'Truly incredible': 85-year-old kills late-night invader at Idaho home

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- An 85-year-old Idaho woman shot and killed a home invader in what a prosecutor is calling "one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have ever heard of."

According to court documents, on March 13 around 2:00 a.m., 85-year-old Christine Jenneiahn woke to find a masked intruder pointing a gun and flashlight at her in her Bingham County, Idaho home.

The invader, later identified as Derek Condon, handcuffed Jenneiahn and took her into the living room, reportedly hitting her in the head at some point investigators said, due to blood on her pillow and the floor of her room.

Jenneiahm was handcuffed to a wooden chair and Condon asked her at gunpoint where the valuables in her home were, Jenneiahn said in her recollection of the events.

Condon went to investigate two safes which Jenneiahn said were downstairs in her home, and at some point discovered that Jenneiahn's disabled son, David, was also in the home, angering Condon, the court documents said.

While Condon was downstairs, Jenneiahn said she dragged the chair she was handcuffed to into her bedroom and took her 357 magnum revolver from underneath her pillow and took it to the living room, hiding it in the cushions of the couch she was seated next to.

Jenneiahn's memory of the events is somewhat unclear, the court documents said, but she said that at some point Condon returned to the living room and once again threatened to kill her and Jenneiahn decided she had to act now.

Pulling the concealed revolver from the couch, Jenneiahn fired off two shots both hitting their intended target, the court documents said.

In response, Condon pulled out his 9mm pistol and emptied the clip into Jenneiahn, which the report said hit her in the abdomen, leg, arm and chest.

After the brief and ultimately deadly exchange, Condon moved to the kitchen where he eventually died on the floor, the court documents said.

Jenneiahn remained in the chair, handcuffed for nearly 10 hours the documents said until her son David came upstairs later in the morning and gave her a phone to call 911.

Investigators said they found a broken window at the back of the home and a screwdriver next to the door where Condon had entered. They also found Condon's car with a set of footprints leading in the direction of Jenneiahn's house. On Condon, investigators said they found a lock pick set, his car key, a handcuff key and a bag full of items from Jenneiahn's house.

Ultimately, the incident was ruled a justifiable homicide as the deadly shooting was done in self-defense, authorities said, with the prosecutor Ryan W. Jolley saying "Any reasonable person would believe it necessary to defend themselves or their disabled child under such circumstances. That Christine survived the encounter is truly incredible. Her grit, determination and will to live appear to be what saved her that night."