Oregon torture suspect dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound after hours-long standoff, police say
The man accused of torturing a woman he held captive in southern Oregon last week is dead after an hours-long standoff, police confirmed Wednesday.
Benjamin Obadiah Foster died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police announced a press conference Wednesday.
The woman Foster allegedly held captive remained in criticial condition, police said Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, police surrounded the home where they believed Foster, 36, was holed up, a law enforcement source told CBS Radio.
Foster was sought by police for attempted murder, kidnapping and assault after, they said, the woman was found unconscious, bound and near death in Grants Pass last Tuesday.
Police had Foster pinned down Tuesday night underneath the home where the woman was found, the source told CBS Radio. Police were firing bullets and tear gas into the house and asking him to come out using a bullhorn, CBS Radio reported. Foster was believed to be armed, a law enforcement source told CBS Radio.
A large police presence was seen gathered outside the home Tuesday night. Video from KTVL showed police surrounding the area and occasionally moving toward the house.
Earlier Tuesday, Grants Pass police shared a photo of what they said was Foster walking a dog "in the Grants Pass area."
On Thursday night, local and federal law enforcement agents raided a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, about 20 miles north of Grants Pass, and seized Foster's car. They arrested 68-year-old Tina Marie Jones for hindering prosecution in the raid, but Foster managed to escape.
Jones is accused of following Foster in a vehicle on Thursday as he drove to a remote location and then intentionally guiding his vehicle over an embankment, according to court documents. Jones then gave Foster a ride to the property that was raided, where he had been hiding out, court records showed.
Police had said Foster was "actively using online dating applications to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be lured into assisting with the suspect's escape or potentially as additional victims." They also warned that Foster could attempt to change his appearance by cutting or changing the color of his hair or shaving his facial hair.
In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. He initially was charged with five felonies, including assault and battery, and faced decades in prison upon conviction. But in August 2021, Foster reached a deal with Clark County prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to one felony count of battery and a misdemeanor count of battery constituting domestic violence.
A judge sentenced him to up to 2 1/2 years in a Nevada prison. But after the 729 days he had spent in jail awaiting trial were factored into his punishment, Foster was left to serve fewer than 200 additional days in state custody.
Foster's girlfriend suffered seven broken ribs, two black eyes and injuries from being bound at the wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape during her two-week captivity, according to a Las Vegas police report.
The woman also told police she was forced to eat lye and was choked to the point of unconsciousness.
She escaped when Foster let her out of his sight during a trip together to a grocery store and gas station.
Court records show Foster was out of custody at the time on a suspended jail sentence for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. He also was awaiting trial in another 2018 case involving domestic violence, but Foster's plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 settled the domestic violence case, a copy of the agreement shows, and he was "sentenced to credit for time served."
Grants Pass is a town of some 40,000 in southwest Oregon next to Interstate 5.