Murder victim's son testifies in craigslist killings trial of Richard Beasley

AKRON, Ohio - The son of one of the craigslist murder victims testified on day four of Richard Beasley's trial in Summit County.

Nicholas Kern told the jury that he loaned $20 to his father, Timothy Kern, before he left for a job interview.

Prosecutors said Timothy Kern headed out for a meeting with his potential employer on Nov. 13, 2011.

“I think I texted him that night and just said good luck and I loved him,” Nicholas Kern said.

He never heard from his dad again.

Investigators said the 47-year-old man was one of several men who were interested in a craigslist ad that detailed a job as a caretaker on a farm in Noble County.

Prosecutors contend Beasley shot and killed Kern and buried his body behind Rolling Acres Mall in Akron.

Summit County Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler told the jury that Kern was shot five times in the head.

Beasley is also charged with killing Ralph Geiger, of Akron, David Pauley, of Virginia and the attempted murder of Scott Davis from South Carolina.

The bodies of Geiger and Pauley were found in a wooded area in Caldwell, Ohio.

Also on Thursday, the jury heard testimony from former FBI agent, Michael Daugherty, who assisted with the arrest of Richard Beasley in Akron.

"My primary role was coordinating information to try to locate Mr. Beasley," Daugherty explained.

Daugherty said Beasley’s phone was traced through a cell tower and he was arrested shortly after he tried to open a locked church door on Gridley Avenue in Akron.

Daugherty said Beasley was surrounded by a S.W.A.T. team and taken into custody.

Ed Staley, a crime scene investigator with Ohio BCI, took photographs of the wooded area where Kern’s body was discovered. The jury was shown several graphic pictures from the site.

Staley said the grave wasn't very deep and it was covered with sticks.

The jury also heard testimony from Beasley's former Akron landlord, Penny Kaufman.

Kaufman said she rented a room to Beasley in a Gridley Avenue home in October of 2011.

She heard a story from another tenant that someone had tried to shoot Beasley. She asked him what happened.

According to Kaufman's testimony, Beasley said he traveled to southern Ohio and met with two men who wanted to buy a storage facility from him.

Kaufman said Beasley claimed the men tried to shoot him after they pulled off a dirt road.

"He said he felt a gun to the back of his head, and he said, 'All, I could hear was click, click, click... He got a hold of the gun, he said, and it went off and it ricocheted and it hit one of the guys in the arm," Kaufman testified.

Prosecutors believe Beasley changed the details of what actually happened to cover for his crimes.

Davis, the only survivor, was shot in the elbow in a wooded area in Noble County.

If convicted, Beasley could face the death penalty.