An Oregon man accused of torturing and attempting to kill a woman is believed to have killed two people before killing himself during a standoff with police, authorities said Wednesday.
Benjamin Foster, 36, had been the subject of an intense manhunt after a woman was found tied up and beaten in Grants Pass, southwestern Oregon, on January 24.
The woman, who authorities say had been in a domestic relationship with Foster, remained in critical condition Wednesday, Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said.
Before Foster killed himself Tuesday, he killed two other people, authorities said.
Richard Lee Barron Jr. and Donald Owen Griffith were found dead by officers going door-to-door checking on residents in Wolf Creek, a community about 20 miles north of Grants Pass.
“We believe that blunt force trauma was the means used in this,” Oregon State Police Capt. Kyle Kennedy said at a news conference. “It’s a brutal scene.”
There is no known relationship between Barron, Griffith and Foster, Kennedy said.
On Thursday, Foster escaped from law enforcement officers who had surrounded a home in Wolf Creek, Hensman said.
Kennedy said authorities were checking on area residents when they discovered Barron and Griffith, who were likely killed sometime after 3:30 p.m. Monday and before 7:10 a.m. Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Foster took a cab to Grants Pass, authorities said.
A dog was taken from the Wolf Creek home where the two men were found dead, and video in Grants Pass showed a person who appeared to be Foster walking a similar animal Tuesday morning, Hensman said.
Law enforcement officers surrounded a home and told residents within a half-mile to shelter in place, Hensman said.
During a lengthy standoff, Foster “hid deep under the house” and appears to have shot himself once in the head with a .45 caliber handgun, Hensman said.
Police had to cut through the floorboards to get it out, Hensman said. Foster was breathing when officers found him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital, Hensman said.
The confrontation took place in the neighborhood where the woman had been found days before. Foster tried to kill her “in the course of intentionally torturing her,” the district attorney said in a charging document.
Police discovered the woman had been tied up and beaten after a friend went to check on her, Hensman said. He said the victim had been beaten and tortured “over an extended period of time.”
She “has a long way to go toward recovery,” she said.
As authorities in Oregon and elsewhere searched for Foster, Grants Pass police said Foster was using dating apps and warned he might try to lure unsuspecting people into helping him. Hensman said Wednesday that the warning was just a precaution.
Two years ago, Foster was convicted in Nevada after he held his then-girlfriend captive in their Las Vegas apartment for two weeks.
He settled with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one felony charge and one misdemeanor charge of assault. He was sentenced to between one and two and a half years in prison, but spent 729 days in jail awaiting trial and was released. Associated Press has reported.
The Associated Press contributed.
