Zane Bedinger -- Found Alive 7/9/10

Child in 'grave danger' after fatal shooting, National Amber Alert issued


Zane Bedinger, 7, Troy, Ohio, was reported missing on Thursday, July 8, 2010

TROY, OH – Police investigating a fatal shooting have issued an Amber Alert for a 7-year-old boy taken from the shooting scene Thursday afternoon at the Towne Park apartments on the city’s west side.

The boy is identified as Zane Bedinger, who is 4-feet tall and weighs around 65 pounds. He was last seen wearing gray swim trucks with black flowers and flip flops. Police said Bedinger has blond hair and brown eyes and is very tan.

The suspect is Jeff Bedinger, a 51-year-old white male who is 6’3” and 235 pounds Jeff Bedinger is Zane’s father, according to the Amber Alert. Jeff Bedinger is believed to have fled the scene in a silver 2007 Honda Accord with Ohio license plate EDT 6246. If you see them, call 911. The suspect is considered armed and dangerous and Zane Bedinger is in grave danger, according to the alert.

“Do not try to intercede, this subject has been involved in a shooting and we consider him armed and dangerous. Please call 911 or your local law enforcement authority if you notice the vehicle or this child. Let us do what we do,” Troy Police Capt Chuck Adams.

Shroyer at Roy in Dayton was blocked off with a suspect in a home threatening to commit suicide, according to scanner traffic. It has since reopened and it does not appear that anyone was at the house, located in the 500 block of Shroyer.

The victim did not live at the apartment but was visiting, according to Capt. Chuck Adams with the Troy Police Department. Zane Bedinger lives at the Troy address. Adams said that Zane’s mother witnessed the incident and was able to escape.

Adams said police have asked for it to be a nationwide Amber Alert because the family has relatives out-of-state.

Kettering police said they received an alert Thursday afternoon to be on the lookout for a possible suspect in a Troy shooting.

According to Troy police, the suspect and victim are related. The victim is a male in his early 20s. Police were not releasing details about the relationship between the suspect and victim.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at the apartments located north of Ohio 41 between Experiment Farm Road and Interstate 75.

Police scanner traffic indicated police were looking for a man who apparently was armed with a 9mm weapon.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/child-in-grave-danger-after-fatal-shooting-amber-alrt-issued-803250.html

So sad.. I hope they find them before its too late..

Man wanted in killing, abduction still at-large

Updated 9:57 AM Friday, July 9, 2010

TROY — Police are continuing their nationwide manhunt Friday, July 9, for a 50-year-old Dayton man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of his 22-year-old stepson.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Bedinger’s 7-year-old son was reunited with his mother, Bedinger’s estranged wife, around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Greenfield, Ind.

“Physically, the boy appears all right,” Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said.
Minutes after the 4 p.m. Thursday shooting at the Troy Towne Apartments on the west side of the city, an Amber Alert was issued for the child, Zane Bedinger, last seen in his father’s car leaving the apartment complex.

Anderson said Bedinger and his wife, Kimberly, were estranged. Kimberly and Zane lived in the apartment with the victim, Brandon Haskins, Kimberly’s son from a previous marriage.

“There was a verbal confrontation between the estranged husband and wife prior to the shooting,” Anderson said.

Anderson said police do not yet know if Haskins had a role in that confrontation.

Haskins was shot multiple times in the upper torso, Anderson said. Jeffrey Bedinger then fled, taking his son, Zane.

Kimberly Bedinger fled to the Ohio State Highway Patrol driver's examination office two blocks away to report the shooting. According to the patrol’s call to 911, Kimberly Bedinger told them her estranged husband threatened to kill Zane if she called police.

The boy was later found at a relative’s home in Carmel, Ind., several hours after the shooting. Anderson said Jeffrey Bedinger dropped the boy off there.

Jeffrey Bedinger is believed to have a 9 mm handgun and is considered dangerous.

‘We have distributed information to state and federal agencies. We are checking with known associates and anyone he may have reached out to,” the captain said.

Attempts to track Jeffrey Bedinger by cell phone were unsuccessful.

Until two weeks ago, Jeffrey, Kimberly and Zane Bedinger lived at 553 Shroyer Road in Dayton. Neighbors said they separated two weeks ago.

“He told us she took the dog and the boy, Zane, and moved out,” Kathleen Niarhos said.

Dayton police checked the house shortly after the shooting but didn’t find anyone.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/man-wanted-in-killing-abduction-still-at-large-804169.html

I'm glad they found the little boy & that he's ok.

