A man who was wanted for kidnapping and torturing a woman shot himself during a standoff with police that lasted for hours.
On Wednesday, police talked about what led up to the standoff and the death of 36-year-old Benjamin Obadiah Foster. They also said that they think he killed two people while he was on the run.
Police in Grants Pass, Oregon, had been looking for Foster since Jan. 24, when they went to a home and found a woman “bound and severely beaten until she was unconscious.”
Police say Foster left the scene before they got there. The woman, who was taken to the hospital in critical condition, was someone with whom he had a “former domestic relationship,” according to the police.
On Tuesday, police said that Foster had been taken into custody after a “several hour long standoff.” During the standoff, he shot himself, and he died later that night at a hospital, Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Captain Kyle Kennedy of the Oregon State Police said that police had been going door-to-door to check on people in Sunny Valley, which is near where Foster was seen last week. Inside a house, they found the bodies of two men. He said they think Foster killed them. Richard Lee Barron Jr., who was 74, and Donald Owen Griffith, who was 65, were named.
Officers said that their deaths were caused by “brutal” blunt force trauma. They also said that several things and a dog were missing from the home.
Source: CNN
Kennedy said that Foster took a taxi out of the Sunny Valley area on Tuesday morning. He was taken back to the house where he did the crime on January 24 and dropped off in Grants Pass, Hensman said.
Foster was armed and hiding deep under the house when the police found him. Police said he shot himself in the head, but he was still alive when they dug through the floorboards to get to him.
The police said that Foster was declared dead almost as soon as he got to the hospital.
In court records obtained by the Oregonian, Josephine County District Attorney Joshua Eastman said that Foster tried to kill the woman who was found by police on January 24 by “deliberately torturing” her and hiding her “in a place where she wasn’t likely to be found.”
Foster had been on the run for almost a week before he was caught. He was wanted for kidnapping, assault, and trying to kill someone. Police warned people that he was “extremely dangerous” and might be using dating apps while on the run.
“The investigation has shown that the suspect is actively using online dating apps to get in touch with innocent people,” police said. “These people may be tricked into helping the suspect escape or becoming more victims.”
On Thursday, a search warrant was carried out at a house in Wolf Creek, which is about 20 miles from Grants Pass. After what the police called a “long manhunt,” Foster “eluded capture and probably got help getting out of the area.”
There, police took several pieces of evidence, including Foster’s car, and arrested a 68-year-old woman they thought was trying to stop the case from going forward.
“The Grants Pass Police Department wants the community to be extra safe while this predator is still on the loose. They also warn that anyone who helps Ben Foster get away could be charged,” they said.
The Associated Press says that in 2019, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive for two weeks in her Las Vegas apartment. After making a deal with Clark County prosecutors, he was given only two and a half years in a Nevada state prison, even though he could have gotten decades.
During the 2019 incident, Foster held the woman captive and choked her until she passed out. He then made her eat lye. According to police reports, she had seven broken ribs, two black eyes, and other injuries because her wrists and ankles were tied together with zip ties. She was able to get away from Foster and got help at a nearby apartment complex. After that, she was taken to a hospital.
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