Ohio teen in Craigslist trial: I feared for life

Associated Press

AKRON

The teenage suspect in the slayings of three men lured by phony Craigslist job offers went along with the plan only because he feared he would also die if he didn’t, he testified Tuesday at his murder trial.

Asked repeatedly by his defense attorney why he didn’t run from his co- defendant or call police, soft-spoken Brogan Rafferty, 17, said his one-time mentor had issued a veiled warning to keep quiet.

“I thought he’d kill me,” Rafferty, of nearby Stow, testified as jurors watched intently, some taking notes.

He said co-defendant Richard Beasley, 53, of Akron, who has pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately, reminded Rafferty during the drive home after the first killing that he knew where Rafferty’s mother and sister lived.

Asked what would have happened if he had objected, Rafferty responded, “He probably would have murdered me right there in the car.”

Authorities say the victims answered Craigslist ads for work on a non- existent cattle farm in rural Noble County in southeast Ohio. A robbery scheme targeted older, single, out-of-work men with back-grounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noticed right away, according to authorities.

Beasley could face the death penalty if convicted. As a juvenile, Rafferty cannot and instead faces a life prison sentence without chance of parole if convicted of aggravated murder.

Rafferty said the horror of the first killing surprised him.