(CN) — A prosecutor in Idaho Tuesday described Chad Daybell, on trial for murder and other charges, as a “seemingly ordinary man” whose desire for sex, money and power led to the deaths of Tammy Daybell, and his wife Lori Vallow’s two youngest children: Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow.
Daybell, 55, faces several counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, grand theft by deception and insurance fraud. The charges stem from a bizarre series of events involving Daybell’s doomsday beliefs and the 2019 deaths of his former wife and the two youngest children of his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell.
His trial began Wednesday at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, where a newly sworn-in jury heard opening arguments and testimony from the first of several witnesses that will take the stand over the next eight to 10 weeks.
“Chad Daybell is an author who wrote books about the apocalypse,” said Madison County prosecuting attorney Rob Wood in his opening argument. “During this trial, you will hear a story more troubling. And the story is grim.”
Wood presented Daybell’s story in nine chapters, describing how his actions led to the murders of his first wife, and his second wife's 17 and 7-year-old children.
Lori Vallow, 50, was convicted of murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges arising from the same deaths in 2023. She is now serving three life sentences without parole and facing additional murder charges in the death of her former husband, Charles Vallow, and the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux, Vallow's niece's former husband.
Paralleling details from Vallow’s trial, Wood briefed the jury on how Daybell and Vallow met at a religious conference in October 2018 while they were still married to their former spouses.
Wood explained that Daybell married Tammy in 1990 after they met at Brigham Young University in Utah. The couple had five children and started a small publishing company before moving to Idaho.
“She was devoted to service, her community and her faith,” Wood said. “But for this defendant, that ordinary existence was not enough.”
Before Daybell and Vallow began their affair, Wood said Vallow had been a homemaker from Arizona who was married to her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Wood explained that the evidence against Daybell reveals why police found Vallow’s children buried on Daybell’s property in 2020.
“In his thirst for sex, power and money, Chad created an alternate reality where they call themselves James and Elena — names that Chad claimed were from past lives that they had put together,” Wood said.
The prosecutor cited Daybell’s text messages to Vallow, which allegedly detail Daybell’s captivation with Vallow’s beauty and their sexual encounters.
“More than anything else, Chad’s obsession with Lori was rooted in her adoration for him,” Wood said. “She was the mirror reflecting the grandeur he saw in himself. He called her an exalted goddess. He told her in writing that she had returned to Earth on a special mission.”
The remaining chapters of Wood’s opening argument touched on Daybell’s philosophy about dark spirits or “zombies” that required cleansing through death. Wood discussed Vallow’s now-deceased brother, Alex Cox, who murdered Charles Vallow and is suspected of trying to murder Brandon Boudreaux in Arizona on Oct. 2, 2019.
The prosecutor also noted how Daybell maxed out Tammy’s life insurance policy before her death and that Vallow expected to receive $1 million from Charles’ death benefits before realizing she was not a beneficiary.
The events Wood cites lead up to the moment police first questioned Vallow about her children’s disappearances on Nov. 26, 2019. At that point, Daybell and Vallow had already married in Hawaii mere weeks after Tammy’s death.
“I asked [Daybell] how he knew Lori and he stated he had only met her a couple of times and that he didn’t know her very well,” said Ray Hermosillo, a lieutenant detective of the Rexburg Police Department. Hermosillo was the only witness to testify on Wednesday.
He described Daybell’s anxious behavior when authorities executed a search warrant for his property on June 9, 2020 — the day they found skeletal remains with brown human hair.
“As soon as that was discovered, we received information on the radio that the defendant Daybell was leaving his daughter’s residence, which was kitty-cornered to his residence, at a high rate of speed,” Hermosillo said. “At that point, Mr. Daybell was pulled over and subsequently placed in custody.”
Daybell’s attorney, John Prior, said his client's bizarre beliefs and extramarital affair are coincidental to the crimes at hand. His defense of Daybell: he was influenced by a femme fatale.
Prior explained that, before Vallow, Daybell had a 29-year marriage with no discernable issues.
“Then Lori Vallow comes into the picture, Miss Texas,” Prior said while referencing Vallow’s 2004 pageant participation. “You’ll hear testimony about this beautiful vivacious woman, very sexual person and very manipulative. And she knows how to get what she wants.”
But while Prior did not deny the children’s murders and their burials on Daybell’s property, he refuted the portrayal of a backyard burial — opting to call it a pasture — and explained that DNA experts will testify that the evidence on the remains of JJ or Tylee is only connected to Vallow and her brother.
Additional experts, Prior said, will connect Alex to Daybell’s property with GPS data and remind the jury of how Tylee’s charred skeletal remains were incomplete. As for Tammy, Prior said a forensic pathologist will testify that there is no indication of foul play and that there is no conclusive way to determine her cause of death post-burial.
Prior also said that the Daybell children will testify to their mother’s poor health history and how she opted to use alternative medicine like “oils” and “herbs” instead of visiting a traditional physician.
If Daybell is found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
Idaho District Judge Steven Boyce is presiding over the trial, which will continue over the next few weeks. Witness testimony will resume Thursday morning.
Follow @alannamayhampdx
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