Man who lost brothers in gruesome Ohio slayings reacts to arrests: "It's a lot to take in"

WAVERLY, Ohio -- Tony Rhoden, whose two brothers were among eight members of his family killed two years ago, said the family was still processing the recent news about the arrests of four people in the case.

"We just don't know what to think," Rhoden told the Columbus Dispatch. "We're just trying to process it all. It's a lot to take in."

Prosecuting the Ohio family of four arrested in the killings could take years to conclude, a county prosecutor said Tuesday as the first break in the case was announced. The announcement marked the culmination of a massive investigative effort that began after seven adults and a teenage boy were found shot in the head at four separate homes in April 2016. 

Police said that for the months leading up to the massacre, the suspects studied the layout of their victims' homes, their routines, and even their sleeping patterns, CBS News' David Begnaud reports. 

"There is a lot of hard work ahead of us. I cannot emphasize that enough. An indictment is only the beginning of the case," said Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said a grand jury indicted the four members of the Wagner family on aggravated murder charges. Police arrested George "Billy" Wagner III, 47; his wife, 48-year-old Angela Wagner; and his sons George Wagner, 27, and Edward "Jake" Wagner, 26. They could be sentenced to death if convicted, DeWine said. 

The victims were identified as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna; Clarence Rhoden's fiancée, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden. 

DeWine gave scant detail about why the victims were killed but said the custody of a young child played a role. Edward Wagner was the long-time former boyfriend of 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden, one of the eight victims, and shared custody of their daughter at the time of the massacre.

Edward Wagner was also charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor for having sexual contact with Rhoden when she was 15 years old and he was 20 years old, DeWine's office said.

The Wagner family lived near the scenes of the killings about 60 miles south of Columbus. They moved to Kenai, Alaska, in June 2017, then returned to Ohio this past spring.

Kelly Cinereski, an Alaskan pastor and friend of the family, told the Dayton Daily News he was shocked by their arrests. "These people wept over dogs, I can't imagine them taking people's lives," he said.

The mothers of Angela Wagner and George Wagner also were arrested in Ohio and charged with misleading investigators.

Both Edward Wagner and Angela Wagner previously told the Cincinnati Enquirer that they were not involved in the killings. Angela Wagner said in an email to the newspaper that what happened was devastating and Hanna Rhoden was like a daughter to her. Wagner also told The Enquirer that her husband, George, and Christopher Rhoden Sr. were more like brothers than friends.

John Clark, a lawyer who has been representing the Wagners, has said previously that four of the Wagner family members provided laptops, phones and DNA samples to investigators, and agreed to be interviewed about the slayings.

"We look forward to the day when the true culprits will be discovered and brought to justice for this terrible tragedy," Clark said in a statement Tuesday.