Richard Beasley, accused of putting the deadly Craigslist shootings in motion last summer, could face the death sentence.
At the same time, law enforcement is pondering whether there are more victims still unidentified.
On Friday, when Summit County prosecutors announced their 28-count indictment, they pleaded for the public’s help in determining whether there are any other victims in the serial killings.
Beasley, 52, was formally charged in the murders of three men and the attempted murder of another. The indictment accuses him of aggravated murder, robbery and kidnapping.
He also is accused of committing the crimes while a fugitive in Ohio and Texas.
Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh delivered on her promise of pursuing a death sentence for Beasley, who is accused of being the mastermind of the Craigslist ad that lured desperate men to their deaths.
“This case deserves the death penalty for a multitude of reasons,” Walsh told reporters at a news conference in Akron on Friday. “This case we view to be one of the worst of the worst when it comes to horrible murder cases.”
Beasley is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court. A judge has yet to be appointed.
Beasley, who has denied any involvement in the slayings, was served with the indictment Friday at the county jail, where he was visiting with his defense attorney, Rhonda Kotnik.
“He understands what the charges are and he’s just ready to start his defense,” Kotnik said. “He’s been sitting there in limbo for so long, he’s anxious to get into court and prove his innocence.”
Meanwhile, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine appeared at the podium with Walsh and said his staff will assist in the state’s case against Beasley before and during trial.
There was no information released on the state’s case against 16-year-old Brogan Rafferty, who is accused of being Beasley’s accomplice. The Stow-Munroe Falls High School student is being held on complicity charges. His case is being handled in Noble County, where three of the shootings took place.
Noble County Prosecutor Clifford Sickler has said that Rafferty is cooperating with investigators and is poised to accept a plea offer in exchange for his testimony against Beasley.
A Noble County judge has ordered Rafferty to be tried as an adult. However, a grand jury session scheduled for Wednesday was abruptly canceled.
Sickler has not returned calls for comment. A gag order on Rafferty’s case has been in place since November.
DeWine called the slayings horrific and pointed out that all four victims shared a thread that made them easy targets. All were unemployed, or underemployed, and in need of work.
The Craigslist ad offered opportunity: oversee a vast farmland in Noble County in exchange for free housing and $300 a week. Prosecutors say Beasley placed the ads as a ruse for murder and robbery.
“They were men down on their luck looking for jobs who, in a challenging economy, had answered an ad to work on a farm,” DeWine said. “In difficult economic times, these men took advantage of an opportunity to have a better life. Tragically, they ended up dead.
“I am shocked and sickened by how technology and the Internet were used in this case to draw in vulnerable people and then execute them.”
More bodies possible
Authorities have investigated, but have not determined whether there are more victims, including some alleged prostitutes. In a separate indictment, Beasley is accused of using an Akron house that he owned and opened to help recovering drug addicts and scofflaws, as a front for prostitution.
At about the time the killings started, Beasley was wanted in Summit County for failing to appear in court while free on bond for the prostitution and drug-trafficking charges. His arrest on the prostitution case triggered a warrant in Texas for a parole violation stemming from a burglary conviction in the 1980s.
Police theorize that Beasley, facing a fourth stint in prison, was seeking to rob and murder for money and potentially his victim’s identity.
The farm in Noble County is near property owned by a longtime friend of Beasley. The friend was not aware of the plot, according to law-enforcement sources.
DeWine said it is unclear whether more bodies are buried.
“We are dealing with serial killings here. Are there more bodies? We just don’t know. But there could be more bodies out there. And we need to find them,” DeWine said.
Beasley faces nine counts of murder, alleging three different legal definitions in each of the slayings. He is also charged with four counts of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and illegal weapon possession.
In addition, he is indicted on three theft charges, two counts of grand theft and single charges of identity theft and attempted murder. There are additional specifications for using a gun.
Ad lures victims
The Craigslist ads appeared as early as July, when prosecutors say Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron, responded. Geiger’s body was found in Noble County in November, the same day that the body of Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, was found in a wooded area near Rolling Acres Mall in Akron.
Beasley is accused of conducting the interviews and ultimately robbing and killing the men and injuring another. Prosecutors say Geiger was probably the first victim. Prosecutors believe he was killed around Aug. 9, shortly after telling friends he was moving out of an Akron homeless shelter to take on a “new job.”
At least one man has told reporters that he answered the ad and interviewed with Beasley at Chapel Hill Mall in Akron.
But the Craigslist scheme did not come to the attention of law enforcement until Scott Davis, 48, a former Canton man living in South Carolina, was shot Nov. 6 while touring the bogus property with two men believed to be Beasley and Rafferty.
Davis told police he had eaten a meal with his two assailants before he was shot in the arm and fled to hide on the farm. He is expected to be a key prosecution witness.
His escape led authorities to the body of David Pauley, 51, of Virginia, who was buried on the same property.
After Rafferty’s arrest, police found the bodies of Kerns and Geiger. Authorities believe Kern was killed Nov. 13 and Pauley, on Oct. 23.
Beasley claimed to be a reformed Christian after serving three prison stints in Ohio and Texas. He befriended Rafferty, a friend’s son, and offered to mentor the teen. They had regular contact for more than five years. The two attended church together, delivered food baskets and otherwise helped Akron’s downtrodden.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
