On the 10th anniversary
April 22 was the 10th anniversary of the Pike County massacre, so several Ohio local news stations ran retrospectives. Maybe not too surprisingly, they showed how successful prosecutors have been at creating a narrative that sticks and sticks and sticks.
For example, here’s what Cincinnati’s Fox affiliate said about the supposed motive for the crime in its 10th anniversary piece:
“Court testimony revealed that the Wagners killed the Rhodens because Hanna Rhoden was threatening to take sole custody of the two-and-a-half-year-old daughter she had with Jake Wagner.”
Nope, not even close.
Hanna May Rhoden couldn’t have threatened to take sole custody because she already had sole custody. In fact, at the time of the murders, Jake Wagner had no parental rights whatsoever. That’s why he had been trying to convince Hanna May Rhoden to sign papers giving him equal custody.
Even still, when the state put Jake on the stand for George Wagner’s trial, it walked him through testimony that barely touched on his custody disagreement with Hanna May. Instead, the special prosecutor had Jake say that Billy Wagner convinced him to kill the Rhodens because he was worried they could hypothetically one day expose the baby to future predators.
Or listen to what current Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson claimed to 19 News during its 10th anniversary package (and podcast):
“Angela Wagner wanted that baby, and that baby was going to be raised as a Wagner. And if they had to kill to make that happen, they were willing to kill to make that happen.”
The only reason Wilson can make such an egregious claim is that, during George Wagner’s trial, prosecutors prevented the media from recording Angela Wagner’s testimony. Otherwise, everyone in the world would be able to watch the special prosector walk Angela Wagner through testimony that the Pike County Massacre was supposedly all Billy Wagner’s idea, and she was powerless to stop it.
Of course if the media is focusing on the Pike County Massacre, then Mike DeWine is in front of the cameras. For the 10th anniversary, he told Cincinnati’s CBS affiliate…
“If somebody had walked in and said, ‘okay DeWine, we know what the motive is, and the motive has to do with custody,’ I suppose we would’ve checked it out, but we wouldn’t have believed it at first. It’s just crazy.”
On the 10th anniversary, Mike DeWine is still able to turn the absurdity of the supposed motive into an asset. It’s so bizarre, he always claims, it must be true. Or maybe it’s just bizarre.