoden was found dead from two fatal gunshots to the head. But in a chilling twist, Hannah’s newborn was unharmed, still attempting to nurse from her mother’s lifeless breast. Fortunately, Hannah’s 2-year-old daughter, Sophia, had been staying with her father and had been spared the horror of that night.
As police and first responders flooded the scene, the community began to gather in shock, trying to process the brutal killings. But the horror didn’t stop there. Donald Stone, a cousin of Chris Rooden, Senior, began to worry about another family member, Kenneth Rhoden, who lived just a few miles down the road.
He called Kenneth’s phone repeatedly, but when there was no answer, Stone and two friends decided to go check on him. They found his house unlocked and as they entered they discovered Kenneth Rhoden’s body. He had been murdered too with a single gunshot wound through his eye fired at close range. Eight members of the same family were now dead.
Each victim found within their own home. It was a massacre so brutal. Yet the investigation was clouded by one terrifying reality. There was almost no trace of who had committed the crime. There were no shell casings, no gunshots heard, and shockingly, two pitbulls, known for being fiercely protective, didn’t even bark that night. The dogs, who usually growled at anyone they didn’t recognize, stood silent, adding a strange layer of mystery to the scene.
Even more chilling, not a single cell phone was found among the victims, and there were no signs of theft. It was as though the phones had been deliberately taken, possibly to remove evidence. This eerie absence suggested that the killers might have planned their attack meticulously, eliminating any chance for the victims to alert anyone.
The sheer scale of the massacre, combined with the victim’s inability to defend themselves, hinted at multiple asalants. But who could have carried out such a heinous act? As forensic experts from the county sheriff’s department and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation sifted through the scene for clues, the investigation struggled to keep up with the flood of rumors and the silent code that runs through the tight-knit community.
As families buried their dead in the shadowed hills of Appalachian, Ohio, the real question loomed. What could have sparked such a brutal killing spree? The Rhoden family patriarch Chris Rooden Senior and his brother Kenneth were known for having brushes with the law. Their reputation had been tarnished further by the discovery of a pot growing operation near Kenneth’s barn and the unsettling hint of a cockfighting ring at the family compound.
These findings sparked suspicion that criminal activity had led to their deaths. Rumors swirled, pointing to potential ties with a Mexican drug cartel, whose brutal methods were notorious. But those killings usually occurred much farther south. Pike County had seen a few small-cale drug busts linked to cartels. But the idea that the Rhoden’s operation could be connected to something larger was unsettling.
Other whispers suggested the family had ties to the Cornbread Mafia, an infamous drug operation that spanned the central Appalachian Mountains. Known for running pill mills and meth labs, this group made use of the region’s isolated hollows with easy access to state lines to move materials. While the Cornbread Mafia was known for violence, nothing like this mass slaughter had ever been linked to them.
Law enforcement had to consider the possibility that this notorious group had evolved, taking its brutal tactics into new, dangerous territory. Hundreds of tips flooded in and rewards were offered in the hopes of finding answers, but the truth remained elusive. Investigators were stuck in a web of dead ends.
Each promising lead turned to dust. Desperate for answers, they seized the evidence from the rodent property, vehicles, mobile homes, anything that might hold a clue and stored it, hoping the next piece of the puzzle would surface. Meanwhile, the fate of the three children left behind lingered, especially 2-year-old Sophia, who had been with her father and other relatives the night of the killings.
Little did anyone know at the time this child would become the key to unlocking the entire mystery. What initially seemed like a professional hit carried out by organized crime was in reality something far more personal. A deeprooted feud between two families with young Sophia at the heart of it all.
Billy Wagner and Chris Rooden Senior had a history, one that ran deep in the underbelly of their community. These two men had likely crossed paths more than once, whether as partners or rivals in crime. The local gossip ran rampant with whispers of their ties to criminal activity. But it wasn’t just the men whose lives were intertwined.
Billy’s son Jake and Chris’s daughter Hannah had a turbulent relationship that had lasted years. Since Hannah was just 13, their love affair had blossomed, and from it came the child that would set everything into motion, Sophia. In the wake of the massacre, Billy Wagner appeared to put on a show of concern for Sophia’s well-being, going as far as filing for custody of the child.
