- What is up EWU crew. Today we are covering the brutal case of convicted killer Jeremiah Bean. Our story begins many years ago in the small town of Fernley,
Nevada, on May 10th 2013. Tucked inside of Lyon
County, the city of Fernley is home to a little over 20,000 people. It was an exceptionally
average Friday afternoon for local residents,
Robert and Dorothy Pape. Like any other Friday, the
84 year old retired couple, spent their time tending to their home and preparing for the potential Mother's Day weekend celebrations to come. Robert Pape spent a large
part of the afternoon doing yard work in the Nevada sun, while his wife enjoyed a midday
nap in their shared bedroom. The desert air was stuffy
but the day was otherwise like any other for the Papes. That is, until an unexpected
guest let himself in to their quaint Lyon
county home uninvited. As Robert Pape began to finish up his work in the couple's front yard,
27 year old Jeremiah Bean walked through an unlocked door and into the Papes living room. At the time, Jeremiah Bean had been fresh off an expired
parole for a burglary charge six months before stepping
into the Papes' his residence. Bean had been considered
a juvenile delinquent in the state of California, before serving time in
Nevada prisons for burglary. During his parole, Bean
began to associate himself with Fernleys definition
of the wrong crowd. Local residents referred
to being and his friends as a pack of jackals, who wreaked havoc when they weren't doing
or selling substances out of their garage. This havoc, often
involved intense partying and stealing whatever they could to keep their pockets stuffed. On that fateful day in May, Jeremiah Bean intended to do just that. He snuck into the Papes' house and wandered his way through the halls until he came across the master bedroom. There, he saw sleeping Dorothy Pape, facedown on a mattress,
snuggled up against a pillow. As been rummaged through
the Papes' dresser drawers searching for jewelry, he found a 22 Revolver
sitting at the bottom. He held it in his hand, and
as he did so, Dorothy Pape began to stir in her sleep. Whether it was a result of anxiousness or his original intent,
Bean raised the revolver with a steady hand and fired. Her body went slack
against the bed once more. Bean moved quickly to stuff
has pockets with necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other valuables he could get his hands on in
the Papes' as his bedroom. As he did so, Robert Pape
rushed back into his home to investigate the commotions source. As he turned at the corner of the hallway toward the bedroom he had shared
with his wife for decades, he was shot as well. Though Robert Papes' his last moments were filled with worry. He was spared having
to see the brutal fate of the love of his life. Jeremiah Bean had no remorse. After all, it was Friday,
and he needed cash. Jeremiah did not stop there. However, he did waver. His initial motive for murdering
Robert and Dorothy Pape was rooted in needing money. In addition to the pocketed
jewelry and revolver, Bean swiped the keys to Robert
Papes' truck and left town. He headed down the infamous
Interstate 80 toward Reno to pawn off the goods he
had stolen from the Papes. With a fresh $1,000 in his pocket, he met up with his Fernley friends to spend the remainder of Friday night in the way they always had, partying. Jeremiah was generous when
it came to his friends that evening. He bought drinks insuring his place as the life of the party. He mentioned his day's actions to at least six of his friends, bragging about the success of his looting. Jeremiah partied to his heart's content. In the morning, Jeremiah
awoke, feeling rather satisfied and fueled by the notion that
his plan had been successful. So successful in fact that he realized he could use the already
secured Pape residence as a source of income for
the foreseeable future. Throughout the remainder of the weekend, Jeremiah drove back and forth
between Reno and Fernley along the I80, nicknamed the Big Lonely because the desolate interstate
appeared to go on forever with nothing around. On one of his first trips
back to the Papes' house in Fernley, Jeremiah grew tired of
looking at the lifeless faces of Robert and Dorothy. He dragged their limp bodies
across the home's length, and pile them on top of each
other in a nearby closet, and buried them in clothes. Without the decaying
witnesses watching him, Jeremiah looted any items from the home that he believed he
could turn a profit with. After each scavenge of the Pape house, Jeremiah would return to Reno to pawn off more items for cash. In fact, after bragging to his friends about his Mother's day weekend antics, they took it upon themselves to raid the Pape presidents as well. On the following Monday morning, Jeremiah had another truck full of items that he wished upon off in Reno. His greedy nature allowed him to believe that this new routine
of looting and selling the late Papes' property
could go on forever, or at least as long as he could milk it. As previously mentioned,
the I80 was rather desolate, stretching from Northern
California to New Jersey. During his drive along the
Big Lonely, Jeremiah realized that the truck he stole from
