Chad Daybell murder trial in Boise begins. Here’s what to know about the case

Another Daybell trial is headed to Boise.

Chad Daybell, an eastern Idaho man accused of murdering two children and his former wife, is scheduled to appear at the Ada County Courthouse in an eight-week trial that will mirror the case against his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell.

Vallow Daybell was convicted of murdering and conspiring to murder two of her children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, in May 2023. Three months later, she was sentenced to life in prison. Vallow Daybell has since appealed her conviction, court documents showed.

The Daybells, who had a months-long affair before getting married, were expected to be tried together last year, but 7th District Judge Steven Boyce severed their cases because of new DNA evidence. Vallow Daybell’s attorneys said their client didn’t want to wait any longer, while Daybell’s attorney wanted to wait for additional testing to be done, East Idaho News reported, leaving Vallow Daybell to stand trial alone.

In August 2019, Vallow Daybell moved to Rexburg, Idaho, from Arizona just months after her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed. Her children went missing less than a month later. The kids were found dead in shallow graves on Chad Daybell’s property in Salem, Idaho, nine months later in June 2020.

The 55-year-old father is accused of eight felonies, including the murders of JJ, Tylee and his then-wife Tammy Daybell.

Here’s what to know about the case. The trial, beginning with jury selection, starts Monday.

Who is Chad Daybell?

Daybell, a father of five, spent the majority of his life in Utah before moving his family to eastern Idaho in 2015. He worked as a cemetery caretaker in Utah, according to East Idaho News, and later authored several fictional books about the end of times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Tammy and Chad Daybell were married for nearly 30 years before she was killed in October 2019. Chad and Lori Daybell got married on a Hawaii beach just two weeks after Tammy Daybell’s body was buried.

A member of The Church of Latter-day Saints, Daybell believed he received personal revelations from God that told him certain people — including Vallow Daybell’s children and Tammy Daybell — were possessed by dark spirits and would need to be “cast out,” or killed, according to witness testimony during Vallow Daybell’s trial.

How did police discover remains?

In December 2019, the Rexburg Police Department announced the disappearance of Vallow Daybell’s children, Tylee and JJ. The kids were last seen in September 2019.

Rexburg police in a news release said officers attempted to find JJ in November after the boy’s grandparents were concerned they hadn’t heard from him in two months. Police then learned that Tylee had also been missing since September.

Police in the news release also said the disappearance of Tylee and JJ was connected to the “suspicious” death of Tammy Daybell.

Tammy Daybell’s death wasn’t initially investigated as a homicide, and the county coroner ruled she died from pulmonary edema because of a seizure-like episode. But Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed two months later, in December 2019. After Utah’s Chief Medical Examiner Erik Christensen performed an autopsy on her, he determined she died from asphyxiation. Christensen told the court during Vallow Daybell’s trial that Tammy Daybell had bruises that could be “consistent with someone being restrained.”

By Dec. 31, 2019, the Rexburg Police Department issued an updated news release that said Vallow Daybell had “completely refused to assist” in the investigation, and that the children were not with either of the Daybells.

“It’s astonishing that rather than work with law enforcement to help us locate her own children, Lori Vallow (Daybell) has chosen instead to leave the state with her new husband,” the Police Department said.

Vallow Daybell was ordered to bring JJ and Tylee to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or to Rexburg police by Jan. 30, 2020. She missed that deadline.

Vallow Daybell, who was in Hawaii, was arrested in February 2020 and charged with two felonies related to the desertion of a child and three misdemeanors by the Kauai Police Department. East Idaho News reported the Daybells were in Hawaii for roughly a month and staying in a multi-million-dollar gated community.

More than a year later, police excavated Chad Daybell’s backyard and found the children’s remains buried in a shallow grave.

What are Chad Daybell’s charges?

Daybell was charged with the first-degree murders of Tylee, JJ and Tammy Daybell, as well as conspiracy to commit their first-degree murders, according to an indictment. Daybell was also charged with two counts of insurance fraud for allegedly increasing Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policies.

He pleaded not guilty to all eight felonies in June 2021, online court records showed. If convicted, Daybell could face the death penalty.

Vallow Daybell was extradited to Idaho after her arrest in Hawaii. When police found the children’s bodies in Chad Daybell’s backyard, in June 2020, he was initially charged with four felonies: two counts of conspiracy to destroy, alter or conceal evidence and two counts of destruction, altercation or concealment of evidence.

The Daybells remained in jail on those charges until May 2021, when they were indicted by a Freemont County grand jury on the murder and conspiracy charges.

How was Lori Vallow Daybell involved?

The Daybells met in 2018 at a Preparing a People conference in Utah and began seeing each other. The fringe organization, while not affiliated with the church, is made up of LDS members who were preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Chad was still married to Tammy Daybell, while Lori was still married to her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Authorities said they believe Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox — who died in 2019 — shot and killed Charles Vallow.

Investigators also said the Daybells, with Cox, killed or conspired to kill Tylee, JJ and Tammy Daybell.

Vallow Daybell faces two more felony charges in Arizona for allegedly attempting to kill her niece’s ex-husband and Charles Vallow. She pleaded not guilty to both charges in December. Vallow Daybell has been at the Maricopa County Jail since November, and she’s expected to stay there until her felony cases are resolved, according to East Idaho News.

Why is this a death penalty case?

Anyone convicted of first-degree murder is eligible for the death penalty in Idaho, according to the state’s code, if the state can prove there was an “aggravating circumstance” — for example, committing more than one murder at the same time, creating a “great risk” to the public, or murdering someone in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel way. Prosecutors can also seek the death penalty for conspiring to commit first-degree murder.

Prosecutors announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Daybell in August 2021, East Idaho News reported. They later announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Vallow Daybell, but Boyce removed it as an option two weeks before her trial.

“The ultimate decision to seek capital punishment rests with the state, and after completing the entire process, we determined that the nature and magnitude of these crimes warrant the possibility of the highest possible punishment,” the prosecution said in a statement announcing Chad Daybell’s case would be a capitol trial according to East Idaho News.

READ MORE: Lori Vallow Daybell is guilty of 2 murders. Why Idaho won’t pursue the death penalty

What can we expect in the trial?

The trial is expected to last eight weeks and will be similar to Vallow Daybell’s trial, which lasted six weeks.

During Vallow Daybell’s trial, prosecutors called roughly 60 witnesses, including investigators who presented a trail of messages, recordings and accounts that revealed the couple believed JJ and Tylee were “demons” who needed to be killed, according to witness testimony.

READ MORE: Lori Vallow Daybell, LDS member, holds extreme beliefs. What role did they play in murders?

While Vallow Daybell’s attorneys were able to cross-examine all of the witnesses called by the prosecution during her trial, they didn’t call any witnesses of their own. Chad Daybell’s attorney, John Prior, plans to call seven expert witnesses during his client’s trial, East Idaho News reported.

The trial is expected to begin at 9 a.m. Monday at the Ada County Courthouse. If Daybell is found guilty of any murder charges, his trial could include an additional portion right after the trial to decide his punishment, since a death sentence must be determined by a jury.

The trial is open to the public, though the courtroom has limited seating. Those planning to attend in person will need to register online. The trial will also be live-streamed from Judge Boyce’s YouTube page, or watch the livestream below.

The Idaho Statesman will have a reporter at the Ada County Courthouse providing live, daily updates at idahostatesman.com. You can also follow criminal justice reporter Alex Brizee on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @alex_brizee or breaking news reporter Sally Krutzig at @sallykrutzig.