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Thread: Richard James Beasley - Ohio Death Row

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    Richard James Beasley - Ohio Death Row


    Ralph Geiger, Timothy Kern and David Pauley





    Craigslist serial murder suspect faces death-penalty trial in Summit County


    The man accused of luring three men to their deaths with a phony job offer on Craigslist will be tried in Summit County.

    Richard Beasley will face the death penalty, Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said today in a news release.

    Beasley is accused of killing the men in Noble and Summit counties after advertising a cattle ranch caretaker job. The Noble County ranch doesn't exist.

    Walsh, Noble County Prosecutor Cliff Sickler, the Ohio Attorney General's Office and U.S. attorneys agreed that the case will be handled in Summit County Common Pleas Court.

    "In trying the case in Summit County," Walsh said, "we will ensure the surviving victim and the families of the other victims do not suffer through multiple lengthy trials and will provide a more convenient location for at least some of the families and the surviving victim."

    All of the criminal activity began in Summit County, she said, and most of the victims' families have ties to Summit and neighboring Stark County.

    Scott Davis, 48, of Canton, was shot and escaped in rural Noble County.

    David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va., Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, and Ralph Geiger, of Akron, were shot in the head not far from where Davis was shot. Pauley and Geiger's bodies were found in shallow graves in Noble County. Kern's body was found Nov. 25 near the vacant Rolling Acres Mall in Akron.

    Beasley currently faces drug and prostitution charges and is due back in court Dec. 22.

    A 16-year-old Stow boy is charged in the homicides in juvenile court in Noble County.

    http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011...der_suspe.html

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    Possible 3rd Ohio Craigslist victim died in August

    A man suspected of being the third fatal victim of a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme died in August, weeks before the suspected killings of two other victims, according to the man's death certificate.

    The body of Ralph Geiger was discovered Nov. 25 in Noble County in rural southeastern Ohio during an investigation into two other deaths and the wounding of a fourth man.

    Noble County Coroner Alan Spencer lists Geiger's date of death as around Aug. 9, according to a copy of Geiger's death certificate obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

    Authorities believe the other victims were killed in October and November.

    Police have identified the suspects as a 16-year-old high school student and a 52-year-old self-styled preacher.

    The scheme lured jobseekers to Noble County with a phony ad for work on a 688-acre cattle farm. The farm didn't exist and the property where the body of Geiger and David Pauley were found is owned by a coal company and often leased to hunters.

    The scheme targeted single and older out-of-work men whose backgrounds made it likely their disappearances wouldn't be noticed right away.

    Geiger, 55, of Atlanta, never married, according to his death certificate. Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va., was divorced and living with his brother and desperate for work when he answered the ad, according to a friend.

    Pauley died Oct. 23 of a gunshot wound to the head, and his body was found Nov. 15 close to where Geiger's body would be found.

    Timothy Kern, 47, of Akron, was last seen Nov. 17 after leaving for Akron to drop off his car and be taken to the fake farm. He was divorced and took the job to help support his three sons. His body was found near an Akron shopping mall on Nov. 29.

    A memorial service for Kern was scheduled for Tuesday evening at a funeral home in Massillon in northeast Ohio, where he lived. The 6:30 p.m. ceremony will follow an hour of visitation.

    Suspect Richard Beasley, 52, will be tried in Summit County and could face the death penalty. He has denied involvement in the slayings.

    The other suspect, Brogan Rafferty, 16, currently faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder and complicity to aggravated murder and is expected to be transferred to adult court next week.

    He made his first public court appearance last week but didn't speak. His mother, Yvette Rafferty, said she was "praying for the families and the victims."

    http://www.timesunion.com/news/artic...#ixzz1fr9k4md7

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    Stow teen to be tried as an adult

    Judge John Nau of Noble County Juvenile Court ruled Dec. 15 that a Stow juvenile, accused of being involved in a robbery scheme that lured men to their death through a job offer on Craigslist, will be tried as an adult.

    Brogan Rafferty, 16, should be transferred to adult court, Judge Nau said, according to Noble County Juvenile Court.

    At the time of his arrest last month, Rafferty was a junior at Stow-Munroe Falls High School.

    Record Publishing Co.’s weekly division normally does not name juveniles involved in crimes, but Rafferty is now being named because he will be tried as an adult.

    Rafferty is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder in at least two shootings and being held on a $1 million bond.

    According to the juvenile court, Rafferty’s case was transferred to the common pleas division where a grand jury will consider the case, but a date will not likely be scheduled before Jan. 1, 2012.

    According to the Associated Press, Rafferty sat quietly during the Dec. 15 hearing, and showed no reaction when a prosecutor recounted the juvenile charges against him. Also, according to AP, he gave up his right to have evidence presented as to why he should be transferred to adult court.

