Mom kills masked intruder in gunfight protecting disabled son while handcuffed to chair

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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.”

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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 9mm 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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