0:00

Welcome to the piked In Massacre, a production

0:02

of iHeartRadio and Katie Studios.

0:07

It's been one year since eight members of

0:09

the Rodent family were found murdered in Pike County.

0:11

Now, surviving members of the family have released

0:13

a lead for information.

0:16

A year after eight members of the Rodent family

0:19

were ruthlessly gunned down in their homes,

0:21

Ohio authorities are on a relentless search

0:23

for the killers.

0:24

Over eight hundred tips have been called

0:26

into police.

0:27

We may commit much of the people of Bike County.

0:29

That day, I said, we're not leaving until

0:31

we solved this.

0:33

Many different facets of law enforcement

0:36

collaborated to crack the case.

0:37

The people that carried it out were trying

0:40

to do everything they could to make sure

0:42

that they didn't get caught.

0:43

Law enforcement officials begin tracking down

0:45

a series of leads that point them to another

0:47

group of potential suspects, the Wagoners.

0:51

The Wagoner shop and local walmarts for ammunition,

0:53

magazine, cliffs, and materials to build

0:55

brass catchers.

0:57

According to the case indictment, the Wagoners

0:59

begin conducting what seems to be almost

1:01

like reconnaissance on the Rodents.

1:03

What do you mean a camera was? There was it connected

1:06

to something I still do this day wonder why

1:08

she mentioned that and why that conversation

1:10

wasn't allowed to go any further.

1:12

The revelations leave those closest to the family

1:14

questioning their innocence.

1:16

I know he was upset, but was he upset because

1:18

she has been murdered?

1:20

Or when he upset.

1:21

Because he's done it?

1:25

This is the piked in Massacre Episode

1:29

six, the investigation. In

1:35

this episode, we're going to dive into law enforcement's

1:37

investigation into the Rodent murders, how

1:40

the Wagners allegedly pulled off this gruesome

1:42

massacre, and why. I'm

1:44

Courtney Armstrong and I work at Kat's

1:47

Studios with Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff

1:49

Shane. We produced a documentary

1:51

about the case for NBC Universal's

1:53

Oxygen Network in twenty nineteen and

1:55

have been following the evolution of the investigation

1:58

since then. To understand the crime

2:00

and the possible motivation of the family that may

2:02

have committed it, we want to look at the months leading

2:04

up to the murders and authorities movements after.

2:07

By any objective standard, it was a long,

2:09

arduous investigation spanning two full

2:12

years. During that time, many

2:14

different facets of law enforcement. The FBI,

2:16

the DEA, the Pike County Sheriff's

2:18

Office, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal

2:20

Investigation all collaborated to

2:22

crack the case.

2:23

Police received over eleven hundred

2:26

tips, They conducted over five

2:28

hundred interviews, tested about seven

2:30

hundred pieces of evidence, served

2:32

close to two hundred search warrants, subpoenas

2:35

and other things. So this was something

2:37

that was huge.

2:39

That's Mike Allen, a defense attorney, former

2:41

Ohio County prosecutor, and legal

2:43

analyst for Cincinnati news station Fox

2:45

nineteen.

2:46

The Attorney General the Wine at the time said

2:48

it was a pretty sophisticated operation

2:51

in the people that carried it out. We're

2:53

trying to do everything they could to make

2:55

sure that they didn't get caught. Attorney

2:59

General Wine and Sheriff Reader, they

3:01

both said that the investigation was going

3:03

to be a long one and a lengthy process,

3:06

and boy, sure has played out that way.

3:09

But how exactly did investigators circle

3:11

in on the Wagners as suspects and eventually

3:13

compile enough evidence to make arrests.

3:16

In previous episodes, we discussed some of the

3:18

conflicts between the Wagners and the Rodents

3:20

In twenty sixteen, there was a custody

3:22

battle between Jake Wagner and Hannah Rodin

3:25

and a physical altercation between Billy

3:27

Wagner and Chris Roden Senior. It

3:29

seemed like the relationship between the two families

3:31

was reaching a fever pitch in the months leading

3:33

up to the murders, But these two

3:35

families didn't always have such ill will towards

3:38

one another. Here's journalist Jeff

3:40

Winkler.

