Tinder killer Damon Benson sentenced in Rocklin man's murder, woman's torture
ROCKLIN — A Rancho Cordova convicted on Tuesday of torturing a woman he met on Tinder and killing her boyfriend was sentenced to 71 years to life in prison.
The Placer County District Attorney's Office said the three individuals met separately on the dating app. Damon Allen Benson, 31, met the woman on Tinder in 2021 and held her against her will in his apartment, where he tortured her. One instance included Benson carving a swastika into the back of the woman, who is Jewish, while tying her to his ceiling with a rope.
The DA said Benson did it to get the Rocklin address to murder her boyfriend, 48-year-old Cameron Gabriel.
Investigators say Benson claimed self-defense, but surveillance video shows what they say is Benson running into the Gabriel's home in the middle of the night, shooting him, and then Benson running.
Benson was convicted of murder, torture and mayhem back in September.
"The defendant shows a clear danger to the public and a callous disregard for human life," said Placer County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jeffery Moore. "Removing Benson from society is the only way to ensure he doesn't victimize anyone again."