Kristine Constantino

“I have her callback number, but I would be leery of calling it back because it sounds like she’s trying to hide the fact that she’s calling from somebody.”  According to dramatic 911 tapes available at the Redding Searchlight, this statement by the 911 operator in the newly released tapes from the March 13th double murder of Kristine Constantino  and Christopher “Sky” Richardson adds weight to the decision by the neighbors, Jim and Norma Gund, to sue the Trinity Co. Sheriff’s office for allegedly asking them to “check on” Kristine and in turn suffering taser attacks and slashed throats.

In March of this last year, Kristine Constantino made a call to 911 in which she whispered, “Help” over and over again.  When asked where she lived, she gave a location near the Kettenpom airstrip. The 911 operator in Eureka (Constantino’s cell phone 911 call had gone to Humboldt dispatch first) relayed the call information to a Trinity Co. dispatcher with the information (newly released by the Trinity Co. Sheriff’s Dept. last week) quoted above that the dispatcher was concerned that Constantino may have been trying to conceal her call.

There had been a bad storm in the remote area and the Gunds stated that they received a call from a Trinity Co. Sheriff asking them to check on Constantino, their neighbor.  According to their statement, the deputy said that a 911 coming from Kristine was “likely weather related” and no mention was made of her pleas for help or that the dispatcher she’d contacted was concerned that she was trying to hide that she was making the call.

When the Gunds arrived at Constantino’s home, according to their statement,

Mr. Gund stayed in the truck and Mrs. Gund went up to the residence to contact Kristine.  After a short period of time, Mr. Gund heard a commotion coming from the residence.  He exited his truck and walked to the residence to check on his wife.  As he got near the front door, he could see an unknown male attacking his wife.  Mr. Gund could see the suspect holding Mrs Gund down and proceed to cut her throat with a knife.  Mr. Gund thereafter ran to the door and entered the house in an attempt to help Mrs. Gund.

As Mr. Gund entered the home, the assailant attacked him.  Mrs. Gund was able to get away at that time and was able to drive their vehicle to the Kettenpom store.  Mr. Gund was tased by the suspect and punched several times.  [He] could see a motionless body on the floor in the living room of the residence with a bag over the head.  Mr. Gund believed that the individual he observed was deceased and he suspected that the assailant was going to attempt to kill him.

The assailant placed his knife by Mr. Gund’s throat and managed to cut Mr. Gund, however Mr. Gund was ultimately able to grab the knife with his hand and disarm the suspect.

Mr. Gund left the scene and had to run to his house through the woods to get to his vehicle.  As he was running to his house, he saw the assailant flee the scene.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Gund made it to the Kettenpom store. A the owner related his impressions on my blog,

My employee and a local patron were in the store when the first victim arrived at the store and had a huge slit on her throat. The cut had penetrated her airway but had somehow not cut through the major arteries. She was able to vocalize to some extent but it was pretty dramatic to hear her voice coming out of her mouth and the slit in her throat.

I asked her who had done this to her. She told me that he looked normal but that he was “BAD.”

She told me he was going to kill her husband and where they were at. She wrote a note when talking became too much for her. I called 911 to get help on the way for her.

Records show that the call was made at 4:48 pm.

Then I left the store armed and with a good friend and closest neighbor to see if we could save her husband. As we made the short drive to their house we saw the second victim pulling out of his driveway. His wounds were more superficial and it was clear his life was not in danger. He told us more what the guy looked like and what he was driving. He went to the store to check on his wife and to receive some treatment himself….Both of the surviving victims were tasered. They had wounds to their face from the hooks lodging into their faces. I saw the wounds myself.

Jim also said he was tasered on his spine…. I know he was hit with a Taser multiple times.

Trinity Co. Sheriff’s were not able to make it to the scene until 5:43.

According to the Redding Searchlight story, the Gunds were planning on filing a lawsuit yesterday. The article is full of details on the suit and on excerpts from Jim Gund’s 911 call. Listening

For a recap of the facts of the story go here.