TETON COUNTY, Idaho — “He's authorized me to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf,” says Jim Archibald, Jeremey Best’s attorney.
Jeremy Best pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three first-degree murder charges for the deaths of his pregnant wife Kali, his ten-month-old son Zeke, and his unborn child.
Judge Dane Watkins informed Best that he could face life in prison for each of the murder charges and is eligible for the death penalty.
It's the case that prompted an Amber Alert in late November after police responded to a 911 call and found Best's wife dead and his infant son missing.
Less than 24 hours before that discovery Best was seen wandering naked in a local general store where Bonneville County deputies responded and took him to the hospital where he was evaluated and ultimately released.
Many question if that was the right call.
“What if they let him go and he went out and did this? Can somebody be held responsible? Certainly, that's always on the table when you're dealing with a situation like this,” says Attorney Jeffrey McKinnie.
He continues, “What do I mean by that? I mean criminally responsible or civilly responsible I don't know. I don't think criminally because nobody deliberately let this person out, but civilly there might be some liability there.”
Boise attorney Jeffrey McKinnie says there are a few options in Idaho for situations where a person's mental health is questioned.
McKinnie explains, “You can put a 24-hour hold on the body and they have to be an imminent danger to themselves or someone else. The other mechanism is a 72-hour hold meaning that this person is gravely ill and gravely dangered but that has to be done through a designated examiner.”
Two days after that Amber Alert was issued Best was found naked in a sleeping bag on the side of a rural eastern Idaho road.
Down the embankment, first responders discovered Best's car and the body of baby Zeke.