3:41

I think early on people wanted

3:43

to paint the sort of

3:45

few between the Rodents and Wagners as

3:48

something like the Hatfields of McCoy's,

3:51

just because it was sort of Hills of Appalachia

3:54

backwoods kind of thing.

3:55

But I mean, it really wasn't.

3:58

Like it, right, Like people like to say that Hatfield

4:00

and McCoy's. But I think they were probably closer

4:02

and friendlier than that version of

4:04

it, right, yeah.

4:05

They I mean the fact that they were family, mars

4:08

just split in their time between the two houses, the

4:10

fact that you know, the Wagners had been

4:12

in the area for a long time as well, just

4:14

as the Rodents had.

4:15

It's just you had two families

4:18

who were intertwined by

4:20

both blood and work.

4:22

We got some more intimate observations

4:24

from Deray. She's Billy Wagner's

4:27

cousin and Frederica Wagner's niece.

4:29

Deray spoke to Jeff about how she saw

4:31

the relationship between her family and the

4:33

Rodents.

4:34

Do you know anything about Billy and

4:37

Chris Roden Senior?

4:39

My aunt said that they were very

4:41

good friends, and of course he

4:44

was the grandfather of Sophia,

4:47

and so was Billy. Billy is Sophia's

4:49

grandfather.

4:50

I mean, it's like they're in loss.

4:52

They're related.

4:54

I mean, their two grandfathers of the same little

4:56

girl. She's adorable.

4:59

Did Angela and Dani and I get along in the same way?

5:01

Do you know?

5:01

It looked to me like they were clearly getting

5:03

along. And she never said anything

5:07

bad about the Rodents. She never spoke

5:09

one negative thing about it, just about

5:11

the children about you know, they went fishing

5:14

and they were over at fredericaz and you

5:16

know, small talk.

5:18

Right, like normal talk you'd have with another mom

5:20

about raising kids.

5:22

Right exactly, and it's just like that's

5:25

all it is. It's just family talk.

5:29

We of course know that Hannah and Jake Wagner

5:31

had an intense relationship, but through the ups

5:33

and downs. Most would say they were in love and

5:36

their relationship brought the two families together.

5:39

Here's producer Stephanie. When

5:41

we started doing our research, I personally

5:43

became a bit obsessed with better understanding

5:46

the intersection between these two families and

5:48

really struggle with the motivation. What

5:50

could possibly cause one family,

5:53

the Wagoners, to allegedly murder

5:55

eight people that they knew so well they knew

5:57

them intimately. In fact, we came across a

5:59

photograph taken in twenty twelve at

6:02

George Wagner, the eldest son's

6:04

wedding, and the Rodins and

6:07

the Wagners are both in this photo

6:09

seemingly so happy. The only person

6:11

not there is Dana Rodin, and she said

6:14

to maybe be taking the photo because she

6:16

later posted it on her MySpace page.

6:18

But it's mind blowing. The people in the photo

6:21

do not look like killers posing with

6:23

there would be victims, but sure

6:25

enough, in four years, the majority of the

6:27

people in this picture would be dead

6:30

and the others would be standing trial

6:32

for their deaths. Throughout

6:37

this series, we've been talking to a relative of

6:40

the Wagners who's chosen to remain anonymous.

6:42

She spoke to Jeff about her family's reaction

6:45

in the wake of the Rodent murders.

6:47

What was the feeling like in the family

6:49

after that happened.

6:50

Angela was upset because it was

6:52

the mother of her granddaughter. She

6:55

was just really sad, you know, that that had happened.

6:58

When I talked to Jake and I was telling it.

7:00

I'm so sorry, you know, like, if there's anything

7:02

I can do, please tell me. And Angela she

7:04

did ask me at one point,

7:06

probably about a month after

7:09

the murders had happened, if I could

7:12

come down and pick up Sothia

7:14

and Jake and take Sophia

7:17

to a friend's house and stuff. So I did, and

7:19

in that time, you know, me and.

7:20

Jake and Sabilla in the car, and he was an

7:22

absolute wrecked rank

7:25

And of course I did not know. I didn't

7:27

know how to react. I didn't know what to ask him.

7:30

I didn't know what to say.

7:31

I was kind of just letting him just have

7:33

his moment.

7:34

And he was absolutely devastated.

7:36

I mean, he couldn't talk, he couldn't breathe, he.

