Who is Chad Daybell?
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ST. ANTHONY — Chad Daybell’s trial will be held in Ada County this spring. Jury selection is set to begin April 1 and the trial could last eight to ten weeks.
What is Chad Daybell charged with?
Chad Guy Daybell is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and insurance fraud.
He and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, along with her brother, Alex Cox, are accused of killing Lori’s children — 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow — and Chad’s former wife, Tammy Daybell. Cox died in Dec. 2019.
Chad was indicted by a Fremont County Grand Jury in May 2021 on the following charges:
- First-degree murder for the death of Tammy Daybell
- First-degree murder for the death of Tylee Ryan
- First-degree murder for the death of JJ Vallow
- Conspiracy to commit murder for Tammy Daybell
- Conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft by deception for the death of Tylee Ryan
- Conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft by deception for the death of JJ Vallow
- Insurance fraud
You can read the indictment here.
What happened to Tammy Daybell?
Chad and Tammy Daybell were married on March 9, 1990, in Manti, Utah, according to her obituary. They met at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and raised their family in Springville, Utah. The couple had five children before moving to Salem, Idaho, in 2015, where Tammy was employed as a school librarian.
Tammy died suddenly inside her home on Oct. 19, 2019. Chad told authorities that Tammy’s head and upper body fell out of bed and he found her dead.
Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye responded to the home and noticed a blood-tinged sputum coming from Tammy’s mouth. Chad and his children insisted they did not want an autopsy and Dye determined Tammy died from natural causes.
Tammy Daybell was buried in the Springville Evergreen Cemetery in Utah but after police began searching for JJ and Tylee, her body was exhumed and an autopsy was performed. It was determined she died from asphyxiation.
Dr. Erik Christensen, Utah’s chief medical examiner, testified during Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial that bruises were discovered on Tammy’s body during the autopsy. He said the bruises likely occurred around the time she died and were consistent with someone being restrained. He testified the bruises support the findings that her cause of death was asphyxia — being deprived of oxygen.
The bruises were found on her arms and chest. Christensen said they were from “acute injuries” that occurred “most likely prior” to her death, likely in the few hours before she died.
Ten days before her death, a masked man approached and shot at Tammy several times as she was getting out of her car. The man ran away and Tammy assumed the weapon was a paintball gun.
“Something really weird just happened, and I want you to know so you can watch out,” she wrote on a community Facebook page after the incident. “I had gotten home and parked in our front driveway. As I was getting stuff out of the back seat, a guy wearing a ski mask was suddenly standing by the back of my car with a paintball gun. He shot at me several times, although I don’t think it was loaded. I yelled for Chad and he ran off around the back of my house.”
Two calls were made to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office the night of the incident on Oct. 9, 2019. The calls were made by Joseph Murray, Tammy Daybell’s son-in-law, and Tammy herself.
She filed a report with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy investigated the claim.
It was revealed at Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial that the man with the gun was Cox. He has shopped for ammunition in Idaho Falls and practiced firing with his gun at a shooting range in Fremont County.
Cell phone data from Cox’s phone show he was in the area of the Daybell home the night Tammy died.
What did Chad Daybell do for a living?
Chad worked as a cemetery sexton in Utah almost 20 years before his name made national headlines. He dug graves while he was a student at Brigham Young University and told the Deseret News in 1992 that he believed digging graves helped him through school.
A sexton of a cemetery is often the caretaker of the cemetery and they dig the graves.
Chad was an author of several fiction and nonfiction books. He served as the Managing Editor for Cedar Fort, an Utah-based publisher, until he established his own publishing company, Spring Creek Book Company. He has written several novels with themes centered around The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as LDS-based non-fiction books for children and teenagers.
What books did Chad Daybell write?
Chad wrote several religious and faith-themed books. His titles include:
- A Prophet in Palmyra
- An Errand for Emma
- Chasing Paradise
- Days of Fury
- Doug’s Dilemma
- Emma Trilogy
- Escape to Zion
- Standing In Holy Places
- The Celestial City
- The Great Gathering
- The Keys of the Kingdom
- The Renewed Earth
- The Rise of Zion
- Through the Eyes of John
Over one day in July 2019, Chad Daybell sent a love story he wrote to Lori Vallow Daybell through a series of text messages. A detective described the writings as “a romance novel of sorts” and noted that it follows the relationship between the couple but names were changed to “James” and “Elena.”
