CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence of Richard Beasley, who posted fake job offers on Craigslist to lure men for him to rob and kill.
Beasley, 58, teamed up with a teenager to use the free classified ad website to put up postings promising jobs on a southeastern Ohio farm. He killed Ralph Geiger, David Pauley and Timothy Kern. He also shot Scott Davis, who survived.
A Summit County judge sentenced him to death in 2013.
The Ohio Supreme Court voted 7-0 that the evidence presented at trial was enough for a jury to convict him and that any errors he alleged either were not errors or were harmless.
The justices also voted 6-1 that the death sentence was appropriate. Then-Justice Bill O'Neill was the lone dissenter, relying on a dissent he wrote in a previous case that said the death penalty is unconstitutional.
"Without question, the aggravating circumstances in this case, Beasley's murder of three individuals as part of a single course of conduct, outweigh the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt," Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor wrote for the majority.
Despite his death sentences being upheld, the Ohio Supreme Court sent Beasley's case back to Summit County, ruling the judge did not take the proper steps when sentencing Beasley for his noncapital convictions.
Donald Gallick, Beasley's attorney, acknowledged that fighting death penalty cases in Ohio is difficult. Even designating the re-sentencing as a small victory would be "a bit of an overstatement," he said.
He said Beasley will likely ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case.
Brogan Rafferty, Beasley's co-defendant who was 16 years old at the time of the killings, is serving life in prison.
If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.