Isenberg charge sets stage for resolution

Now we’re getting down to business.

Not to diminish the devastating effects of Lori Isenberg stealing more than half a million dollars from a local nonprofit that helped poor people with their housing needs, but the community’s attention all along has been riveted to the suspicious death of her husband, Larry, two years ago this month.

Isenberg eventually pleaded guilty to embezzling money, but even as she smiled for her booking photo and donned a jailhouse jumpsuit, the sense that justice had not been done was pervasive.

On the very morning The Press broke the story that Lori Isenberg was no longer employed by the North Idaho Housing Coalition and that the organization had ordered an internal audit looking for accounting irregularities, Larry Isenberg went missing. That her story of what happened to Larry on that frigid morning did not match the actual cause of his death further fanned the flames of suspicion. She said Larry died after falling into 38 degree Lake Coeur d’Alene while trying to fix the motor on their boat. An autopsy, however, showed Larry Isenberg died from a lethal overdose of Benadryl, which is used to treat allergies and, sometimes, as a sleep aid.

With her arrest on a murder charge, now there’s an expectation that important questions might finally be answered.

Who killed Larry Isenberg? Why? Did the killer have any help?

Even as deputies searched for Larry Isenberg the day after his wife said he fell into the lake, Lori posted the following on social media:

“As you may have heard, we lost our amazing husband, father, brother, grandpa and friend yesterday from an accident while boating.

“Though we are going to miss him dearly, and our lives will never be the same, we are comforted to know he went quickly and had recently commented that he had ‘just finished his bucket list’ watching the Falcon Heavy (rocket) launch. We are certain his spirit is up driving the Tesla Roadster launched with the Falcon Heavy.”

Larry Isenberg’s body was eventually recovered on March 1, although the identity of the body wasn’t confirmed until three weeks later.

The tortuous path leading to Monday’s arrest sets a dramatic stage, where Lori Isenberg is presumed innocent and the burden of proof falls on the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and county prosecutors to show their suspect is guilty. Here’s hoping justice and closure are not far away.