An Oregon man sought on attempted murder and other charges after a woman was found bound and badly beaten last week is reportedly dead after an hourslong standoff with law enforcement.
Police had said in a brief statement Tuesday that Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, of Wolf Creek, was in custody after a standoff that lasted several hours.
The suspect later died at a hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the CBS affiliate in Medford, Oregon KTVL-TV reported late Tuesday night, quoting Grants Pass police spokesperson Jeff Hattersley. NBC News was not immediately able to confirm the development.
Police officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment or more details. In their earlier update, they said a news conference would be held on Wednesday.
Foster had been the subject of an intense manhunt since Jan. 24, when Grants Pass police officers responded to a home and found a woman who “had been bound and severely beaten into unconsciousness,” police said at the time.
Foster was wanted on kidnapping, attempted murder and assault charges, police have said.
The victim was reported to be in critical condition.
Foster tried to kill the woman while “intentionally torturing” her, Josephine County District Attorney Joshua Eastman wrote in a court document.
“I’m disgusted by what I know happened,” Police Chief Warren Hensman said last week, according to NBC affiliate KOBI of Medford. “This was an evil act.”
Police said Tuesday on Facebook that Foster was seen in the Grants Pass area, apparently walking a dog.
Police had warned that Foster was still using dating apps as police searched for him and that he could be doing so to contact unsuspecting people to help him.
Two years ago, Foster was convicted in Nevada of keeping another woman in captivity.
In 2019, 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, but in 2021 he reached a deal with Clark County prosecutors to plead guilty to felony and misdemeanor battery.
He was sentenced to one to 2½ years in prison, but he had already spent 729 days in jail awaiting trial and was released.
Grants Pass is a city of around 39,000 in southwest Oregon, around 25 miles north of the California border.
Law enforcement officials had surrounded a home in the city Tuesday, and a crisis negotiator had been on the scene, before police announced Foster was in custody, KOBI reported.
Hensman, the police chief, last week described the attack as brutal and said authorities’ hearts went out to the victim and her family. He said it occurred over "a protracted period of time."
“We typically think this could not happen in our small community of 40,000 people, but this can happen anywhere,” he said.
