# Craigslist murderers lure victims with job ad **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847 "2011-12-02T15:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/1 "2011-12-02T15:50:20Z")
Wow, this has all the makings of a horror flick: [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/three-lured-to-death-in-ohio-by-craigslist-job-ad.html?\_r=1&hp](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/three-lured-to-death-in-ohio-by-craigslist-job-ad.html?_r=1&hp) > [@](#): > > To their eyes, the advertisement on Craigslist, offering $300 a week, a free trailer and unlimited fishing to “watch over a 688 acre patch of hilly farmland and feed a few cows,” may have seemed like a sign that their luck was finally turning. > > Instead, in a scheme so macabre that residents here are already speculating on when it will be turned into a movie script, three of the four men, one from Virginia, one from the Akron area and one still unidentified, were lured to their deaths, their bodies buried in shallow graves. The fourth man, from South Carolina, who was hired and driven to the property in rural southern Ohio, was shot in the arm but escaped and alerted the authorities. The “farm” was in fact land owned by a coal company. The story goes on to list some motives for the alleged killers, Richard Beasley and Brogan Rafferty. > [@](#): > > The police have suggested robbery as a motive, but other theories have also circulated, including identity theft and, perhaps more chilling, simply a desire to kill. The perpetrators appeared to be looking for loners who would not be missed. I knew a lot of jobs on Craigslist were scams, but this really gives one pause. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/2 "2011-12-02T18:25:23Z")
If the duties included fertilizing the grounds, that should have been clearly stated in the job description. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/3 "2011-12-02T19:14:30Z")
$300 a week to get killed? Hell, I wouldn’t get killed for less than a thousand a week. I guess times really are tough. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/4 "2011-12-02T19:19:13Z")
All joking aside, this was one of my major frustrations in looking for work - people kept pointing to craigslist: “look at all the job listings! Why aren’t you willing to travel? I thought you wanted to work!” Those folks were completely clueless to just how many job scams there are out there. Ones involving \*murder \*are, thankfully, an extremely rare thing but seriously, there are lots of people preying on the desperate job seeker. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/5 "2011-12-02T21:14:36Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > $300 a week to get killed? Hell, I wouldn’t get killed for less than a thousand a week. Plus health insurance! ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/6 "2011-12-02T21:15:41Z")
And here I was getting pissed that 99% of the job offers on craigslists are scams. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/7 "2011-12-02T21:22:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Plus health insurance! Sounds like what they really needed though, was life insurance. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/8 "2011-12-02T21:41:34Z")
Were any 6-year-old children involved? ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/9 "2011-12-02T22:34:20Z")
I wonder if they’ll get Jack Nicholson to play the murderer? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/10 "2011-12-03T02:19:56Z")
Curious what the motive is. I can’t think of anyone less lucrative to rob then “unemployed loners”, so that doesn’t seem real likely. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/11 "2011-12-03T02:22:05Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Curious what the motive is. I can’t think of anyone less lucrative to rob then “unemployed loners”, so that doesn’t seem real likely. 1. Kill unemployed loners. 2. ??? 3. Profit!!! ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/12 "2011-12-03T02:45:02Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Curious what the motive is. I can’t think of anyone less lucrative to rob then “unemployed loners”, so that doesn’t seem real likely. Gawker speculated that they were playing the most dangerous game. But, from what I’ve read, it seems that murderers were perfectly content with killing their victims on the spot once they had lured them into the woods, rather than tracking them through the wilderness. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/13 "2011-12-03T12:51:14Z")
From the article: “Law enforcement officials have arrested two suspects, Richard J. Beasley, **52** , of Akron and Brogan Rafferty, **16** ” “Mr. Beasley, who has a long criminal record, has not been charged in connection with the killings yet but is being held on other charges, including **15 counts of promoting prostitution** ” **And** “Carol Beasley, Mr. Beasley’s mother, insisted that her son was innocent, and said that he had spent hundreds of hours in charitable work, like taking food to the poor, and **had taken Mr. Rafferty — “a nice young man” — under his wing**.” I’ve got about a month’s pay that says there’s some creepy sex thing involved, here. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/14 "2011-12-03T13:52:02Z")
I read that yesterday…and also thought “creepy sex thing” between the fat old guy and 16-year-old Rafferty. Odd that Rafferty is the only one being charged with murder, at this point. Also odd that the mothers of both men have stepped up to say what nice guys their sons are. All kinds of odd going on in this case. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/15 "2011-12-05T04:38:39Z")
also by stupid companies about to go under. they advertise vacant positions, interview dozens, but have no plans of hiring. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/16 "2011-12-05T04:42:32Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > also by stupid companies about to go under. they advertise vacant positions, interview dozens, but have no plans of hiring. Yea, thats much worse then taking them out to the woods and shooting them. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/17 "2011-12-05T05:10:24Z")
what happened to the good ol’ days when people were killed in death castles and such? Stupid Craigslist Amateurs. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/18 "2011-12-05T06:07:24Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Odd that Rafferty is the only one being charged with murder, at this point. Also odd that the mothers of both men have stepped up to say what nice guys their sons are. All kinds of odd going on in this case. Have any mothers of murders gone on record to say something like: "He was a terrible boy. He always creeped me out. I should have smothered him when he was 3, when I had the chance. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/19 "2011-12-05T06:14:30Z")
that murphy brown episode: “well for starters, it was a difficult labor. he had a head like a basketball!” ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847/20 "2011-12-05T07:27:58Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > All kinds of odd going on in this case. Go back and look at the 4th comment posted at the end of that NYT article. There is a link to what appears to be a mugshot of the 16yo kids mother on drug charges and for occupying a condemned dwelling. And boy, does she look seriously creepy. Yeah. There’s some seriously odd stuff going on here and this is probably only the tip of the iceberg. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craigslist-murderers-lure-victims-with-job-ad/604847.md?page=2)