    Rafferty and Richard Beasley, 52, of Akron, are accused of the shooting of David Pauley of Norfolk, Va., who was found dead, and of Scott Davis, of South Carolina, who escaped after the two men allegedly shot him in the arm after he responded to a job offer.

    Police believe the deaths of Timothy Kern, of Massillon, and Ralph Geiger, of Akron, are also linked to the case. The men both died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to authorities, AP reported.

    All four men are believed to have responded to a help-wanted ad posted on Craigslist, advertising a job for a caretaker in a 368-acre cattle farm in Noble County that is nonexistent.

    Beasley is being held in Summit County Jail on unrelated drug and prostitution charges. He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 22 to respond to those charges. As of Dec. 15, he had not been charged in the Craigslist scheme case.

    Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced Dec. 5, however, that her office would be prosecuting Beasley for the murder and attempted murder of the four victims. She added her office will be seeking the death penalty for Beasley.

    According to AP, Beasley should have not been released from Summit County Jail this summer, where he was being held on drugs charges.

    Beasley, who has a criminal record dating from the 1980s, had been convicted in Texas of burglary and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1985. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison and placed in parole for 34 years in 1989.

    According to AP, he returned to Ohio in 2004, while still on parole. He left Summit County Jail on bond on July 13, 2011 and was arrested again on July 14, after a traffic stop, but he was let go despite Texas warrants that asked he to be kept in custody.

    According to Noble County Sheriff, Davis was shot Nov. 6, and Pauley’s body was found on a shallow grave Nov. 15 in Noble County. According to AP, Kern’s body was found on Nov. 25 near Rolling Acres Mall in Akron. Geiger’s body was also found on Nov. 25 in Noble County, but Noble County Coroner Alan Spencer listed his date of death around Aug. 9.

    Last week, before it was ruled Rafferty was going to be tried as an adult, Rafferty told his father in a handwritten letter that he believes God will keep him from remaining incarcerated for a long time, reported the AP.

    “There is a chance I might be out by the time I’m 42,” Rafferty wrote. “I know there is no way in hell that any kind of God would do that to me.”

    In the letter, Rafferty told his father he was worried all his “meaningful family members would be dead” if he was sentenced to several years in jail. He wrote his aunts, uncles, grandmother and pets would be gone and his parents possibly dead or dying.

    In the letter, the teen apologized for putting his father in this position but did not address the charges against him. He wrote he hoped his father could forgive him and told his father he was OK, spending his time in solitary confinement by reading and exercising.

    http://www.the-news-leader.com/news/article/5136611

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    Suspected Craigslist killer now in Summit County Jail

    The 16-year-old Stow boy charged in the so-called Craigslist killings is now being held at the Summit County Jail.

    Brogan Rafferty will be tried as an adult for aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in Noble County, but that county doesn’t have the ability to house a juvenile in its adult jail, Summit County Jail administrator Gary James said Tuesday.

    In jail, juveniles cannot be within sight nor sound of any adult prisoners.

    “They cannot be around any adult prisoners, period,” James said. “They apparently don’t have the facilities down there to handle that.”

    Summit and Noble counties worked out a deal to hold the teen in Summit. Noble agreed to pay $128.53 a day, and to reimburse Summit for any medical or other expenses related to his stay. Noble also will handle transporting him, James said.

    Noble County Sheriff Stephen Hannum personally drove Rafferty to the Akron-Canton Airport on Friday night — about 90 miles one way— and Summit jail officials took custody of him there, James said.

    Hannum and Noble Prosecutor Clifford Sickler couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about the move.

    Rafferty, a Stow-Munroe Falls High School junior, is being held in a segregated area of the jail, where he has a television and all the privileges of other inmates, James said. He is checked on every 20 minutes by a deputy.

    “I spoke to him personally and he’s doing fine,” James said.

    Richard Beasley, 52, the alleged mastermind of the Craigslist scheme, also is being held at the jail but the two will “never come in contact whatsoever,” James said.

    Noble authorities last week said that Rafferty is cooperating in the investigation and that a plea deal is in the works. Having Rafferty in Summit County could help local prosecutors, who are handling the Beasley case.

    A Summit prosecutor’s spokeswoman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

    Authorities have linked at least two deaths to a bogus help-wanted ad posted to the online Craigslist site. The ad offered $300 a week and free housing to oversee a farm in Noble County. The job didn’t exist.

    David Pauley, 51, of Virginia, was killed on Oct. 23, and the body of Timothy Kern, 48, of Massillon was found near Rolling Acres in Akron on Nov. 25. Both had been shot in the head.

    A South Carolina man escaped after being shot and was able to lead police to the site of Pauley’s body. The body of a third possible victim, Ralph Geiger, 55, of Atlanta, was found on Nov. 25 near the site where Pauley was buried.