7:39

Was out of the page attack in my car,

7:42

and I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, I don't

7:45

know what to say. So of course

7:47

when I find out that they were the ones that's

7:49

done this, I keep

7:51

thinking back to that time and you know, in the car, and I'm

7:54

like, oh my gosh, Like, I.

7:55

Know he was upset, but was he upset for you

7:58

know, the right reason? Like, yeah, was

8:00

he upset because.

8:02

She had been murdered?

8:05

Or on the upset because you know he's done it and he

8:07

knew. I don't know. It

8:09

was just an awful, eerie feeling.

8:11

It really truly.

8:12

Was Pike County Massacre.

8:15

It's the title of what has happened out

8:17

here, the tragedy that we've been covering.

8:18

The victims ranged in age from sixteen

8:21

to forty four.

8:22

Each were shot anywhere from once to

8:24

nine times. It's just, you know, a

8:26

grisly scene in a gristly situation.

8:31

Let's rewind to summer twenty fourteen. Hannah

8:34

and Jake's daughter, Sophia is eight months

8:36

old. Here's producer Stephanie.

8:39

This is why this case is so complicated, because

8:41

just when I think the Wagners could be innocent,

8:44

I read something like this. Around

8:46

this time, according to the case indictment,

8:49

the Wagners began conducting what seems

8:51

to almost be like reconnaissance on the

8:53

Rodent family. Over the course of the next two

8:55

years, they allegedly began hacking

8:57

into the Rodent's personal computers, their

9:00

phones, even their social media accounts.

9:02

They even reportedly use surveillance

9:04

cameras to spy on the Rodents. But

9:07

why would they do that, especially according

9:09

to most accounts, Jake and Hannah were very

9:11

much still dating and very much in love at this

9:13

time, So why would they be spying?

9:16

Was Angela Wagner the mom obsessed

9:18

with her youngest son, Jake Wagner's relationship

9:20

with Hannah Rodin. Where the dads Chris

9:23

Roden or Billy Wagner Senior embroiled

9:25

in something big, where the Wagner is

9:27

simply trying to get familiar with the family

9:29

patterns and better understand the Rodent

9:32

property, why would they possibly

9:34

be spying.

9:38

Here's investigative reporter Jodi Barr.

9:40

He's talking about a conversation he had with Kendra

9:42

Rodin, the daughter of one of the victims, Kenneth

9:45

Roden.

9:46

Kendra Roadin brought up with me in

9:48

our discussions, she mentioned

9:50

a few times that there were cameras set up around

9:53

Chris Senior's home.

9:55

Wow, so Kendra Rodin actually saw

9:57

cameras on the property that now it seems as

9:59

if allegedly the Wagoners had put

10:01

there.

10:02

Yeah, she told me that at Christian

10:04

Year's home, that there was a camera

10:06

on that property. And she said

10:09

it was in sort of a not

10:11

in the wooded area, but sort of the field

10:15

like it hadn't been mode, but it was right

10:17

near the garage at Christi Year's home. And

10:20

of course, naturally you

10:22

start questioning her about the cameras and you

10:24

know, what do you mean a camera was there? Was

10:27

it connected to something?

10:28

Did you?

10:29

Did?

10:29

You looked at you to try to investigate. It

10:31

was a very strange encounter, you

10:33

know, when she mentioned that and then the conversation

10:36

wouldn't no further.

10:37

Well, she was probably scared, right, possibly,

10:40

I.

10:40

Mean, but she's talking to a reporter. That

10:42

was always something that I've wondered about

10:44

because she never got an answer to and it was so strange,

10:47

and I still to this day wonder why she mentioned

10:49

that and why that

10:51

conversation wasn't allowed

10:54

to go any further.

10:55

Yeah, but I find so like the most screwed up

10:57

thing about it is at that time, the summer twenty fourteen

10:59

has when Jay Wagner and Hannah Rodin

11:02

were like hot and heavy and planning a wedding,

11:04

and to know that he was then also sort of maybe

11:07

planning her murder at the same time, or starting to

11:09

at least spy on her in some way, it's like just

11:11

very dark.

11:12

I mean, there's a lot of interest obviously still

11:14

in this case. And you know, with

11:16

every criminal prosecution, you know, the state

11:19

they have their version of facts, and the defense will

11:21

have its version of facts. But if this turns

11:23

out to be true, man, what a story.

