Henderson man funded ‘horrific’ ‘animal crush’ videos, authorities allege
The video showed an infant monkey being tortured and subjected to obscene horrors until it died, according to federal court documents.
Now a Henderson man is facing federal charges in connection with so-called animal crush videos. Such videos show animals being subjected to shocking methods of torture until they ultimately die a horrific and painful death.
David Christopher Noble, a former U.S. Air Force officer who moved to Henderson from Oregon in January 2023, according to court documents, is accused by federal authorities of conspiring to create and distribute such videos.
A three-count indictment brought against Noble by a grand jury in Oregon in May 2023 accuses him of working with a group of several other people — referred to as the “Group” in court documents — to create the videos of animals being tortured and killed. He is also accused of illegally owning a Colt M4 rifle.
“Mr. Noble was more than a passive Group member enjoying grotesque videos,” court documents stated.
A June 14 memo from Las Vegas federal prosecutors that argued Noble should be held in custody described the videos as “stomach churning” and “horrific.”
In that memorandum, prosecutors noted that shortly after a search warrant in the case was executed in January 2023, Noble left his family home in Prineville, Oregon, to live with other family members in Henderson. Noble was under no court-ordered conditions at the time, but it “illustrates a willingness and ability to quickly depart upon being faced with potential consequences for his actions,” the memo argued.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach agreed. Noble was ordered held in custody pending a trial.
The indictment alleges the group would share and watch the videos in an encrypted online chat room and also discuss the funding of them, which the group did through online payment apps, the indictment states. The group allegedly used videographers and animals in other countries, including Indonesia, paying them “paltry sums” to make the videos, court documents stated.
Authorities found over 50 animal crush videos on Noble’s phone and they accused him of funding at least 12 videos.
Among other things, the videos showed the “torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically, juvenile and adult monkeys,” the indictment alleged.
In addition to the animal torture allegations, Noble was dismissed from the Air Force under dishonorable conditions in 2003, court documents say, after a court martial for fraud and an unprofessional relationship with another airman.
After being found guilty, Noble served six months and was barred from possessing any firearms.
The three counts in the grand jury indictment, which include “conspiracy to engage in animal crushing and to create and distribute animal crush videos,” allege that from Jan. 19, 2022, to Feb. 2. 2023, Noble conspired to engage in animal crushing and that he was involved in the creation and distribution of such videos; and from April 25, 2022, to June 21, 2022, he and others created animal crush videos; and on Feb. 2, 2023, he was in possession of the rifle.
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com
