Man accused of killing Idaho inmate in Arizona private prison was serving time for Rexburg murder
Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2025 11:40 pm
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ELOY, ARIZONA — An inmate accused of killing an Idaho prisoner in Arizona last month was incarcerated for murdering a Rexburg man and attempting to kill the man’s wife.
Multiple sources tell EastIdahoNews.com that the suspect in the Arizona prison murder is Pierre Lake, a 22-year-old from Rigby who is serving a sentence of 30 years to life after pleading guilty to the first-degree murder of Ralph Brian. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Karen Brian, Ralph Brian’s wife.
Lake was sentenced in Madison County in January 2024 before being moved to the Saguaro Correctional Center, a private prison in Eloy, Arizona.
On Aug. 20, correctional staff responded to a report of an inmate assault around 8:40 a.m. They found 38-year-old Christopher Pendleton unresponsive, according to CoreCivic, the owner of the prison.
“(Correctional staff) immediately began lifesaving measures. Medical staff arrived and took over lifesaving measures and called for emergency medical services,” CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin said in a statement to EastIdahoNews.com. “EMS arrived and continued lifesaving measures; however, those attempts were unsuccessful, and EMS pronounced the inmate deceased at 9:16 a.m.”
RELATED | Idaho man killed in private Arizona prison identified by local authorities
Court records show Pendleton was less than two years into a minimum 18-year prison sentence after he was convicted of several felonies related to the sexual abuse of a minor.
The Idaho Statesman reports that in 2020, IDOC entered into a contract with the Saguaro Correctional Center because of overcrowding. CoreCivic is paid $28.7 million a year to house up to 1,200 of Idaho’s prisoners, according to IDOC’s contract. An IDOC report shows 427 men were incarcerated at Saguaro in June 2023.
Lake was arrested in September 2021 after breaking into the Brian’s Rexburg home and shooting Ralph Brian in the head. He then stabbed Karen Brian multiple times. She survived the attack, but Ralph Brian died a few days later.
During his sentencing hearing, Lake apologized to the family and said he hoped to get help in prison.
“I hope I can get to the point where I come close to understanding. There is no excuse for what I did to your family,” Lake said. “I want to say that I’m truly sorry for what I have done and I do hope that while I’m locked up, I can get the rehabilitation that I need to change my mindset.”
In June, a grand jury indicted two other men in connection to the Rexburg case. Anthony Dean (T.J.) Wilson, 33, and Ryler Jensen, 28, are each charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Wilson, Jensen and Lake appeared to plan the murder of someone else, but Lake entered the wrong mobile home and ended up killing Brian, according to an indictment.
The indictment says Wilson instructed Lake to kill the other person, whose name is redacted, between Sept. 1 to Sept. 20, 2021. Wilson put a “hit” out on the person during that time period, and Jensen and Lake both conducted surveillance of a home in Madison County, court documents say.
Lake drove to “or near” the home on Sept. 21 and “entered into a mobile home, believing it to belong to (redacted),” according to the indictment.
It is unclear if Lake has been charged in connection to Pendleton’s death. An IDOC spokesperson tells EastIdahoNews.com the incident is under investigation by the Eloy Police Department and “we do not have any additional information we can release at this time.”
A request for information from EastIdahoNews.com to the Eloy Police Department on Friday was forwarded to the Criminal Investigations Unit. Additional information could be released Tuesday.
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/09/m ... urces-say/