'Craigslist killer' convicted of murder
A jury found Richard Beasley guilty of murdering three men who answered his 2011 Craigslist ad for a job that didn't exist.
A man charged with using Craiglist to lure three people to their deaths has been convicted of murder.
The jury in an Akron, Ohio, courtroom yesterday found Richard Beasley guilty of kidnapping and murdering David Pauley, Ralph Geiger, and Timothy Kern, according to Reuters. Beasley was also convicted of the attempted murder of Scott Davis, who was shot in the arm but managed to escape.
Beasley was found guilty of all charges against him, including aggravated murder, aggravated attempted murder, aggravated robbery, grand and petty theft, and ID theft. The jury will next meet on March 20 to determine whether to recommend the death penalty.
Beasley's teenage accomplice, Brogan Rafferty, was convicted and sentenced in November to life in prison without parole.
In 2011, the two men posted a Craigslist ad that promised work at a farm in Noble County, Ohio. The prosecutors in the case argued that Beasley instead wanted to rob and steal the identities of the men who answered the ad, Reuters said.
In January, prosecutors declined to speculate on a motive for the murders, but Attorney General Mike DeWine said that investigators were considering the notion of "serial killings."