Laurcene ‘Lori’ Isenberg claimed her husband had died in a boating accident but his body was later found to have lethal levels of an antihistamine

Larry Isenberg and his wife Laurcene, known as Lori, had a relationship their friends envied. The couple, who had been happily married for 17 years, rarely experienced any discord, except perhaps when Lori was a bit too generous with her six daughters from a previous relationship.

However, she earned her own income and had the right to spend it as she pleased. Lori held a significant role at North Idaho Housing Coalition, a non-profit organization committed to providing affordable housing for low-income families.

As the executive director, she had access to up to $3 million in grant funding annually. On February 13, 2018, the couple, who shared a mutual love for fishing, decided to take a boat out on Lake Coeur d’Alene in North Idaho.

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Later that morning, Lori called the police in a state of panic, reporting that Larry, 68, had fallen overboard while attempting to fix the boat’s motor two hours earlier. She explained that she had tried to save him but tripped and hit her head in the process.

She also mentioned that she hadn’t reported the incident immediately because she was trying to locate him and had left her phone on land. A massive search operation was subsequently launched, reports the Mirror.

 

Larry Isenburg and Lori Isenburg shared a love for fishing

Lori further added that Larry had been feeling unwell recently, leading her to believe that he might have suffered a medical episode causing him to fall overboard.

She described her husband as looking “grey” and “awful” before their doomed boating adventure. Larrys friends received texts in which he complained of flu-like symptoms and pondered if he had experienced a “mini-stroke.”

Strangely, his messages even included an emojian oddity for him. In the aftermath, search teams struggled to locate Larry due to rough waters and cold conditions. As Isenberg attempted to assist, searchers found her demeanor “ditzy” and “silly”, raising eyebrows about her account of events.

Larry Isenburg and Lori Isenburg shared a love for fishing

Isenberg was already under scrutiny for separate financial misconductshortly before Larry’s disappearance, a forensic accountant uncovered forged checks by Isenberg at North Idaho Housing Coalition. The investigation revealed she embezzled $579,000 over three years, creating sham companies to facilitate the theft, involving even her children.

Consequently, on February 26, mere days after Larry vanished, authorities arrested Isenberg, slapping her with 40 forgery charges and one grand theft charge. Rather than facing trial, she shockingly jumped bail but surrendered three months later.

On March 1, divers eventually discovered Larry’s corpse in the lake. An autopsy was expected to confirm drowning, but the actual findings would be far more startling.

There were no indications that Larry had suffered a stroke or drowned. The cause of death was, in fact, a drug overdose.

Tests showed lethal levels of diphenhydramine  an over-the-counter antihistamine known as Benadryl  in his system. Besides treating allergies, this antihistamine can induce drowsiness and is often used as a sleep aid.

When taken properly, it would result in 100 to 1,000 nanograms per milliliter of blood. However, Larry’s system contained 7,100 nanograms  a fatal dose.

Over the next few months, investigators worked to uncover what had happened to Larry. Meanwhile, Isenberg faced fraud charges.

In early 2019, she pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, admitting she stole the money to assist her struggling children. She received a five-year prison sentence, and four of her daughters were later convicted on conspiracy charges as they had received some of the stolen funds.

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But there was still a significant unresolved issue. Larry’s death was ruled unlawful, and investigators discovered a trail of alarming evidence.

Just one month before Larry’s death, handwritten changes appeared on his will, altering the distribution of his and Isenberg’s children’s inheritance. Larry’s children were set to receive just 20%, while Isenberg’s would get 80%.

Given Isenberg’s proven history of fraud, could she be responsible?

Police also discovered that after Isenberg’s company had confronted her before Larry’s death, she’d started looking up information on the internet for drowning, water depths, currents and boating accidents. The week Larry died, she’d also canceled the local newspaper delivery to the house  a paper that had heard about her theft and was planning to publish an article about it.

Then, in the days after the fateful boat trip, Isenberg had liquidated all of their joint accounts and transferred other community properties to herself, her daughters and her sister. The money was a compelling motive  Isenberg feared that if Larry found out about her stealing, he would have divorced her and kept some, if not all, of their jointly owned property worth around $1.5 million (£1.1 million).

She needed him gone. Last year, Isenberg was charged with first-degree murder by use of poison  a charge that would carry the death penalty.

In February 2021, she admitted second-degree murder with an Alford plea. It allowed her to maintain her innocence while acknowledging she would likely be found guilty if the case went to trial.

Prosecutors described Isenberg as “manipulative and cunning.” They said that she was smart, persuasive and resourceful, enabling her to live a double life and embezzle more than half a million dollars from her employer. But everyone had been on the cusp of finding out about her fraudulent activities.

Larry Isenburg and Lori Isenburg shared a love for fishing

Prosecutors alleged that experiments demonstrated Larry could not have entered the water where his wife, Lori Isenberg, claimed he did, implying she placed him there and fabricated the story. Though they couldn’t pin down how Larry was drugged, Isenberg confessed to tampering with a drink, meant originally for herself to dodge prison or death following her embezzlement discovery.

“From the very beginning, a week or two after the embezzlement was discovered, I knew my life was over and I had two options,” Lori said during court proceedings, expressing her intent to commit suicide while professing no recollection of the incident’s specifics due to the “shock” of that morning. Nevertheless, she maintained she considered drowning with her husband and planned to end her life eventually, but only after settling affairs with her relatives.

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At 67, facing sentencing in May 2022, Lori Isenberg laid out a lengthy, defensive monologue. “I know Larry would still be alive if it were not for me fixing a drink with Benadryl in it so that I would be able to selfishly and cowardly take my life,” she admitted.

In a twist of regret and accusation, the perpetrator confessed: “If I would not have had that bottle in there, he would not have accidentally drunk it. That is my fault. I take total blame and responsibility for that.”

Yet her credibility was shattered as Larry’s children accused her of dishonesty, with two of Isenberg’s own daughters labeling her a liar. Judge Scott Wayman dismissed her narrative, stating: “I have no doubt that the statements you made today are your truth… that’s the truth you have decided on,” but followed with a stark dismissal, “But your truth doesn’t hold up.”

He did affirm one thing solemnly to Isenberg: “He loved you,” and “He trusted you. And you killed him.”

Unmoved outwardly by the gravity of her actions, Isenberg received a life sentence, destined to serve at least 30 years, carrying the sole knowledge of what truly transpired that fateful day on the lake.