Northern Calif. man sentenced in ‘horrific love triangle murder plot’

Justice has been served in one of the most heinous torture and murder cases in Placer County history. 

Damon Allen Benson, 31, who became known as the “Tinder killer” in local media, was sentenced to 71 years in prison this week after being found guilty of murder, aggravated mayhem, torture, felony criminal threats and false imprisonment by violence. 

Described by authorities as a “horrific love triangle murder plot,” the events played out in the summer of 2021 on the outskirts of Sacramento. After meeting an unnamed 29-year-old woman on the dating app Tinder, Benson held her against his will and tortured her at his apartment in Rancho Cordova. The torture included tying her to his ceiling and carving a swastika in her back. The victim is of Jewish descent. 

Authorities say Benson was fueled by jealousy and tortured the victim to get her to reveal the address of a second man she had also recently met through Tinder. 

Benson later ambushed the man, 48-year-old Cameron Gabriel, in the middle of the night at his home on East Midas Ave. in nearby Rocklin, and shot him dead in his room. Benson claimed this was in self-defense, but Rocklin police shared surveillance footage reportedly showing Benson running out of Gabriel’s home yelling, “That’s right, [expletive].” In the guilty verdict in September, the jury to concluded that Benson murdered Gabriel with premeditation and intent. 

Gabriel was born in Stanford, Calif., in 1973 six minutes after his twin sister. He spent most of his life in Ashland, Ore., and had returned to California just seven months before his death. “Gentle, kind and funny, Cameron was never known to speak a harsh word about or to anyone,” his obituary reads. 

“This is a day for justice for the victim and the victim’s family,” Placer County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jeffery Moore said in a statement. “We recognize this verdict will not bring [the victim] back and that we cannot undo what this defendant has done to their family. We are humbled to provide justice for this horrific crime to the greatest extent our laws allow. The defendant shows a clear danger to the public and a callous disregard for human life. Removing Benson from society is the only way to ensure he doesn’t victimize anyone again.”