Murder trial for Chad Daybell underway

The capital murder case for Chad Daybell is now in the hands of an Ada County jury. Attorneys offered closing arguments Wednesday, with Fremont County prosecutor Lindsay Blake walking jurors back through the timeline and the extreme religious beliefs she says helped justify the killings, which started with Daybell’s then-wife Tammy and continued with two of Lori Vallow’s children.

Daybell’s attorney John Prior aimed to poke holes in the prosecution’s link between Daybell’s religious beliefs and the crimes, saying text conversations about light and dark spirits and death percentages don’t prove any conspiracy to kill.

Prior blamed the crimes on manipulation by Vallow and her brother Alex Cox, who died of natural causes in 2019, painting his client as having been set up to take the fall or even next to die at the hand of Cox. Prior said the crimes had nothing to do with religion and prosecutors had not proven Daybell was guilty.

Jurors deliberated about two and a half hours Wednesday night and returned the next morning. Daybell faces the death penalty if convicted on the murder charges - and the jury would determine that punishment if they find him guilty.

Closing arguments in the trial of Chad Daybell are set to begin Wednesday.

He faces the death penalty in the murders of his former wife Tammy Daybell, and two of his current wife’s children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan. The children’s remains were found on Daybell’s east Idaho property nearly four years ago.

East Idaho News reports jurors in the case will receive 41 instructions from Judge Steven Boyce later today, including one that is standard regarding reasonable doubt. But the state Supreme Court updated that text last week.

Attorneys and Judge Boyce agreed that jurors in the case will abide by the old version of the rule, even though Boyce said there was little difference between the old and new version of the instruction.

Once the case goes to the jury, 12 of the 17 members will be randomly selected to deliberate.

Daybell’s wife, Lori Vallow, last year was found guilty in the deaths of her two children and her former husband. She was sentenced to life in prison and is appealing.

After arguments about a date change in an amended indictment, Judge Steven Boyce said charge four, which has to do with the alleged murder of Joshua "JJ" Vallow, has been denied for acquittal.

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The amended indictment, filed in February 2024, had the date JJ was killed changed to mirror those of charge two, which is the alleged murder of Tylee Ryan. Boyce looked at the history of the indictment and the court believes the date change was a clerical error.

Boyce also denied the other eight charges Daybell faces for acquittal, after the state rested its case Thursday morning.

The court is now in recess until Monday morning.

After the state rested, Chad Daybell's attorney John Prior argued for a directed verdict, or a ruling from the judge that determines there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to reach a different conclusion.

East Idaho News reports that Prior said there is no indication Daybell was present in the murders of Tylee Ryan or JJ Vallow and the conspiracy charges also show there is no indication Daybell was involved.

Lead Deputy Attorney General Ingrid Batey listed out the evidence the state presented in relation to each charge, arguing the jury should determine the weight of the evidence.

Boyce is prepared to make a ruling, according to East Idaho News, but says he has issue with part of the indictment. The indictment was amended in February 2024 and says JJ Vallow was killed Sept. 8-9, 2019.

Boyce said JJ Vallow was "clearly alive" on those days. He went on to say the language varies on the indictment from "on or about" and "on or between," reported by East Idaho News.

There is a filed amended indictment that has the wrong dates for JJ Vallow's death, according to Boyce. He is giving the state two hours to prepare for argument.

Court will be back in session Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The state of Idaho has rested its case against Chad Daybell on Thursday.

This comes after Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said the state has no further witnesses to put on the stand. Before resting, Blake asked for a sidebar with Judge Steven Boyce.

Thursday marked day 25 of the trial. The final witness called to the stand was retired FBI agent Doug Hart.

East Idaho News reports four jurors who served in Lori Vallow's trial were in the courtroom, along with Larry Woodcock, JJ's grandfather. Around 40 other people were also in the courtroom.

 On Monday, five witnesses took the stand including Colby Ryan, Lori Vallow's son from a previous marriage. He told the court he believed his mother was influenced by Chad Daybell.

Jurors also heard from a former FBI agent, Doug Hart, who studied thousands of emails and text messages. Hart said Chad Daybell's greatest desire was to be with Lori, and he sent those messages while his ex-wife Tammy Daybell was still alive.

Testimony in the case will continue today at the Ada County Courthouse.

