An Ohio family accused of murdering eight members of a rival family were allegedly inspired by The Boondock Saints film series.
The prosecutors in the case against George Wagner IV called a detective as a witness on Monday. He testified that Mr Wagner may have been inspired to carry out the murders based on scenes included in the films.
Mr Wagner is one of those accused of executing several people in 2016.
Screenshots from the films were shown in court as lead investigator Ryan Schreiderer spoke of the connections between the movies and the killings of eight members of the Rhoden family, according to The Daily Beast.
Jake Wagner has already pleaded guilty in the case. He testified last month that he watched the films to “psych himself up before the killings,” according to Fox19.
While Mr Schreiderer didn’t mention this on Monday, prosecutors used a recess to convince Judge Randy Deering that the testimony was relevant.
Mr Schreiderer said in court that the brothers had dyed their hair to look like the film characters and that law enforcement thinks that the use of silencers on their handguns was also taken from the films.
The lead investigator added that both the brothers and the film characters used ski masks. The detective displayed an image of George Wagner IV holding a pistol by gunmaker Beretta, the same as the firearms used in the film series.
While the defence objected several times to Mr Schreiderer’s testimony, the objections were all rejected by the judge.
Boondock Saints II follows two brothers who travel from Boston to Ireland to clear their names and to get revenge for a priest killed by the mob.
Mr Schreiderer laid out a scene from the movie when the fable The Scorpion and the Frog was talked about shortly before a father murders his best friend with the aid of his two sons.
The Wagner and Rhoden families were close friends before the killings, according to Fox19, and some members of the Wagner family were present at the funerals of those they now stand accused of killing.
Mr Schreiderer said it’s likely that the similarities between the films and the massacre aren’t a coincidence. He noted that after the murders, George Wagner IV got a tattoo of a scorpion. The investigator said this was likely to be a reference to the fable.
Four members of the Wagner family were arrested in 2018. George “Billy” Wagner III, 47, his wife, Angela Wagner, 48, as well as their sons George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26.
All of them faced eight aggravated murder charges, which could lead to death sentences for all of them, apart from Jake Wagner, who accepted a plea deal.
All of the victims except one were shot in the head as they slept. They included Christopher Rhoden Sr, 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their children Christopher Rhoden Jr, 16, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20.
Frankie Rhoden’s fiancée Hannah Gilley, 20, Christopher Rhoden Sr’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38, were also killed.
According to the authorities, the custody of a young child was the impetus of the killings.
“This is just the most bizarre story I’ve ever seen in being involved in law enforcement,” Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine said during a 2018 press conference when the arrests were revealed.
He said the family had an “obsession” with custody and being in control of children linked to the victims.
The Wagner family moved to Alaska in 2017. Priest Kelly Cinereski was in charge of the church attended in the state by the family. As a witness for the defence, she said the family was “trying to find their relationship with the Lord” at the time.
“I hoped that they could not have done something like that – murder,” she added.
Tattoo artist Shawn Fisher, who did work for George Wagner IV, was also called by the defence. He said a tattoo of a skull and eight ball he did was to cover up a previous tattoo and that he had suggested its design. It had previously been suggested that the tattoo was meant to symbolize the eight dead members of the Rhoden family.
According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, the case has now gone on for 11 weeks.
Law & Crime reported that state prosecutors are expected to finish their case on Tuesday by playing a wiretapped discussion the Wagner brothers had in 2018.
