COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Authorities say a family of four has been arrested in the slayings of eight members of another family in rural Ohio two years ago.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest Tuesday of four members of a family who lived near the scenes of the killing.
No motive was announced.
Those arrested are: 47-year-old George “Billy” Wagner III; his wife, 48-year-old Angela Wagner; and their sons, 27-year-old George Wagner and 26-year-old Edward Wagner. The Wagners had since moved to Alaska.
A message was left with a lawyer who has been representing the Wagners in the investigation. An attorney has said previously the family cooperated with investigators.
The arrests are the culmination of a massive investigative effort since seven adults and a 16-year-old boy were found dead in 2016 at four homes near Piketon.
The victims were identified as Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their three children, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20. Frankie Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, was also killed, along with the elder Christopher Rhoden’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.
(The Associated Press and WLEX-TV contributed to this story)
