The October job post sounded promising, especially for anyone desperate for work. "Simply watch over 688 acre patch of hilly farmland," read the want ad for a caretaker for southern Ohio property in the Akron-Canton section of Craigslist. At least four men responded. Three ended up dead, buried in shallow graves where they thought they were going to be interviewed, a place that turned out not to be a farm at all but a wooded area that had nothing to do with agriculture. One other interviewee managed to escape after being shot in the arm. Even more bizarre were the duo implicated by the authorities in late November. Brogan Rafferty, 16, has been charged as a juvenile with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in two of the incidents involved in the case. His mother claims her son told her he had nothing to do with the murders. Rafferty's father Michael told ABC News that his son "was misled by someone he extremely trusted. And somebody that was supposed to be a mentor for him. And I think probably, at the very end, he had an idea and was threatened." He also told the network that his son had been misled into digging the graves, believing they were drainage ditches. The young man's alleged associate is a 52-year-old purported preacher named Richard Beasley who has not yet been charged in any of the murders but has been indicted on unrelated charges of promoting and compelling prostitution, including the services of a 17-year-old boy. Beasley had previously been in trouble with the law on drug charges.
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Business Blunders
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Consumer-Spending Trends
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Campaign-Debate Moments
- Top 10 Best Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Trends
- Top 10 Marriage Stories
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Memes
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Worst Movies
- Top 10 Best Movies
- Top 10 New Findings in Parenting
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball-News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 People Not Running for President
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Protest Signs
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Smart-Phone Apps
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Space Moments
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Best Tweets
- Top 10 Worst Tweets
- Top 10 U.S.-News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Creative Videos
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 World-News Stories
- Top 10 Photos of the Year
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months