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Phil Masturzo / AP file
Brogan Rafferty, shown here heading into court on Oct. 25, was convicted on Tuesday of murder and other counts in the so-called Craigslist killings in Ohio.
A jury in Akron, Ohio, on Tuesday found a 17-year-old guilty of aggravated murder and other counts for his role in the slayings of three men who were lured to the state by phony Craigslist job ads.
Brogan Rafferty was convicted on all counts except Count 42, which was ID fraud, WKYC-TV reported.
Authorities say Rafferty, of Stow, helped Richard Beasley, of Akron, lure four victims at separate times with bogus Craigslist job offers to a nonexistent cattle farm in rural Noble County in southeast Ohio; they say the motive was robbery. Authorities say Beasley shot and killed three of the men; the fourth victim was shot in the arm and survived.
Rafferty told the court he went along with the plot because he feared Beasley would kill him too.
"Go with it or die," Rafferty said, when asked if he thought he had any choice in taking part in the murders, according to WKYC.
Beasley, 53, is scheduled for trial in January. He has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted. As a juvenile, Rafferty can't be sentenced to death; he faces life in prison without chance of parole.
In closing arguments last week, prosecutors portrayed Rafferty as someone who knew exactly what he was doing and ignored opportunities to go to police.
Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen shows how easy it is to buy powerful and highly addictive narcotics in the online classifieds.
"Although Richard Beasley is a murderer and liar, he was brutally honest with one person. One person knew everything that he was doing. Just one. And that was Brogan Rafferty," assistant Summit County prosecutor John Baumoel told jurors. "Brogan Rafferty knew each and every one of his dark secrets."
Baumoel told jurors that the two were partners "in executing people out in the woods."
He pointed jurors to Internet searches Rafferty did after the first slaying for the term "first kill" and "Sopranos' first whack," referring to the TV show about a New Jersey mafia family. And he downplayed arguments the defense had made that Rafferty was the product of a tough childhood, his mother a drug addict on the streets, his father rarely around as he worked long hours to support the family.
"Having a difficult childhood is neither a legal excuse nor a moral excuse for being involved in deaths and murder of multiple people," Baumoel said.
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Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen meets with someone who is suggesting he is a hit man.
Rafferty's attorney said the suspect was a 16-year-old child at the time of the killings who was afraid Beasley would harm his mother and sister and didn't know how to escape.
"Did we see Brogan Rafferty, psychopath, or a 16-year-old child who found himself in a horrible situation and couldn't find his way out?" attorney John Alexander asked.
He added, "Does a 16-year-old child have the know-how how to handle these traumatic situations? Does he understand the options ahead of him?"
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
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Leave a Comment:
Give 'em both the death sentence and call it a day. Who cares if he's not an "adult". He knew damn well what he was doing.
Yep, killing solves everything, doesn't it?
Courage,
Not all the time. I think in this case the family members of those killed would like to see them both dead !!
Yea who cares if we kill kids, if it makes bloodthirsty cavemen feel better that's all that counts.
Murder and capital punishment are apples and oranges. Just because both are fruits does not make them the same. If you plant apple seeds, you will not get oranges or vice versa. People opposed to capital punishment can pay to support the murderer out of their own pocket, or better yet, bring them home and rehabilitate them yourself, especially if they are guilty of killing one of your family members. Put your actions where your mouth is.
send them to texas for the trial;i'am sure he could get the death penalty there.
Marine 55, I agree. Semper Fi.
It was rubbish for the defending attorney to claim that this young man was trapped in a situation and couldn't figure a way out. Anyone who performs all the intricate steps that it took to perpetrate these murders knows exactly what he's doing.
Their intention was murder, because it would make no sense for these culprits to scheme to rob unemployed people who apparently came looking for work.
These were calculated, adult crimes, so the defendants age is irrelevant. Let him do the time, all of it.
Poor people that got killed they were just looking for work. Thank God for justice, these two people will never know what freedom is again. I don't believe 100% in the death penalty but some people really are the exception. These two qualify without a doubt.
To think there are people using Craigs list to have sex with strangers, they must be sex addicts with no prejudice, no moral integrity, no dignity and must of all the egos must be very tiny
Where does it mention sex with strangers in this article? I must have missed that.
A freudian slip. Claudia associates Craiglist with sex, hmmm???
claudia you looking for some good sex, im your guy ;)
She said she'd love to but it is so old, wrinkled, dry, and full of cobb webs that it probably wouldn't do either of you much good.
Apparently when Claudia CT read that Craig's List was involved, all she could think about was sex. Good luck, dear.
Claudia CT
There have been lots of crimes committed using Craigs List, however this article deals with killing people that were only applying for a job.
