Sheriff and prosecutor: No conflict from Lori friendship

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger says his department’s investigation of Lori Isenberg is not clouded by his past relationship with the former housing coalition director who is being investigated for murder.

Wolfinger confirmed Monday that he and Isenberg dated in the late 1990s, she worked on his campaign for a City Council seat in 2001 and he maintained a friendship with Isenberg after she married her now-deceased husband, Larry.

“We went out a few times in the late 1990s,” Wolfinger said. “She may have helped some with my campaign when I ran for City Council in 2001. She did not help with any of my sheriff’s campaigns.”

Wolfinger said he and Isenberg worked together while he was on the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, and news stories show he consulted with her during his 1998 run for the Idaho Legislature.

“We did a lot of work in the chamber together in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Wolfinger said. “I guess that’s what happens in a small town. Everybody knows everybody.”

Since her last appearance in court in March, Isenberg’s court hearings were continued or vacated until May 25, when a First District Court judge in Coeur d’Alene ordered a $500,000 bench warrant after she failed to appear for her arraignment. Isenberg had posted a $75,000 bond and was released from jail in February after being charged with felony grand theft.

Her whereabouts are not known.

The 64-year-old former director of the nonprofit North Idaho Housing Coalition is charged with stealing more than $500,000 from the nonprofit.

Shortly after being fired from the coalition, she told the Sheriff’s Office that her husband fell from the couple’s boat during an early morning outing on Lake Coeur d’Alene in mid-February.

His body was later recovered. The cause of death was an overdose of Benadryl, according to a coroner’s report. Benadryl is a brand name for diphenhydramine, an antihistamine used to treat allergies. Because it causes drowsiness, it is also used as a sleep aid.

Last week, Kootenai County investigators teamed up with Washington law enforcement on a search warrant at the Spokane home of two of Isenberg’s daughters, alleging conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree theft. Lori has six children from a previous marriage; Larry has two.

Wolfinger told The Press his relationship with Isenberg will not influence his department’s investigation.

“The people in the Sheriff’s Office are professionals doing their job,” Wolfinger said. “I know that they will do the job correctly and to the best of their ability.”

Barry McHugh, the county’s prosecuting attorney, told The Press it’s his understanding the relationship between Wolfinger and Lori took place more than 20 years ago.

“I do not have any concerns with the sheriff exercising his authority appropriately, and the detectives in his office conducting a thorough and professional investigation,” McHugh said.