AKRON, Ohio --

The case of a juvenile suspect in a deadly Ohio Craigslist robbery scheme has been moved out of the county where two slaying victims were found and another was shot but survived.


A court official in Noble County also said on Friday that the 2-month-old gag order in the case has been lifted.


Tonda Brown, Noble County Court, assignment commissioner, said the decision to transfer the case of Brogan Rafferty to Summit County came after a hearing Friday afternoon.

Rafferty is scheduled to appear Monday afternoon before a Summit County Juvenile Court judge in Akron. Rafferty's attorney, John Alexander, said the preliminary hearing will involve the review of charges and allow for bond to be discussed.

The Associated Press reported that the transfer of 16-year-old Rafferty on Friday came the same day that the chief suspect in the case was charged with aggravated murder, robbery, kidnapping and other charges in the deaths of three men and the wounding of a fourth.


A second suspect's name is listed on court documents in conjunction with the juvenile's case, Richard J. Beasley. Beasley, 52, has been described as a mentor to the teen and was arrested on unrelated charges last fall in Akron.

Last fall, police said as many as three people were killed and another wounded after they were lured to Noble County with the prospect of landing jobs doing farm work, then tricked into going to a rural area with men who intended to kill them.

Sheriff Stephen Hannum said a South Carolina man told police that he responded to a local job listing on Craigslist. When he came to town for the work, two men picked him up and said they were going to drive him to the project but then started shooting at him.

That investigation led officers to the body of a man buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area along a road about 10 miles outside of Caldwell. Soon after, a death certificate showed the victim -- 51-year-old David Pauley, of Norfolk, Va. -- died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Authorities also confirmed the identity of a body found near an Akron mall in Summit County as 47-year-old Timothy Kern of Massillon, Ohio. Police said Kern also answered a Craigslist ad connected to Noble County. The Summit County medical examiner said Kern died from gunshot wounds to the head.

The discovery of Kern's body in a shallow grave came just before Noble County Sheriff's Office announced finding the body of Ralph Geiger in Stock Township, also in a shallow grave.

Stay with NEWS9, WTOV9.com and WTOV9 Mobile for continuing coverage.