What raised red flags, however, was the timing. The custody documents were allegedly signed by Hannah herself, giving Billy sole custody if anything were to happen to her. Investigators couldn’t ignore how conveniently the Vagnner seemed to have prepared for this very moment. But this was only the beginning. After the murders, the Wagnars seemingly vanished from Pike County.
They packed up and moved to Alaska, as far away from the violent crime scene as they could get. The town of Pike County, still reeling from the horror, slowly returned to its routine, and the Wagnars were almost forgotten until they resurfaced about a year later. When they returned, it wasn’t just Jake Wagner and his family. It was a new wife for Jake and the entire family seemed to reintegrate smoothly into the community.
Now everything seemed normal, but something felt off. The Vagners, who had once been known for their isolation and odd behaviors, were suddenly playing the role of model citizens, all working at a local trucking company. This was a far cry from their usual pattern. Jake and George, the Wagner brothers, had grown up in a family that kept everything close to the chest.
They were homeschooled, isolated from others, and their parents, Billy and Angela, kept a tight grip on every decision the family made. Even after the divorce, the family unit remained unbreakable. Angela living just down the road, but still part of the tightly controlled family system. As each family member entered new relationships, the control of the Vagnars never loosened.
When George married, his wife was absorbed into their world. And when Jake married, it was clear that she would be no exception to the suffocating family dynamic. What looked like a close-knit family was actually a manipulative, controlling unit that bound each member in a web of secrecy. Shortly after the Wagner family returned to Pike County from their time in Alaska, something strange happened that set off alarm bells.
The two women, Jake’s new wife and his mother, suddenly bolted. The reasons they fled, what they told the police, and the whispers shared with family members, remain shrouded in mystery. But as if on Q, the investigation into the Rhoden family massacre took an unexpected turn, focusing on the Vagner family. The illusion of friendship and their so-called concern for Sophia crumbled, and a darker truth began to surface, one of illicit love, jealousy, and a sinister conspiracy.
What unfolded was no fairy tale. It was a calculated tale of manipulation and murder. All orchestrated to take permanent custody of young Sophia. The prosecution led by Assistant Attorney General Angela Canopa began pulling back the layers of a story that had been brewing in the shadows. It all started with a love story, or more accurately, a dangerous obsession.
At just 13 years old, Hannah May Rooden was at the Pike County Fairgrounds when she met Jake Wagner, almost 18 at the time. What began as innocent curiosity over bunnies quickly spiraled into something far darker. Despite their age difference, Jake and Hannah began a relationship. Incredibly, Chris Rhoden senior, Hannah’s father, approved, even though the age gap and the circumstances raised major red flags.
But Chris, who knew Billy Wagner, Jake’s father, gave his permission, albeit with conditions. Hannah wasn’t allowed to be alone with Jake. A chaperon had to accompany her on every outing. But this wasn’t just a romantic fling. This was a relationship fueled by a growing jealousy, and soon the cracks began to show.
As time passed, Hannah and Jake’s relationship soured. After an alleged incident where Jake choked Hannah, she fled to her father, saying she couldn’t handle the toxic environment, not just from Jake, but from the entire Vagner family, who had their claws in every aspect of her life. Then things took a darker turn.
Hannah, in a moment of desperation, made a public statement on social media. She would never give her child up to Jake, even if it cost her life. What she didn’t know was that her private post was being monitored by Jake and his mother, Angela Wagner. They had hacked into her Facebook account, and that message became a ticking time bomb that set the families on a tragic course toward violence.
Jake was not only furious about the breakup, but he was also deeply resentful of the people who had been involved in Hannah and Sophia’s life. His anger was reaching a boiling point. During this period, Hannah began seeing someone new, Charlie Gilly, the brother of her sister-in-law. Their brief relationship ended with yet another pregnancy.
And this was the breaking point for Jake. But it wasn’t just his anger. It was the Wagner family’s chilling calculation that began to take shape. Months before the birth of Hannah’s second child, the Wagner had gathered around a table to discuss a devastating plan. This wasn’t a spur-ofthe- moment decision. It had been thought out and planned meticulously.
