Idaho Prosecutor Rules – 85-Year-Old Mom Commits “Justifiable Homicide” in Shooting of Armed Home Intruder

DEBARYLIFE – Derek Condon, 39, was slain for allegedly breaking into a house and handcuffing an 85-year-old woman to a chair.

According to Bingham County prosecuting attorney Ryan Jolley, the 85-year-old mother from Idaho who shot and killed a house intruder committed a “justifiable homicide” and “one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have heard of,” in an event review.

At about two in the morning on March 13, the suspect, 39-year-old Derek Condon, broke into the house that Christine Jenneiahn shares with her disabled son. The affidavit said that Condon was “pointing a gun and flashlight at Jenneiahn, dressed in a military jacket.”

Jolley claims that Condon took Jenneiahn into her home’s living room, chained her to a wooden chair, and led her there at gunpoint.

When the woman told him she didn’t have much, Condon allegedly put his weapon to her head after demanding to know where the valuables were kept in the house. Subsequently, Jenneiahn informed the intruder about two safes located downstairs. According to the prosecution, he left her chained in the living room and proceeded to search the house.

When Condon discovered Jenneiahn’s son was inside the house and she had not informed him, it was alleged that he became enraged. There have allegedly been multiple threats made by the suspect to kill Jenneiahn.

“At one point while Condon was downstairs, Christine drug the chair she was handcuffed to into her bedroom, and retrieved her 357 magnum revolver from under her pillow,” said Jolley. “She then went back into the living room and hid the revolver between the armrest and cushion of a couch next to where she was seated and waited to see what Condon did next.”

Related To – O.J. Simpson, Football Legend, Dies at 76 After Cancer Struggle

The prosecutor’s statement states that although the victim’s memory “remains somewhat unclear” about what transpired next, at some time she decided that it was “now or never,” pulled out her gun, and fired two bullets at Condon.

“Condon returned fire and emptied a 9mm pistol into Christine striking her multiple times in her abdomen, leg, arm and chest,” according to the paper. “Condon then went into the adjoining kitchen where he died from his wounds.”

Still, in her handcuffs, Jenneiahn slid to the ground and remained there for around ten hours until her son discovered her and offered her a phone so she could contact 911. When deputies arrived, it was about 12:17 p.m., and they administered life-saving techniques.

Investigators located a screwdriver close to the entryway where Condon had entered the house and a smashed back window. Additionally, his car was discovered close to the house, and footprints were discovered leading from the car to the house.

“Condon had on his person a lock pick set, his car key, a handcuff key, and a bag containing items he had stolen from the residence,” Jolley stated in the case review.

His statement went on to say that Jenneiahn’s “grit, determination, and will to live appear to have saved her that night” and that the case “presents an easy analysis of self-defense and justifiable homicide.”

Jolley claimed that if Condon had lived, he would have accused him of a number of charges, including grand theft, attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary, and severe violence.