Husband of child-killer could face death penalty if convicted of murder

21 December 2023 , 09:29

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Chad Daybell faces the death penalty despite claiming his wife, who avoided execution, led the conspiracy (Image: AP)

A convicted killer’s husband has been issued a blow after prosecutors were told they can seek the death penalty against him.

Chad Daybell, the husband of Lori Vallow, is now set to stand trial for the murder of Lori Vallow Daybell’s children and his own ex-wife. Lori Vallow, the children’s mother, was sentenced in July to life in prison without the possibility of parole following the murder of her children Tylee Ashlyn Ryan, 16, and Joshua Jaxon "J.J." Vallow, 7. Daybell, 55 and Vallow, 50 were also charged with the murder of Daybell’s first wife, Tammy.

Tylee and JJ disappeared in September 2019, and when Vallow and Daybell were quizzed on JJ's whereabouts they claimed he was staying with a friend, Melanie Gibb in Arizona, who denied the claim. Vallow and Daybell travelled to Hawaii at the time to enjoy their recent marriage after the children went missing - meanwhile Tammy Daybell, Chad’s previous wife, was found dead in October 2019.

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Lori Vallow faces a second trial for the murder of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow (Ada County Sheriff's Office/AFP)

Chad Daybell is the author of over two dozen religious doomsday books (Rexberg Police Dept/ Handout)

Lori’s children’s remains were eventually found buried on Daybell’s Idaho property in June 2020, leading to the trail of evidence leading police to the crime. Daybell now faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to murder, insurance fraud and grand theft.

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But in November Daybell’s legal team requested that the death penalty be taken off the table, on the basis that Vallow did not face the death penalty even though she was “in charge” of the alleged conspiracy. The motion was denied by the courts.

Tylee Ryan, middle, and J.J. Vallow, left, enjoy a day out at Yellowstone National Park (FBI)

Lori Vallow has been sentenced to life in prison - but avoided the death penalty (Madison County Sheriff/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Along with the decision, Judge Steven Boyce wrote: "It is neither uncommon nor outright indicative of arbitrary or capricious application that co-defendants may face differing penalties. Throughout the two cases, Daybell has repeatedly raised the need for 'individualised consideration' given the 'mutually antagonistic' position between Vallow and Daybell.

"It has been individualised consideration of Daybell's right and desire to conduct additional DNA testing that persuaded this Court to sever the cases and afford Daybell additional time. At every critical stage of this case, the Court has been mindful of the need for individual consideration of each defendant's rights."

Tributes were paid to the murdered children on a fence opposite the property where their bodies were found (Getty Images)

Daybell waived his right to a speedy trial which is partly why the death penalty is still on the table for him, while Vallow was tried quickly and found guilty in May 2023. She didn’t face the death penalty because the judge agreed to remove it when new evidence emerged which couldn’t be looked at properly before trial.

This followed another request, this time from the Idaho state attorney, to consider changing the venue for Daybell’s trial due to the risk of an unfair and biassed jury, due to the extensive media coverage during Lori Vallow’s trial. Daybell objected to the motion and Judge Boyce said that "no additional evidence has been presented in support of the motion, which rests solely on argument”.

The saga has been turned into a Netflix show called Sins of Our Mother, with Charles Vallow, Colby Ryan and Lori Vallow above (Netflix)

"While the Court may draw its own reasonable inferences based on the experience of residing in Boise during the trial earlier this year, such inferences are not as compelling as empirical evidence that could have been submitted in support of the state's motion,” he added. Fremont County, the proposed new location, was not protected from media coverage of the case, Boyce pointed out.

Daybell, who has written over 20 books about doomsday events, will go on trial in April 2024. Lori Vallow will face a second trial for the alleged murder of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot in July 2019.

Alex Croft