This is a breaking news story. Return to idahostatesman.com for updates.
To sign up for breaking news alerts, click here.
Chad Daybell has been sentenced to death.
The decision to sentence the 55-year-old Rexburg man to death for the murders of his then-wife and his new wife’s two children came after a nearly two-month trial that included evidence from more than 70 witnesses, many of whom also called during the criminal trial of his wife and co-conspirator Lori Vallow Daybell. The 50-year-old mother was convicted of similar charges in May 2023 and sentenced to life in prison.
The Daybells, who had a months-long affair before marrying on a beach in Hawaii, were initially scheduled to be tried together in a double-murder trial. Their cases were eventually separated due to new DNA evidence and just before Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial, the judge removed the death penalty as an option after prosecutors submitted large amounts of evidence after deadlines, raising concerns about the defense’s ability to to prepare for the process.
“The jury has determined that it would be appropriate to impose the death penalty,” 7th District Judge Boyce said in court Saturday. “The court has determined that the suspect will be sentenced to death on these counts.”
The 12-member jury deliberated for about six hours over two days and found the murders were “particularly heinous, atrocious or cruel and showed exceptional depravity,” according to the verdict form read out by the clerk in court. The jury found that Chad Daybell “displayed total disregard for human life” and had a “propensity to commit murder,” which could pose a threat to society.
The jurors also found that Chad Daybell committed the murders for pay.
The same jurors convicted the 55-year-old father Thursday of all eight felony charges, including the first-degree murder of his then-wife Tammy Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children: 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old… Tylee Ryan. He was also convicted of three counts of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of insurance fraud for increasing Tammy Daybell’s life insurance coverage.
In August 2019, Vallow Daybell moved from Arizona to Rexburg just months after her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed. In the months that followed, her children went missing and Tammy Daybell died in her home.
Tammy Daybell’s death was not initially investigated as suspicious, but her body was exhumed two months later when Utah’s chief medical examiner performed an autopsy and ruled her death a homicide.
After a lengthy investigation, Rexburg police discovered the bodies of JJ and Tylee in June 2020. Tylee’s burned and dismembered remains and JJ’s bound body were buried in shallow graves on Chad Daybell’s property in eastern Idaho.
