Grandmother Accepts Plea Deal in Connection to Pike County Murders

WAVERLY, Ohio (WTVN)--It was an unexpected plea deal in Pike County court Monday for the grandmother, charged in connection to the murders of eight members of the Rhoden family in 2016.

66-year-old Rita Jo Newcomb pled guilty to one charge of obstruction of justice, and will be sentenced at a later date, for lying to a grand jury about the case.

With the deal, Newcomb will no longer be on house arrest, and will no longer wear an ankle monitor.

Newcomb is the mother of Angela Wagner, mother-in-law of George Wagner the Third, and grandmother of George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner, the four charged with first-degree murder in the killings.

Newcomb was originally accused of forging custody documents connected to "Jake" Wagner, who allegedly had a child with one of the victims.

Investigators later determined Wagner was not the father of the child in question.

(photo courtesy ABC-6)


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