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Victims wanted: the shocking number of murders linked to Craigslist advertisements

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Richard Beasley, a self-styled Ohio street preacher who murdered three down-and-out men lured by Craigslist job offers. Photo: AP

Nine days ago, a disturbing missive appeared on the Craigslist page for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“I was wanting to thank Tulsa for letting me have my first kill,” the post begins. “It will not be my last thou [sic].”

The post has since disappeared from Craigslist, but not from the radars of concerned Oklahomans. A spokeswoman for the Tulsa Police Department said an investigation is ongoing. The homicide squad has found no open cases matching the murder described in the post, at least not within the past few months; they haven’t ruled out the possibility that the post is a prank or a hoax.

Elytte Barbour (pictured) and his wife Miranda Barbour were convicted in Philadelphia of the 2013 murder a man they lured with a promise of sex made via Craigslist. Photo: AP
Elytte Barbour (pictured) and his wife Miranda Barbour were convicted in Philadelphia of the 2013 murder a man they lured with a promise of sex made via Craigslist. Photo: AP

But hoax or not, the post adds to a growing concern about Craigslist these days: that the site, far from just a good place to sell your stuff or meet a roommate, is also a platform for dangerous criminals to find their prey. In fact, according to the Advanced Interactive Media Group, an industry watchdog and analyst, Craigslist passed the 100-murder mark in the US just three weeks ago, when a 22-year-old man from Gary, Indiana, attempted to rob the middle-aged couple who’d arranged to buy his car.

“Their attitude is, ‘We're safe, we have billions of safe transactions’ - sure they do,” said Peter Zollman, the founding principal of the AIM Group. “But every single day, there are also rapes, robberies and murders linked to Craigslist. And that is a serious issue.”

Neither Craigslist nor its publicist responded to multiple interview requests, and the company has not commented publicly on safety issues since a 2010 Congressional hearing. Craigslist has long maintained that the vast majority of its transactions are legitimate and that it can’t be held responsible for the small minority that aren’t - which is true, legally speaking.

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