AKRON, Ohio — A self-styled street preacher was sentenced to death Thursday in the killings of three down-and-out men lured by bogus job offers posted on Craigslist.
The jury that convicted Richard Beasley of murder recommended that he face execution. The judge had the option of reducing the sentence to life in prison.
Beasley, 53, was convicted of teaming up with a teenager in 2011 to use the promise of jobs on a southeast Ohio farm to lure them into robberies. Three men were killed, and a fourth who was wounded testified at Beasley’s trial.
The judge read the three death sentences in a hushed courtroom crowded with victims’ relatives, some of them holding back tears.
Beasley skipped the chance to speak to the judge before the sentencing. He listened to the verdict with his head on his chest, sitting in a wheelchair he uses for back pain.
Later, Beasley said he was innocent and expects to have his conviction overturned.
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"Man convicted in deadly Craigslist plot in Ohio" by Thomas J. Sheeran | Associated Press, March 13, 2013
AKRON, Ohio — A self-styled street preacher accused in a deadly plot to lure men with Craigslist job offers and then rob them was found guilty Tuesday of aggravated murder and could face the death penalty.
A jury in Akron returned the verdict in the case against Richard Beasley, who was charged with a high school student with killing two men from Ohio and one from Norfolk, Va. A man from South Carolina was shot but survived and testified about running for his life and hiding in the woods, scared he would bleed to death.
Family members of the victims hugged and wiped away tears as the verdict was read. Beasley, who was also convicted of attempted murder in wounding the lone survivor, slumped in his wheelchair, which he uses because of back problems. His mother leaned over and sobbed.
The jury that convicted Beasley will return to consider whether to recommend the death penalty for him.
Prosecutors, who had asked jurors to use common sense and return a guilty verdict, labeled the 53-year-old Beasley the triggerman in the 2011 plot with a student he mentored. The 16-year-old student, Brogan Rafferty, was convicted and sentenced last year to life in prison without the chance of parole.
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"Ohio teen sentenced to life over Craigslist plot" by Thomas J. Sheeran | Associated Press, November 10, 2012
AKRON, Ohio — A remorseful teenager was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance for parole for his role in a deadly plot to lure men desperate for work with phony Craigslist job offers.
‘‘I thought it was something horrible,’’ Brogan Rafferty, 17, told Judge Lynne Callahan before he was sentenced.
If his life has been hell since the killings last year, ‘‘They must be living in it,’’ said Rafferty, gesturing with cuffed hands at victims’ relatives who crowded the court.
Rafferty told the judge, who will preside at the January trial of alleged triggerman Richard Beasley, 53, that his mentor is evil and deceitful.
Rafferty was convicted of aggravated murder and attempted murder in the deaths of three men and wounding of a fourth.
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Also see: Craigs Notes
