First witnesses take stand in Pike County murder trial of George Wagner IV
George Wagner IV is accused in the 2016 deaths of 8 members of the Rhoden family
George Wagner IV is accused in the 2016 deaths of 8 members of the Rhoden family
George Wagner IV is accused in the 2016 deaths of 8 members of the Rhoden family
The nine women and three men serving as jurors in George Wagner IV's murder trial heard from witnesses Tuesday for the first time.
The first person to share what she experienced after eight members of the Rhoden family were killed more than six years ago was Bobby Jo Manly, whose sister Dana was among the victims.
Manly and a friend found the first two victims 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Chris Rhoden Sr. and his cousin, Gary. That discovery was quickly followed by Manly's anguished call to 911, which was played for the jury.
"I think my brother-in-law is dead," Manly told a 911 dispatcher.
"Ma'am, ma'am, you got to tell me what's going on," the dispatcher said.
"There's blood all over the house," Manly said.
"OK," the dispatcher said.
"My brother-in-law's in the bedroom, and it's like someone has beat the hell out of him," Manly said.
In addition to playing that 911 call, prosecutor Angela Canepa also displayed previously unseen crime scene photos that are expected to admitted as evidence.
Photos showed blood drying on the floor of the first crime scene, as Canepa noted during her opening statement.
"And drag marks leading from the living room through the kitchen and down the hall and back to the bedroom where, they surmised, somebody who was bleeding had been drug," Canepa said.
After finding Chris Rhoden Sr. and Gary Rhoden, Manly told Canepa she and her friend checked another trailer nearby and found the bullet-riddled bodies of Frankie Rhoden and his fiancé, Hannah Gilley.
Mercifully, a baby boy, whom Hannah Gilly was likely nursing at the time, survived, though first responders said he was covered in blood.
Also testifying Tuesday was James Manly, Bobby's older brother. He found the lifeless body of their sister, Dana, in a different residence on Union Hill Road.
He was followed by a Pike County deputy who testified about being flagged down by a frantic group of people, including Bobby Manly, in front of the second crime scene. The deputy was among those who saw the baby boy alive but covered in his parent's blood.
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