Benjamin Obadiah Foster was a 36-year-old Nevada man with a documented history of torturing intimate partners who, over one week in January 2023, kidnapped and nearly killed his girlfriend in Grants Pass, Oregon, murdered two men in nearby Sunny Valley, and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a police standoff. He had been released from a Nevada state prison on the same day he arrived to serve his sentence, roughly 15 months before the Oregon attacks.
A Pattern of Violence in Las Vegas
Foster’s known history of abuse dates to December 2017, when he was charged in Las Vegas with felony battery constituting domestic violence. He took a plea deal and was sentenced to time served.1NBC News. Was Oregon Kidnapping Suspect Benjamin Obadiah Foster Able to Use Dating Apps
Two years later, in 2019, he held a girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. She suffered seven broken ribs and two black eyes, was bound at the wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, was choked to unconsciousness, and was forced to eat lye.2Fox 26 Houston. Oregon Torture Suspect Benjamin Obadiah Foster Dating Apps At the time of that arrest, Foster was already out of custody on a suspended sentence for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and was awaiting trial on the 2017 domestic violence charge.3NBC News. Man Accused of Torturing Woman Held Captive Using Dating Apps to Run From Police
Prosecutors initially charged him with five felonies. In August 2021, Foster reached a plea deal with Clark County prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one felony count of battery and one misdemeanor count of battery constituting domestic violence. A judge sentenced him to one to two and a half years in state prison. The same deal wrapped up the concealed weapons case and the 2017 domestic violence case, both closed with credit for time served.4The Hill. Kidnap Suspect Released Day He Arrived at Nevada Prison
Released the Day He Arrived at Prison
Foster was transferred to a Nevada state prison intake facility on October 18, 2021, to begin his sentence. He walked out the same day. Nevada Department of Corrections spokesperson William Quenga said the sentencing judge had credited Foster with 729 days of jail time already served while he awaited trial in Clark County. That credit satisfied the minimum sentence. Roughly six months remained on the maximum, but the state had no legal basis to hold him.4The Hill. Kidnap Suspect Released Day He Arrived at Nevada Prison
In practical terms, Foster spent about two years in the Clark County jail awaiting trial and one day in state prison custody. Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman later called it “extremely troubling” that Foster had been free at all.3NBC News. Man Accused of Torturing Woman Held Captive Using Dating Apps to Run From Police
The Attack on Justine Siemens
Foster moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, and found work as a bartender. He began dating a co-worker, Justine Siemens; by January 2023 they had been together about two months.5Forbes. The Terrifying True Story Behind Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever In December 2022, Siemens had reported Foster to their employer after he asked her for a clean urine sample, and he was fired.6Business Insider. Netflix Worst Ex Ever Benjamin Foster Justine Siemens
On January 24, 2023, Grants Pass police responded to a home on Shane Way for a wellness check requested by Siemens’s employer. A friend, Angela Milner, reached the house first and encountered Foster leaving through the garage. He told her Siemens was having a heart attack and drove away. Inside, Milner found Siemens face down on the laundry room floor, bound at the ankles and limbs with rope, another rope wrapped tightly around her neck, bleeding heavily from head injuries and barely conscious.7OregonLive. He Tortured One and Killed Two in Oregon as the Nation Awaited His Capture
Chief Hensman said the attack was “not random.” Charging documents alleged Foster had “secretly confined” Siemens and “intentionally tortured” her over a “protracted period of time” with the intention of killing her.8CNN. Oregon Kidnapping Suspect Benjamin Foster Siemens was taken to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in critical condition and placed on life support.9ABC News. Manhunt Underway for Oregon Man Accused of Torturing Woman
The Weeklong Manhunt and Two More Killings
Foster was named as a suspect and wanted on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, and second-degree assault. Grants Pass police coordinated with the Oregon State Police, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI’s Portland office. A $2,500 reward was offered.9ABC News. Manhunt Underway for Oregon Man Accused of Torturing Woman
On January 26, a tip led officers to a property in Wolf Creek, Oregon, owned by Tina Marie Jones, a 68-year-old woman who knew Foster from church. Drones and a police bloodhound tracked him, but Foster escaped into the surrounding woods. Officers recovered a “go bag” containing a cellphone and tablet wrapped in aluminum foil, and found text messages on Jones’s phone indicating she planned to help him flee.7OregonLive. He Tortured One and Killed Two in Oregon as the Nation Awaited His Capture
