Richard Beasley, the Ohio street-preacher who lured his murder victims with bogus Craigslist job offers, has been sentenced to the death penalty in Akron, according to NBC News. Beasley was convicted on March 12 of killing three men and wounding a fourth, all of whom hegave false promises of farmhand jobs to in southeast Ohio in 2011.
"Richard Beasley is a cold-blooded manipulator with zero regard for human life," Prosecutor Sherry Bevan Walsh said Thursday.
"Beasley has shown no remorse and would likely still be preying on men who were seeking a better life. It is never a joyous occasion when someone is sentenced to die, but in this case, the death penalty is the most appropriate sentence."
Before being sentenced, Beasley made a brief statement: ""To the familes, I'm sorry. I will continue to pray for you,.
Beasley was convicting of shooting and killing three men, Ralpha Geiger, David Pauley and Thomas Kern, and buried them in shallow graves in the woods, news reports said. The Craigslist ad offered a $300-a-week caretaker job.
The fourthman Beasley shot and wounded was Scott Davis, from South Carolina, who managed to escape and was a key witness against him. Davis testified during the trial that when he went to where he went to meet Beasely at the alleged job site in the Noble County, Ohio, he heard the click of a gun and was shot in the arm, news reports said. Davis knocked the weapon aside and ran into the woods.
The men Beasley targeted were all destitude and had few family ties, prosecutors said.
Rafferty, 17, was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without parole in November for his role in the scheme. Since he was 16 years old at the time of the crimes and not eligible for the death penalty, according to police reports.
During Rafferty's trial, jurors heard testimony that the teen helped to dig graves for some of the men and was also found in possession of guns and knives stolen from them. Rafferty testified that he was terrified of the man he had considered a father figure and spiritual adviser after he saw Beasley shoot Geiger in the head execution-style.
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