Kern County officials have confirmed that the man who was fatally shot Saturday in Inkoyern by deputies was the same suspect who authorities had been pursuing for weeks after the July slaying of a dentist and a shooting that wounded two deputies.
Benjamin Peter Ashley, 34, was wanted on charges of kidnapping, murder and attempted murder of a peace officer. The string of crimes triggered an intense manhunt across the isolated wilderness that shuttered local schools and closed a stretch of the famous Pacific Crest Trail as authorities warned residents to stay inside and lock their doors and windows.