SUGARCREEK TWP. Greene County — Jeff Bedinger, the subject of a nationwide manhunt following a fatal shooting and kidnapping in Troy, was captured after a chase with local sheriff’s deputies that ended in a crash Friday, July 9.

Bedinger admitted to a deputy after the crash that he shot his stepson on Thursday, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer .

Bedinger’s car was northbound on Wilmington Pike being chased by deputies through the intersection of Briggs Road when it sideswiped a vehicle and flipped at around 8 p.m., according to Plummer. A gun slid out of the car and Bedinger surrendered.

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

“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,” Detective Todd Sloan wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant for the apartment. Police found seven 9 mm shell casings in the apartment.

Jeffrey Bedinger fled, allegedly taking his 7-year-old son, Zane, with him, triggering an Amber Alert and manhunt.

Authorities found Zane at a relative’s house 130 miles from Troy in Carmel, Ind., two hours later. Zane was reunited with his mother early Friday.

Deputies find suspect after rip said he was in area

Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies spotted Bedinger’s vehicle on Social Row Road after someone tipped them that he was in the Washington Twp. area, Sheriff Phil Plummer said.

A deputy stopped him after a brief chase and ordered Bedinger out of the car at gunpoint. Bedinger allegedly then drove off, starting an 8-minute chase that reached speeds of 70 mph.

It ended in a three-car crash, in which two people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, and Bedinger’s vehicle on its top at the intersection of Wilmington Pike at Briggs Road.

A handgun slid out of the car and Bedinger crawled out, surrendering to deputies, Plummer said.

“He still had his weapon with him and who knows what he would have done,” Plummer said.

Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said Friday night he was “shocked” that Bedinger was back in the area.

Police agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service and Indiana State Police , were concentrating the search for Bedinger in Indiana, where Zane Bedinger, 7, had been dropped off a few hours after Thursday’s shooting in Troy.

Troy police say Bedinger used a 9 mm handgun to shoot and kill his stepson, Brandon Haskins, who was moving in with his mother and 7-year-old half-brother in a Troy apartment. A 9 mm Glock magazine was recovered from the apartment, according to the inventory from a search warrant.

Plummer indicated that Bedinger had friends in the Washington Twp. area but officials were not sure what brought him back here.

“Obviously we are relieved,” Anderson said of Bedinger’s apprehension. “We are just thankful it concluded in somewhat of a safe manner, with no additional tragedy involved.”

Troy police on Friday filed three felony charges against Bedinger in Miami County Municipal Court. Anderson said he likely will be in court the first of the week for an initial appearance on those charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and abduction.

He was turned over to Troy police at the crash scene.

Couple separated, having financial problems

Bedinger and his wife, Kimberly Bedinger, faced financial pressures in their marriage.

The couple filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy May 27, declaring $150,000 in assets and $197,000 in liabilities.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the family was living on Kimberly’s salary as an intervention specialist at Morton Middle School in Vandalia, where her take-home monthly pay was $2,531. The couple estimated their average monthly expenses as $3 less, $2,528. Jeff Bedinger said in the filing he was unemployed.

The family’s home at 553 Shroyer Road in Dayton was carrying two mortgages, according to their May 27 filing. Jeff Bedinger reported $34,600 in student loan obligations. The family owed tens of thousands in credit card debt. They had $400 in their checking account.

Jeff Bedinger told neighbors on Shroyer Road two weeks ago that Kimberly had left, taking the couple’s 7-year-old and the family’s Italian mastiff.

“They are sweet people,” neighbor Kathleen Niarhos said as Dayton police Thursday swarmed the story-and-a-half white bungalow on Shroyer, looking for Bedinger. “They always stopped and talked to us when they walked the dog. Our dogs played together.”

Staff writer Lou Grieco contributed to this story.