Jack,
I believe she had a failure to comprehend the written material presented
His rectum will suffer more than he will. Enjoy prison, Dick!!!
Whats with the obsession with gay prison sex you seem to have?
He will be the daily bolongna sanwich but will have only two slices of White bread. The rest will be delivered.
amazing how people used craigs list without thinking of consequences ...My ex..is into having sex with craigs list strangerss, one of the ads he answers from a married woman, she have an ad looking for d...., now they are swinging, swapping and doing her favorite past time DP...so sad this people don't consider the damaged they caused their children and the danger of going to a cheap motel room with an stranger
Claudia, seek out a support group or something, This forum is about murder, not SEX or your EX.
if this is your ex, then how do you know his intimate sex details and why should you care? The best thing you did was to get him away from you and your kids!
The defense even whipped out the "16 year old child..." routine Get outta here! That may help a little for some daft kid who shoplifted or stole a bike, but this was premeditated murder.
Bill, what you say is true, it seems to be premeditated and with much thought, on the other hand, 16 year old brains are still developing and will make very shaky decisions often non rational ones until age 24. Thats why most, if not all, that never picked up a cigarette habit will not ever go on to smoke in their lifetime. A developed brain will virtually every time say, it stinks or is bad for you. Bad decisions come often and unfortunately without consequence in many cases of youth crime, most of which will lead to adverse attitude and ultimately lead to violent crime. I really wish I had the answer, but I'm certain, that killing them back just transfers guilt unto the hangman, who will question their own participation in years to come. It happens to many Bill.
@jeffery. Are you crazy? I would snuff them out in a minute and never regret it.
jeffrey f: so take the poor kid home to your place and on your dime you fix him. Feed him, clothe him, train him not to kill under your roof. You have 7 years of "development" left to make him rational like yourself. I am not kidding here-why don't people who babble on about the victimization of the murder volunteer to fix the problem at their own cost?
jeffrey f,At 16 I was in high school,helping take care of my younger siblings and doing chores.I would never for one second contemplate murdering,robbing,assaulting or scamming another person at 16 and even at my age of 61.This guy made the choices that he did and now he has to suffer the consequences.He should have put more thought into his schooling and homework.
jeffery......Yeah, let's just continue right along with feeding, housing, clothing, and doctoring these maniacle MF's and sit back and watch where it goes. Ok?
It goes nowhere. The Mexicans have some islands called Las Marias off the western Mexican coast. Maybe we can take all the lifers and farm them out to the Mexicans and pay them to take them. Instead of the $30,000 a year we spend now to house them, give the Mexicans $10,000 and let them take care of them. Hell we have about 6-10 million illegal Mexicans. They can take a few thousand of our lifers and still make money!
Wow, MaryJones, you're a real prize. It's one thing to advocate for the death penalty in certain circumstances. It's quite another to be the bloodthirsty volunteer eager to do the deed yourself on the basis of a very short article about a 16-year old. Quite undignified.
These two murderers are not remorseful.They only care because they got caught.It's a shame that this guy is so young but he made the choice to participate and therefore is as guilty s the guy who did the actual murders.Craig's list has no redeeming qualities and I would never advertise nor contact anybody who uses it to advertise.
I gaurantee he was getting his cut of the spoils and just as eager to get it as the old fart was. Anyone at 16 is old enough to know better. When I was 16 I had already been on my own for a yr and making my own living. I don't want to hear that "he was just a child" BS.
These two murderers are not remorseful.
Craig's list has no redeeming qualities.
He should have put more thought into his schooling and homework.
You know everything, don't you, cleaning lady?
I'd say you've reached the pinnacle of your professional capacity.
Midnightridr: You're an idiot. We are not in the same day and age as you were at 16. Think about that before you open your mouth. And you were not raised the same.
Amanda...
Having a tough upbringing or not being raised correctly for whatever reason does not give anyone the right to pass on misery deprive another, especially of their own life. These people probably had children themselves and may have been going to great lengths to be responsibly employed and now their children will certainly not be raised properly. Get it?
Please think about these facts, before you open your mouth.
For some reason, somebody sometime, thought that very young criminals had a reduced culpability in their crimes, and that they needed protection from prosecution.
Is a 16 year old as culpable as a 40 year old? I'm 60...and I note that even though I am in xlnt health and an avid fitness freak...that the government does not want me in the military.
I suspect it's because a drill sergeant has no hope of cowering me, and I would never be good at following orders. Young people, on the other hand, make good soldiers because they are malleable.
If they controlled enlistment by a fitness test, I would be as in as Flynn... Thing is, it's not fitness or ability... they need malleable minds.
