STAR, Idaho — The Treasure Valley is no stranger to high-profile murder cases, with the Ada County Courthouse recently hosting trials for both Lori and Chad Daybell and, this summer, the trial for Bryan Kohberger. I'm your neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, with the story of a Star man who has a unique perspective with law enforcement experience in southern California working on the Menendez murder trial in the '90s.
It's been more than two years since four University of Idaho students were found dead in their Moscow home, shocking the college town community and making headlines around the world.
"A quadruple murder happened in the state of Idaho? Especially on a college campus up there in Moscow. People couldn't fathom that it would happen," exclaimed Donald Prenesti.
Prenesti lives in Star. He has decades of law enforcement experience, most recently as a Canyon County court marshall. He's also a retired executive diplomatic security agent and spent almost 30 years as a Beverly Hills police officer working around some major high-profile murder cases.
Prenesti nodded and said, "OJ was a big case. Although it wasn't a Beverly Hills case, it was an LA County case. I personally was involved in the Erik and Lyle Menendez case."
Prenesti, seen above, says he was one of the first officers on the scene. A night forever drilled in his mind.
"An absolutely terrible scene. Never seen anything like it. There are not a whole lot of murders in Beverly Hills, so I was a little skeptical about the call, but we raced there and got to it. The two brothers come running out of the house. They were proned out on the driveway. We established a team to go in and search the house. True to form, they were in the family room shotgunned to death. I have nightmares about it to this day. It was a pretty emotional case," said Prenesti as he recalled the tragic night.
Given his experience with national-headlining cases, I asked for Prenesti's insight into what goes on behind the scenes with the Kohberger trial just months away.
Prenesti leaned in and said, "The amount of security that goes into it is astronomical. The dollar amount, the price it costs for that security is off the charts."
Evidence transportation and safe storage are just the start. Prenesti says from his experience, evidence coming from Latah County must be escorted and signed into a safe, locked area under constant supervision. Latah County tells Idaho News 6 that the process already happened.
"Even if it's a bag or a truck full, there are specific rules and laws that need to be followed in transferring the evidence from Point A to Point B. You can't break the chain of custody," elaborated the retired officer.
But it's not just evidence that needs sheltering. For many major murder cases where the death penalty is on the line, like the Kohberger case, the court sequesters the jury.
Prenesti explained, "The grandaddy, of course, is the OJ case, where a jury was sequestered for 9 months. For potential jury members, it's a long time away from family. The marshall's office may be assigned to this detail 24/7. That is an awful lot of overtime and man hours."
Prenesti says all of this will likely stack up to a hefty bill for the county and adds that as the county moves forward in taking on the Kohberger case, it will serve as a test of its abilities to host more high-profile murder cases in the future.
"I think the knowledge and wisdom they obtain from this one and the Vallow-Daybell case, they only get better as each case goes along. I think folks are in good hands in Ada County. They are good people," finished Prenesti.
Jury selection in the Kohberger case is set to start July 30, with opening arguments aiming for August 11.
