AKRON, Ohio – The jury in the “Craigslist Murders” trial could begin deliberations later today.
Closing arguments are scheduled this morning after Richard Beasley’s attorneys rested their case.
Beasley took the stand in his own defense yesterday, denying any knowledge of the murders of three men lured to a rural area of southern Ohio by fake help-wanted ads on the website.
“I had no idea that somebody, anybody, had been killed down on that farm. I had no way to know,” Beasley testified.
In a heated exchange, he called prosecutor John Baumoel “a liar” when Baumoel accused him of shooting one of his victims in the back of the head.
“I didn’t do that, you didn’t see it and nobody testified to it in this court. It did not happen,” Beasley said.
Beasley told the jury he was allowed to use one of the alleged victim’s identities to hide out from a warrant he faced in Texas.
He could get the death penalty if convicted of killing the three men. A fourth man was only injured and escaped to alert authorities.
Brogan Rafferty, 17, is already serving a prison term for his role in the murders.