The jury began deliberations within the triple murder trial against Chad Daybell, a case that Idaho prosecutors said was about power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.
Daybell has pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy charges in reference to the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and the kids of his second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell – 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow.
The authorities said they consider Tylee and JJ were killed in September 2019 – the month during which they were last seen – and that Tammy Daybell found dead in her home in Idaho on October 19, 2019, a a number of weeks before Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow Daybell. It was initially believed that Tammy Daybell died in her sleep.
Police found the stays of Tylee and JJ on Chad Daybell's property in Fremont County in June 2020the authorities said.
The jury was read its instructions before closing arguments on Wednesday morning.
In his closing argument, Chad Daybell's attorney, John Prior, said there was not enough direct evidence that Daybell and others were chargeable for the deaths.
If convicted, Daybell could face the death penalty.
Vallow Daybell was convicted by a jury in May 2023 for the murder of her children and was sentenced to life in prison without the opportunity of parole. She was also convicted of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell.
Vallow Daybell has appealed against their convictions before the state Supreme Court, together with her legal team raising questions on whether she was mentally competent to face trial.
The jury concluded its first day of deliberations Wednesday evening and can proceed deliberations at 8 a.m. Thursday.
2 children and a lady died inside a number of weeks
In his opening statements, prosecutor Rob Wood described Chad Daybell as a “seemingly ordinary man” who wrote books concerning the apocalypse, a one that “thirsty for meaning” and worked as a sexton at a cemetery.
“Two dead children buried in the backyard of defendant Chad Daybell,” Wood said in his first words to the jury.
“The following month, his wife is found dead in the marital bed. Seventeen days after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell, this defendant is photographed laughing and dancing on a beach in Hawaii at his wedding to Lori Vallow, a woman who was his mistress and the mother of the children buried in the graves on his property. Three bodies.”
When Daybell “had the chance at what he believed was his rightful destiny,” Wood said, “he made sure no man or law stood in his way.”
“His desire for sex, money and power led him to pursue these ambitions,” the prosecutor added. “And that pursuit resulted in the death of his wife and Lori's two innocent children.”
Tylee Ryan was a “normal, vibrant young girl” who loved her friends and her little brother, JJ, who, in keeping with Wood, had an autism spectrum disorder and required special care.
In October 2018, Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell met at a non secular conference in Utah and he began creating an alternate reality during which his “obsession with fame was rooted in her adoration for him,” Wood told jurors.
Soon, Wood said, they began to view their spouses and even their children as “obstacles” that stood of their way.
“Anyone who opposed them was sometimes called a dark spirit or even a zombie,” the prosecutor said.
In his opening statements, defense attorney Prior described his client as a non secular man who has written books about his faith, premonitions, good and evil, and the “coming of the end of things when his Savior will return in his mind.”
Prior said Daybell's life modified after he met Vallow Daybell, a “gorgeous woman” who “started paying him a lot of attention” and eventually lured him into an “inappropriate” and “unhappy” extramarital relationship.
Prior told the jury about Vallow Daybell’s brother Alex Cox, who died in December 2019and his history of violence – including the shooting of Vallow Daybell's former husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. The Maricopa County coroner in Arizona said Cox died of natural causes. CNN affiliate KPHO/KTVK reported.
“Alex Cox was Lori's protector,” Prior said. “Alex Cox did everything he could to protect, support and assist Lori Vallow… Whenever there was a problem or a threat to Lori Vallow, you hear testimony that Alex Cox came to her aid.”
DNA and forensic experts suspected Cox's fingerprint was found on the plastic wrap wrapped around JJ's body, Daybell's defense attorney said. No DNA or hair from Chad Daybell was found on the kids's bodies, and the precise reason for Tammy Daybell's death couldn’t be determined, Prior said.
The couple believed they were religious figures
Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell called themselves “James and Elaina” and believed they were religious figures and had a system for classifying people as “light” or “dark,” a prosecutor told jurors during Vallow Daybell's trial.
The state accused the couple of using their “doomsday” religions as justification for the murders. Specifically, Daybell and Vallow Daybell exchanged text messages about Tammy Daybell being “in limbo” and “possessed by a spirit named Viola,” the indictment says.
People near the couple said they were involved in strong religious ideologies.
In addition, Daybell was related to a non secular Website to organize for the top of the world which described itself as a “series of lecture events with an emphasis on independence and personal preparation.”
The site's editors said they decided to remove content containing Daybell or Vallow Daybell after the kids disappeared.
The children's disappearance made national headlines
Vallow Daybell's two children from a previous marriage were last seen on separate days in September 2019.
In late November 2019, relatives asked police in Rexburg, Idaho, to envision on JJ's well-being because they hadn't spoken to him recently. Police didn’t find him on the family home, but saw Vallow Daybell and Daybell, who said JJ was staying with a family friend in Arizona, authorities said.
When police returned the subsequent day with a search warrant, the couple had disappeared. They were eventually present in Hawaii in January 2020.
In June 2020, law enforcement officers found the stays of Tylee and JJ on Daybell's property in Fremont County, Idaho. Vallow Daybell and Daybell were charged with murder in May 2021.
According to prosecutors, Tylee was killed between September 8 and 9, 2019, and JJ between September 22 and 23.
Following Vallow Daybell's arraignment and never guilty plea in 2021, a judge ruled she was incompetent to face trial, but she was found competent to face trial after spending nearly a 12 months in a mental hospital. Vallow Daybell has maintained her innocence.
When Vallow Daybell was convicted last 12 monthsShe denied having killed her children, citing religious texts and beliefs.
“Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case,” Vallow Daybell said. “There are accidents, there are suicides and there are fatal side effects of medications.”
Judge Steven W. Boyce said in his sentencing: “I don't believe any god of any religion would have wanted something like this to happen.”
The judge said she justified the murders by saying “you had descended into a bizarre religious rabbit hole. And obviously you're still down there.”
Vallow Daybell has appealed against their convictions before the state Supreme Court, together with her legal team raising questions on whether Vallow Daybell was mentally competent to face trial.
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