I know, it could have been much worse. He killed Zane's half brother in front of his mother, they haven't stated if Zane witnessed it or not. And they had only moved out of the house a few weeks before. Thank god he dropped Zane off at relatives and did not harm him. Now he's running around Indiana somewhere....maybe he'll off himself. Crazy, I'm just glad he didn't harm Zane out of spite. How terrible for the mother to watch him shoot her son to death, then take off with her 7 year old.

I sure hope he didn't kill Brandon in front of Zane. He will have problems that may not show up now, but later on in his life.

2 happy endings in a matter of a few days.. To think Zane may have been exposed to such a horrific situation is heart breaking for him and his family... what a monster ... Hopefully counselling will help them through their nightmare. What a lucky little boy!

God Bless him

Suspect in stepson’s killing captured

By Nancy Bowman, Doug Page and Katie Wedell, Staff Writers
Updated 9:40 PM Friday, July 9, 2010

SUGARCREEK TWP. - Jeff Bedinger, the suspect in a nationwide manhunt following a fatal shooting and kidnapping, has been captured after an accident in front of the Kohl’s store in Sugarcreek Twp. on Friday, July 9, according to officials on the scene.

Witnesses say the suspect's car, a silver Honda, was northbound on Wilmington Pike being chased by sheriff's deputies through the intersection of Briggs Road when it sideswiped a vehicle attempting to turn left.

That vehicle careened into a small bus stopped at the intersection. The Honda flipped onto its top and landed on Wilmington Pike.

Sheriff's deputies surrounded the vehicle and took the suspect into custody.

Police have marked a handgun on the ground near Bedinger's flipped car and Bedinger is in custody in the back of a Montgomery County Sheriff's cruiser.

One injured accident victim was removed from the sideswiped vehicle and another injured person was taken from the small bus. Both were rushed to local hospitals with minor injuries.

Troy Police filed an arrest warrant for Bedinger, 50, of Dayton on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and abduction after the fatal shooting of the man’s 22-year-old stepson.

Bedinger is suspected of opening fire Thursday around 4 p.m. at his estranged wife’s apartment at the Troy Towne Apartments, killing his 22-year-old stepson, Brandon Haskins; threatening his wife, Kimberly Bedinger; taking their 7-year-old son, Zane, and fleeing.

Wife describes shooting in police statement

According to an affidavit for a search warrant for 1862 Town Park Drive apartment 4C, Troy police Detective Todd Sloan briefly described his initial interview with Kim Bedinger. Sloan wrote Kimberly Bedinger said she and Jeffrey Bedinger had gone to counseling Thursday and were going to go swimming.

“She said that while they were at the residence, Jeff pulled a gun from a book bag and shot Brandon several times in the chest. She said that he then told her to write a will. She said that Jeff ... (then) shot Brandon several more times,” Sloan wrote.

Police found seven 9 mm spent shell casings in the apartment, according to the search warrant inventory sheet filed Friday.

Boy found in Indiana

Jeffrey and Kimberly Bedinger’s 7-year-old son was reunited with Kimberly Bedinger around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Greenfield, Ind., after a nationwide Amber Alert.

“Physically, the boy appears all right,” Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said.

“There was a verbal confrontation between the estranged husband and wife prior to the shooting,” Anderson said. Anderson said police do not yet know if Haskins had a role in that confrontation.

Haskins was shot multiple times in the upper torso, Anderson said.

Kimberly Bedinger fled to the Ohio State Highway Patrol driver’s examination office two blocks away to report the shooting. According to the patrol’s call to 911, Kimberly Bedinger told them her estranged husband threatened to kill Zane if she called police.

The boy was later found at a relative’s home in Carmel, Ind., several hours after the shooting. Anderson said Jeffrey Bedinger dropped the boy off there.

The search warrant inventory listed 15 seized items. Those items included seven 9 mm shell casings; 9 mm unspent rounds; an empty Glock 9 mm magazine; two cell phones; a cell phone case; two projectiles (one from a wall and one from a living room chair); and a tooth brush.

Until two weeks ago, Jeffrey, Kimberly and Zane Bedinger lived at 553 Shroyer Road in Dayton. Neighbors said they separated two weeks ago.

“He told us she took the dog and the boy, Zane, and moved out,” Kathleen Niarhos said.

Miami County authorities removed Haskins’ body about 11:15 p.m. Thursday and cleared the scene about 2:30 a.m. Friday, said Kathleen Moore, a resident of the Troy apartment complex.

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/crime/suspect-in-stepsons-killing-captured-804169.html

Thank God they got this guy, and hopefully the victims of the wreck were not hurt seriously.