    Rafferty is accused of helping Beasley in at least two of the shootings. Beasley’s mother has said her son acted as a mentor to Rafferty and took the boy to church.

    Summit Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh has pledged to seek the death penalty against Beasley. He has yet to be indicted in the killings and is being held without bond on unrelated charges.

    http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/...-jail-1.251340

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    Man indicted in Craigslist killings of Jackson man, 2 others

    Summit County prosecutors on Friday announced a 28-count indictment against Craigslist murder suspect Richard J. Beasley.

    Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh made the announcement Friday during a news conference.

    Her office had previously said it would pursue the death penalty against Beasley for a series of killings.

    The charges include nine counts of aggravated murder with gun specifications for three victims and an attempted murder charge tied to a man who survived the attack.

    One of the victims is 47-year-old Timothy Kern of Jackson Township, whose body was found in a shallow grave near Rolling Acres Mall in Akron on Nov. 25.

    Kern, who last was seen alive Nov. 13, had told family members that he had found a job on Craigslist that entailed watching over 680 acres of farmland in Noble County.

    Beasley also faces kidnapping, theft, grand theft, aggravated robbery and weapons charges.

    Beasley, 52, of Akron, is accused of killing three men and the shooting of a fourth. He and a Stow teen are suspected of using a Craigslist ad to lure the victims into what has been characterized as a deadly robbery scheme involving a fake job posting.

    The formal charges against Beasley include the accusation that a Jackson Township man is among the victims in the case.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine told those gathered that investigators don’t know if there are more victims.

    He made an appeal for more information.

    http://www.timesreporter.com/newsnow...icted-in-Akron

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    Prosecutors want to try teen as adult in Craigslist job ad killings

    Ohio prosecutors are asking that a teenager be tried as an adult in the killings of three men and the wounding of a fourth, each of whom answered a Craigslist ad for work on a cattle farm, officials said Tuesday.

    Brogan Rafferty, 16, and Richard Beasley, 52, face multiple charges in the case.

    An Ohio grand jury Friday indicted Beasley, alleging that he "pulled the trigger." His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday, said April Wiesner, director of communications for the Summit County prosecutor's office.

    Rafferty, of Stow, Ohio, had a preliminary hearing Monday at which prosecutors filed a motion asking he be tried as an adult, Wiesner said. A probable cause hearing on whether to bind him over to adult court has not been set, she said.

    The high school sophomore is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, one count of attempted murder, and robbery and kidnapping charges, according to Wiesner.

    Rafferty has entered a not guilty plea.

    His father, Michael, told CNN Cleveland affiliate WJW in late November that his son had been "manipulated" and "corrupted," insisting that the teenager is a "mild-mannered gentleman."

    The father also said that his son unwittingly dug the graves at Beasley's direction, WJW reported. The boy's mother said her son denied killing anyone and added that Beasley portrayed himself as "a chaplain" who gave food to the homeless.

    Beasley faces multiple counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery as well as a host of other charges, according to the 28-page indictment released Friday.

    Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron, Ohio; David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Virginia; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio; were found dead in separate shallow graves after they responded to an online ad soliciting workers between August and November of last year, authorities have said.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine acknowledged last week there may be more victims, and thus more charges.

    "We are dealing with serial killings here," DeWine told reporters, pleading for the public to provide more information. "Are there more bodies? Frankly, we don't know. If there are, we need to find them."

    The indictment calls Beasley the "principal offender" in the killings, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said.

    He could be eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted, because the killings appear to meet one or more requirements for that sentence, including purposely causing the death of two or more people and murdering people while a fugitive, committing a kidnapping and/or committing armed robbery.

    "This case deserves the death penalty for a multitude of reasons," Walsh said. "This case, we view to be one of the worst of the worst when it comes to horrible murder cases."

    The investigation into the killings began the night of November 6, when a Noble County deputy sheriff responded to a call and came upon a "white, middle-aged man being treated for a gunshot wound to the right arm," according to Sheriff Stephen S. Hannum of Noble County.

    The wounded man -- who was identified in the indictment as Scott Davis, 48, from South Carolina -- told the law enforcement officer that he had answered an ad on the Craigslist website offering work caring for cattle on a 688-acre property in eastern Ohio.

    He met with two males, including Beasley, and drove with them toward Stock Township, Ohio. After being told a road was closed due to a landslide, Davis got out of the car to start walking toward the property, which he was told was nearby.

    Davis told the sheriff that, while walking through a heavily wooded area, he turned around "to see a gun pointed at his head. He deflected the gun and ran" -- getting shot in the arm while fleeing, the sheriff explained late last year. The victim hid for seven hours in the forest before going to a house and requesting help, Hannum said

    The third victim, Kern, was killed one week after Davis's escape, according to authorities.

    The attorney general said that the victims were all "down on their luck" men trying to take advantage of an opportunity to "have a better life."

