Sacramento County man gets maximum prison sentence in Placer deadly Tinder ‘love triangle’
A Placer Superior Court judge on Tuesday handed down the maximum prison sentence for a Sacramento County man who tortured a woman in a jealous rage and then shot to death her lover in a violent Tinder dating “love triangle,” prosecutors said.
Judge David Penney sentenced 31-year-old Damon Allen Benson of Rancho Cordova to 71 years to life in prison, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.
In September, a jury found Benson guilty of murder for the shooting death of 48-year-old Cameron Gabriel who was found dead July 25, 2021, in Rocklin.
Benson also was convicted of torture, aggravated mayhem, making criminal threats and false imprisonment by violence, prosecutors said.
Benson, Gabriel and the woman met separately on the online Tinder dating app. Prosecutors said the three became involved in a “love triangle,” which resulted in jealousy, the torture of a vulnerable female victim and ultimately Gabriel’s murder.
In August 2021, Benson held the victim against her will at his apartment after being “extensively tortured” on multiple occasions, including carving a “swastika into her back while being tied to his ceiling with a rope,” prosecutors said in the news release.
The victim is of Jewish decent. Investigators learned Benson tortured the woman to obtain Gabriel’s home address to kill him, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Officers responding to a report of a suspicious death found Gabriel with gunshot wounds in the 3900 block of East Midas Avenue, near Pacific Street, according to the Rocklin Police Department. Gabriel appeared to have been dead for some time before he was found.
Detectives worked at the crime scene and began following up on investigative leads and tips the Police Department received. In early August 2021, the Rancho Cordova Police Department gave the detectives information that led them to a witness of the homicide, Rocklin police officials have said.
Based on witness statements and other evidence, the detectives identified Benson as the shooting suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
On Sept. 2, 2021, the Rocklin detectives served the arrest warrant at the Sacramento County Main Jail and apprehended Benson. He was already in custody in Sacramento facing felony assault charges in a separate case.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jeffery Moore, who prosecuted the case, said they are “humbled to provide justice for this horrific crime” to the extent the law allows.
“The defendant shows a clear danger to the public and a callous disregard for human life,” Moore said in the news release. “Removing Benson from society is the only way to ensure he doesn’t victimize anyone again.”