11:26

I mean, what a terribly tragic ending

11:29

to these lives, to everything

11:31

that was going on. If we are to

11:33

believe that the prosecution as

11:35

alleged, you know, this paints a very

11:37

dark picture.

11:44

We're going to take a quick break here. We'll be back

11:46

in a moment. It

11:57

seems that the Wagners became obsessed with getting

11:59

soul cussed did of Sophia after Jake

12:01

and Hannah broke up, But how exactly

12:03

did they think they would gain control? As

12:06

laid out in the indictment, the Wagners began

12:08

methodically plotting a scheme that would take

12:10

several months to actually carry out. Here

12:12

again, is Jodi Barr.

12:14

So when you read these indictments, you know they

12:16

were talking about the Wagner's movements even

12:19

months before these murders happened, and

12:21

that the investigators believed that they were planning

12:23

this for quite some time before that. The

12:26

Adamo says that detectives believe that

12:28

planning began January one of twenty

12:31

sixteen. The murders happened

12:33

April of twenty sixteen. So you've got four

12:35

months of planning that's alleged

12:38

to have happened here. Four months to plan

12:40

the South.

12:41

I mean, if that's every.

12:42

Day for four months, that's the full time job.

12:47

So what exactly went into the planning?

12:49

In previous episodes, we talked about how

12:51

in April twenty sixteen, the Wagners

12:54

presented Hannah Rodin with custody documents.

12:56

But what Hannah didn't know then and what police

12:58

later uncovered, is that the supposedly

13:01

legal documents were fake, and

13:03

that Angela Wagner's mother, Rita

13:05

Joe Nucam, was allegedly at the center

13:08

of the deception. I spoke to my Gallon

13:10

about it. So Rita Nucom

13:12

Angela's mom. She faces

13:14

three counts of forgery. A kound of perjury

13:17

and she's a notary. Can you speak

13:20

to what power does a notary have

13:22

or how does that come into play?

13:24

In Ohio, notaries don't have a lot of power.

13:26

They are allowed, obviously to notarize

13:28

signatures. You know, they have

13:30

to make sure that the oath is administered

13:33

properly when they are notarizing something.

13:36

They're kind of hard to come by here in Ohio.

13:39

But I'm certain that because

13:41

of this she'll probably

13:44

lose that notary's license, if

13:46

she hasn't already.

13:47

Moving forward a bit in time, prosecutors

13:50

ultimately claimed that read a lie about the

13:52

authenticity of these documents to a grand

13:54

jury, But in an unexpected

13:56

twist, Nucom agreed to a plea deal

13:58

with the prosecution. She pled guilty

14:01

to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing

14:03

official business in exchange

14:05

felony charges of forgery and perjury

14:07

were dismissed. Here's Nucomb speaking

14:10

in court.

14:10

I feel that.

14:11

It's not a good crazy thing long

14:14

and I'm going to live with the more.

14:16

It's difficult to hear her because of the recording,

14:19

but she says, I just feel that it's not a

14:21

good Christian thing to lie and I couldn't

14:23

live with it no more. Jodi

14:25

Barr thinks there could be ulterior motives

14:27

to Newcomb's deal.

14:29

The prosecutor said in court, though, that

14:31

a hand running expert concluded that Rita

14:33

Nucomb did not sign the documents

14:35

herself. Nukemb admitted

14:37

to fosterly, telling a grand jury and investigators

14:40

that she did so only because her daughter,

14:43

Angela Wagner, who was among those charged

14:45

with the killings, told her to do so.

14:49

I mean there were some heavy charges dismissed.

14:52

You know, we're investigators trying to squeeze the grandmothers

14:55

to get some information out of them.

14:58

Mike Allen seems to think so.

14:59

Now there's a lot of speculation, and

15:02

in the normal case, the

15:05

first thing you'd think of is Okay,

15:07

you know, they gave her a reduced charge

15:09

in return for cooperation, and I

15:12

would not be surprised if that's not the

15:14

case. But again, you know, we

15:16

won't know until we get closer to

15:18

trial.

15:19

Can you be compelled to

15:22

testify for the prosecution?