Billy Wagner, Jake’s father, presented a chilling proposal. They would not only remove Hannah from the picture, but anyone else who had a claim to Sophia. The Wagner family, as they often did, voted on the plan, deciding who would be eliminated and how they would proceed. The ultimate goal was clear to ensure that no one could challenge their claim to Sophia and that the custody of the child would fall into their hands no matter the cost.
With a tragic finality, they decided that seven people had to die and that no one would be left to stand in their way. The killings would be carried out and once they were done, they would file legal motions to gain custody of Sophia. The Vagner family believed that after their calculated violence, no one would dare challenge them again.
They began by making seemingly innocent purchases, but each item had a purpose in their twisted plan. They started by buying athletic shoes from a local Walmart. But these weren’t just any shoes. They were the wrong sizes for the Vagner sons and were brand new, untouched by anyone’s feet. These shoes were carefully chosen for the night of the murders, so the footprints they left behind would be harder to trace to them.
The vagnars were meticulous, and this was just the beginning of their careful preparations. Along with the shoes, they secured handguns, specifically 22 caliber long rifles and semi-automatic pistols. These were quieter than larger calibers and had less recoil, making them perfect for close-range covert killings.
But they didn’t stop there. The Vagnars also acquired suppressors, which wouldn’t completely silence the gunshots, but would reduce the noise to a muffled sound, like a cough, so that no one outside of the trailers could hear the gunfire. They also bought brass catchers, little pouches attached to the pistols to catch the spent shells, ensuring they didn’t leave behind any physical evidence.
In the months leading up to the murders, the Wagnars practiced relentlessly. Jake and his brother spent hours shooting in a secluded wooded area behind their property. Bullets were found lodged in the trees and remnants of a burnedout homemade suppressor were recovered during the investigation, confirming their extensive practice.
They were preparing for the moment when they would carry out the unimaginable. But their preparation didn’t stop at weapons. They also purchased a cell phone jamming device which they planned to use to ensure that no one could call for help during the killings. As if this wasn’t enough, they went as far as dying their hair to alter their appearances and avoid being identified.
Meanwhile, Angela Wagner, the mother, was busy forging crucial documents. She created fake papers that showed Hannah Rhoden had signed a statement declaring that if something happened to her, custody of her daughter Sophia would go to Jake and his family. These documents were meant to be revealed after the murders in an attempt to make it seem as though the Vagnars were just concerned relatives who were trying to step in for the good of the child, hoping that no one would question the timing or the circumstances of the custody arrangement. As the Vagners
prepared, they also began staking out the Roden family’s homes. They knew the routine of every person, when they came home, when they left, how late they stayed up, and whether anyone visited after dark. They learned everything they needed to know. The Vagnars were ready. The time had come.
The night of the murders, right after Hannah Rhoden gave birth to her second child, the Wagner set their plan into motion. While Hannah recovered at home with her newborn, Sophia was sent to stay with the Vagnars for a couple of nights. This was the opening they needed. The Vagnars drove to the Roden family property, which consisted of three trailers and several outuildings.
They were familiar with the layout and the people, and they knew exactly what to do. Billy Wagner, the father, entered Chris Rhoden Senior’s home under the guise of discussing a potential drug deal. Meanwhile, Jake and his brother George hid in the pickup truck, waiting. Once inside, Billy moved with ruthless efficiency, gaining the trust of his victim and setting the stage for what would follow.
The Vagnars moved from home to home, killing everyone in their path, adults and teenagers alike. But they left the young children, including the newborn baby, unharmed, just as they had planned. They carried out the murders with brutal precision, making sure that no one would survive to testify against them. And then, like shadows in the night, they disappeared.
Their next move was to dispose of any evidence that could link them to the killings. The truck was abandoned, their clothes and shoes were discarded, and the weapons, the most damning evidence, were carefully hidden. In an ingenious twist, the Vagnner sent their cousin, a fisherman, a gruesome gift. The guns, shell casings, and suppressor remnants were placed in gallon buckets filled with wet cement and turned into boat anchors.
