COLUMBUS, Ohio — Family members of the eight victims who were killed in Pike County six years ago spoke before George Wagner IV received multiple life sentences on Monday.
“I hope you burn in hell, George,” said Chelsea Robinson, Frankie Rhoden’s former girlfriend and mother of their son, Brantly.
One by one, Rhoden, Manley and Gilley family members got a chance to say how their lives have been impacted since April 2016 when eight members of their family were killed.
“I hope every night when you close your eyes, you you see them eight faces and I hope they haunt you,” said April Manely, wife of James Rhoden.
George Wagner was found guilty last month after a trial that lasted three months.
Wagner’s brother, Jake, and his mother Angela testified during the trial against George as a part of a plea deal to take the death penalty off the table.
“They don’t want to die. How ironic is that? Well, karma drives a big bus and you will eventually reap what you have been sown and you will pay the price for what you have done," said a family member of Hannah Hazel Gilley in a letter.
In the end, Judge Randy Deering sentenced Wagner to eight consecutive life terms saying even that may not be enough.
“No sentence will right the wrong that has been inflicted on the victims,” said Judge Randy Deering.
George “Billy” Wagner III, pleaded not guilty in the killings and awaits trial.
The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr.; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.