15:25

Sure, I mean, they receive a subpoena

15:28

unless there's some kind of legal

15:30

reason why you know they

15:32

couldn't. Yeah, I mean the prosecutor

15:35

could issue the subpoena. If

15:37

there's testimony, the prosecutor would probably

15:40

ask the court to designate that person as

15:42

a hostile witness, and then

15:44

they can use leading questions.

15:48

According to court records, the documents appointed

15:50

a guardian for Jake and Hannah's daughter in the event

15:53

of their deaths. When

15:55

police later searched the Wagner home, this

15:57

document was found in a box belonging to Angelo

16:00

labeled important Stuff. I

16:02

asked Mike Gallan about the legal ramifications

16:05

of these forged documents. How does

16:07

it appear that these documents were

16:09

forged on April third? It was nineteen

16:11

days before the murders.

16:12

I'll tell you what, I've been doing this for a long

16:14

time and I've never seen anything like this.

16:17

It's strong evidence for the prosecutor.

16:20

The defense attorney has to find a way

16:22

to explain that away, which is probably

16:25

next to impossible. But yeah, it's

16:28

that strong evidence from a prosecutor's

16:30

perspective.

16:32

As we've discussed before, it was around this

16:34

time that Chris Ruden Senior and Billy

16:36

Wagner got into a fight as well. Here's

16:39

Mike Allen recapping that confrontation

16:41

back.

16:42

In mid April twenty and sixteen,

16:44

supposedly there was a fight between

16:46

Chris Senior and Billy Wagner.

16:48

Nobody seems to know what the fight was about

16:51

or what caused it.

16:53

Things were obviously becoming strained between

16:55

the two families, but the beginning of

16:57

April also brought a lot of joy for the Rodent film.

17:00

That month, Hannah celebrated her nineteenth

17:02

birthday. Here's rodin family friend

17:05

Stephann.

17:06

It was a happy occasion, you know.

17:07

It was family get together and lots

17:10

of fun, you know, because they were fun.

17:13

They were always having you know, get together's,

17:15

birthday parties, anything

17:17

like that.

17:18

They were a great family unit.

17:20

But as the Rodent family was celebrating,

17:23

the Wagners allegedly were busy planning

17:25

their murders. The

17:27

Wagners already had a cachet of firearms,

17:30

but around this time they began making their

17:32

own silencers. If

17:34

the Wagners did do it, it seems likely

17:36

that these would have been used on the night of the murders.

17:41

The family also bought ammunition, a

17:43

magazine clip, a bug detector, and

17:45

materials to build brass catchers.

17:48

Jodi Barr filled us in on what some of this equipment

17:51

is used.

17:51

For The brass catcher is a bag

17:54

that hooks on the side of a fire arm.

17:57

It will catch spent cartridges, so

18:00

every time you pull the trigger, cartridges

18:02

is ejected. And if you were really

18:05

interested in not leaving anything behind as

18:07

far as ballistic evidence to sound

18:09

like a great story, this bag will

18:12

collect the shell casing, so there's no evidence left

18:14

behind. The

18:16

bug detector, so purely that helps

18:18

someone find listening devices and sometimes

18:20

create blat noise to muffle sounds

18:22

or discussion.

18:25

The indictment also includes a reference to

18:27

a specific pair of shoes that the family purchased

18:30

from Walmart. But why would they

18:32

need a particular pair of shoes to pull off a murder?

18:35

Here's Stephanie.

18:36

One such theory is that the Wagners

18:38

were trying to frame data Rodin's

18:40

brother, James Manly. He's significant

18:43

because if you recall, Dana Rowden's

18:45

sister, Bobby Joe, made the

18:47

first discovery of bodies and called nine

18:49

to one one. She also called her brother,

18:52

who rushed to Dana Roden's house and

18:54

also found their bodies. His

18:56

prints were allegedly at the crime scene.

18:59

However, just one day before the murders.

19:01

The Wagners drove two and a half hours to

19:03

a specific Walmart to buy a particular

19:06

pair of boots. They're seen on surveillance

19:08

buying these boots and they're the same kind of

19:10

boots known to be worn by James

19:13

Manley. Why

19:15

would they do that?

19:19

Here's reporter Jody.

