04 June 2024 :
June 1, 2024 - Idaho. Chad Daybell, 55, White, sentenced to death on June 1
The man is accused of killing his ex-wife, Tammy Daybell, and his new partner's two children, ages 7 and 16, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
The boys' mother, Lori Vallow, has already been sentenced to 3 life terms to be served consecutively, and is awaiting trial in Arizona for the murder of one of her former husbands, Charles Vallow, who was also the father of the youngest victim.
An Ada County jury unanimously agreed that imposing the death penalty would be a just resolution to the triple-murder case. Judge Steven W. Boyce of the Seventh Judicial District said a sentencing hearing would begin on Friday morning.
The case began in 2019, when a family member called police. Investigators soon realized both children were missing. Nearly a year later, their remains were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property.
The mother of the children is Lori Vallow Daybell, whom Chad Daybell married shortly after his wife’s death. Vallow Daybell was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison without parole in July 2023, and is now awaiting trial in Arizona in connection with the shooting death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Charles Vallow was JJ’s father.
Mr. Daybell and Ms. Vallow Daybell, now 50, pleaded not guilty to the charges. They married in 2019, shortly after his wife, Tammy Daybell, was found dead at her home in Idaho. At first, her death was attributed to natural causes, but after Ms. Vallow’s children disappeared, the authorities began an investigation that extended into a re-examination of her death. An autopsy later attributed the cause to asphyxiation. Tammy Daybell’s death occurred about a month after Mr. Daybell had increased the amount of coverage in a life insurance policy for her.
During a nearly two-month-long trial, prosecutors said Chad Daybell promoted unusual spiritual beliefs including apocalyptic prophecies and tales of possession by evil spirits in order to justify the killings. Daybell’s defense attorney, John Prior, argued during the trial that there wasn’t enough evidence to tie Daybell to the killings, and suggested Vallow Daybell’s older brother, Alex Cox, was the culprit. Cox died in late 2019 and was never charged, and Vallow Daybell was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
