An 85-year-old Idaho woman is being hailed a ‘hero’ for fatally shooting a home invasion suspect with a handgun she kept under her pillow after he allegedly handcuffed her to a chair, allegedly pistol-whipped her and threatened to kill her several times. her, authorities said.
Christine Jenneiahn survived the harrowing incident at her home near Blackfoot, Idaho, after being shot multiple times by alleged attacker Derek Condon, 39, who died in his kitchen when the octogenarian knocked over the situation and shot him twice with her. 357 Magnum, authorities said.
She told investigators she decided to use deadly force to protect herself and her disabled son, saying it was “now or never” because she feared the suspect would kill her otherwise.
“This case presents a simple analysis of self-defense and justifiable homicide,” Bingham County, Idaho, District Attorney Ryan Jolley said in a statement released this week, clearing Jenneiahn of any wrongdoing. “It also exhibits one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I’ve heard of.”
Jenneiahn, who lives in a rural area with a disabled son, told police that she was awakened around 2 a.m. on March 13 by an unknown man wearing a military jacket and a black ski mask and standing outside. above her bed pointing a gun and flashlight at her. according to investigators.
Investigators suspect Condon entered the home by breaking a window and hitting Jenneiahn in the head with a gun while she was in bed, according to Jolley.
The Bingham County Sheriff’s Office released this undated photo of Derek Condon.
Bingham County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
Jenneiahn told investigators that Condon allegedly took her to his living room, handcuffed her to a wooden chair and “asked her where valuables were kept in her home, and put a gun to her head.” according to an incident report.
The woman told Condon there were two safes downstairs but she didn’t have much, according to the report.
When the attacker came downstairs, leaving her alone in the living room, Jenneiahn told investigators she dragged the chair she was handcuffed in to her bedroom to retrieve the gun she kept under her pillow. She told investigators she returned to the living room and hid the gun between the armrest and cushion of a couch she was sitting next to and waited to see what Condon would do next, according to The report.
When Condon returned, he allegedly became angry with Jenneiahn for not telling him his son was in the house and threatened to kill her again, according to the report. That’s when she rushed to her gun hidden in the couch and opened fire on Condon, hitting him twice.
Condon allegedly returned fire, emptying his 9mm pistol, leaving Jenneiahn with gunshot wounds to the abdomen, leg, arm and chest, according to the report.
Condon apparently collapsed in the kitchen and died while Jenneiahn remained on her living room floor bleeding and handcuffed to the chair for 10 hours until her son came upstairs and handed her the phone to call 911, according to the report.
Citing Idaho’s “Stand Your Ground” law, Jolley said Jenneiahn was justified in using any means necessary to defend herself.
“Any reasonable person would believe it necessary to defend themselves or their disabled child in such circumstances,” Jolley said in his decision released Tuesday. “The fact that Christine survived this encounter is truly incredible. Her courage, determination and will to live seem to be what brought her to the ground that night.”
He said if Condon had survived the incident, he would have been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary, aggravated battery and robbery.
ABC News