The story begins with James arriving in St. George, Utah, where he had a voice tell him he would meet a woman who would change his life forever. While at an event, James was introduced to Elena by someone Chad wrote was MG.
“When their hands touched, he felt a shock pass through him, and his heart started beating fast,” the texts read. “Elena was gorgeous and vivacious, and James was a little intimidated yet honored that she would talk to him.”
When did Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow get married?
Chad and Lori first met in the fall of 2018 at a religious conference in St. George, Utah. A felony indictment indicates that on Oct. 26, 2018, Lori and Chad begin discussing their religious beliefs to justify killing Tammy Daybell, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
Around this time, Chad and Lori made their first recording together on the Preparing a People podcast “Time to Warrior Up.” The two recorded with others on several podcasts – many focused on the end of the world. Preparing a People has since removed the podcast and publicly dissociated itself from the couple.
Lori Vallow was married to Charles Vallow at the time she met Chad Daybell. Charles Vallow became concerned for his wife’s mental health and went to the police for help. He filed for divorce in January 2019 but later withdrew the filing.
Cox shot and killed Charles Vallow on July 11, 2019 in Chandler, Arizona. Cox claimed the shooting was in self-defense.
Chad married Lori Vallow on Nov. 5, 2019 in Hawaii. Tammy Daybell had been dead less than three weeks.
Photos show the couple smiling, laughing and dancing on the beach during their wedding ceremony.
A month before their wedding, Lori Vallow signed a contract for a storage unit in Rexburg. She left children’s items, photos, clothing and other things in the facility before departing for Hawaii.
Surveillance cameras at Self Storage Plus show Daybell visiting the unit nine times in October and once in November. She often came with her Chad or her brother, Alex Cox.
When was Chad Daybell arrested?
Chad was arrested and booked into the Fremont County Jail on June 9, 2020 after the remains of Tylee and JJ were found buried on his property.
Rexburg Police officers, Fremont County Sheriff deputies and the FBI made the discovery in the yard behind the house. Chad left the home in his vehicle during the search and was arrested a short time later.
He was booked into the Fremont County Jail on June 9, 2020. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and appeared in several court appearances over the years wearing a white dress shirt and tie. He said very little and showed no emotion during each court hearing.
After spending nearly four years in the Fremont County Jail, Chad was transported to the Ada County Jail in Boise on March 21 in preparation for his trial.
Do Chad Daybell’s children support him?
Chad and Tammy’s children, Garth Daybell, Emma Murray, Seth Daybell, Leah Murphy and Mark Daybell, have made no public statements other than a national television interview with “48 Hours” in September 2021.
“The time has come that we need to share our story,” Leah Murphy said.
“My father needs someone to be a voice for him. To let people know what’s real – what we know,” Emmy Murray said.
“How is it possible two children are found buried in your father’s backyard and he had nothing to do with it?” the reporter asked Murray. She replied, “He was framed.”
“I don’t know why they (the bodies) would be there,” Murray said. “But I do know that if he were to commit a crime, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to put the evidence in his own backyard. … We presume innocence in this country. Just because things look funny, we don’t send people to jail.”
Could Chad Daybell get sentenced to death?
Chad’s trial, including jury selection and deliberations, could last up to ten weeks. He could face the death penalty if he is found guilty.
John Prior, Chad Daybell’s attorney, filed a change of venue request. Chad will stand trial in Ada County after Idaho Judge Steven Boyce granted the request to have it moved out of Fremont County.
If jurors return a guilty verdict, they will first consider whether any aggravating factors apply in the case. Those aggravating factors could include:
- At the time the murder was committed, the defendant also committed another murder
- The defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life
- The murder was committed during another serious crime
- The murder was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity”
If the jurors decide there are no aggravating factors, Judge Steven Boyce will sentence Chad anywhere from 10 years to life in prison.
If there are aggravating factors, the jury weighs the aggravating evidence against mitigating evidence. If aggravation outweighs mitigation, the jury will determine life in prison or the death penalty. If mitigation outweighs aggravation, Chad will serve a fixed life sentence.
Prior has filed a motion to have death penalty taken off the table, but Judge Boyce denied the request.