The anchors were then dropped into a local lake where they would sink to the bottom, far from anyone’s reach. The Vagners went to great lengths to ensure that they would never be caught. They even maintained a public facade of griefstricken, shocked family members who were devastated by the tragedy. They pretended to be innocent, heartbroken individuals, even as they returned to Ohio after their time in Alaska.
But the cracks in their perfect lie began to show. Perhaps it was the two women who left the family. Or maybe someone overheard a conversation at work. Whatever it was, law enforcement began to piece the puzzle together. It wouldn’t be long before the Vagner’s carefully crafted world of deceit would come crumbling down.
Their calculated and cold-blooded plan designed to erase any trace of evidence would eventually unravel, leading them straight to the heart of their gruesome crimes. The authorities had hidden listening devices inside the work trucks used by the family. They also started tapping their phones, trying to gather every scrap of evidence they could.
The Vagnars were questioned, but their involvement with the Roden family remained a mystery to the public. The investigators kept working tirelessly, piecing together every clue until they were finally able to charge them with the gruesome murders. We promised that the day would come when the rest would be made in the Pike County massacres.
Today is that day. George Billy Wagner III, his wife Angela Wagner, and their sons George Wagner IV and Edward Jake Wagner. As the investigation progressed, the Wagner tried to maintain their innocence. But 2 years after being locked up, the pressure finally got to Jake. Under the weight of the silence and the months of imprisonment, he cracked.
Jake admitted to everything, confessing to all 23 charges against him. In exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table for him and his family, he agreed to tell everything. Jake revealed chilling details about the murders. He said that he personally pulled the trigger on five of the killings, leaving the remaining three deaths for his father and brother.
Jake also admitted that while his mother didn’t take part in the killings, she was deeply involved in the conspiracy, the cover up, and even the forgery of custody documents to ensure they would get the child. The investigation uncovered key evidence that helped confirm Jake’s story. Text messages from the night of the killings aligned with the details he gave about the meeting between Billy Wagner and Chris Rooden.
Weapons hidden in cement anchors, bullets matching those found in the bodies, and evidence of homemade suppressors were recovered from various locations, including the Wagner’s property. They also found remnants of burnedout suppressors in the woods, the same type of suppressors used during the killings.
This new information led to major breakthroughs in the case, with the Vagners now facing serious consequences. Jake’s sentencing brought a sense of resolution as he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 32 years. Though this decision was met with mixed reactions, his confession was key to the closure of this chapter.
though his actions remain unforgivable for the families who suffered from this horrific crime. His mother, Angela Wagner, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison for her role in the conspiracy despite not being directly involved in the killings. Her involvement in the plot to murder the Rhoden family and the subsequent coverup was central to her conviction.
The sentencing hearing was emotionally charged with survivors of the victims calling out the Vagners for their cruelty. Meanwhile, George Wagner IVth, who had decided to go to trial instead of cooperating, received a harsher sentence, eight consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. His refusal to admit guilt, and his choice to face a trial made him ineligible for the same considerations that Jake received.
The case against the Wagner family is now nearing its final stages with only George Billy Wagner III left to stand trial. His role as the patriarch of the Vagner family makes his trial one of the most anticipated moments in this lengthy and devastating case. Now imagine being one of the surviving children in the Roden family. growing up and one day learning that nearly your entire family was wiped out in one horrifying night all over a custody dispute.
Imagine carrying that truth for the rest of your life. With that weight on your shoulders, you might feel that no punishment could ever truly measure up. And as justice slowly takes shape, with more members of the Wagner family being held accountable, the people of Pike County and especially the survivors are left clinging to the hope that this painful chapter is finally coming to an end. But let’s talk.
What do you think truly sparked law enforcement to zero in on the Vagnars? Was it the inconsistencies, the failed alibis, or maybe something they couldn’t hide no matter how much they tried? And do you believe the death penalty should have stayed on the table for a crime this brutal? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
If you’ve made it this far, be sure to check out this next video. I think you’ll enjoy it. Thank you once again for watching.
