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Kokomo rape suspect dies in Louisiana after standoff with police

KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — A Kokomo man wanted by authorities after police said he battered and raped a woman has died following a standoff with officers in Louisiana.

Gary F. Perkins, 51, was a registered Indiana sex offender. He was convicted of rape, sexual battery and criminal deviate conduct in 1997, according to the Howard County sex offender registry.

Kokomo police said they’d been called to the 500 block of West Park Avenue on Dec. 5 after a woman reported that she had been beaten and raped by Perkins. The woman said the incident began around 6 p.m. Monday, and after being sexually assaulted and confined to a bed, was able to free herself once Perkins left the residence. The woman told police that she and Perkins had “hung out and snorted a couple lines of meth together,” said a police report used to obtain the warrant. At some point in the evening, the woman said, Perkins hit her in the back of the head with a club and choked her by strangling her before they had sex, the police report said.

On Dec. 6, an arrest warrant was issued for Perkins on criminal charges of rape, aggravated battery, criminal confinement, incest and strangulation.

Kokomo police announced via Facebook on Sunday that officers with the Acadia Parish Sheriff Department in Louisiana had become involved in a standoff with Perkins on Saturday night around 9 after responding to a report of a suspicious person at a gas station. Police reported that Perkins died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.