Brogan Rafferty, teen suspect in Ohio "Craigslist killings," headed to trial

(CBS/AP) AKRON, Ohio - Jury selection began Tuesday for an Ohio teenager charged in a deadly scheme to lure victims with fake Craigslist job offers.

Brogan Rafferty, now 17, is suspected of helping 53-year-old Richard Beasley lure victims to a remote location where they were robbed and murdered. Beasley will be tried separately.

Three men were killed last year in Noble County in southeast Ohio and Summit County in northeast Ohio after responding to what authorities said were bogus online job postings.

Rafferty, who is being tried as an adult, cannot face execution because he was 16-years-old and a juvenile when the crimes occurred. Instead, he could face life in prison.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Beasley, a Texas parolee who returned to Ohio in 2004 after serving time on a burglary conviction. He was awaiting trial on prostitution and drug charges when authorities took him into custody. Police have said a halfway house he ran in Akron was a front for prostitution.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty in the killings.

Complete coverage of the Ohio Craigslist murder case on Crimesider