Oregon Man Indicted for Role in the Torture, Mutilation, and Murder of Monkeys

EUGENE, Ore.—On June 14, 2023, a federal indictment was unsealed charging a Prineville, Oregon man with administering an online animal abuse group and illegally possessing firearms as a dismissed military officer.

David Christopher Noble, 48, has been charged with conspiring to engage in animal crushing and creating and distributing animal crush videos, creating animal crush videos, and illegally possessing a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person.

According to court documents, from an unknown date but no later than January 19, 2022, and continuing until February 2, 2023, Noble is alleged to have knowingly conspired with others to view, encourage, and fund animal crush videos as part of an online group using an encrypted chat application. As a group administrator, Noble paid for the creation of and celebrated videos depicting the torture, sexually-sadistic mutilation, and murder of adult and juvenile monkeys. Noble further managed the group’s membership and repeatedly changed the group’s name to evade detection by law enforcement.

In 2006, Noble, a former United States Air Force Officer, was dismissed from the Air Force and ordered to serve six months in military custody following a court martial for fraud and an unprofessional relationship. Despite these offenses, Noble is alleged to have illegally possessed multiple firearms, including a Colt M4 carbine assault rifle.

In January 2023, Noble relocated from Prineville to Henderson, Nevada after a federal search warrant was executed on his Prineville residence. On June 13, 2023, he was arrested in Henderson. On June 14, 2023, Noble made his first appearance in federal court in Las Vegas and was ordered detained pending his transfer to the District of Oregon.

Creating animal crush videos is punishable by up to seven years in federal prison and three years’ supervised released. Illegally possessing a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is being prosecuted by William M. McLaren and Adam E. Delph, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.