Current:Home > StocksWho’s who in the triple-murder trial of Chad Daybell -Capitatum
Who’s who in the triple-murder trial of Chad Daybell
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 15:06:21
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Chad Daybell, a self-published doomsday fiction author, is on trial in Idaho in the deaths of his wife and his new girlfriend’s two children. It’s a complex triple-murder trial that investigators say involves unusual claims that the victims were possessed by evil spirits — and more typical claims related to life insurance and social security benefits.
The children’s mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, has already been sentenced to life in prison. But Chad Daybell has pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy and insurance fraud charges in the deaths of his late wife, Tammy Daybell, as well as the children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan. The trial is expected to take more than two months.
Here’s a look at some of the people connected to the case.
CHAD DAYBELL
Chad Daybell, 55, was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and self-published fiction loosely based on its teachings. He married Tammy Daybell in 1990. They had five kids and a home in rural southeastern Idaho.
Prosecutors say he met Vallow Daybell at a conference in Utah in 2018. They became a couple, insisting they had been married in a past life, police said. They led a group of friends in trying to cast out evil spirits by praying and doing what they called “energy work,” prosecutors said.
In some cases, they claimed, a person could become a “zombie,” and the only way to banish a zombie was to kill the person, friends said. One friend told police she heard Vallow Daybell call the children zombies before they disappeared.
In October 2019, Daybell reportedly told authorities that his wife had been battling a respiratory infection and died in her sleep. The death was initially attributed to natural causes, but authorities became suspicious when Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow Daybell just two weeks later.
Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed and an autopsy showed she died of asphyxiation.
LORI VALLOW DAYBELL
Lori Vallow Daybell, 50, is a beautician by trade, a mother of three and a wife — five times over. She was convicted last year of murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges and has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is also facing charges in Arizona related to the 2019 death of her fourth husband.
Vallow Daybell’s first marriage, to a high school sweetheart when she was 19, ended quickly. She married again in her early 20s and had a son. In 2001, Vallow Daybell married again, this time to a man named Joseph Ryan. The couple had a daughter named Tylee in 2002, but divorced a few years later. Ryan later died in his home of a suspected heart attack.
After her father’s death, Tylee received social security survivor benefits — which Vallow Daybell collected herself after Tylee disappeared in 2019.
During her sentencing, Vallow Daybell gave a long statement saying that “accidental deaths happen.” She claimed the spirits of the three victims visited her regularly and were all happy in the “spirit world.”
In summer 2019, after her fourth husband was shot to death by her brother, Vallow Daybell moved with her two youngest kids to southeastern Idaho, where she could be closer to Chad Daybell. That September, the children disappeared, and Chad and Tammy Daybell applied to increase Tammy Daybell’s life insurance benefit, prosecutors said.
Tammy Daybell died the next month.
The children’s bodies were found the following year, buried in Chad Daybell’s yard.
CHARLES VALLOW
Charles Vallow, a member of the LDS church, entered the picture several months after Vallow Daybell and Joseph Ryan divorced. Vallow Daybell joined the LDS church and the two married in 2006. They later adopted Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow.
By 2019, the marriage had soured. Charles Vallow filed for divorce, contending in court papers that Vallow Daybell believed herself to be a deity tasked with helping to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
The two were estranged but still married when Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles Vallow outside his suburban Phoenix home.
Cox told police the shooting was in self defense and was never charged in the case. Shortly after Charles’ death, Vallow Daybell moved to eastern Idaho with her brother and two children.
ALEX COX
Both Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell are accused of conspiring with Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, in the deaths. But Cox was never charged — he died suddenly in December 2019.
Autopsy and toxicology reports showed Cox died of a pulmonary blood clot, and law enforcement officials have said Cox’s death is believed to be from natural causes.
During Vallow Daybell’s trial, prosecutors presented several witnesses and pieces of evidence that appeared to tie Cox to the deaths, including GPS data on Cox’s phone that was traced to the places where the children’s bodies were found.
Prosecutors say Cox also tried to shoot Tammy Daybell in October 2019.
Friends of Cox and Vallow Daybell testified last year that the siblings were very close, and that Cox believed he was put on Earth to serve as Vallow Daybell’s “protector.”
Cox also believed people could be possessed and turn into zombies, his wife, Zulema Pastenes, testified. When Cox learned Tammy Daybell’s body was being exhumed, he said he was the “fall guy” but wouldn’t elaborate, Pastenes said. He died the next day.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Beware of giant spiders: Thousands of tarantulas to emerge in 3 states for mating season
- Ivanka Trump called to stand to testify today in New York fraud trial
- Democrat wins special South Carolina Senate election and will be youngest senator
- Several GOP presidential candidates vow to punish colleges, students protesting against Israel or for Hamas
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- 'The Golden Bachelor', 'Selling Sunset' and grieving on TV
- Holiday-Themed Jewelry That’s So Chic and Wearable You’ll Never Want to Take It Off
- The Angels have hired Ron Washington, the 71-year-old’s first job as MLB manager since 2014
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- NYC mayor retains lawyer in federal fundraising probe, but plays down concern
Ranking
- Meet 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao, the youngest Olympian competing in Paris
- Jeezy says he's 'disappointed' with Jeannie Mai divorce, Nia Long talks infidelity
- Russia, Iran, China likely to engage in new election interference efforts, Microsoft analysis finds
- Michigan couple back from Gaza, recall fear and desperation of being trapped amid war
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Turkey is marking its centennial. But a brain drain has cast a shadow on the occasion
- Former NFL Player Matt Ulrich Dead at 41
- Nets to catch debris during rainstorms removed from California town devastated by mudslides
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
CMA Awards 2023: See the Complete Winners List
Maren Morris Clarifies Her Plans in Country Music After Announcing She’ll Step Back
Maine looks to pay funeral costs for families of mass shooting victims
Taylor Swift Cancels Austria Concerts After Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack
Arizona woman dies after elk attack
Watch livestream: Pandas leaving the National Zoo in DC, heading back to China Wednesday
South Carolina naturalist Rudy Mancke, who shared how everyone is connected to nature, dies at 78