A jealous forest ranger shot and killed the host of the Sportsman Channel show “A Rifleman’s Journal” in an apparent rage over the TV personality visiting the killer’s wife, police say.
Wayne Bengston, 41, then beat his wife, took his 2-year-old son to a relative’s house and drove to his home about 25 miles away in rural Montana, where he killed himself, they said.
“It’s pretty much an open-and-closed case — homicide and suicide,” according to the local police chief, Bill Dial.
Police identified the shooting victim as Gregory Rodriguez, 43, of Sugar Land, Tex.
Bengston’s wife told police that Rodriguez was in Montana on business and visiting her at her mother’s house in Whitefish when her husband showed up Thursday morning,
Rodriguez and the woman, who works for a firearms manufacturer, met at a trade show and struck up a casual relationship that police do not believe was romantic, Dial said.
“I think it was a jealous husband, but this is all conjecture,” Dial said.
She and Rodriguez were sitting at the kitchen table, talking over a glass of wine, when Bengston entered the house and shot Rodriguez, Dial said.
The channel, in a statement over the weekend, said it will miss Gregory G. Rodriguez’s “thoughtfulness, candor and dedication to encourage a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience for all.”
Bengston worked for the U.S. Forest Service, Dial said.