Heartbreaking: 64 canines rescued from triple-murder site
By Debbie Bryce
April 8, 2013

"HOLBROOK — As the 64 pit bulls at the scene of the triple murder here were loaded onto a horse trailer Monday for transport to what will hopefully be a better future, the story of the worst mass murder in Oneida County history took another sinister turn.

Oneida County Sheriff Jeff Semrad confirmed Monday that not only was a dead pit bull found by investigators in the freezer of the ranch home where the murders occurred, but meat from that carcass was being fed to the pit bulls on the property.

It was all part of training the canines for the dog fighting that authorities believe occurred at the remote ranch west of Holbrook in western Oneida County.

The bodies of Brent L. Christensen, 62, his son Trent Jon Christensen, 32, and the son’s girlfriend Yavette Chivon Carter, 27, were found Friday afternoon inside the house at their ranch. All three were shot to death sometime between Thursday afternoon and 1 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Carter’s two young daughters — a 2-year-old and 2-month-old — were found unharmed in the house when Oneida County deputies arrived after a visitor to the ranch discovered the bodies and dialed 911.

Authorities said Monday that they’ve received more phone calls from people concerned about the well-being of the pit bulls than they have from people concerned about the two children.

The ranch was also home to a marijuana growing operation. Nearly $100,000 worth of marijuana plants were found by investigators in the basement of the house where the murders occurred.

Semrad said autopsies on the three homicide victims were done Saturday but he will not release any of the findings until later this week.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office has no suspects as the investigation enters its fourth day and the case is starting to receive national media attention.

Semrad believes that dog fighting last occurred at the ranch on March 30, and he’s asking anyone who attended an Easter party there on March 31 to contact his office at (20 cool 766-2251.

The sheriff’s also asking that the driver of a red semi-tractor seen at the ranch last week come forward for questioning.

On Monday about 12 workers from the Pocatello and American Falls animal shelters and Bannock County Humane Society spent more than four hours removing the pit bulls from the ranch. Most of the canines had scars from dog fighting and some displayed severe injuries such as broken bones and lacerated faces.

One adult male pit bull appeared to have a broken leg as well as wounds and scarring on his face. The large brown dog appeared fearful, but allowed the workers to move him. The dogs were not aggressive toward the people moving them, but became agitated when close to the other dogs.

Among the 64 pit bulls at the ranch were five puppies.

Mary Remer, director of the Pocatello Animal Shelter, said the pit bulls were all transported to an animal shelter in Boise where they will be examined by a veterinarian and behavior tested to see if adoption is a possibility.

Most of the pit bulls were tied to stakes in the ranch’s dusty back yard, an area enclosed by an eight-foot high wall constructed of metal roofing material. Plastic barrels were strewn around the back yard to provide some shelter for the dogs.

“It’s frustrating because these people put these dogs in this condition,” Remer said. “It’s hard to see the conditions they were kept in and what they were expected to do.”

The dogs were put into portable kennels Monday and then loaded onto a horse trailer for transport. One of the dogs attempted to chew his way out of the kennel where he had been placed. By the time the truck pulling the horse trailer left for Boise, the canine’s mouth was bleeding.

In 2007 authorities shut down a dog fighting operation in Oneida County and that case led Idaho legislators to pass tougher laws and in 2008, dog fighting became a felony in Idaho.

“Obviously the tougher laws aren’t working,” Remer said.

Tom Jackson, a volunteer with the Bannock County Humane Society, helped remove the animals Monday from the ranch.

“They were very thin,” Jackson said. “But some of them were wagging their tails.”

Records uncovered at the ranch indicate that several of the pit bulls kept there are owned by people in Southern Idaho and Northern Utah, but the owners did not turn up to claim their dogs when contacted by the authorities.

Semrad said an Oneida County deputy who was related to the Christensens visited the ranch last year in response to neighbors’ concerns and saw no evidence of dog fighting. Trent Christensen walked the deputy through the compound and claimed it was strictly a dog breeding operation.

Semrad said the fact the deputy was related to the Christensens should not be seen as a conflict of interest.

The sheriff has maintained that the public is not in any danger because of the triple murder. He believes the killings were not a random act of violence but that the victims had some sort of relationship with the shooter."
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