19:20

Barr from the Dyingment. I mean, there's a lot

19:22

of assertion by the prosecution that

19:24

they have evidence that, you know, these boots

19:26

were purchased to frame James

19:28

Manley a family member for the

19:31

murder, and that James lived the closest

19:33

to Dana, and that James ended

19:36

up being one of the first to discover

19:39

Dana and you know in Hannah's bodies

19:41

that morning.

19:42

Right, So the idea is that they went and bought these specific

19:44

boots knowing that James Manley wore them,

19:47

and then they would in theory, wear them the night

19:49

of the murder. So it looked to police like he was

19:51

the one walking around.

19:52

And it sounds like for a period of time investigators

19:55

might have believed that to be the case,

19:57

because James Manley was one of the

19:59

first people rough in and interrogated.

20:01

Given a polygraph,

20:04

I mean, if you're to believe what's written

20:06

in that indictment. It sounds like that

20:08

you may have been pretty close to

20:11

pulling this all off.

20:13

It was so detail oriented.

20:14

Yeah, and you wonder this too. It's like

20:17

it seemed like a lot of detailed planning to

20:20

pre plan that. I don't really know what

20:22

to think of it. Again, I don't know anybody

20:24

who's capable of doing that, and

20:26

we know it happened. It was pulled off

20:28

by somebody. But I mean, if

20:31

they really bought boots to try to frame

20:33

James manly Man again,

20:36

this is a heck of a story. Who drinks

20:38

us up? Who thinks this up?

20:42

In April twenty sixteen, the same week as Hannah's

20:44

birthday, her mother Dana threw a baby

20:46

shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of

20:48

her new baby girl, Kylie. It would

20:51

be the last time the Rodent family all gathered

20:53

in one place. Becky Ryder

20:55

was a close friend of Dana Rhaden's. She told

20:57

Jeff about the excitement surrounding the baby's.

21:00

The Dana felt overwhelmed with joy

21:02

and happiness because she's getting another grand

21:05

baby that she can love and spoil as

21:07

she always loved her grandkids, you know, deeply.

21:10

Yeah, And like Hannah must have been happy too, because

21:12

she was she had a new boyfriend at that point

21:14

who was not Jake Wagner, and she was about to have a new

21:16

baby and kind of start a new chapter of her life.

21:18

Right, Oh yeah, absolutely.

21:21

In photos from this event, Hannah smiles

21:23

with her daughter Sophia. We also see

21:25

other family members in the photo, including

21:27

Frankie and his fiance Hannah Gilly.

21:30

In just a few days, eight members of

21:32

the Rodent family would be dead. But

21:36

Deray's recollection of the events leading up

21:38

to the birth of Kylie is different. She

21:40

says at that point that things were still going

21:43

well between Jake and Hannah.

21:44

I believe they may have disagreements, and I think

21:46

there was disappointments, but I

21:48

don't think there was any any

21:51

hate.

21:53

We've discussed in previous episodes how

21:55

the people have piked in were immediately affected

21:57

by the murderers and the shroud of fear that hovered

22:00

with the small town.

22:01

I just don't understand why

22:03

it happened here.

22:05

You have a really wondering thing, like, is it like mafia

22:07

or anything like that, because it is crazy.

22:10

If I lived down there, I wouldn't stay

22:12

there.

22:12

I would be so afraid.

22:14

But in the wake of the murders, many news

22:17

outlets were portraying Jake Wagner as almost

22:19

a sympathetic figure. This is how

22:21

the Cincinnati Inquirer described him in

22:23

a July twenty sixteen article, a full

22:25

time single dad with mounting legal bills,

22:27

with a new job that pays half of what he was

22:29

making to ensure he is close to Sophia,

22:32

but close still means the twenty three year old makes

22:34

a daily commute to Cincinnati, a

22:36

two and a half hour daily drive.

22:40

Anybody who was connected to this family, you

22:42

know, there was a lot of emotion from

22:44

the public involved your because of these

22:46

children. So it's no surprise that Jake,

22:49

you know, a lot of people felt for Jake. Means

22:52

he's lived there with with that very

22:54

young daughter, and he's fighting to get her back.