Jones’s property sat directly across the road from a home on Sunny Valley Loop Road belonging to Richard Lee Barron Jr., 73. On January 30, 2023, Barron and Donald Owen Griffith, 64, were killed at Barron’s home by blunt force trauma. Deputies found their bodies during a welfare check the next morning.10KTVL. Double Homicide Investigated as Part of Benjamin Foster Case Foster was named as the sole suspect. Surveillance footage showed him with property belonging to the victims, and a small white dog stolen from the home was later found with him.11CNN. Oregon Kidnapping Suspect Benjamin Foster Dead
The Standoff and Foster’s Death
On January 31, 2023, a Grants Pass taxi driver contacted police after receiving a ride request from a phone number matching Barron’s landline. Another driver confirmed he had picked up a man at Barron’s house and dropped him near the same Grants Pass home where Siemens had been attacked.7OregonLive. He Tortured One and Killed Two in Oregon as the Nation Awaited His Capture
SWAT officers surrounded the residence. A shelter-in-place order went out to the neighborhood. Police fired tear gas into the house and used a bullhorn to demand Foster surrender.12CBS News. Benjamin Obadiah Foster Oregon Torture Suspect Seen in Grants Pass Hours later, a sheriff’s department robot sent into the crawl space beneath the house found Foster with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a .45 caliber pistol. Officers pulled up floorboards to reach him. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead that night.13BuzzFeed News. Benjamin Foster Kidnapping Oregon Dead
The Woman Who Sheltered Him
Tina Marie Jones was arrested on January 26, 2023, and charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. Court documents said Jones recognized Foster from church and let him stay at her Wolf Creek property after he claimed he had fought with his parents. She drove him to Grants Pass to buy a cellphone. After the attack on Siemens, she followed him in her vehicle to a remote location where he drove his car off an embankment, then gave him a ride back to her property.14CNN. Oregon Woman Arrested for Aiding Kidnapping Suspect
Jones pleaded not guilty on February 3, 2023. Her attorney requested her release, citing a blood cancer diagnosis and difficulty getting proper medication while incarcerated.15KDRV. Woman Accused of Helping and Hiding Benjamin Foster Pleads Not Guilty She was convicted of hindering prosecution and sentenced to three years of probation and one month in county jail, with credit for time served. She told detectives she had only been “trying to help someone in need.”7OregonLive. He Tortured One and Killed Two in Oregon as the Nation Awaited His Capture
Justine Siemens’s Recovery
Siemens survived the attack but sustained traumatic brain damage. She spent an extended period in a coma, had to relearn how to walk, and required dental reconstruction to replace teeth lost during the beating. “Torture is an understatement for what I went through,” she said in a later interview. “It’s been a lot to deal with. I’m very lucky to be alive.”16Today. Worst Ex Ever: Justine Siemens and Benjamin Obadiah Foster
Angela Milner, who found her, later spoke about the discovery in the Netflix documentary Worst Ex Ever. “I was terrified Justine was going to be a vegetable and I thought it was because I hadn’t found that rope soon enough,” Milner said. “I could not believe she finally woke up.”17The U.S. Sun. I Had to Learn to Walk Again After Ex Tortured Me for Days
The Netflix Documentary
In August 2024, Netflix released Worst Ex Ever, a four-episode docuseries produced by Blumhouse Television and directed by Cynthia Childs. The first episode, “Dating the Devil,” focused on Foster.18Netflix Tudum. Worst Ex Ever Release Date and News It featured on-camera interviews with Siemens and with two of Foster’s former Las Vegas girlfriends, identified as Amber and Jaimee, who described escalating patterns of abuse, including a captivity that Jaimee escaped by fleeing out the back door of a grocery store.19Den of Geek. Netflix Worst Ex Ever Benjamin Obadiah Foster Episode 1 The series highlighted criticism that the justice system had repeatedly failed to hold Foster after reports from earlier victims.20OregonLive. Worst Ex Ever Netflix Series Explores a Horrible Oregon Crime
Between 2017 and 2021, Foster was charged in at least three separate domestic violence cases in Clark County, Nevada. Each was resolved through plea agreements that resulted in minimal actual incarceration. The 2019 kidnapping, in which his victim endured two weeks of captivity and serious injuries, was pleaded down from five felonies to one felony and one misdemeanor. The 729 days of jail credit meant Foster served no additional prison time before arriving in Oregon.21NY Daily News. Oregon Kidnap Suspect Wanted for Attempted Murder Was Released From Nevada Prison Early