One down, one to go for Isenberg?

Lori Isenberg has dragged North Idaho through a nightmare.

The next could be far more grave.

At this point, Lori Isenberg is a person of interest but has not been charged with the suspicious death of her husband, Larry. There’s some chance Larry really did simply overdose in the dead of winter on an over-the-counter medicine people use for allergies. He might have slipped into death’s doze and fallen into Lake Coeur d’Alene as Lori watched helplessly from their boat on an early February morning, only to have his body recovered days later.

While the entire community awaits results of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office investigation, which is now some 14 months long, this much we do know: Lori Isenberg is a wretched thief who was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

Convicted of stealing well over a half million dollars, Isenberg ruthlessly victimized not just poor, hardworking people trying to buy a home with help from the nonprofit North Idaho Housing Coalition, but she victimized some of the people who trusted her the most. Kerri Thoreson and Amy Evans, volunteer leaders of the coalition’s board of directors, are atop that sad list.

We understand that guidelines exist, roughly matching penalties with severity of crimes committed. But we confess to being disappointed at Isenberg’s sentence, which seems too little for all the harm she has caused.

North Idaho Housing Coalition has suffered a devastating blow to its credibility and, according to a statement Thoreson made in court Tuesday, might not survive. In an area where embezzlement is no stranger — Kootenai County, the city of Coeur d’Alene, the city of Athol and at least a few nonprofits have all been victimized by thieves — the sordid trail blazed by Lori Isenberg is not likely to greatly deter like-minded scum.

That’s why so many hopes now shift to the sheriff’s office investigation into Larry Isenberg’s death. Larry was well-known throughout the community, respected by most and beloved by some. Until his highly suspicious demise is resolved, the belief will linger that perhaps a thief has gotten away with murder.