One of the primary goals of the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Conference is to honor and celebrate great work by law enforcement officers and their partners. Every year, whether the event takes place virtually or in person, the Distinguished Law Enforcement Awards are bestowed in seven categories. This year’s winners:
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP AWARD
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
TRAINING AWARD
MARK LOSEY SERVICE AWARD
GROUP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Pike County Rhoden Murder Task Force
It took intense teamwork and dedication to execute the biggest murder investigation in Ohio history.
In the five years after eight members of the Rhoden family were killed in Pike County, local and state investigators poured thousands of hours into finding those responsible. More than 1,100 tips were cleared; 500 interviews completed; 700 pieces of evidence tested; and 500 subpoenas, search warrants and court orders requested.
The dogged efforts led investigators to suspect and arrest another family: the Wagners, who had lived in Pike County at the time of the murders and then moved to Alaska.
In the spring, Jake Wagner, 28, pleaded guilty to all eight murders, including that of the 19-year-old mother of his daughter. Jake, who will spend the rest of his life in prison, has been cooperating with prosecutors and confirmed that the heinous plot was sparked by a custody dispute.
And in September, his mother, Angela Wagner, also pleaded guilty for her role in plotting the massacre. Her son George Wagner IV and her husband, George “Billy” Wagner, were awaiting trial as of the writing of this story.
The team being honored includes:
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation
- Special Agent Ryan Scheiderer (lead agent)
- Special Agent Supervisor Kevin Barbeau
- Special Agent Jennifer Comisford
- Special Agent Supervisor Roger Davis
- Forensic Scientist Suzanne Elliott
- Criminal Intelligence Analyst Julia Eveslage
- Criminal Intelligence Supervisor Dana Forney
- Special Agent Todd Fortner
- Special Agent James Gore
- Special Agent Shane Hanshaw
- Special Agent Chadwick Holcomb
- Special Agent Jonathan Jenkins
- Special Agent Supervisor William Jones
- Forensic Accountant Michael Kaizar
- Victim Advocate Cindy Kuhr
- Criminal Intelligence Analyst Jennifer Lester
- Special Agent James Mulford
- Special Agent Perry Roeser
- Special Agent Supervisor Justin Root
- DNA Lab Director Kristen Slaper
- Special Agent Richard Ward
- Forensic Scientist Matthew White
Formerly of BCI/Attorney General’s Office
- Special Agent Stephfon Daniels
- Special Agent Scott Fitch
- Special Agent Seth Hagaman
- Assistant Superintendent Karen Huey
- Special Agent Cornelius McGrady
- Computer Forensic Analyst Jonathan Robbins
- Superintendent Thomas Stickrath
- Special Agent-in-Charge Benjamin Suver
- Special Agent Supervisor Michael Trout
- Special Agent Bryan White
- Deputy Attorney General for Law Enforcement Stephen Schumaker
Local Sheriff’s Offices
- Maj. Alan Lewis (co-lead investigator) — Ross County, formerly of Pike County
- Maj. Timothy Dickerson — formerly of Pike County
Prosecution
- Lead Prosecutor Angie Canepa
- Pike County Prosecutor Robert Junk
- Assistant Prosecutor Andy Wilson
VALOR AWARD
Officers Heather Bauer, Sean Connor and Michael Guarnieri, Norton Police Department

Thanks to the courageous action of these three officers, an elderly couple survived a fire that seriously damaged their home and killed a relative.
When a passer-by called officers to the house in the Summit County city of Norton, flames were already licking out of the front windows. Officers Bauer, Connor and Guarnieri arrived and, not knowing whether anyone was home, circled to the back and broke through a steel door.
Inside, they found a locked first-floor bedroom. When they couldn’t bust through the door, Officer Connor forced it off its hinges, essentially opening the door backward. Shocked awake were the 82-year-old man and 78-year-old woman; the officers and a newly arrived firefighter helped them to safety.
The disoriented couple told the responders that the woman’s 69-year-old brother lived on the second floor, and Officers Connor and Guarnieri rushed back inside. They tried multiple times to reach him — the quickly worsening conditions blocked each attempt — until Officer-in-Charge Bauer ordered them to exit the home for their own safety.
The brother died of smoke inhalation, and the husband was hospitalized and recovered. But surely, if it hadn’t been for the officers, who didn’t hesitate to put their own lives on the line, all three residents would have perished.