22:57

But it's what the family did in the wake of the murders

23:00

raised some suspicion. We know that

23:02

just six days after the Rodents were killed,

23:04

Jake Wagner filed for custody of two

23:06

and a half year old Sophia, his daughter with

23:08

Hannah Rodin. In

23:11

a previous episode, we talked to Ohio criminal

23:13

defense attorney Mike Allen about how this

23:15

looks from a legal perspective.

23:17

That's extremely strong evidence

23:20

for the prosecution. I mean

23:22

six days, less than a week after

23:24

the killings. To go ahead and file. It

23:26

can take months, you know,

23:28

maybe a year, a little bit more, a little bit

23:31

less. It's not something that goes

23:33

quickly at all, and I think

23:35

that that is going to be some evidence

23:37

that's problematic for the defense

23:39

doing it that quickly after the

23:42

murders.

23:44

It was around the same time that Angelo

23:46

Wagner suggested her son create a GoFundMe

23:48

campaign to help cover the custody

23:50

expenses to the tune of twenty thousand

23:53

dollars. Jack wrote a personal

23:55

message on the page saying these were not expenses.

23:58

I was supposed to have supposed

24:00

to be able to spend time with her and give her a happy

24:02

childhood. Sophia and I are just

24:05

asking enough to settle the fees that we

24:07

acquired due to the horrific tragedy

24:09

to her mommy. He finished, I

24:11

hate seeing my daughter cry. We want

24:13

to get our lives back.

24:15

But these legal actions seemed unusual

24:17

to many in the community. He was an investigative

24:20

reporter Jodi Byr.

24:22

I do remember seeing that in the Rodent

24:24

massacre Facebook group, you know, people talking

24:27

about that and just you know, there

24:29

were there was a lot of angry comments

24:31

about it that you know a lot of people in those

24:33

groups have already convicted the Wagoners.

24:36

They already believed they did it and they're guilty, and

24:39

you know, so to see that and

24:41

that and how vocal the Wagners were

24:43

on social media, it seemed to rubble

24:46

people in that group the wrong way

24:48

that that was the wrong message that

24:51

they believe the Wagoners should have been sending at that point

24:53

in time. But you know a lot of people

24:55

sowing as the brazenness of

24:58

the people wrapped up in this to

25:00

make a move like that to ask for

25:03

help.

25:07

Let's stop here for another quick break. We'll

25:09

be back in a moment. In

25:20

May twenty seventeen, with the investigation in

25:22

full swing, officials searched the farm

25:24

of a piked In resident named Bernard Brown.

25:27

Mike Allen filled us in on why police may

25:29

have been interested in the property.

25:31

Agents searched his farm.

25:34

I guess he's a friend of the Wagoners and knew

25:36

them for a long time. I guess they

25:39

fixed cars together, A lot of cars

25:41

on the lot. I guess Jake had stored

25:43

some cars and some other things

25:45

on the property. And I'll tell you

25:47

what cars and vehicles and

25:49

equipment are all over

25:52

these farms that have been

25:54

searched. So I mean maybe something

25:56

could have been hidden somewhere, as

25:58

somebody must have given law enforcement

26:01

a tip that there could possibly be

26:03

something there or they wouldn't have searched it.

26:07

Bernard Brown was not charged with anything.

26:09

Authorities searched two large trailers

26:11

and took one smaller utility trailer

26:13

owned by the Wagners from his property.

26:16

According to Brown, Jake Wagner sometimes

26:18

worked for him fixing cars. Brown

26:20

said that the Wagners had dropped items off at

26:22

the property a week prior to the search. It

26:25

was clear that investigators were becoming more

26:27

interested in the Wagners. By the

26:30

spring of twenty seventeen, the family had been

26:32

interviewed several times by authorities.

26:34

It should be noted that Jake and Angelo were

26:36

interviewed five times, Billy three

26:39

times, and George once. Deray

26:42

spoke to Jeff about a conversation she had with

26:44

Angela Wagner. As police narrowed in

26:46

on her family one day.

26:47

She goes, I can't believe that they just won't

26:49

leave us alone.

26:51

They just will not leave us alone.

26:54

She goes, it's terrible.

26:55

She goes, We're starting to get really worried that we're

26:57

going to be arrested.

26:58

So they felt that coming because.

27:00

They wouldn't leave everybody alone.

27:05

Rumors of the Wagner's potential involvement

27:07

in the Roadent massacre quickly spread, and

27:10

soon they were being targeted not only by

27:12

police, but by Pike County residents

27:14

as well.