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    Accused Craigslist killer acts out in Akron courtroom

    Richard Beasley lashed out Thursday against members of the media covering his latest court appearance.

    Courtroom witnesses say at one point, Beasley tried to kick one of the photographers assembled in the courtroom.

    Beasley then kept his head down in his hands during the proceedings.

    It's the second day in a row that Beasley has displayed unusual behavior in court.

    During a court appearance Wednesday on charges including aggravated murder, Beasley also hid his face the entire time from the closed circuit television in the courtroom as well as from the media.

    Beasley has been charged in the so-called Craigslist murders. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. The charges are related to the deaths of three men who were killed after answering a bogus posting on Craigslist. Beasley has pleaded not guilty in that case.

    Today's court appearance, however, was on drug and prostitution charges in an unrelated case.

    The judge decided that Beasley will face these other charges, after his murder case goes to trial.

    http://www.chillicothegazette.com/ar...ron-courtroom-

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    Craigslist killing suspect waives right to speedy trial

    An Akron man suspected in the shooting deaths of three men lured to a rural area by bogus job ads on Craigslist waived his right to a speedy trial Wednesday morning.

    Richard Beasley, 52, appeared in Summit County Common Pleas Court for the brief hearing.

    Beasley, a self-styled chaplain, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in the slayings of three men and the wounding of a fourth. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

    A 17-year-old co-defendant has pleaded not guilty to juvenile counts. Brogan Rafferty was a student at Stow-Munroe Falls High School when he was arrested in the fall.

    http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/...trial-1.263843

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    Ohio teen sentenced to life over Craigslist plot

    An Ohio teen who came under the influence of a convicted criminal turned self-styled street chaplain pleaded not guilty Friday to helping his mentor kill one man and try to kill another in a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme.

    Brogan Rafferty, his ankles and wrists cuffed and dressed in a white T-shirt and orange jail pants, made a brief appearance Friday in Summit County Common Pleas Court. His plea came after he was transferred to the adult system from juvenile court because of the seriousness of the charges against him.

    Authorities say applicants who fell for the scheme answered a Craigslist ad for a job at a nonexistent cattle ranch in Noble County, 90 miles south of Akron in rural southeastern Ohio, were robbed, then killed.

    The teen was questioned by the FBI and arrested in mid-November several days after Scott Davis, of South Carolina, said was shot in the arm and escaped after he answered the ad.

    The body of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, was found on the Noble County property, owned by a coal company and often leased to hunters. Authorities say Pauley was killed Oct. 23.

    Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, was found Nov. 29 in a shallow grave near an Akron-area shopping mall. He had been shot in the head.

    The complaint against the teen says he participated in the crimes with Richard Beasley, a 52-year-old Akron resident said to have acted as his mentor.

    Beasley was a Texas parolee who returned to Ohio in 2004 after serving time on a burglary conviction. He was awaiting trial on prostitution and drug charges when authorities took him into custody, and police have said a halfway house he ran in Akron was a front for prostitution.

    Beasley has pleaded not guilty to the slayings and could face the death penalty if convicted. As a juvenile, Rafferty cannot.

    Rafferty's attorney, John Alexander, said after the arraignment that his client is holding up well.

    "He's doing as well as you can, obviously, with serious charges like this," he said. "You're going to have a whole wide range of emotions, so he's holding up as best as he can."

    Alexander said he would ask to have Rafferty held in juvenile detention, instead of adult jail, for the duration of the case.

    Rafferty was a student at Stow-Munroe Falls High School in suburban Akron when he was arrested in the fall.

    The victims had answered Craigslist ads for work on a nonexistent cattle farm in rural Noble County in southeast Ohio. The scheme targeted older, single, out-of-work men with backgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noted right away.

    In a four-page handwritten letter to the Akron Beacon Journal, Beasley has said he has been miscast as a con man when he really helped feed, house and counsel scores of needy families, alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill and crime suspects for years.

    http://wtop.com/?nid=209&sid=2647233

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    Trial date set for Ohio Craigslist murder suspect

    A trial date has been set for an Ohio man suspected in the shooting deaths of three men who authorities say were lured to a rural area by bogus job ads on Craigslist.

    The Akron Beacon Journal reports (http://bit.ly/xXqA0e ) a Summit County judge on Wednesday set a Jan. 7 trial date for 52-year-old Richard Beasley of Akron.

    The self-styled chaplain pleaded not guilty in January to charges in a 27-count indictment. It included multiple counts of aggravated murder and other charges, including kidnapping.

    Beasley could face the death penalty if he's convicted.

    A 17-year-old co-defendant accused of helping Beasley has pleaded not guilty to juvenile counts and is set for trial Oct. 9.

    A judge has prohibited attorneys on both sides from commenting on the case outside of court.

    http://www.chillicothegazette.com/us...xt|Frontpage|p

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