the Papes was low on gas. As he steadily approached Reno, he decided to get off at the Mustang exit, where he had seen a sign
for a nearby gas station. Though he believed his gas
stop to be well calculated, Jeremiah accidentally took a wrong turn, resulting in his need to
get back on the interstate. As he attempted to do so,
the Papes' truck became high centered, and Jeremiah
was sufficiently stuck. After attempting to turn over
the engine multiple times with no luck, Jeremiah decided
to abandon the vehicle. He assumed that he could
walk along the Interstate and come across a
payphone that he could use to call one of his friends
to come pick him up. He wandered down the I80 on
foot for about a quarter mile before his stranded state took a turn. Much to his avail, an
unsuspecting Eliazar Graham pulled up alongside Jeremiah
to offer some assistance. Eliazar, described as an
ever helpful individual by his family and friends, had no idea that he was looking into the
eyes of a cold blooded killer. Prepared to provide this total stranger with a jump or a ride if necessary. Eliazar rolled down his window and introduced himself to Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a decision to make. The simple notion that Eliazar
are had seen Jeremiah's face and noticed the abandoned truck
further down the Interstate meant that Eliazar knew too much. Jeremiah allowed the
small talk to continue between himself and
Eliazar for a few moments before slipping his hand behind his back. There, he fidgeted with Papes revolver that was nestled in the small of his back. Before Eliazar could even
process what was about to happen, Jeremiah whipped the 22 out
of his jeans's waistband and named it at Eliazar. The 52 year old newspaper
delivery man was killed. It was then that Jeremiah knew
that he had to act swiftly. Though the Interstate was desolate, Jeremiah was not so naive as to believe that it would remain that way for long. He maneuvered himself to the
driver side door of the truck and forced it open. He unbuckled the seat
belt that was supporting the lifeless body of Eliazar Graham. As he did so, Eliazars
body slumped forward onto the steering wheel. Jeremiah caught it and
mustered up the strength to drag him out of the seat and onto the hot asphalt beneath him. Jeremiah tossed Eliazar
in front of the truck, wherein he quickly hopped in
to the still warm driver's seat and shifted the gear from park to drive. Without hesitation,
Jeremiah stepped on the gas. He waited just long enough
to feel both the trucks front and back tires roll over Eliazars body. He parked the truck once more, leaving the keys in the
ignition and hopped out. He dragged Eliazar to the side of the road and tossed some assorted newspaper sheets and a carpet over him to hide his shape. Once he was satisfied with
disguising Eliazar as trash. Jeremiah jumped back into
Eliazars truck and sped off back towards Fernley. There was no time to follow
through with his original plan to pawn the Papes' items off in Reno. He realized he needed to dispose
of Eliazars truck quickly before someone noticed he was missing. As Jeremiah sped off down the Interstate, Eliazar was added to the over
500 other deceased individuals abandoned along the I80 over the years. Just like that, Eliazar Graham went from being a warm
hearted, selfless individual to another I80 statistic. Upon returning to Fernley,
Jeremiah turned down Jessica lane, and
approached the Pape house that had been picked clean. The smell of the decaying bodies
of Robert and Dorothy Pape began to flood the hallways and rooms of the abandoned house. Jeremiah drove Eliazars
truck into the garage and removed his belongings
from the vehicle along with himself. He popped the hood of the pickup truck and opened all of the doors before lighting the whole thing on fire. As he watched the fire spread
from Eliazars pickup truck to the Papes' garage walls, he ran. The flames licked the
sides of the house quickly in the Nevada sun, spreading
more and more rapidly, the bigger they became. Jeremiah had been staying with
a friend named Patrick Brady on Tamsen lane a few blocks away from the burning Pape residence. When he entered Brady's house,
he was beginning to panic, Jeremiah began to realize
that his actions were larger than he had initially
intended them to be. You can find it in his friend Patrick, explaining the details of
the crimes he had committed. He recounted murdering
Dorothy Pape while she slept, stealing her personal belongings,
murdering her husband, pawning off there
property, partying in Reno, murdering Eliazar Graham on the I80 and lighting the evidence
on fire at the Pape house. Patrick Brady, listened as Jeremiah Bean inadvertently recorded a confession on the cell phone in his pocket. While Patrick and Jeremiah
discussed the weekend's events, they noticed their neighbors standing in the backyard of
their house a few doors down. Jeremiah realized that they
were watching the Pape house burn from a distance. In a panic, Jeremiah
dashed out of Brady's house and let himself into the neighbor's home. 67 year old Angie Duff and
her 69 year old boyfriend, Lester Lieber, remained
in Angie's backyard, watching as fire trucks
