A gripping legal drama has unfolded in Idaho, centered around Chad Daybell and the deaths of his wife and his second wife’s two youngest children. The trial has garnered national attention due to its bizarre details, including doomsday beliefs and allegations of murder.
Chad Daybell listens during a court hearing in 2022.
Chad Daybell faces similar murder and conspiracy charges as his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell - who was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison last year, for murdering two of her children and conspiring to murder Daybell's previous wife, Tammy Daybell. Daybell has previously pleaded not guilty. Opening arguments were slated to begin on Wednesday. A jury of 12 people, plus 6 alternates, is set to hear Chad Daybell's trial on murder charges at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.
Here's a quick guide to the case:
Charges and Accusations
Prosecutors accuse Daybell of making outlandish claims about the end times and people becoming zombies to justify a string of heinous crimes, including the killing of two children. Daybell, 55, faces a first-degree murder charge in Tammy Daybell's death in October of 2019. Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell were indicted together in May of 2021; their cases were split at Daybell's request. Some of the accusations are different.
Read also: The Life of Chad Everett Harris
Chad Daybell is also charged with two counts of insurance fraud. Prosecutors say he maxed out his then-wife's life insurance policy the month before she died, with himself as a beneficiary. Less than a month after her death, he married Lori Vallow Daybell in Hawaii.
The indictment's conspiracy murder charges also name Alex Cox, Lori Vallow's late brother. Months after Chad Daybell spoke to Lori Vallow about people becoming zombies, Cox shot and killed his sister's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in Arizona. Charles Vallow had previously told police that his wife threatened to kill him, stating, "I can murder you now, with my powers."
Three months later, prosecutors allege, Alex Cox tried to shoot Tammy Daybell at her home in eastern Idaho. They also say that on the night Daybell died unexpectedly, Alex was spotted in a parking lot about 2.5 miles away. In December of 2019, Alex Cox also died; a medical examiner concluded that he died of natural causes.
The Victims
- Tylee Ryan: Nearly 17 years old when she was last seen alive in September 2019.
- Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow: 7 years old when he was last seen alive in September 2019.
- Tammy Daybell: Chad Daybell's previous wife, found dead in her home at age 49.
The children's bodies were found in June 2020, buried on property in Rexburg owned by Chad Daybell. The children's bodies were found in June 2020, nine months after they were last seen alive. At Vallow Daybell's sentencing, Boyce said she had chosen "the most evil and destructive path possible" in pursuing a new life with Chad Daybell.
While the couple honeymooned in Hawaii, the judge said, the two children were left in shallow graves in Idaho - "burned, mutilated and dismembered, and buried like animals." Prosecutors said Vallow Daybell didn't report her children missing, and that for months after their deaths, she kept collecting benefit payments on their behalf.
Read also: "Married to Evil": Chad Graves
Vallow Daybell was also found guilty of conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, a librarian and educator who was found dead in her home at age 49. Tammy's death was initially attributed to natural causes, but prosecutors said it was later ruled an asphyxiation after her body was exhumed for an autopsy.
Role of Religious Beliefs
During Vallow Daybell's trial, Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake told jurors that Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell portrayed themselves as religious figures called "James and Elaina." Vallow Daybell and Daybell met in the fall of 2018 - a time when both of them were married to other people.
Melanie Gibb, a confidante of Vallow Daybell's, testified last year that she watched her friend become increasingly involved with Chad Daybell, with the pair telling her that they had been married in a previous life. They spoke of being joined for eternity and leading 144,000 people in the end times, as described in the Book of Revelation, Gibb said.
Gibb said the couple also shared beliefs about people being overtaken by dark, evil energy. The criminal indictment cites text messages between the pair "regarding death percentages for Tammy" Daybell, as well as messages about her being in limbo, and Tammy "being possessed by a spirit named Viola." Chad Daybell told Vallow Daybell his theories about zombies in early 2019, Gibb said in a 2020 probable cause affidavit from Rexburg, Idaho, police detective Ron Ball. In their eyes, a person who has been taken over by dark spirits could only be released through physical death, Ball stated.
