An 85-year-old woman was handcuffed by a robber in her home, before managing to outwit him and kill him, but not without being shot several times.
This shocking home invasion story, made public Tuesday by the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, occurred in March in Idaho.
According to a lengthy account from the county attorney general, it all started when a thief, Derek Condon, broke into the home of Christine Jenneiahn, an 85-year-old woman, on March 13 around 2 a.m.
The man initially woke the woman up by threatening her with a gun, before hitting her in the head and bringing her into his living room, where he handcuffed her to a chair. The thief then began to search the house in search of precious objects, threatening his victim with death in the process.
Cunningly, the lady assured the man that she had two safes in her basement, then took advantage of the fact that he was rummaging downstairs to return to her room, pulling behind her the chair where she was handcuffed. There, she retrieved a .357 magnum revolver from under her pillow, then returned to the living room, her weapon concealed.
Eventually, she took advantage of a moment of inattention on the part of the thief to shoot him, hitting him twice. The latter responded, hitting the woman in the abdomen, leg, chest and arm. Derek Condon then went into the kitchen, where he collapsed and died from his injuries.
The woman, for her part, fell to the floor in her living room, still handcuffed to her chair. She remained like this for hours, before her son, a man with a serious disability who lived with her, found her in the morning and brought her a telephone so that she could call the emergency services, who were able to provide her with the necessary care.
Under Idaho self-defense laws, the woman will not face any prosecution, the prosecutor said.
