The kidnapping suspect who led authorities on a weeklong manhunt in southwestern Oregon killed two men before turning the gun on himself Tuesday night, according to law enforcement officials.
Benjamin Foster, a 36-year-old man accused of torturing and imprisoning a woman, has died of a gunshot wound to the head after a confrontation with police in Grants Pass, Oregon.
As police searched for Foster, they discovered the bodies of Richard Lee Barron Jr. and Donald Owen Griffith, who had died from blunt force trauma sometime between Monday afternoon and Tuesday night. Foster is the prime suspect in their murders.
The Grants Pass Police Department released photos of Benjamin Foster prior to his arrest in Grants Pass, Oregon on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
(Grants Pass Police Department)
The search for Foster began on January 24, when police found a woman in a house who had been “tied up and severely beaten unconscious.”
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Police released multiple photos of Foster, who they warned might be using online dating apps to try to evade authorities and find additional victims.
Law enforcement officers point their weapons at a house during a standoff in Grants Pass, Oregon, on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
(Scott Stoddard/Grants Pass Daily Courier via AP)
Authorities received a tip that Foster had returned to the home Tuesday where the original victim was found.
They converged on the residence expecting a shootout, but Foster ultimately shot himself in the head with a .45 caliber pistol while trapped in the home’s basement. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
This undated photo provided by the Grants Pass Police Department shows Benjamin Obadiah Foster, who was accused of torturing a woman he was holding captive in Oregon.
(Grants Pass Police Department via AP, File)
It wasn’t the first time Foster had been accused of holding someone captive. In 2019, her then-girlfriend was found unconscious with broken ribs, two black eyes and other injuries after Foster held her captive for two weeks.
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He reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to one felony assault and one misdemeanor assault constituting domestic violence in that case.
A judge sentenced him to between one and two and a half years behind bars, but he was released the same day he was transferred to prison because he had already been in jail for 729 days awaiting trial.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
