Chad Daybell sentenced to death in Idaho triple murder trial

Jonathon Sharp, Ryan Bittan and Associated Press

15 hours ago

BOISE, Idaho (ABC4) — After about seven weeks of testimony, Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in the gripping triple murder trial that found him guilty of the deaths of his two stepchildren and his ex- marry.

An Ada County Court jury on Thursday found Daybell, 55, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and insurance fraud in the death in 2019 by Tammy Daybell, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and 16-year-old. Tylee Ryan, 12 years old.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty — and the same jurors who found Daybell guilty were tasked with deciding whether his crimes met the state's legal threshold for capital punishment. After deliberation, the court announced the death sentence on Saturday morning.

Under Idaho law, the jury must consider eleven circumstances to determine whether the death penalty is warranted. One is whether the killing was particularly heinous, cruel, or “demonstrating exceptional depravity.” Another solution is if the defendant showed “total disregard for human life” during the murder or the circumstances surrounding it.

The jury must find that at least one of the circumstances exists beyond a reasonable doubt.

The bizarre and complex case began in September 2019, when extended family members reported JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan missing and law enforcement launched a search that spanned multiple states. The investigation that followed took several unexpected turns.

Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell were having an affair when both their spouses died suddenly, investigators said. Vallow Daybell's husband was shot and killed by his brother Alex Cox in Arizona in July 2019; the brother told police it was in self-defense. He has not been charged.

Vallow Daybell, his children JJ and Tylee, and Cox later moved to eastern Idaho to be closer to Daybell, a self-published author of apocalyptic fiction loosely based on the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.

In October 2019, Tammy Daybell died. Chad Daybell initially told police she was battling an illness and died in her sleep, but an autopsy later determined she died of asphyxiation. Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell married just two weeks after Tammy Daybell's death, surprising family members.

Nearly a year after the children disappeared, their remains were found buried on Chad Daybell's property in eastern Idaho. Investigators later determined that both children died in September 2019. Prosecutors say Cox conspired with Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell in all three deaths, but Cox died of natural causes during the investigation and did not never been charged.

Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses to support their claims that Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell conspired to kill the two children and Tammy Daybell because they wanted to get rid of any obstacles to their relationship and obtain money from the survivor benefits and life insurance.

Prosecutors say the couple justified the killings by creating an apocalyptic belief system that people could be possessed by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” and that the only way to save a possessed person's soul was to make his body die.

Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsay Blake said Daybell presented himself as a leader of what he called “the Church of the Firstborn” and told Vallow Daybell and others that he could determine if someone had become a “zombie”. Daybell also claimed to be able to determine how close a person was to death by reading what he called their “death percentage,” Blake said.

With those elements, Daybell followed a pattern for each of the people killed, Blake said.

“They would be called “dark” by Chad Daybell. Their “percentage of deaths” would decrease. Then they should die,” she said in her closing argument.

Daybell's defense attorney, John Prior, rejected the prosecution's descriptions of Daybell's beliefs. He described Daybell as a traditional member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a deeply religious man who spoke about his spiritual beliefs whenever he could.

Prior said police were only looking for evidence they could use against Daybell rather than the actual facts of the case — and he claimed the children's late uncle, Cox, committed the crimes.

He noted that Cox had previously killed JJ Vallow's father in Arizona and that the two children were the only witnesses to that shooting. He also said Cox tried to frame Daybell by burying the slain children in Daybell's yard.

Prior said Vallow Daybell was motivated only by money and conspired with Cox to kill Daybell, who was poised to be her next victim.

Last year, Vallow Daybell was convicted of murdering her two children and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors have not sought the death penalty in his case.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.