The prosecution of Chad Daybell has been a complex and highly publicized case, involving multiple deaths, bizarre religious beliefs, and a tangled web of relationships. Investigators unraveled a twisted plot that stretched from Arizona to Idaho and Hawaii, built on claims that victims were possessed by evil spirits and that Lori Vallow Daybell sought financial gain and a new marriage. This article delves into the key figures connected to the case, shedding light on their roles and the events that led to Daybell's conviction.
The Accused and the Victims
Lori Vallow Daybell, the Defendant
Lori Vallow Daybell, 51, a beautician and mother of three, has been married five times. She is already serving three life sentences in Idaho for murdering her two youngest children and conspiring to kill her lover’s wife. Now, she’s on trial in Arizona - on charges that she conspired to kill her estranged husband in 2019.
Her first marriage, to a high school sweetheart at 19, was short-lived. She remarried in her early 20s and had a son. With her third husband, Joseph Ryan, she had a daughter, Tylee Ryan. After divorcing Ryan, he later died of a suspected heart attack. In the summer of 2019, her fourth husband, Charles, was shot to death by her brother. Vallow Daybell then moved with her daughter, Tylee Ryan, and younger son, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, to southeastern Idaho, near Chad Daybell. In September, the children disappeared, and prosecutors said Chad and his wife, Tammy Daybell, applied to increase Tammy’s life insurance benefit. Tammy died the next month, and Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell married two weeks later. Authorities grew suspicious about Tammy’s death and had her body exhumed, determining she died of asphyxiation. The children’s bodies were found in 2020, buried in Chad Daybell’s yard.
During her sentencing, Vallow Daybell claimed the spirits of the three victims visited her regularly and were all happy in the “spirit world.”
Charles Vallow, Husband and Victim
Charles Vallow, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, married Vallow Daybell in 2006, after she joined the faith. They later adopted “JJ” Vallow. By 2019, the marriage had soured. Charles filed for divorce, claiming Vallow Daybell believed herself to be a deity tasked with ushering in the biblical apocalypse.
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The two were estranged but still married when Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles outside his Phoenix home. Cox told police the shooting was in self-defense and was never charged. He died months later of a blood clot in his lungs.
Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell Case Documentary | Crime Nation | Full Episode | The CW
Chad Daybell, Husband Convicted in Triple-Murder Trial
Chad Daybell, 56, married Tammy Daybell in 1990. They had five children and lived in rural southeastern Idaho. He was also a member of the Mormon church and self-published fiction loosely based on its teachings. He married Tammy Daybell in 1990.
Prosecutors have said that Chad Daybell met Vallow Daybell at a conference in Utah in 2018. Chad insisted they had been married in several previous lives and that she was a “sexual goddess” who would help him save the world. The couple led a group of friends in trying to cast out evil spirits by praying and doing what they called “energy work,” prosecutors said.
They believed a person could become a zombie in some cases, and the only way to banish a zombie was to kill the person, friends said. One friend told police she heard Vallow Daybell call the children zombies before they disappeared.
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Idaho jurors convicted Chad in 2024 in the triple-murder plot. They deliberated just over a day before sentencing him to death.
Tammy Daybell
In October 2019, Daybell reportedly told authorities that his wife had been battling a respiratory infection and died in her sleep. Investigators later exhumed her body and conducted an autopsy, which ruled her death was a homicide.
Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan
Lori Vallow is the biological mother of Tylee Ryan, 16, and the adoptive mother of Joshua Vallow, 7, who were reported missing in November 2019. Their remains were found in June 2020 on a property in Fremont County, Idaho, that was owned by Chad Daybell. Court documents later showed that Joshua’s remains had been buried in a pet cemetery and that Tylee had been dismembered and burned in a fire pit.
Key Figures in the Investigation
Alex Cox, Brother
Friends of Cox and Vallow Daybell testified in 2023 that the siblings were very close and that Cox believed he was put on Earth to serve as her protector. Cox told police he shot Charles Vallow, but Cox died before the re-investigation into the death and the grand jury.
