Chad Daybell Convicted For Murder
On Thursday, a jury in Idaho convicted Chad Daybell of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of his ex-wife and two of his current wife’s children. The case gained significant attention due to the couple’s apocalyptic religious views.
As the verdict was announced on Thursday, Mr. Daybell, who is 55 years old, remained emotionless as he stood beside his lawyer, John Prior.
He was convicted of three charges of first-degree murder, two charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, one charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and two charges of insurance fraud.
On May 29, the jury in St. Anthony, Idaho’s Fremont County District Court began deliberating. Following the verdict, Judge Steven W. Boyce from the Seventh Judicial District acknowledged that the prosecution had submitted a notice of their intention to seek the death penalty. Following a brief break, the judge announced that a sentencing hearing would commence on Friday morning.
Both Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell entered a plea of not guilty for the charges against them. In July 2021, she received a sentencing of three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.
What did Chad Daybell do?
Chad Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, were charged by prosecutors in Fremont County in 2021 for the deaths of two of Ms. Vallow Daybell‘s children, 7-year-old Joshua Vallow (known as J.J.) and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. Additionally, Mr. Daybell was accused of murdering his former spouse, Tammy Daybell.
On June 9, 2020, authorities discovered the bodies of Tylee and J.J. in Rexburg, buried in shallow graves. Chad Daybell, who was Lori Vallow’s romantic partner at the time of the children’s death and had since become her husband, had buried their remains in his backyard.
The situation also included the deaths of Lori’s ex-husband Charles Vallow and Chad’s spouse Tammy Daybell, along with the attempted homicide of Brandon Boudreaux, a member of Lori’s family. Lori’s brother Alex Cox, who was suspected by officials of being involved in the offenses, passed away before he could be charged.
The couple’s religious beliefs have been a focal point in the case for a prolonged period. According to the accusation, they actively promoted and taught religious ideologies to justify the children’s deaths. Ms. Vallow Daybell was dubbed the “Apocalyptic Mother” by the media.
According to its website, Daybell and Vallow Daybell have been associated with an organization called Preparing a People, which seeks to prepare its members for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Mr. Daybell has authored books with apocalyptic themes.
After the death of Tammy Daybell in 2019, Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell got married. Initially, her death was believed to be from natural causes but it was later re-evaluated due to the disappearance of Ms. Vallow’s children and the subsequent investigation by the authorities to determine if there was a possible link.
According to the results of an autopsy, Tammy Daybell’s cause of death was suffocation. The investigation revealed that her passing happened approximately a month after her husband, Mr. Daybell, had raised the level of her life insurance policy.
Ms. Vallow Daybell was taken into custody in Hawaii in February 2020 for allegedly failing to assist in the search for her missing children. Their bodies were discovered in June of that same year, buried on her husband Mr. Daybell’s land in Idaho. He was arrested and accused of hiding evidence.
The highly publicized case, which centered around extreme religious beliefs, was featured in both a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary series titled “Sins of Our Mother.”