So does a man deserve protection from prosecution for his age? Well... everything is relative.. Those kids that shot up Columbine were probably not criminally culpable for their murders...but some folks just need to be put down.
I just wish we could come up with a consistent policy. I wish we could decide what ages are accountable for what, and develop objective tests for things....and then force prosecutors to abide by that.
Word is, the human brain does not become mature and fully functional until the mid 20s.... what protection do the young deserve? What are we willing to give them?
I suspect they deserve more than they can get in the USA...what with our being a big prison kind of place, and "law and order" being a theme in our movies...
...and the government isn't going to accept ANY limitations...and the US citizens are not likely to support any... We do like a free government...
Yearning...please don't confuse the lemmings with rational thought.
I just wonder, how many that are advocating killing these two, are Christians? WWJD? Mary, Cleaning lady, MDNight rdr, lonnie, my way, marine 55...any christians out there who belive in promoting the death penalty?
"I just wonder, how many that are advocating killing these two, are Christians?"
I don't care WHAT you say. The very reason that so much of this crap goes on today is because people have been shown that there is no need to worry about retribution. They know that the very worst that's going to happen to them is nothing really to worry about at all. What? Free room and board? Free medical care. What an idiotically insane way to punish someone who is more than willing to just say screw it and kill at the drop of a hat. Call me old fashioned or whatever you will, I believe in an eye for an eye. You go right ahead and feel free to believe in what you will.
"An eye for an eye" is not "old fashioned." It is simpleton morality. Equating prison with "free room and board" is equally superficial and idiotic.
Actually not completely as black and white as you think CincyJoe.
There are a great number of studies that show that there is a percentage of prisoners who do find prison life to be their free room and board. They have a structured life in a "safe" environment and don't have to think or produce beyond what they have been dictated to. (since not totally relevant to this topic we won't go into how the he!! someone could call prison safe).
There are terms for it such as institutionalized as well as others, but it is very real.
Back to this topic, there isn't enough to go on from the story written, and I haven't background checked enough to form an educated opinion. Unless there was data to support that he was trapped as surely as a rat in a cage, it seems a bit too dramatic to be a good alibi on the surface.
There is a meme out there, expressed just above, that somehow US society encourages crime because we are taught that there are no consequences.
Yet our media is saturated with police shows, our prisons are overfilled, as we have the largest prison population in the world.. per capita and in raw numbers.
There has to be a reason for that. One possibility is that US citizens just commit more crimes than every other country, and another possibility is that we are a repressive police state.
Regardless, I can't quite find the reason that someone might think that children are taught there are no consequences for crimes. That part seems well represented.
What I think we need, is a government limited by legislation. I don't trust authority just making stuff up as they go along, and deciding on a case by case basis who is culpable as an adult, and who has diminished culpability as a child.
I think race, money and other biases will always be a factor in making such decisions. I know it's a lot to ask... and folks are bound to call me a "bleeding heart liberal"...thing is, it wasn't too long ago that the idea of limiting government by legislation was considered a hallmark of conservatism.
To me, the issue here isn't guilt... Let's assume for the sake of argument that he is guilty as charged, the question is "should young people have protection from the law because of diminished culpability"
Specifically, if a 17 year old commits a heinous crime, should he be as culpable as a 60 year old under law?
Just asking.
My son does what he's told because that's the way he was raised. When an adult in a position of authority tells you to do something, you do it - NOW, not later. It's an everyday battle, but that's how my father raised me to be the man I am today, no back talk or watch out.
Now, if I was a psycopath, and I ordered my son to kill somebody, and, being a good son who does what his father (or other adult in a position of authority) tells him to do - Is it his fault or mine?
Sorry jonedep, but good people know not to kill innocent people. It's inherently wrong to do so. The Nazis tried your line of reasoning at Nuremberg - didn't work for them either.
Ah Nuremburg! You would think we might have more recent icons of justice.
Actually... good people know it is correct to kill people... if it is okayed by authority. We have wars where our young people go and do what they have to do. We have police who shoot people, and we have executions.
Most situations in which it is right to kill people, depend on young malleable people following orders. It seems the under 18 crowd are kinda better at that stuff than old coots such as myself.
The question being, "should people under a certain age be protected from full culpability under law by legislation... or should a judge just go on a case by case basis, making it up as he goes along"?
Do we trust the judgement of a judge? Would it be a good idea to get rid of all law and just let a judge make ALL decisions as they go along...
...or should judges be limited by legislation?
It's a moot point to argue about whether or not the death penalty is a deterrent. It doesn't matter. Sometimes, death is the right punishment for the crime. End of debate.
Hear Hear! My sentiments exactly!
What kind of an idiot would believe that an unemployed farm worker is actually worth trying to rob?