27:15

Everybody had started basically

27:17

attacking then the community, accusing

27:20

them of murdering those

27:22

people, like if

27:24

they were in town and people identified

27:28

their vehicle, they would throw pot

27:30

bottles at them. Angela

27:32

had actually went into a store one

27:34

day and some woman had actually

27:37

flewed up behind Angela.

27:39

She was coming back out of the store and through a glass

27:42

key bottle affor and it

27:44

busted her in the back.

27:48

In May twenty seventeen, as the community

27:50

continued to turn against them, Angela

27:52

Wagner took to social media to publicly

27:54

declare her family's innocence. Here's

27:57

Jeff reading from her post.

27:59

Okay, decided to tell you all a couple

28:01

of things about me and my family. What has

28:03

happened to us in the past few weeks has been devastating

28:06

and it will follow us for the rest of our lives.

28:08

Hannah was a daughter to me. I loved her

28:10

dearly. Her loss still hurts to this day,

28:13

especially when I see her every day and my granddaughter.

28:16

We did not do anything to hurt Hannah's family.

28:18

We want justice just like everyone

28:20

else. It is real disturbing if

28:23

you really want to know what you guys are doing. Your

28:25

accusations now will hurt Sophia later in

28:27

life when she really understands what happened.

28:30

Let's try to find the real monsters who've done

28:32

this.

28:34

So let's really unpack this for a moment. Because

28:36

if Angela Wagner is in fact a martyr

28:39

and had been targeted by the town, I mean

28:41

having a bottle thrown at you, if

28:43

you did not commit these crimes would

28:45

be hideous, especially the town that you love so

28:47

much. Angela and her husband lived

28:49

there for generations, that had

28:51

to be really difficult. However, if they

28:54

did it and they just went about their lives

28:56

speaking to the press openly, you know,

28:58

when I look at her photo, I've said this before.

29:01

She looks like a mom, but then she's

29:03

also grimacing in her mugshot

29:06

and even during her pre trial hearings,

29:08

there's something sort of smug about

29:10

the way she presents herself. It also

29:13

makes me wonder could she possibly

29:15

be at the center of this. Facing

29:22

violent backlash from locals and increasing

29:24

attention from authorities, the Wagoners did

29:26

something that left everyone and piked and stunned.

29:30

Here's Jef Winkler again.

29:31

Their lawyer had said that they were the primary

29:34

suspects, and so it was around

29:36

that time to May twenty seventeen that the whole

29:38

family emptied out a

29:41

few cargo facilities that they had,

29:43

some sheds and whatnot, loaded

29:45

all up and then up and moved

29:47

to Alaska.

29:49

When they left for Alaska, I was like, oh,

29:52

wow, they're running, And

29:55

then I thought they.

29:56

All get away with it.

29:57

I'm the one that told them go to Alaska. Ohio

30:00

can not afford to extradite you from

30:02

Alaska back home.

30:05

But the Wagner's relocation didn't hinder

30:08

the investigation.

30:08

Investigators rated three properties in Adams

30:11

and Pike Counties the middle of May. We had previously

30:13

reported those properties are connected to the Wagner

30:16

family. Now, investigators say they believe

30:18

the family recently moved to Alaska.

30:20

Investigators want any information the public

30:22

has about the family.

30:24

They moved to Alaska. But then the very

30:26

following month, law enforcement actually finally

30:28

searches the properties where

30:30

the Wagners lived. That started

30:33

to tighten the noose in terms of the

30:35

Wagner's.

30:39

More on that next time. Reach

30:42

out to us on our social media outlets with

30:44

questions. We're on Instagram, Facebook,

30:47

and Twitter at piked in Massacre. We

30:49

look forward to answering your questions and upcoming

30:51

bonus episodes. Piked

30:54

In Massacre as executive produced by Stephanie

30:57

Leidecker and me Courtney Armstrong. Editing

30:59

and sound designed by executive producer Jared

31:02

Aston. Additional producing by

31:04

Jeff Shane and Andrew Becker. The

31:06

Piked In Massacre is a production of iHeartRadio

31:09

and Kati Studios. For more podcasts

31:11

from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio

31:13

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

31:15

to your favorite shows.