An 85-year-old Idaho woman is being hailed as a “hero” for gunning down a home-invasion suspect with a handgun she kept under her pillow after he allegedly handcuffed her to a chair, pistol whipped her and threatened numerous time to kill her, authorities said.
Christine Jenneiahn survived the harrowing incident at her home near Blackfoot, Idaho, after being shot multiple times by alleged assailant 39-year-old Derek Condon, who died in her kitchen when the octogenarian turned the tables on him and shot him twice with her .357 Magnum, authorities said.
She told investigators she decided to use deadly force to protect her and her disabled son, saying it was “now or never” as she feared the suspect was otherwise going to kill her.
“This case presents an easy analysis of self-defense and justifiable homicide,” Bingham County, Idaho, Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jolley said in a statement released this week, clearing Jenneiahn of any wrongdoing.
It also presents one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have heard of.”
Jenneiahn, who lives in a rural area with a disabled son, told police she was awakened around 2 a.m. on March 13 by a stranger wearing a military jacket and a black ski mask and standing over her bed pointing a gun and a flashlight at her, according to investigators.
