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. Ohio law requires juveniles to be sentenced in their home county no matter where the crime or their trial takes place.
Having Rafferty in Summit County also could help local prosecutors, who are handling the Beasley case. A prosecutor’s spokeswoman declined to comment, citing a gag order in the juvenile case.
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 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 Mall 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.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
