Gregory Rodriguez, the host of the Sportsman Channel show The Rifleman’s Journey, was killed Friday night, the victim of a murder-suicide by an apparently jealous husband, according to Montana police. Rodriguez, who is also an editor at Shooting Times Magazine and a contributing editor at Petersen’s Hunting, Guns & Ammo, was visiting a woman at the woman’s mother’s home in Whitefish, Montana when Wayne Bengston, the woman’s husband, showed up. It remains unclear what Rodriguez and the woman were doing at the time, but whatever it was, it sent the 41-year-old Bengston into a rage; shortly after entering the home, he shot and killed Rodriguez and severely beat his wife.
Police say Bengston then drove his two-year-old son to a relative’s home before returning to his own home, where he fatally shot himself. Bengston’s wife was treated at a nearby hospital and released.
According to Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial, Rodriguez met the woman, who works for a firearms manufacturer, at a gun show. Dial said the relationship appeared to be casual, not romantic.
The Sportsman Channel released a statement saying it will miss Rodriguez’s “thoughtfulness, candor and dedication to encourage a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience for all.”
Rodriguez was 43 and leaves behind a wife and two kids.
[CBS, NY Daily News/Image via AP]