An 85-year-old Idaho mother fatally shot a masked intruder who held her hostage at gunpoint while her disabled son slept down the hall during a horrifying home invasion.
Christine Jenneiahn’s “grit, determination, and will to live” is “what saved her that night,” Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley said after announcing Wednesday that Jenneiahn justifiably killed 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 by the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office. “It also presents one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have ever heard of.”
Jenneiahn had been asleep in her Bingham County home when she awoke around 2 a.m. to find Condon — dressed in a military jacket and black ski mask — pointing a 9 mm pistol at her while shining a flashlight in her face, according to the review.
She told investigators that Condon hit her while she lay in bed, causing her to bleed all over her pillow and bedroom floor.
Condon then slapped handcuffs on the elderly woman and took her into the living room at gunpoint, demanding for her to cough up any valuables she had in the house.
Jenneiahn’s disabled son, David, was asleep during the assault but she chose not to reveal that her son was also in the home.
In the living room, Condon handcuffed her to a wooden chair, where Jenneiahn told him she did not own many valuables, according to the report.
Condon put his gun to her head before she disclosed that there were two safes downstairs in the home, according to the review.
The home invader then left her handcuffed in the living room while he rummaged through several rooms in the house in search of anything valuable the elderly woman had.
Condon later discovered David Jenneiahn during the search and threatened to kill her multiple times over the lie.
As Condon continued his search, Jenneiahn, still handcuffed, dragged the chair to retrieve her .357 Magnum revolver from under her pillow, hiding the gun between the armrest and a cushion then “waited to see what Condon did next,” the report explained.
Prosecutors said Jenneiahn “ultimately made the decision that it was ‘now or never’ and drew her concealed .357 magnum and engaged Condon striking him with both her shots” after he threatened her once again.
The violent home intruder then opened fire on her with his pistol, striking the elderly woman in the abdomen, leg, arm, and chest.
Condon, severely wounded, retreated into the kitchen and died from being shot.
Jenneiahn, riddled with bullet holes and still cuffed to the chair, “fell to the floor” where she remained for approximately 10 hours.
Police finally reached the injured 85-year-old at about 12:17 p.m. and “provided life-saving measures on her,” according to the review.
She was rushed to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls and has since been released, EastIdahoNews.com reported.
“That Christine survived this encounter is truly incredible,” Jolley wrote.
Investigators found a broken window in the back of Jenneiahn’s home and a screwdriver next to the door where Condon is believed to have made entry.
The review also shared that Condon had a lock pick on his person.
The Idaho prosecutor wrote that “no person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting himself,” after making his ruling that Jenneiahn was in the right to use “deadly force.”
“Absent a clear attempt by Condon to retreat from the residence or surrender, which based on the evidence clearly did not occur,” Jolley wrote.
“She is 85 years old. Any reasonable person would believe it necessary to defend themselves or their disabled child under such circumstances.”
