A teenager was found guilty of aggravatedmurder Tuesday for his role in a deadly plot to lure men desperate for workwith phony Craigslist job offers.
Prosecutors in the weeks-long trial painted 17-year-oldBrogan Rafferty of the state of Ohio as a quick student of violence and willingparticipant in three killings, while the defense argued he was acting under theduress of his alleged accomplice, a self-styled chaplain depicted as a mentor.
Authorities say Rafferty, of Stow, helped Richard Beasley,of Akron, lure four victims at separate times with bogus Craigslist job offersto a nonexistent cattle farm in rural Noble County in southeast Ohio; they saythe motive was robbery. Authorities say Beasley shot and killed three of themen; the fourth victim was shot in the arm and survived.
Rafferty stood with his hands clasped behind his back andshowed no emotion as the verdicts were read. His mother leaned over and criedsoftly.
Led from the courtroom, Rafferty shook his head and said,"Nothing to say." He didn't respond to reporters' questions about theverdict.
Prosecutors and the defense, who are under a gag order,didn't comment afterward. The father of victim Timothy Kern flashed a thumbs-upafter the verdicts were read but declined to comment when he left thecourtroom.
Jury forewoman Dana Nash and other jurors said it was adifficult decision because of Rafferty's age, calling him "a child."
Nash said they were skeptical of some of Rafferty'stestimony, saying they felt as if he contradicted himself.
"We were trying to be fair, and we were fair,"Nash said afterward. "We listened to everything, we observed everything,and we feel we made the right decision."
Rafferty had testified that he didn't want to be a part ofsuch violence and said he went along with the plan only because he feared forhis life.
Rafferty was tried as an adult but faces a maximum potentialsentence of life in prison because he is a juvenile. His sentencing is set forNov. 5.
Beasley, 53, has pleaded not guilty and could face the deathpenalty if convicted at his separate trial.
Jurors reached the verdict on their fourth day ofdeliberations, convicting Rafferty of three counts of aggravated murder and onecount of attempted murder.
The man who survived, 49-year-old Scott Davis of SouthCarolina, had testified as the prosecution's star witness, identifying Raffertyas Beasley's accomplice and telling a harrowing story.
Davis told a crowded, hushed courtroom that he had moved tothe Canton area after selling his South Carolina business to be closer to hisfamily, and responded to a Craigslist ad to work as a farmhand.
He said he met Rafferty and a man who called himself"Jack" for breakfast before driving to an isolated Noble County farm.
Prosecutors say that "Jack" was actually Beasley,and that he urged Davis into a wooded area to look for farm equipment.
Davis said he heard a gun cock and turned around to findhimself face to face with a handgun. He said he pushed the weapon aside, wasshot in the arm and fled as "Jack" fired at him.
Davis said he kept falling as he ran away but eventuallymade it to a creek bed, tried to stop the bleeding and waited for dark. Inrising pain and worried that the blood loss would kill him, Davis said heclimbed to a hilltop, found a house and asked to call police.
During Rafferty's trial, defense attorney John Alexanderpainted Beasley as the mastermind and said that the first killing came withoutwarning for Rafferty, who "had no idea any of this was going on."
After the first killing, Alexander said that Beasley warnedRafferty to keep quiet and cooperate by reminding him that he knew where hismother and sister lived.
Prosecutor Emily Pelphrey told jurors that Rafferty chose toparticipate in the killings, saying he was a "student of violentcrime."
Prosecutors also showed jurors photographs of a suitcasefilled with weapons found in Rafferty's bedroom, including a sawed-off shotgun,a .22-caliber pistol, two knives and ammunition. None of the weapons wasconclusively linked to any of the three killings.
Jurors also were shown photos of the graves of the three menkilled in the plot and said they were just trying to improve their lives andfind work.
The three men were Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron; David Pauley,51, of Norfolk, Virginia; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon. Authorities saythey were targeted because they were older, single, out-of-work men withbackgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noticed rightaway.
All the victims were robbed of things including personalitems, a truck and a weapon, prosecutors say.
Davis' escape on Nov. 6, 2011, is what led authorities tofind Pauley's body in the same area where Davis was shot. Geiger's body alsowas found in Noble County, while Kern's body was found in a shallow grave nearan Akron-area shopping mall.
Beasley was a Texas parolee who returned to Ohio in 2004after serving time on a burglary conviction. He was awaiting trial onprostitution and drug charges when authorities took him into custody.
Police have said a halfway house he ran in Akron was a frontfor prostitution.