Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

Latest Updates

Discussion

February 19, 2013

2nd Ohio man facing trial in Craigslist killings

Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio ( — Jury selection has begun in the Ohio trial of the alleged mastermind of a deadly plot to lure robbery victims with phony Craigslist job offers, killing three men and wounding a fourth.

More than 200 prospective jurors gathered Tuesday in the ornate Akron Civic Theater because there was no courthouse room big enough.

Judge Lynne Callahan told prospective jurors that jury selection in the murder trial of 53-year-old Richard Beasley could extend into next week and the trial could last six weeks. He could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors have portrayed Beasley as an ex-con street preacher in Akron and mentor to a teenager convicted in the plot.

Co-defendant Brogan Rafferty, who was then 17, was sentenced to life in prison in November after being found guilty in the plot.

Text Only
Latest Updates
AP Video
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
Business Marquee
College Sports
Pro Sports
Facebook