Chad Daybell guilty of triple murder

Chad Daybell was found guilty on Thursday of murdering his new wife’s children — 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — as well as his former wife Tammy Daybell following a monthslong trial in Boise.

The 12-person jury also found him guilty of conspiring to murder each of the victims, grand theft and two counts of insurance fraud.

EastIdahoNews.com’s Nate Eaton said people were crying as the verdict was read in the full courtroom, though Chad Daybell showed very little emotion. Outside the courthouse, Eaton said there was cheering from people listening to the stream as each “guilty” was read.

Eaton said Tammy Daybell’s father, attending the trial for the first time, hugged Larry and Kay Woodcock, JJ’s grandparents, as they cried outside the courtroom.

Twelve jurors received the case after closing arguments Wednesday afternoon and deliberated about seven hours, over two days, before reaching a verdict.

Because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, the same jury will now be tasked with deciding whether the death penalty is appropriate.

About an hour after the verdict was read, Judge Steven Boyce gave instructions for the sentencing phase to the jurors. The judge told them prosecutors have the burden of proving there is an aggravating circumstance that merits the death penalty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Six of the charges against Chad Daybell are capital charges, including the three murders and conspiracy to commit each of those murders. Boyce said Chad Daybell will be sentenced for other offenses at a later date.

Eaton said the jurors have been kept sequestered, and are staying in a hotel since the case was passed to them on Wednesday. Bailiffs have been ensuring that they have no communication with anyone outside the jury at any time.

Boyce said they will continue to be sequestered through the entire sentencing phase of the case. He said it will be up to the jurors what the schedule is after this point, and they can choose to continue the trial through the weekend if desired. Prosecutors will begin calling witnesses on Friday morning.

During closing arguments, Fremont County prosecutor Lindsay Blake painted a picture for jurors of Chad Daybell as the leader, “gatherer” or mastermind of the deaths. Lori Vallow Daybell — his then-girlfriend, now wife — her brother Alex Cox and Chad Daybell’s other followers sought direction from him, as the self-appointed leader of the Church of the Firstborn.

She said Lori Daybell and multiple witnesses at the trial looked to him as he rated whether others were “light” or “dark” — his perception of their countenance, or, as witnesses explained, how close a person is to being exalted, like God — as he rated their death percentages. They said Chad Daybell used death percentages when individuals had perceived demons inside them, meaning the person was closer to death.

He convinced Lori Daybell that the two of them were married in previous lives and, because of that, it was OK for them to be together and eventually marry again. Blake said he manipulated Lori Daybell into believing he was providing protection for her, and threatened to take it away when she once ignored him. When she stopped ignoring him, he promised her his protections were back.

Blake said Chad Daybell called the shots.

Daybell gave religious “blessings,” including one to Cox in November 2019, after the three deaths, telling him, “You’ve already assisted us in ways that can never be repaid. And you will continue to do so.” Chad Daybell also told Cox, in the blessing, that his actions were approved by Jesus, who wanted to tell him, “Well done.”

Blake said it was Chad Daybell who taught the group about “castings” and told them that after a successful casting, a body would die or “naturally expire.”

Each time, she said, the body of those who were declared “dark” would die. In court, Chad Daybell shook his head “no” — a contrast to his blank face while she talked about his manipulation.

Blake said Chad Daybell used all these manipulations to declare 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, Tammy Daybell and Lori Daybell’s husband Charles Vallow as “dark,” zombies, possessed, or as people with a low death percentage. And because of that, Blake said Chad Daybell essentially declared: “Tammy had to die,” and “Tylee has to die,” and “JJ has to die.”

“All three victims gone too soon,” the prosecutor said.

She reminded jurors they don’t have to be convinced Chad Daybell murdered the three himself to be found guilty, but that he “advised, assisted, encouraged, commanded or coerced” the deaths to happen. Blake argued that Daybell planned to get rid of the obstructions so that he could have money, power and sex with Lori Daybell. She said the children and their spouses were “obstacles,” using a word from Chad and Lori Daybell’s text messages.

Defense attorney John Prior pointed blame at anyone other than Chad Daybell in his closing arguments, saying Chad Daybell was duped by Lori Daybell and others around her. He was just the next victim.

Prior said his client had no idea the two children were buried in his own backyard until officers uncovered the bodies on June 9, 2020, and he blamed Lori Daybell and Cox for setting up Chad Daybell.

He said Cox, Lori Daybell’s brother whose cellphone data placed him in Chad Daybell’s backyard near where the bodies were found the day after each of them were last seen, had motive to kill JJ and Tylee because the children had witnessed him murdering Charles Vallow.

Prior said Chad Daybell, as Lori Daybell’s fifth husband, was set up to provide the next life insurance payout for her and was set up as a fall guy for the murders.

Prior painted Chad Daybell as a man with unique beliefs who liked to share them — a “pot-stirrer” who was targeted as the culprit in this case by officers who did not like his beliefs. He said confirmation bias led them to look at Chad Daybell as the only suspect and not at other players in the case.

He said officers “absolutely failed in their investigation.”

If they had looked more at location history and DNA, Prior said investigators would have connected Melanie Gibb, a woman who was staying with Lori Daybell when officers believe JJ was killed, to his death. He said Gibb was the real religious ringleader.

Prior was also adamant Tammy Daybell’s death was not homicide, but that she died of natural causes. He said it would be impossible for Chad Daybell to kill her the way prosecutors claim he did.

Ultimately, the jury agreed with the prosecution and convicted Chad Daybell on all charges.

Lori Daybell was found guilty of the murders of Tylee and JJ, and conspiracy to murder them and Tammy during a trial last year. She was given five sentences of life in prison for her crimes.

Testimony of the victims is scheduled to begin Friday at 8:30 a.m.