Nevada man convicted of 5 murders in 2013 spree
YERINGTON, Nev. -- A 27-year-old Nevada man has been convicted of five capital murders during a killing spree east of Reno two years ago.
A state court jury in Yerington found Jeremiah Bean guilty Tuesday on five counts of first-degree murder. He also was convicted of arson, burglary, robbery and larceny charges. He was convicted after less than two hours of deliberations.
"Jeremiah Diaz Bean decided that money, partying, and stealing were more important than anything else," says Lyon County Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Rye, according to CBS affiliate KTVN.
Bean killed Bob and Dotty Pape at their Jessica Lane home, in Fernley, and later lit their house on fire. Investigators say he stole their truck and drove to Mustang and killed Eliazar Graham. They say he then returned to Fernley and murdered Lester Leiber and Angie Duff at her home.
Bean faces the death penalty at his sentencing hearing beginning Aug. 4.
The convicted felon initially agreed to a plea deal that would have spared him from possible execution. But he changed his mind and pleaded not guilty in November 2013 to all charges tied to the killings the previous Mother's Day weekend.
Prosecutors say Bean fatally shot two couples in two homes in rural Fernley and a newspaper deliveryman 30 miles away at an I-80 exit east of Reno near the Mustang Ranch brothel.