Jury in Pike County massacre trial could be seated Tuesday
Opening arguments in George Wagner the Fourth's murder trial are scheduled for one week from tomorrow in Waverly.
Between now and then, prosecutors and defense attorneys are working to seat a jury of Wagner's peers.
The 30-year-old Wagner, his brother Jake, and their parents, Billy and Angela Wagner, are accused of killing eight murders of the Rhoden family - because of a child custody dispute - in April 2016.
On Monday, 70 members of the jury pool gathered in Pike County Common Pleas Judge Randy Deering's courtroom in Waverly.
The goal is to find 12 impartial people willing to judge Wagner's fate along with six alternates.
Special prosecutor Angie Canepa used a pirate analogy when talking about a person's believability. She also used a bank robbery scenario when asking a potential juror if she understood the concept of complicity.
Defense attorney John Parker touched on a host of subjects, including zombies, guns, drugs and alcohol, and a person's right to privacy.
Each side seemed to use a calculated approach in their quest to find jurors willing to be part of a trial that many in Pike County hoped would have already come and gone.
"People have said, you know, wished they would get it over with so they can go on," Fern Bowen said.
"Do you think the county can bounce back?" 바카라게임 investigator Todd Dykes asked.
"I think so," Bowen said.
Potential jurors were asked about how they think they'd be perceived by their neighbors, whatever the final verdict is.
It's the kind of question that speaks to the healing process still underway, six years after what quickly became known as the Pike County massacre.
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