LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Ohio man arrested in connection to the murder of eight people appeared in Fayette County court Wednesday afternoon.
LEX 18 was on the scene Tuesday afternoon as local police and agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested 47-year-old George “Billy” Wagner III outside of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital on Lexington’s far north side.
Sources tell LEX 18 that Wagner III had a horse being treated at the facility. Wagner III was found inside the trailer. He and a woman in the vehicle were detained without incident. The woman was later released.
Wagner’s arrest came as authorities in Ohio announced the arrest of five other members of his family in the brutal massacre of eight members of another family on April 22, 2016.
LEX 18 was the only station there as George "Billy" Wagner III was taken into custody for his alleged role in the 2016 Rhoden family murders in Pike County, Ohio. Our full story: https://bit.ly/2PraGdL
Posted by LEX 18 on Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Authorities said Wagner III, Angela Wagner, 48, George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26, each are facing eight counts of aggravated murder in the murders of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio.
Investigators said the families involved had been longtime friends and that the crime was precipitated by a child custody dispute along with “an undercurrent of drugs.”
Wagner appeared in prison garb in the court of Judge Julie Muth Goodman. When the judge asked if he was George “Billy” Wagner III, he responded by saying, “I guess I am. ”
Wagner waived extradition to Ohio. There he will be arraigned on the multiple charges he is facing. He must be extradited to Ohio by his Dec. 7 court date.
The rest of the suspects were arrested in Ohio.
