Judge denies request to sever Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow-Daybell’s cases
FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - Judge Steven W. Boyce denied a request from Chad Daybell’s attorney to sever his case from Lori Vallow-Daybell’s.
"The Court in its discretion finds that the interests of justice remain best served by a single trail for the crimes charged in the INDICTMENT filed against Daybell and Vallow Daybell," the judge wrote.
The judge said trial courts are instructed to "construe the [criminal] rules 'to secure simplicity in procedure, fairness in administration and elimination of unjustifiable expense and delay."
He said, "the Court, fully apprised of the complexities and charges involved in the case, nevertheless is persuaded that the joinder of trials remains appropriate."
A date for the trial has not been set. It is set to be held in Ada County.
You can view the judge's full decision below.
Both Daybell and Vallow-Daybell face multiple charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Lori's children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan along withChad's late wife Tammy Daybell. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The strange details of the case have drawn attention from around the world.
Idaho law enforcement officers started investigating the couple in November 2019 after extended family members reported her two youngest children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, were missing. At the time, JJ Vallow was 7 years old and Tylee Ryan was nearing her 17th birthday.
Daybell and Vallow-Daybell had married just two weeks after his previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly. The children’s bodies were later found buried on his property in rural eastern Idaho.
The couple was eventually charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with the deaths of the children and Daybell’s late wife. They have pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors say the couple promoted unusual religious beliefs to further the alleged murder conspiracies. Vallow-Daybell’s former husband, Charles Vallow, died while the two were estranged but had said in divorce documents that Vallow-Daybell believed she was a god-like figure responsible for ushering in the apocalyptical end times. Daybell wrote doomsday-focused fiction books and recorded podcasts about preparing for the apocalypse.
Friends of the couple told law enforcement investigators the pair believed people could be taken over by dark spirits, and that Vallow Daybell referred to her children as “zombies,” which was a term they used to describe those who were possessed.
Vallow-Daybell is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona in connection with the death of Vallow. Her previous husband was shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, who said it was self-defense. Cox later died of what police said was natural causes.
The Arizona legal proceedings are on hold while the Idaho case is underway and Vallow Daybell has not been scheduled to make a plea in the Arizona case.