It has been an emotional several days at the Ada County Courthouse, with season law enforcement officers choking up while on the stand.

On Wednesday, jurors heard about how Tammy Daybell's life insurance had been increased and a good deal about Chad Daybell's finances, particularly his multiple transfers of cash.

Testimony continues this morning.

Starting Monday morning, there will be no reserved or priority seating in the courtroom for the press or public. It will be a first come, first serve for as long as courtroom seats remain available.

Testimony resumed Thursday in the Chad Daybell murder trial. As expected, it was a grim day as jurors heard a Rexburg police detective testify about the discovery of the bodies of Lori Vallow's children.

During the trial, jurors heard graphic descriptions of the decomposition of the children's bodies. The detective testified through the morning and afternoon.

Jurors have been given Friday off and the trial will resume Monday at 8:30 a.m.

Prosecutors began their opening statements on Wednesday with a largely similar theme to last year's trial of Chad Daybell's current wife, Lori Vallow. They accused the pair of killing two of her children and his former wife in pursuit of sex, money and power.

Fremont County prosecuting attorney Rob Wood handled the opening statement, framing Daybell as a manipulator whose fringe religious beliefs and thirst for attention led him to work with Vallow to create a way they could be together, unencumbered by responsibility or financial worries.

"Once their calculated plan was devised, it only took months to execute to remove perceived obstacles to Chad Daybell's path to a new life," said Wood.

The defense opening statement, from Daybell's attorney John Prior, indicated they will argue Daybell was manipulated by Vallow, and plan to call experts to try and poke holes in the state's use of DNA evidence tying Daybell to the murders.

Vallow, whose murder trial began exactly one year ago today in the same Ada County courtroom, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Daybell faces the death penalty if convicted.

A jury of 10 men and eight women has been seated in the capital murder trial of Chad Daybell.

East Idaho News reports the 12 jurors and 6 alternates were chosen today from the larger pool of prospective jurors identified last week. Opening arguments in the case are scheduled to begin Wednesday, April 10 at 8:30 a.m. at the Ada County Courthouse.

Daybell is accused in the murders of two of his wife’s children, the remains of which were found on his east Idaho property, and of killing his former spouse. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

Daybell’s wife, Lori Vallow was sentenced to life in prison for her involvement in the killings, and is appealing. She was recently extradited to Arizona, where she faces two charges of conspiracy to commit murder against other family members.

Initial jury selection continued Frday in the case against Chad Daybell being tried in Ada County.

At the conclusion of proceedings Thurday, 52 potential jurors had been moved forward in the process, two more than needed according to what Judge Steven Boyce indicated on Monday. East Idaho News reports voir dire continued to provide a buffer above the minimum potential juror pool if anyone previously moved forward would need to be excused before attorneys begin their striking process.

After adding five additional jurors to the preliminary pool, court was dismissed for the weekend, and attorneys for both sides will begin the striking process Monday morning, to reduce the pool of 57 potential jurors to a 12 member jury and six alternates for the 8-10 week capital murder trial.

Jury selection in the trial of Chad Daybell is now on day two in Ada County. 18 total jurors are expected to be selected for the months-long death penalty case.

Judge Steven Boyce instructed prospective jurors to avoid speculating about any information of alleged co-conspirators. Daybell’s wife Lori Vallow was convicted last year of killing her two children and her ex-spouse. That trial attracted a massive media following, which Prosecutor Rob Wood noted in his questions this morning to potential jurors for Daybell’s trial.

"Is there anyone here who has any concerns that what they’ve heard before is going to cause them to not be able to give this defendant a fair trial?" asked Wood.

Because of the expected length of the trial, most of the jurors dismissed Monday were because of scheduling or financial hardships. A few were dismissed for impartiality concerns.

Daybell’s attorney, John Prior, attempted to leave the case this winter, saying the defendant was no longer able to pay him, but Judge Boyce ordered him to stay so the trial could move forward.

Day one of jury voir dire began on Monday in the Chad Daybell case. This is the preliminary examination of a witness or a juror by a judge.

District Judge Steven Boyce ordered that juror questionnaires be distributed and completed before going into the courtroom to streamline the selection process.

This process could take days or weeks. A total of 18 jurors will be picked - 12 jurors and six alternates.