Violent Kidnapper Wanted For Attempted Murder Shoots Himself During Standoff With Cops

Grants Pass, OR – The manhunt for a violent suspect accused of kidnapping and torturing an Oregon woman came to a close after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement that ended when 36-year-old Benjamin Obadiah Foster shot himself.

Police said Foster attempted to murder a woman in Grants Pass by torturing her for a “protracted amount of time,” CNN reported.

A friend of the victim found her bound and beaten inside a Grants Pass home on Jan. 24 and identified Foster as the suspect, according to investigators.

The victim has not regained consciousness and remains hospitalized in critical condition, Grants Pass Police Department (GPPD) Chief Warren Hensman told CNN.

Chief Hensman said the victim was previously in a “domestic relationship” with Foster, The Oregonian reported.

He described the scene as “horrific” and “absolutely disgusting,” according to CNN.

“I’ve seen a lot in my career, but some things do stick with you, and this will stay stained in my memory for many years to come,” the police chief said.

Police described Foster as armed and “extremely dangerous,” and warned the public not to attempt to approach if they spotted him, according to KOIN.

Investigators said they also believed Foster might have been attempting to manipulate people or to find new victims through dating apps.

“He’s definitely a threat to others,” Chief Hensman told CNN. “I think he would be a threat to somebody who might befriend him.”

“Nothing is off the table with an individual like him,” he added.

Foster was wanted on suspicion of kidnapping, attempted murder, and assault when he killed himself during the standoff with police, CNN reported.

Chief Hensman said local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies were all involved in the “around the clock” search and were inundated with tips.

The chief had warned that the suspect might have tried to alter his appearance by coloring or cutting his hair and beard, CNN reported.

“We’re getting all kinds of calls about people walking along I-5, they have long beards and long hair,” GPPD Lieutenant Jeff Hattersley told the Associated Press. “We have a feeling that’s not really what he is looking like at this point.”

Authorities ultimately caught up with Foster at a home in southern Oregon, CBS News reported.

Law enforcement officers surrounded the home on Jan. 31 and had the suspect pinned down underneath the home where his victim was found.

Sources told CBS News that police fired teargas into the house and called for Foster to come out using a bullhorn.

But Foster ultimately died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities.

Police said they believe they narrowly missed capturing the attempted murder suspect days earlier during a raid at a home in Wolf Creek on Jan. 26, the Associated Press reported.

Tina Marie Jones, 68, was arrested on a charge of hindering prosecution for allegedly helping Foster flee from police, according to KOIN.

According to court records, Foster has been accused of attacking women on at least two occasions in the past, CNN reported.

One instance occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 24, 2017, when Foster strangled his girlfriend after noticing another man texted her.

He was charged with felony battery, kidnapping, and assault as a result of that assault, but the circumstances of his sentence are unclear.

The second attack occurred in Las Vegas in 2019, the Associated Press reported.

Investigators said Foster held his then-girlfriend captive inside her apartment for a period of two weeks before she was able to escape.

The victim suffered two black eyes, seven broken ribs, and was strangled until she lost consciousness during her captivity, the Associated Press reported.

Foster was initially charged with five felonies and faced decades in prison in connection with that incident, but those charges were later pled down to one count felony count of battery and one count of misdemeanor battery in September of 2021.

The judge sentenced him to just one to two-and-one-half years in prison, the Associated Press reported.

When Foster arrived at a Nevada prison intake facility on Oct. 18, 2021, prison officials immediately released him due to the 729 days of jail credit he’d been given by the judge for the time he spent in jail prior to his trial and sentencing.

That period of time equated to the minimum prison sentence imposed by the court, but Foster could have been held for up to six months longer if he had been held until the expiration of the maximum end of his sentencing period, the Associated Press reported.