If for no other reason they ought to execute the SOB's for being as stupid as the days are long. Some people just needs to be killed. Period.
I once lived in Stow, Ohio. Sad to say there are some fkd up kids there! Glad I don't live there anymore!
Anyone can plea that they are ignorant, but that does not excuse them of anything, especially injury to others.
When I was 16 I had a drivers license with full responsibility for my behavior with it, school, a job and responsibilities that determined the fate, well being, and safety of those around me. Unless this guy had his family hostage or a land mine/explosives vest strapped to him somehow to make him do it, this 16 year old is responsible for his actions. He has to be or we can excuse every 16 year old in the country, and that would be the end of us all.
You really have no room to talk. You need to learn to put yourself in others shoes. Just because you had a driver's licence and a job and school and responsibilities and were raised "perfect" doesn't mean every other 16 year old was. You had all of that because you grew up in a good household. But not everyone does. You talk like you know what this kid went through, but you don't know because you have never had the same experiences this kid had when he was growing up. Don't EVER compare yourself or your worth to anyone else. Just be glad you grew up with a happy childhood and don't flaunt it because you never know what someone else went through unless you were in their shoes. We are in a different day and age and this child has problems and needs help. And kids these days don't know how to ask for help without being judged so quickly. This boy is still a boy and doesn't deserve life without parole. He deserves some help. But because we have people like you in this world, this boy will probably never get the help he needs because people like you do nothing but judge instead of actually trying to make a difference. What this boy did was wrong, and he does deserve jail time. But he also needs help. He has ALOT of growing up to do, but most of us did at that age. Not too many 16 year olds know how to think for themselves. The only reason why he didn't say anything is because he was scared for his life and the life of his family. And this is all something you would never understand because you are hardheaded and believe everyone is just like you or should be just like you. You don't understand the development of the brain and how some youngsters, depending on how they're raised, their brains can't process on what to do in situations like this. This boy did not know this man was going to murder those men. Keep that in mind next time you try to show yourself up to someone else. You do not have the same past as others.
Amanda, I have plenty of room to talk and am well qualified to make my statement. My family was involved in state adoption and foster care and am well aware about development..boy have I gotten an education in that. Don't EVER tell me that I do not put myself in others shoes or make a difference. One thing I have learned: you can be compassionate and try to make a difference, but be prepared to draw a line: one person's suffering and misfortune does not entitle them to instill and pass it on to others. Period. Because of they did, then there would be no one left alive to draw the line or help.
We in this country are still making excuses for bad behavior, and there is simply no excuse for it. If you have problems, there are responsible adults, pastors, teachers, organizations, and believe it or not, sometimes parents, who are more than willing to listen and help, and it costs nothing other than time and patience. This young man wanted some easy money and had little regard for human life, in his relentless pursuit of his God of Money. His accomplice was no different, and at least now they will both be off the streets and will no longer reside in the public domain.
Many of the comments make me think that I had an abnormal childhood. I remember when I was a teenager, and I was definitely susceptible to the influence of adults, specifically men.
Part of the reason our teen-children are committing such horrendous crimes is, they are being raised in fatherless households. As such, they subconsciously seek guidance from other men who may not have their best interests in mind.
If the man who they emulate is less-than ideal, more than likely the boy - because he is seeking approval from him - will adopt his mannerisms, demeanor, and actions.
The crimes of these boys are nothing more than the "chickens coming home to roost"; the consequences of misguided policies that enable mothers to eliminate fathers from their children's lives.
The teen is not incorrigible. He should not be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. He should be rehabilitated and eventually released.
wow....a lawyer with a brain.....never would have quested the two could co-exist ............
This is terrible and my heart goes to the victims and their families.
That being said, I can't get over the name Brogan. Really? That's a tough break.
This boy was 16 when this happened. And his intentions were never to murder those men. They were to rob them, it even says it in the beginning. Beasley is the one who murdered them. I understand that this boy deserves some jail time...but life without parole isn't right. There are rapists and molestors that don't even get that and this just goes to show how incredibly messed up our system is around here. I have to agree with the attorny on this one. What kind of 16 year old knows how to think for themselves in serious situations? I believe that yes, he was scared for him and his family. I think he put himself in a situation that got completely out of control and he didn't know what to do or how to tell someone in fear of this wacko killing him or his family. If it was a 25 year old man, then I could see why he would get in trouble for not going to the police. But 16 years old...that's still a child...And for you people on here saying he deserves the death penalty, you obviously just skimmed through the article. This boy needs some help and for a long time. And yes, he needs some jail time. But to put someone like this in prison for life with no parole...that just pisses me off knowing there are people out there that DO deserve that type of punishment but aren't getting it.