The man convicted of killing five people in May of 2013, now awaits his fate with the penalty phase underway in a Lyon County courtroom.
Bean is guilty of four murders in Fernley and another near Mustang during a crime spree, more than two years ago. Now the jury that convicted Jeremiah Bean must decide if he will spend the rest of his life behind bars or be put to death.
Members of Bean's family testified on Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Bean killed Bob and Dotty Pape at their Jessica Lane home, in Fernley, and later lit their house on fire in May 2013. Investigators say he then 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 on Tamsen Lane.
On Tuesday, the prosecution said that there's more than enough aggravating circumstances to give Bean the death penalty. But the defense says factors like his intelligence should be considered. An IQ test shows that Bean only has an IQ of 73. To put that in perspective -- out of 100 people, only three people would score worse.
"What is a just verdict for Jeremiah Bean? What is a just verdict for a man who laughs as he talks about the people he's murdered?” asks Deputy Lyon County District Attorney Jeremy Reichenberg.
"I think you're going to do the right thing. I think you're going to choose life. I think you're going to decide we're going to stop the killing. We're going to stop the pain,” says defense attorney Richard Davies.
The defense called witnesses including the psychologist that evaluated Bean in the months following the murders. He says factors like his upbringing and lack of intelligence could play a role in his behavior saying Bean had antisocial behavior disorder.
"He was not capable of providing for himself and he slept on people’s, friends' couches. He had never paid rent,” says Dr. Richard Weiher, clinical psychologist.
A toxicologist testified that Bean had methamphetamine in his system when he was arrested. But he couldn't determine if he was high during the murders.
He also talked about the mental impact of drug abuse -- including the possibility of violent behavior. "Can create imbalances that are very hard to correct. You could actually get to the point where these people can resemble schizophrenics,” says Dr. William Anderson, forensic toxicologist.
Bean's affiliation with gangs as a child is also being used by the defense as a mitigating circumstance.
"What I asked Jeremiah was when was the first time he, in his mind, understood what a criminal street gang was and it was pretty interesting to me that it was five years old,” says Greg Estevane, criminal street gang expert.
The state’s last execution was carried out in 2006, when Daryl Mack died of lethal injection.