$1.6M bond set for man accused of killing, abduction

By Nancy Bowman, Contributing Writer
Updated 11:58 AM Monday, July 12, 2010



TROY — Bail of $1.6 million was ordered Monday, July 12, in a Miami County court for Jeff Bedinger, charged in the fatal shooting Thursday of his stepson and abduction of his own son.

Bedinger appeared before Judge Elizabeth Gutmann of county Municipal Court via video from the county jail in Troy. Troy police charged Bedinger with felony aggravated murder, kidnapping and abduction Friday while law enforcement conducted a nationwide search for him.

He was apprehended Friday evening in Sugarcreek Twp., Greene County, following a pursuit that ended with a crash on Wilmington Pike. No one was seriously injured in the wreck.

Bedinger was brought to Troy late Friday, interviewed by police and held at the jail over the weekend.

The search for Bedinger began Thursday afternoon following a shooting at a Troy apartment. His estranged wife, Kimberly, told police she and her husband had attended a counseling session and planned to go swimming when he pulled out a handgun, shooting and killing her 22-year-old son Brandon Haskins.

Bedinger fled with the couple’s 7-year-old son, Zane, sparking a nationwide Amber alert. The boy was left, unharmed, at the home of a relative in Indiana a couple of hours later.

During Monday’s brief court arraignment, Bedinger, dressed in orange jail clothing, politely answered questions from Gutmann. Public Defender Steve King asked for bail “commensurate with the charges.”

Gutmann set bail of $1 million cash for aggravated murder, $500,000 for kidnapping and $100,000 for abduction.

Several factors were taken into consideration in setting bail. They included the serious nature of the offense, Bedinger’s risk of flight, “the risk you pose to the community at large,” and Bedinger’s use of a firearm in the offenses, Gutmann said.

Bedinger was ordered to have no contact with Kim Bedinger, Zane Bedinger and any members of the extended family, an order Gutmann extended to Keith Haskins, father of the victim, and Haskins’ extended family.

A preliminary hearing for Bedinger is scheduled for July 20.

Troy Detective Todd Sloan recounted Kimberly Bedinger’s description of events in an affidavit filed for a search warrant for the apartment where the shooting occurred.

“She said ... Jeff pulled a gun from a book bag and shot Brandon several times in the chest. She said that he then told her to write a will. She said that Jeff ... (then) shot Brandon several more times.”

Police found seven 9 mm shell casings in the apartment.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/-1-6m-bond-set-for-man-accused-of-killing-abduction-807427.html

Bedinger murder trial set for Sept.

Suspect accused of killing stepson

By Will E Sanders
Staff Writer
August 25, 2010

TROY - A five-day aggravated murder trial for Jeffrey Bedinger, who allegedly shot his stepson in front of his estranged wife July 8 at a Troy apartment, has been scheduled to begin Sept. 28.

Bedinger, who is being represented by Troy attorney Jose Lopez, stood mute at his arraignment earlier this month and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf by a visiting judge.

Read more: http://www.dailycall.com/main.asp?SubSectionID=164&ArticleID=167193&SectionID=86

Man who killed Kettering native gets life in prison

11/17/2010 1:00:00 PM
Will E. Sanders
Ohio Community Media

A Dayton man who fatally shot his stepson in front of his estranged wife during a domestic dispute in July before abducting his 7-year-old son will spend the rest of his life behind prison bars, a common pleas court judge ordered Monday during an emotionally-charged sentencing hearing.

Jeffrey Bedinger, 50, reacted with little emotion when judge Jeffrey Welbaum announced the court order that the convicted murderer spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. When the announcement was made, the uncle of gunshot victim Brandon Haskins screamed "Hell yeah!" before he was ordered out of the court, but not before screaming, "I hate you, you son of a (expletive deleted). I hate you!"

The sentencing lasted more than an hour and several people who knew both the murderer and his victim spoke, including Bedinger himself.

"There is no explanation or justification for what I did to Brandon," spoke Bedinger at the hearing. "I am so sorry. ... He will be greatly missed."

Defense attorney Jose Lopez called the shooting "an awful tragedy" that his client has taken "full and complete responsibility for."

On July 8, Bedinger gunned down his stepson, Kettering native Brandon Haskins, with a 9mm Glock in front of Haskins' mother, Kimberly, who also was Bedinger's estranged wife at the time. The shooting took place at the 1862 building at the Troy Towne Apartments. Bedinger shot Mr. Haskins seven times at close range, according to police reports.

Read more: http://www.tcnewsnet.com/main.asp?SectionID=16&SubSectionID=261&ArticleID=155147