Photo: Bingham County Sheriff's Office
An 85-year-old woman fatally shot a masked intruder while protecting her disabled son despite being shot multiple times, handcuffed to a chair and held at gunpoint, according to the Bingham County (Idaho) Sheriff's Office.
Christine Jenneiahn is being credited as a hero for her “grit, determination, and will to live,” which Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley said "saved her that night" during what he claimed was the justifiable killing of Derek Condon, 39, on March 13.
“This case presents an easy analysis of self-defense and justifiable homicide,” Jolley wrote in the case review shared to the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office's Facebook account on Wednesday (April 10). “It also presents one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have ever heard of.”
Jenneiahn was sleeping in her home when she suddenly awoke at 2:00 a.m. to find Condon, who was wearing a military jacket and black ski mask, pointing a 9mm pistol and flashlight at her face, the case review stated. The 85-year-old told investigators that Condon hit her while she was lying in bed, which caused her to bleed all over her pillow and onto the bedroom floor.
Jenneiahn was then handcuffed and held at gunpoint as Condon demanded she give him any valuables she had in the house. Jenneiahn said she chose not to reveal that her disabled son, David, was asleep in the house as the incident took place.
Condon handcuffed Jenneiahn to a wooden chair in her living room and she told him she didn't own many valuables, the report states. Condon then put his gun to Jenneiahn's head before she revealed that there were two safes in the downstairs area of the home, at which point he left her handcuffed in the living room area as he searched through several rooms.
Condon later discovered David while searching the home and threatened to kill Jenneiahn multiple times for claiming she was in the house alone. Jenneiahn then, while handcuffed, managed to drag the chair to retrieve her .357 Magnum revolver hidden between an armrest and a cushion before waiting "to see what Condon did next."
Prosecutors claim Jenneiahn decided "that it was 'now or never' and drew her concealed .357 magnum and engaged Condon striking him with both her shots” after he once again threatened her. Condon then opened fire with his pistol, striking the 85-year-old in the abdomen, leg, arm and chest, but had suffered his own severe wounds and retreated into the kitchen, where he died from injuries.
Jenneiahn remained handcuffed to the chair and "fell to the floor," where she remained until police "provided life-saving measures on her" at about 12:17 p.m. The 85-year-old was rushed to a local hospital and has since been released.