Prineville man who funded 'grotesque' monkey torture, mutilation videos sentenced to prison
Editor's Note: This story includes details of animal abuse that some readers may find disturbing.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Prineville man who pleaded guilty to his involvement in the torture, mutilation and murder of monkeys in online videos has received his sentence, the Oregon district attorney announced Wednesday.
David Christopher Noble, 48, will serve four years in federal prison and another three years of supervised release after he sent money overseas to fund videos of monkey abuse between January 2022 and February 2023.
“The victims in this case cannot speak for themselves, but the impact of the grotesque violence brought upon them is unmistakable,” said Nathan J. Lichvarcik, chief of the district attorney’s office in Eugene.
Noble managed an online group that allowed people to fundraise, contribute and distribute the abusive content. Officials reported finding around 50 animal abuse videos in his home as well as multiple guns and ammunition.
The extent of Noble’s actions was detailed in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office:
In Noble’s messages to the group, he expressed his enjoyment of videos depicting the torture and murder of long-tailed macaques, which members of the group, including Noble, referred to as “rats.” In one message to the group sent in June 2022, Noble expressed that the only thing he did not like in abuse videos was when the torturers “kill the rats too quickly,” and he further expressed a desire that they “keep it alive make it suffer make sure it knows to fear you and that you end its existence at any time.” In another message, Noble claimed “the noises they make from pain and abuse are some of my favorite sounds.”
Special Agent Robert Hammer said, “Noble’s depraved actions not only inflicted unspeakable agony upon innocent creatures but also tainted the very essence of humanity’s moral fiber.”
In May 2023, a federal grand jury in Eugene indicted Noble “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.”
Noble had previously been dismissed as a U.S. Air Force officer in 2006 to serve six months in military custody for fraud and an unprofessional relationship.
According to the Oregon District Attorney’s Office, Noble moved from Prineville to Henderson, Nev., after officers searched his home. Law enforcement found and arrested him in June 2023, where he made his first court appearance before returning to Oregon a month later.
After his prison sentence, Noble will serve three years of supervised release.