POCATELLO — A massive fundraising event benefiting the survivors and affected families of the fatal Tank Farm Road shooting is set for Sunday at Club 91 in Pocatello.
The fundraising event, scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. at 1259 Yellowstone Ave., will support Matt Christian and Marissa Madden. Christian survived the April 3 shooting that killed his wife, Amanda, 36, and her brother Brandon Madden, 40. Marissa is Brandon’s wife.
Activities will include a car and bike wash, silent auction, raffle and 50/50 raffle, along with snow cones, cotton candy and water.
Amanda and Matt Christian
Car washes are $20 each. Raffle tickets are $5 each or six for $20. Fifty-fifty tickets are $2 each or 20 for $15. Winners do not need to be present to claim prizes.
Proceeds will go toward funeral expenses, hospital bills and basic living expenses for both families. Raffle prizes already secured total more than $7,000, according to organizer Kenneth Cohen, a longtime family friend who has led the fundraising effort alongside Amy Lenhart, a colleague of Matt’s at Teel Auto Body and Customs.
“I’ve gotten nothing but really good feedback from it,” Cohen said.
The Pocatello cars and coffee community has pledged to stop by with their vehicles after their regular Sunday morning gathering. Club 91 is donating the space and its snow cone machine, and Family Fun Rental donated a cotton candy machine.
A growing list of local businesses have donated items for the raffle and silent auction, including Vape Ave., Trash Panda Tattoo, Lost Boys Tattoo, Merlins TV, Pocatello Powersports, MD Cycle, Black Swan Inn, Hokkaido, Care Connection Idaho, Adam and Eve, Courtesy Ford, EZ Rental and others. Cohen said the list continues to grow.
Brandon Lee Madden, back center, pictured with his wife and their five children.
Special handmade baskets assembled by the Christian and Madden children are Among the multitude of raffle items available at the fundraiser.
Matt is recovering and expected to begin physical therapy soon. He has been cleared to bear weight on his injured leg but is still adjusting to the walking boot as he rebuilds muscle mass lost during his hospitalization. Doctors estimate his recovery at three to six months, and he has not been cleared to return to work.
“He’s getting stronger every single day,” Cohen said.
Tickets are available now at Courtesy Ford, Teel Collision or through Kristy Reitz on Facebook, and will also be sold at the door Sunday. Anyone interested in donating raffle items can contact Cohen at 208-589-2971.
Richard Todd Forrest, 63, of Pocatello, allegedly shot Amanda, Brandon and Matt on April 3 before fleeing on foot. Law enforcement shot and killed Forrest later that afternoon after he opened fire on officers near the Portneuf River. Investigations into both the homicides and the officer-involved shooting remain ongoing.
The April 3 shooting unfolded amid a bitter divorce dispute between Brandon and Amanda’s parents, Lee and Cindy Madden.
In the days before the shooting, both siblings had been pulled into the conflict — Amanda serving as her father’s power of attorney and Brandon living on a property central to the proceedings — as tensions over property and finances reached a boiling point.
The East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force investigation report into the officer-involved shooting portion of the incident, conducted by the Idaho Falls Police Department, was provided to the Power County Prosecutor’s Office on May 20, Idaho Falls Police Lt. Dustin Howell told the Idaho State Journal this week.
The Journal filed a public records request seeking a copy of the officer-involved shooting investigation report but it was denied because the record is exempt from disclosure under Idaho’s public record law, according to Power County Prosecutor Brock Bischoff.
The report contains details associated with the ongoing homicide investigations related to the shooting deaths of Brandon and Amanda, Bischoff said. Those investigations are being handled by Idaho State Police with assistance from the Power and Bannock county sheriff’s offices.
A GoFundMe for Matt can be found at gofund.me/ecd8954f3. A separate campaign for the Madden family can be found at gofund.me/c32228663.
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