DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – The man convicted for his involvement in the deaths of eight people from another Ohio family received multiple life sentences on Monday, December 19.
George Wagner IV was sentenced to eight life sentences, one for each charge of aggravated murder, the judge said. He also received additional years in prison for the charges of conspiracy, aggravated burglary, unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, tampering with evidence, forgery, unauthorized use of property, interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications, obstructing justice, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
“Murder is an irreversible act,” the judge said before delivering the sentence. “And though time may alleviate that loss, it has not obviously at this point, and may never, but although it might at some point, it will not and cannot restore to the victim’s families what was, and what might have been had the lives of their loved ones not been unlawfully taken, and cruelly taken on that night in April 2016.”
These life sentences will be served consecutively.
“The harm caused by all the offenses so committed was so great and unusual that no single prison term for any of the offenses committed as part of any of the courses of conduct adequately reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct,” the judge said.
He is not eligible for parole and will also have to register as a violent offender in the Ohio database.
The Associated Press reported that Wagner was convicted on 22 counts in total after the 2016 killings of seven adults and a teenager from the Rhoden Family.
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 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.
According to the prosecutors, Wagner should face the death penalty, however, a plea deal made by his brother helped all four Wagner family members avoid execution, the Associated Press reports.
This article was written with contributions by the Associated Press.
