"Craigslist Killings" mastermind sentenced to death
Beasley to pay for murders in Noble & Summit Co. with his life
by Z. Daniel Barnett - Published: April 4, 2013
The mastermind of the "Craigslist Killings," previously convicted in the deaths of three men and the wounding of a fourth, will pay for his crimes with his life.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Lynn Callahan handed down the death sentence to 53-year-old Richard Beasley in an Akron courtroom on Thursday morning. The jurors which convicted Beasley in March recommended the death penalty. Judge Callahan did not opt for a sentence of life imprisonment, which was on the table.
Beasley and a teenaged co-conspirator lured their down-on-their-luck victims to Noble and Summit Counties in late 2011 with fake ads for a farm job in rural southeast Ohio, then robbed them. The lone survivor of the attacks, Scott Davis, played a key role in prosecutors' case when he testified against both Beasley and his accomplice.
Brogan Rafferty, who was 16 years old at the time of the plot, was too young to face the death penalty. Judge Callahan sentenced Rafferty to life behind bars on his conviction last year.
Update on tragic murder-suicide near Cambridge
Father reportedly kills 5-year-old son, then turns gun on himself
by Z. Daniel Barnett - Published: January 18, 2013
Guernsey County authorities have released an update on the shooting deaths of a Cambridge man and his 5-year-old son.
According to Sheriff Mike McCauley, 36-year-old Russell Ball is believed to have taken his son Jacob’s life with a shotgun on Tuesday night before turning the gun on himself. The bodies of the father and son were not found until around 3:45pm on Wednesday. Reports indicate that the boy’s mother requested a well-being check at Ball’s Piedmont Road residence. Deputies forced entry into the locked home shortly thereafter to discover the scene of the apparent murder-suicide.
Sheriff McCauley said that the crime was likely motivated by marital strife. Detectives also said on Thursday that Ball had been unemployed for several years. Court documents in Guernsey County did not suggest Ball had history of violence, though he is said to have threatened to harm himself on Tuesday evening.
The bodies of Russell and Jacob Ball have been sent to the Licking County Coroner’s Office for autopsy. Sheriff McCauley said that no other parties are suspected in the crime.
