A Kennewick woman tried to frame her ex-husband with rape and abuse allegations after abandoning her home and letting several cats and dogs to starve to death.
Christine Marie Gillum, 47, was found guilty of malicious prosecution and felony animal cruelty on Jan. 23. A judge sentenced her Thursday to a total of 105 days in jail.
Investigators said Gillum moved into a women’s shelter after leaving her home at the corner of West Willamette Avenue and Kellogg Street in the fall of 2016. There were four dogs and three cats living at the home, according to court documents.
On Nov. 11, 2016, she called police to report that she fled her home and was living at a shelter with her children after her ex-husband repeatedly assaulted her. Police said she had bruising on her body consistent with the allegations. While police were interviewing her, they said she “broke down” and said her ex-husband raped her during one of the assaults. She showed police text messages that referenced the rapes and assaults and claimed the messages were from her ex-husband. Days later, her ex-husband was arrested on charges of second-degree rape, second-degree assault and felony harassment. After his arraignment, he bailed out of jail and a no-contact order was issued against him. Shortly after his release, Gillum called police and said her ex-husband violated the no-contact order by leaving threatening messages and voicemails from a private number. Police said the messages appeared to be legitimate and her ex-husband was arrested once again on November 30, 2016.
As police began investigating the private number, they learned that the messages came from a burner phone that Gillum bought herself at Walmart. Security footage shows her buying the phone with cash, then purchasing other items with a debit card. Police also did a forensic examination of Gillum’s personal phone and found that she had deleted a texting application capable of sending and receiving messages before turning her phone over to police.
On December 2, 2016, her ex-husband was released from jail and police began shifting their attention toward the accuser.
Meanwhile, Gillum’s home at Willamette and Kellogg remained abandoned from the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2017.
Neighbors noticed a dog in the back yard that was clearly starving and cold, so they started feeding it. They noticed other animals peeking out the windows of the house. After several months, a neighbor contacted Gillum, who said there were no animals inside. The neighbors kept feeding the dog in the backyard and eventually contacted law enforcement.
Once inside, deputies and Animal Control were “overwhelmed by the smell of trash, decomposing animals, fecal matter, rotting food and living and deceased mice,” court documents say. The floor was not visible under the piles of trash, clothes, mattresses, box springs, toys and fecal matter.
As authorities began to investigate, they found three dogs and three cats – all dead – in different parts of the house. At least one dog was recently deceased while another was so badly decomposed, only its head and spine remained intact – the rest of the body likely eaten by mice.
“Animal control said this was the worst residence they have ever had to do,” court documents say.
When police interviewed Gillum about the animals, she said her 21-year-old daughter was supposed to be feeding the animals. Police spoke to her daughter, who said that wasn’t true.
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