continued to flood down Jessica lane toward the Pape house. When he walked back into the house, she found Jeremiah Bean
standing in her living room in a blood stained t-shirt
with her 38 in his possession. Upon looking into Jeremiah's eyes, Angie knew she was in trouble. She began to scream as she frantically ran toward her bedroom. Jeremiah fired at the fleeing Angie Duff. She slumped to the floor
as her boyfriend Lester rushed towards the back door in a panic. Lester watched Jeremiah
standing over his girlfriend from behind the sliding glass door. When Jeremiah noticed him, he fired shots in Lester's direction, shattering the glass barrier
between the two of them. It was then that Lester
rushed to Jeremiah, attempting to remove the
38 from his possession. The two men struggled with
each other for a moment, Lester, taking advantage
of Jeremiah's scrawny frame until Jeremiah was able
to finish off Lester. During the struggle between
Jeremiah and Lester, Angie had miraculously found
the strength to stand up. In fact, Angie had summon the courage to rush into the kitchen
and emerge with a knife. Angie did not have any real plan, but she knew she had to do something to potentially spare her life
and save her boyfriend's. She rushed the sweaty Jeremiah Bean, praying he'd wasted all of the rounds. When she got close enough to Bean, she lunged at him with
all of her strength, Bean moved swiftly to catch her hand and remove the knife from her grasp. He then finished her off as well. Jeremiah Bean tossed her to the side and rushed out of the house. In a hurry, he removed his
t-shirt and ran one door down to the nearest neighbors home. Their front door was locked
and panic had begun to set in for Jeremiah. He crouched down and
slid his narrow shoulders and slim waist through
the half ajar doggy door at the base of the locked door. Once inside, he maneuvered
himself into a crawlspace above the hallway. Here in this hot, dusty crawlspace, he emptied his pockets of all evidence. He dropped the 22 revolver
that had once belonged to Robert and Dorothy
Pape, the 1600 dollars cash he had made from selling
stolen items from the Papes, and a 38 he had used on
Angie Duff and Lester Lieber. Jeremiah removed himself
from the crawlspace quickly after disregarding the
evidence he had on him. When he reached the living room
on his way out of the home, he was confronted by the house owner whom he had not yet seen. No longer being armed,
he ran past the homeowner and dove back outside
through the doggie door. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he made the split second decision to run back to Angie Duff's home, in hopes of stealing a car
belonging to her or Lester. He grabbed both sets of keys
from the kitchen counter and let himself out of the
house through the garage. He realized, that Angie and Lester had parked their cars along the street rather than inside the garage. He impatiently waited for
the garage door to open enough for him to slide under
and abandon the crime scene. Much to his dismay, there
were a plethora of police cars parked directly outside
that served as a barricade in the event that he would try to escape. The commotion had been
so loud and worrisome for the neighbors of Tamsen
lane that multiple people had called for the local law enforcement to come to investigate. The second the hot Nevada sunlight touched Jeremiah Beans skin as he emerged from Angie Duff's garage. He was met with police officers ready to put him in handcuffs. The officers confiscated
two sets of car keys from the jean shorts Jeremiah was wearing. Jeremiah Bean murdered
five innocent people over the span of a single weekend. His fingerprints were
found in the Papes' truck that he'd abandoned on Interstate 80. A quarter of a mile down the road, Eliazar Graham's body was recovered, after officers discovered
his pickup trucks remains in the garage of the charred home that had once belonged to
Robert and Dorothy Pape. The bodies of Angie Duff
and her longtime boyfriend, Lester Lieber, were discovered
directly after Beans arrest. their family's lives were
irreparably damaged in minutes by a man who had no remorse. Richard Davies, Jeremiah
Beans attorney remarked that the demon of that methamphetamine is so deeply entrenched in his soul, that that is the one
he's going to answer to. Davies tried to convince
Bean to plead guilty to receive a lesser sentence
than the death penalty, but Bean ignored the advice. Davies tried to argue
against a harsh sentence saying that though Beans rampage
was irrevocable and brutal, it resulted from his rough upbringing, meth addiction and below
average intelligence. In under two hours in court, the jury found Jeremiah Bean guilty on five counts of first degree murder. Prosecutors concluded his trial in stating that what
the evidence has shown is that Jeremiah Bean is not
a part of a pack of jackals. He is not the center of a pack of jackals, but rather, Jeremiah Bean is a lone wolf. As of September of 2019, the court ruled that Beans
death penalty sentence could move forward. Though the lives of Dorothy and
Robert Pape, Eliazar Graham, Angie Duff, and Lester
Lieber cannot be replaced. The city of Fernley can confidently say that Jeremiah Bean will never be able to take the lives of
anyone else ever again.
