A man pleaded guilty Thursday in the murders of his child’s mother and seven members of her family in 2016 – a grisly crime that spread terror across their rural Ohio community and stirred rumors of drug dealers and hit men before authorities concluded it stemmed from a custody dispute.
On the fifth anniversary of the slayings, Edward “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio’s Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death. He agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother, who are also charged in the Rhoden family slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy.
“I am guilty, your honor,” Wagner calmly told the judge again and again, as Judge Randy Deering read each count aloud. The charges included eight counts of aggravated murder, as well as charges of conspiracy, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and other counts.
Wagner admitted he was personally responsible for five of the deaths, special prosecutor Angela Canepa said. He gave prosecutors a full account of what happened that morning, along with information that led to them to additional evidence. She did not say what that evidence was.
