"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.
