Pike County massacre trial day 10: Jurors to hear more witness testimony

2022-09-24 04:44:52 By : Ms. Lisa Wu

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Jurors will hear more testimony Friday in the trial of George Wagner IV.

Jurors will hear from Bryan White is a lieutenant with the Madison Co. Sheriff's Office. Before that he was a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Investigation.

In 2016, White processed the scene where someone shot and killed Dana Rhoden, 37, and two of her children — 16-year-old Chris Rhoden Jr. and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden.

White testified Thursday in George Wagner IV's murder trial. The 30-year-old Wagner, along with his brother Jake and their parents, Billy and Angela Wager, were charged with killing eight members of the Rhoden family two years after their bodies were discovered.

"We could see some blood on the bed sheet," White said.

While jurors were shown more graphic photos, White testified about how he found Dana Rhoden and two of the three children she had with another victim, Chris Rhoden Sr.

White said Chris Rhoden Jr.'s lifeless body was in the first bedroom he entered.

"He was laying in bed on his stomach," White said. "He was covered by a red comforter. And it appeared that he had been shot multiple times in the head."

White also described finding pillows oddly arranged on and next to Dana Rhoden.

"There was one that was covering her face, and there was one beside her," White said. "It didn't appear that there were any bullet holes in them or anything. They were just placed around her head for whatever reason."

Back in Chris Rhoden Jr.'s room, White said he noticed a cell phone cord plugged into the wall on the night of the murders, but no phone.

"Did you look in Chris Junior's room for the phone that belonged to that cord?" prosecutor Angela Canepa asked White.

"Yes. Not only in the room but the entire residence," White said. "We checked, and we still couldn't find the phone."

Thursday's testimony came to an abrupt end because it appears one of the members of the jury wasn't feeling well. The trial is set to resume Friday morning with White back on the stand, followed by the coroner who conducted autopsies on the three victims found at Dana Rhoden's residence, considered the third of four different crime scenes.

Testimony from witnesses are expected to continue Wednesday. WLWT will provide a live stream of the trial, both at the top of this story and on our Facebook page.

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