DRIGGS, Idaho — Jeremy Best, charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the death of his pregnant wife, unborn child and infant son, will stand trial next fall.
The jury trial will begin on September 15, 2025. District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. made the call during a status conference on Thursday via Zoom. Best appeared virtually from the Bonneville County Jail, where he has been held since he was arrested in December 2023. Best was declared fit to stand trial on Dec. 22, after proceedings had been delayed over his mental status. He entered a plea of not guilty on Jan. 3.
Teton County Prosecutor Bailey Smith filed a notice on Feb. 28 stating that she intends to seek the death penalty in the case.
“The state has received no such evidence, and found no mitigating circumstances that are sufficiently compelling to render imposition of the death penalty unjust in this case,” the notice says, according to East Idaho News.
The Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that Best’s defense, attorneys James Archibald and John Leslie Stosich, requested the first-degree charges be reconsidered, arguing that the murders were not “premeditated” or committed with “malice.”
In addition to the three murder charges, Best faces three enhancements for the use of deadly weapons in each crime. He will be tried for all three murders in Teton County, Idaho, despite the discovery of one victim in Bonneville County.
Kali Randall Best was found deceased at her home in Victor after Teton County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a hang-up 911 call on Nov. 30, 2023. Officers launched a search for Best and his 10-month-old son, Zeke. Best was found and arrested on Saturday, Dec. 2.
The next event in this case will be a pre-trial conference on Aug. 12, 2025.