During Vallow Daybell’s trial in Idaho, prosecutors presented witnesses and evidence that appeared to tie Cox to the deaths, including GPS data on his phone that was traced to where the children’s bodies were found.
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Cox’s wife, Zulema Pastenes, testified that her husband also believed people could be possessed and become zombies. When Cox learned Tammy Daybell’s body was being exhumed, he said he was the “fall guy” but wouldn’t elaborate.
Kay Woodcock, Witness
Kay Woodcock is Vallow’s sister and JJ’s grandmother. She’s on the prosecution’s witness list.
In 2019, she persuaded police in Idaho to check on JJ after her regular phone calls and visits with the boy stopped. A reward also was offered.
Charles Vallow adopted JJ as a baby because the boy’s biological parents were unable to care for him. In the Idaho proceedings, Woodcock told jurors that JJ was born with some disabilities and was diagnosed with autism. After Charles died, Woodcock feared Vallow Daybell no longer wanted the boy. She also worried that JJ may had witnessed his father’s death.
Brandon Boudreaux and Melani Boudreaux Pawlowski
Melani Boudreaux Pawlowski is Lori Vallow’s niece, and in 2019 she was divorced from Brandon Boudreaux. According to court filings by Boudreaux, Pawlowski expressed concerns for Joshua and Tylee's safety. She told him that Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell believed “their children had been possessed and had become zombies," the documents said.
Melanie Gibb
Melanie Gibb was a friend of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell who became a key witness in the case against them. Gibb told detectives Vallow and Daybell believed it was their mission to rid the world of zombies. In an interview with NBC’s “Dateline” in 2020, Gibb described Vallow as a puppet on Daybell’s hand.
The Prosecution Team
The prosecution team in the Chad Daybell case has been instrumental in bringing the case to trial and securing a conviction. Key members include:
- Lindsey Blake (Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney)
- Rocky Wixom (Fremont County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney)
- Rob Wood (Madison County Prosecuting Attorney)
- Ingrid Batey (Special Attorney General Prosecutor)
Ingrid Batey, the Lead Deputy in the Special Prosecutions Unit, played a critical role as part of the prosecution team at trial. Julie Behm, a Paralegal in the Special Prosecutions Unit, also contributed significantly behind the scenes. Investigators Nick Edwards and Asmir Kararic assisted law enforcement and testified at the trial.
Idaho Attorney General's Office
A judge granted a request from prosecutors in the Chad Daybell case to bring in help from the Idaho Attorney General's Office. Fremont County prosecuting attorney Lindsey Blake filed a petition to have deputy attorney general Ingrid Batey appointed as special assistant attorney general in the murder case, which is set to begin in two and a half weeks. The attorney general's office has agreed to assist the Fremont County prosecuting attorney's office in this matter.
The attorney general will pay the salaries of its personnel who assist in the prosecution, according to the petition. District Judge Steven Boyce granted Blake's request Monday afternoon and appointed Batey to the case. This is the second high-profile murder case Batey will be participating in. Last year, she and deputy attorney general Jeff Nye were appointed to assist in the prosecution of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022.
Her appointment comes two weeks after special prosecutor Rachel Smith stepped down following nearly three years of service on the case.
Legal Proceedings and Outcomes
Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty of similar charges last year and is serving three life sentences without the possibility of parole. She is currently in an Arizona jail on charges of conspiracy to commit the murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, and Brandon Boudreaux, her former nephew-in-law. She has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection for Chad Daybell's trial is set to begin April 1 in Ada County. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
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. Mr. Daybell pleaded not guilty to multiple first-degree murder, fraud, and conspiracy charges, but after being found guilty, he chose to waive his right to present mitigating evidence during his sentencing hearing.
Jurors considered the character and record of individual defendants before imposing a death sentence. The Court noted that “the fundamental respect for humanity” underlying the Eighth Amendment required such considerations. These considerations are usually considered in the sentencing phase, so that the jury can make an individualized sentencing determination.
During the final days of Mr. Daybell’s trial, media reported that the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) had purchased three doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections, for $100,000.
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