Jury: Execute 'Craigslist killer'

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AKRON, Ohio, March 20 (UPI) -- A jury in Summit County, Ohio, Wednesday recommended convicted "Craigslist killer" Richard Beasley be executed.

Judge Lynne Callahan will impose her sentence Tuesday afternoon, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Beasley did not address the jurors during his sentencing hearing, relying on his attorney and his mother to sway the panel.

Defense attorney Larry Whitney asked the jurors to take Beasley's abusive childhood into account as a mitigating factor.

"There was physical abuse. There was psychological abuse. It went on and on and on," he said.

Beasley's mother, Carol, also took the stand to explain the physical abuse at the hands of her second husband, adding, "I love Richard with all my heart."

Paul Scarsella of the Ohio District Attorney's Office told the jurors, "If you honestly, truly look at the evidence and follow the law, there is only one verdict and that's the death penalty."

Beasley, 53, was convicted a week ago on 26 counts for killing three men -- Ralph Geiger, David Pauley and Tim Kern -- and wounding a fourth -- Scott Davis -- during a three-month span in 2011.

The men, lured by advertisements on the website Craigslist for a farm caretaker, were killed in the Akron area.

Beasley's co-defendant, Brogan Rafferty of Stow, who was 16 at the time of the crimes, was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder last year and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.