CLEVELAND — A self-styled chaplain suspected in a deadly scheme to rob people who replied to a Craigslist job ad will be charged with murder and attempted murder in attacks on four victims and could face the death penalty, a prosecutor said Monday.

The chief prosecutor in northeast Ohio’s Summit County, Sherri Bevan Walsh, said local officials in southeast Ohio and state and federal officials signed off on an agreement to let her office take the lead against Richard Beasley, 52.

Three deaths and the wounding of a fourth man are part of the investigation in the plot to lure victims with the promise of a farm job in southeast Ohio.

“In deciding where and how to try this case, our primary concern was doing what is in the best interest of the victims and their families,” said Walsh, who noted that most of the victims are from the Akron-Canton area.

Beasley, who has been jailed in Akron on unrelated prostitution and drug charges, has denied involvement in the Craigslist slayings.