PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine traveled to Pike County Thursday afternoon after one of the suspects involved in eight murders of a family pleaded guilty.
DeWine was the Ohio Attorney General when eight members of the Rhoden family were found dead in their homes in April 2016.
Edward "Jake" Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from a potential death penalty.
The governor said he met with some members of the Rhoden family after Wagner pleaded guilty. He said he committed to them he would find the people responsible for their deaths.
DeWine said this is the largest case the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has ever handled, putting in well over 10,000 hours and starting with really no evidence.
"No one who was not involved in this investigation will ever know how difficult it was," DeWine said.
The governor recognized the Rhoden family for sticking with investigators for five years, despite not being able to give them many answers in the beginning of the case.
DeWine thanked prosecuting attorney, Rob Junk, and at least a dozen others involved in the case for their hard work.
"It was just a really a combination of old-fashioned police work. Just grunt, gritty, slow, laborious police work plus the new technology that we have today," DeWine said. "Today is a day where justice was done."
By pleading guilty, Wagner will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Part of his plea deal also states that he has agreed to testify against his parents (George “Billy” Wagner III and Angela Wagner) and brother (George Wagner IV), who are also charged in the Rhoden's deaths. All three have pleaded not guilty.