Prosecutors say the couple used their fantastical beliefs as pretexts to remove people from their lives - and profit from their deaths.
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
'Doomsday Cult' Couple: The Disturbing Story of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell
Trial Details and Testimony
Preliminary hearings resumed Tuesday for Chad Daybell, who is charged in the case of two Idaho children found dead in June after a monthslong search. Daybell's wife, Lori Vallow, who is the mother of the children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, has also been charged. The hearings began Monday and included harrowing testimonies from detectives who found the bodies of Tylee and JJ on Daybell's property on June 9, including that JJ had been found with duct tape around arms, feet and head, which was inside a black plastic bag.
Gibb admitted on the stand that she lied to police in late November about the whereabouts of JJ. "I told him that I had him and that I didn’t have him," she said. Gibb testified Monday about a phone call she had with Vallow in December -- about three months after the children were last seen. She asked where the children are, specifically asking about JJ, according to audio of the call which was played in court. Vallow replies saying she had to move him and was "keeping him protected."
A phone call between Vallow and Daybell was also played in court. The call took place when authorities were searching the house, according to Daybell on the phone. "Are they seizing stuff again?" Vallow can be heard asking, to which Daybell replies: "They have search warrants and stuff." The phone call ends with the two saying "I love you."
Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing.
Detective Ray Dennis Hermosillo testified Monday, offering gruesome details about the discovery of JJ and Tylee's bodies. Hermosillo said that about two hours after the search began, detectives marked off an area at Daybell's home where there was a "recognizable deceased body smell." Hermosillo said that sod was removed from the area and a black plastic bag, as well as a melted green bucket, were found. The bag contained a round object that was protruding through the dirt, which was later determined to be the skull of JJ, according to Hermosillo. JJ had been wearing red pajamas and black socks, and a white and blue blanket had been placed on top of him, Hermosillo said. He was also found with a "large amount" of duct tape covering his head, arms and feet, according to Hermosillo. The charred remains of Tylee were found in the melted green bucket, Hermosillo said. Both remains were found about six to eight inches under the sod.
Dr. Garth Warren, Forensic Pathologist for the Ada County Coroner’s Office, testified that Joshua “JJ” Jackson Vallow died as a result of asphyxia by a plastic bag over the head and duct tape on his mouth. Tylee Ryan’s remains were delivered to the coroner’s office in multiple bags. The bags contained charred bones and portions of flesh.
Rules and Regulations for the Trial
Attorneys for both sides have also told the judge they believe some of their prospective witnesses plan to watch or listen to the trial with the intention of being precluded from testifying in court. In response, Boyce ordered the witnesses not to watch testimony - and he told attorneys to share the names of anyone they suspect might do it anyway. The defense and prosecution were ordered not to speak about the Chad Daybell case outside of court until opening statements are made. That order came after Daybell's defense attorney, John Prior, recently discussed the case in an interview with local TV station KIVI.
Potential Consequences
If found guilty, Daybell could face the death penalty - a punishment that would be up to the jury to decide, prompting attorneys to ask potential jurors their views on the death penalty as well as the case. Vallow Daybell didn't face the prospect of the death penalty - her lawyers successfully argued for removing the death penalty from her case, and the judge agreed, calling it a "discovery sanction" for the prosecution's late sharing of large amounts of evidence shortly before her trial.
On June 1, 2024, an Idaho jury sentenced Chad Daybell to death for the 2019 murders of his first wife and his second wife’s two youngest children.
Recent Developments in Idaho's Death Penalty Procedures
Recent events in Idaho have shed light on the state's death penalty procedures and challenges. The Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) purchased three doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections, for $100,000. This purchase price is double what IDOC spent in October 2023 for the same kind and quantity of drugs. In February 2024, IDOC unsuccessfully attempted to execute Thomas Creech due to difficulties establishing an IV line. Attorneys for Mr. Creech have renewed their claims of cruel and unusual punishment because of the more than eight times the execution team attempted to establish an IV line to administer the execution drug.
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
