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For The Love of Sophie: How a custody battle resulted in the execution-style murders of eight people in a small Ohio town
Piketon, population 2100, sits in the Western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in south central Ohio, 82 miles east of Cincinnati. In April, 2016, this small town and surrounding Pike County became the site of one of the most brutal murders Ohio has ever seen.
Eight members of the Rhoden family were shot in the head, six of them in their beds, while three small children were left alive in pools of their parents’ blood until the bodies were discovered.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader called in the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification to take over the case, which was too complex for his small department to handle. A two-year investigation ensued, eventually focusing on six members of the Wagner family.
This book chronicles the events in Pike County on April 21 – 22, 2016, and the investigation that followed. The majority of the information in this book was taken from sworn testimony given during the trial of George Wagner IV, supplemented by newspaper accounts of the case. Some liberties were taken by the author to create dialogue and provide context to the bare facts. The vast majority of the photographs were prosecution exhibits presented in court.
Eight members of the Rhoden family were shot in the head, six of them in their beds, while three small children were left alive in pools of their parents’ blood until the bodies were discovered.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader called in the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification to take over the case, which was too complex for his small department to handle. A two-year investigation ensued, eventually focusing on six members of the Wagner family.
This book chronicles the events in Pike County on April 21 – 22, 2016, and the investigation that followed. The majority of the information in this book was taken from sworn testimony given during the trial of George Wagner IV, supplemented by newspaper accounts of the case. Some liberties were taken by the author to create dialogue and provide context to the bare facts. The vast majority of the photographs were prosecution exhibits presented in court.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 22, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2024
If you have heard about or know of this case, this is a must read!
August 4, 2024
If you don't know the details or story behind this case you will definitely get that information from this book.
January 12, 2025
I knew a lot about this case going into this book so a lot of this information was not new to me however it was a bit more insightful to the case and I learned a few new things about this case.
The writing style wasn’t what I expected or expect from a true crime novel. I feel the author tried to tell this story like a fiction novel and not a true crime and I wasn’t a fan of the style in which this book was written.
The writing style wasn’t what I expected or expect from a true crime novel. I feel the author tried to tell this story like a fiction novel and not a true crime and I wasn’t a fan of the style in which this book was written.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews