Chad Daybell was convicted of first-degree murder for Tammy Daybell’s death in late 2019. He was also found guilty of conspiracy in the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children.
A jury in Boise, Idaho, has convicted Chad Daybell of murder and conspiracy in the deaths of his former wife, Tammy Daybell, and two children of his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Daybell. In such cases, the jury will consider any aggravating and mitigating circumstances before deciding on the appropriateness of a death sentence.
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Prosecutors alleged that Daybell created bizarre, religion-themed fantasies about people becoming zombies to justify his crimes, aiming to start a new life with Lori Vallow after an affair. They also accused Daybell of committing insurance fraud in connection with his former wife’s death.
Daybell, 55, was convicted of first-degree murder for Tammy Daybell’s death in late 2019. He was also found guilty of conspiracy in the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow. Tylee was nearly 17 and JJ was 7 when they were last seen alive in September 2019, shortly after moving with their mother from Chandler, Arizona, to Rexburg, Idaho.
Prosecutors presented text messages showing Tammy was “in the way”
Tammy Daybell, a librarian and educator, was found dead at her home in October 2019 at the age of 49. Initially, a coroner did not perform an autopsy, citing a heart attack as the apparent cause of death. However, suspicions led to Tammy’s body being exhumed, and the cause of death was later changed to homicide by asphyxiation.
In her closing argument, Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake stated that Chad Daybell influenced the initial ruling by fabricating details about Tammy’s medical condition. Blake argued that Chad planned to eliminate Tammy to be with Lori Vallow. Months earlier, Vallow’s brother had killed her husband, Charles.
“A little over 24 hours after reporting his wife’s death,” Blake said in her closing argument, “Chad messaged Lori: ‘I know exactly how you feel. I’m feeling sad, but it isn’t for the reason everyone thinks!'”
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At the time, Vallow was in Hawaii. Blake noted Vallow’s frustration with Daybell, as she texted him that they couldn’t be together until things changed.
“What needs to change?” the prosecutor asked the jurors. “Tammy’s in the way.”
Daybell responded to Vallow’s message, Blake added, by saying that being with Vallow was all that mattered to him.
“Lori manipulates Chad with sex,” Blake said. “From the minute he met her, he wanted to be with her — and she knew it.”
Children found buried on Daybell’s property
Blake described how Vallow asked Daybell about plans involving Tylee and JJ.
“About a month after Charles’ passing, Lori asked Chad, ‘Do you think there is a perfectly orchestrated plan to take the children?'” Blake said, displaying Vallow’s text message in court.
“There is a plan being orchestrated for the children,” Daybell replied in the messages. “I was shown last night how it fit together again.”
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The children’s bodies were discovered in June 2020, buried on Daybell’s property in Rexburg. Photos from the scene were shown to the jury early in the trial.
“Tylee’s DNA was found on a pickax and a shovel in the defendant’s garage,” Blake told the jury.
Blake said Daybell used a numerical system to rate family members, with higher numbers indicating those overtaken by dark forces.
“Chad said if someone’s a zombie, the body has to die,” Blake told the jury.
Daybell was also charged with two counts of insurance fraud. Prosecutors alleged he maxed out Tammy’s life insurance policy the month before she died, naming himself as the beneficiary. He married Lori Vallow less than a month after Tammy’s death.
Odd beliefs drove the couple, witnesses said
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell were indicted together on murder charges in May 2021, but their cases were separated at Daybell’s request.
Vallow Daybell received multiple life sentences last year for the three deaths in Idaho.
Melanie Gibb, a confidante of Vallow Daybell, testified that she saw her friend become increasingly involved with Chad Daybell, with the pair claiming they had been married in a previous life and were destined to lead 144,000 people in the end times, as described in the Book of Revelation.
Gibb said the couple also believed people could be overtaken by dark, evil energy. The indictment cites text messages between them discussing death percentages for Tammy Daybell and her being possessed by a spirit named Viola.
In addition to the Idaho charges, Vallow Daybell has been extradited to Arizona to face charges related to her former husband’s death in July 2019 and an attempt on her niece’s ex-husband.