Accused killer of 5 pleads not guilty

YERINGTON — The 25-year-old man accused of five murders during a Mother’s Day weekend killing spree in Northern Nevada has pleaded not guilty a third time after rejecting a plea deal that would have spared him the death penalty.

Jeremiah Bean entered the plea late Monday in state district court in Yerington, where he’s expected to go to trial in January. He’s charged with killing two couples in two homes in Fernley and a newspaper deliveryman at an Interstate 80 exit east of Reno near the Mustang Ranch brothel.

Bean’s new court-appointed defense lawyer says the case is more complicated than it appears. His previous public defender recused himself after Bean surprised him in open court in early October by rejecting a plea bargain agreement he thought Bean had agreed to.