'Tinder killer' sentenced for torturing woman and killing her lover in 'horrific love triangle plot'

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (TCD) -- A 31-year-old man will be a minimum of 102 years old before he could get out of prison for holding a woman against her will, torturing her, and killing her other lover.

The Placer County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday, Dec. 19, that Damon Allen Benson was sentenced to 71 years to life in prison for fatally shooting the other man in a "horrific love triangle." He was convicted of murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment by violence, criminal threats, and other charges after a jury determined he "murdered the victim with premeditation and intent."

Benson met a woman on Tinder, but she was also seeing the victim, which made him jealous. The woman met the victim on Tinder as well. Investigators learned in August 2021 that Benson held the woman captive at his apartment "after being extensively tortured on multiple occasions." In one instance, he carved a swastika into her back while he tied her to his ceiling with rope. The woman is Jewish.

The district attorney’s office said Benson maimed her so she would tell him her other lover’s address.

Benson found the victim, who KTXL-TV identified as Cameron Gabriel, and "ambushed" him before killing him and fleeing the scene. Benson said he killed Gabriel in self-defense, but surveillance footage reportedly showed Benson "running into the victim’s home in the middle of the night, followed by immediate gunfire and Benson running out of the home."

The shooting, however, occurred in July 2021, according to KTXL. Detectives from the Rocklin Police Department took him into custody in September 2021.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jeffery Moore said in the statement following the sentencing, "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."

According to his obituary, Gabriel moved back to California only a few months before he was killed. He was described as having an "energetic personality that would light up the room" and being a person who could "diffuse the most difficult situation."

The obituary said, "Cameron appreciated life in every form, shape and way. He always saw the good in people, had a positive personality, and a sense a humor that made you want to be around him."

MORE:

• Tinder killer sentenced to 71 years to life in prison for murder, torture and mayhem- Placer County District Attorney's Office
• Placer County Tinder killer sentenced for murder, torture and mayhem - KTXL
• Rocklin police arrest suspect in July shooting death, 9/2/2021 - KTXL
• Cameron Gabriel obituary - Blue Oaks Funeral Home
• Tinder killer Damon Benson sentenced in Rocklin man's murder, woman's torture - CBS Sacramento