Brogan Rafferty, the 17-year-old who worked under master manipulator Richard Beasley, was found guilty of aggravated murder on October 30th for his role in a recent Craigslist scam that resulted in three murders and one attempted murder. With Beasley's guidance, Rafferty lured four different victims using a fake Craigslist job offer for a farmhand position in Noble County in southeast Ohio. Although his attorneys argued that he was coerced by Beasley and feared for his life, the jurors found that he acted on his own free will and convicted him of murder (Palmer).
Beasley and Rafferty murdered three men, including Ralph Geiger of Akron, David Pauley of Norfolk, Virginia, and Timothy Kern of Massillon, all of whom were specifically selected as targets because they were older, single, unemployed, and had backgrounds that allow their disappearances to go undiscerned for longer than normal. Rafferty testified that he was unaware of what was going on when the first murder occurred and that he thought that Beasley only intended to rob Geiger. Rafferty's defense attorney John Alexander said Rafferty "had no idea any of this was going on." After the murder, Beasley reminded Rafferty that he knew where his mother and sister lived, and Rafferty remained part of the scam in order to protect himself and his family (Fox News).
The fourth intended victim, Scott Davis of South Carolina, managed to escape from Beasley and Rafferty and testified as the prosecution's star witness against them in trial. According to Davis' story, he sold his business and moved to Canton to be closer to his family, where he answered a Craigslist ad calling for a farmhand. He met Rafferty and Beasley for breakfast and then followed them to a nonexistent cattle farm. Beasley led him into a wooded area to look at farm equipment, and when he turned around, he found Beasley pointing a gun at his head. He managed to push Beasley's arm away and was shot in the arm.