WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SOME GRAPHIC CONTENT
Prosecutors say there is no question about who murdered four people in Fernley, and another man near Mustang. Jeremiah Bean's trial began, Thursday morning, with opening statements of what happened May 10-13, 2013. They say Bob Pape was doing yard work on his Jessica Lane home, on a Friday. That's when Bean snuck into the house to steal jewelry and other items. It was during that robbery, that prosecutors say Bean shot Bob's wife, Dorothy, in the back of the head as she laid in her bed. Bob was shot in the head when he came into the house to investigate. Lyon County Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Reichenberg says Bean confessed the murders to several friends.
"He told them the reason he killed Bob and Dorothy Pape was that it was Friday and he was broke and he needed to come up with some cash," Reichenberg said.
Reichenberg says Bean stole the Pape's truck along with jewelry and other items, including the .22 revolver used in the murders. He says Bean went to Reno and sold some of the Pape's items for about $1,000, partied with friends, and even paid for a prostitute at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch. Reichenberg says Bean returned to the Pape's house, throughout the weekend, to steal more items to pawn. During one of the trips, he says Bean moved the decaying bodies into the closet and covered them with clothes.
Reichenberg says Bean headed to Reno, early the following Monday, and took the Mustang exit off Interstate 80 to buy some gas. But he took a wrong turn. Still driving Pape's pickup, he tried to turn around but got the truck high-centered. Reichenberg says he walked about a quarter mile, when Eliazar Graham stopped to help him.
"Shot Eli twice in the face and once in the back of the head," Reichenberg said.
Prosecutors say Bean pulled Graham out of the pickup, and drove over his body. Then he stopped to pull him off the road, and covered him with a carpet and newspapers before driving back to the Pape's house, where prosecutors say he parked in the garage and lit the pickup on fire, before heading to a house on Tamsen Lane, where he was staying with his friend, Patrick Brady. During that time, Reichenberg says Bean inadvertently recorded a confession on his cell phone. From there, prosecutors say the defendant walked two doors down, to the home of Angie Duff. Duff was dating Lester Leiber, and the couple was in their back yard, watching the activity happening at the Pape's house. By then, fire crews had arrived. Reichenberg says Duff went back inside, and was confronted by Bean, who had found her .38 handgun. He says Bean fired several shots at her as she ran towards her bedroom, grazing her head, and even shooting her in the nose and jaw. The Deputy DA says Leiber heard the gunshot and came to the back door, where Bean fired at him, shattering the glass. He says the two got into a fight, ending with Bean shooting Leiber through the mouth, into his head. At that point, the prosecution says Duff came back into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, which Bean took, stabbing her in the neck, and multiple times in the chest.
Reichenberg says that's when Bean went into the neighbor's house, through a doggy door, and made his way into the crawl space where he hid evidence, including $1,600. When he came out of the crawl space, he was confronted by one of the residents, and left through the doggy door. Reichenberg says Bean went back to Duff's house to steal a car. By then, the house was a crime scene, and Bean was arrested, coming out of the garage.
"He was carrying two sets of car keys. One for Angie's car and one for Lester's. And all he was wearing was a pair of blood-soaked jean shorts."
Reichenberg says Bean's shoes and shirt were found inside Duff's house, covered with blood from Duff, Leiber, and Graham. Both handguns were also found, and ballistics matched them with the five murders. Bean's fingerprints were also found inside Pape's pickup.
Richard Davies is Bean's attorney. During his opening statement, he agreed with everything Reichenberg said. But says Bean's alleged crime spree was a result of a rough childhood. He says Bean was a victim of child abuse, and suffered a head injury when he was a boy, leaving him with below-average intelligence. He only finished sixth grade, started using methamphetamine and joined a gang.
"The demon of that methamphetamine is so deeply entrenched in his soul, that that is the one he's going to answer to," Davies said.
Davies says Bean was a juvenile delinquent in California, and eventually served time in prison for burglary, in Nevada. After he was released on parole, Davies said Bean fell into what he calls a "Pack of Jackals", a group of friends that spent time in a garage, doing drugs. He says Bean confessed to the Pape murders to at least six of his friends, during the weekend leading up to the other three murders. But none reported the crimes.
While talking about the Duff and Leiber murders, Davies reiterated the effect of drug-use and it's role in the crimes.
"Two more people dead," Davies said. "Two innocent people for no good reason other than cowardly, despicable, deplorable actions of a man that's lost any connection with reality."
Davies all but agreed on Bean's guilt, but appears focused to keep his client off death row.
"When I do finally stand before you and I ask you to spare Jeremiah's life, the only thing I ask for is a fair shake," Davies said.
The jury was instructed to strike that statement from the record, since the penalty phase will not begin unless Bean is found guilty.
The prosecution has started calling witnesses to the stand. The murder trial is expected to last about a month.
Written by Paul Nelson
