Chad Daybell sentenced to death for murdering his wife and his girlfriend’s children (2024)

BOISE, Idaho—

A jury in Idaho on Saturday unanimously agreed that convicted killer Chad Daybell deserves the death penalty for the gruesome murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children — ending a grim case that began in 2019 with a search for two missing children.

The 55-year-old Daybell, wearing a dress shirt and tie, sat with his hands in his lap at the defense table. He showed no emotion when learning he would face the death penalty for the murders of Tammy Daybell; 16-year-old Tylee Ryan; and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow.

The mother of the children is Lori Vallow Daybell, whom Chad Daybell married shortly after his wife’s death. Vallow Daybell was convicted last year in the three murders and is now awaiting trial in Arizona, charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was JJ’s father.

The case began in 2019, when a family member called police. Investigators soon realized both children were missing, and a multistate search ensued. Nearly a year later, their remains were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property. Tylee’s DNA was later found on a pickaxe and shovel in a shed on the property, and JJ’s body was wrapped in trash bags and duct tape, prosecutors have said.

During a nearly two-month-long trial, prosecutors said Chad Daybell, a self-published author who wrote doomsday-laced fiction, promoted unusual spiritual beliefs including apocalyptic prophecies and tales of possession by evil spirits in order to justify the killings.

Daybell’s defense attorney, John Prior, argued during the trial that there wasn’t enough evidence to tie Daybell to the killings, and suggested Vallow Daybell’s older brother, Alex Cox, was the culprit. Cox died in late 2019 and was never charged; Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Family members of the victims gave emotional statements during the sentencing hearing. JJ Vallow’s grandmother Kay Woodco*ck tearfully described how the 7-year-old would show empathy and compassion to others through soft touches and by frequently asking if those around him were OK. She also said Tylee was a doting big sister.

“I can’t express just how much I wish for more time to create memories,” Woodco*ck said, beginning to weep.

Vallow Daybell’s oldest child, Colby Ryan, described what it was like to lose his entire family. His father died years earlier.

“My three kids will never know the kindness of Tylee’s heart or JJ’s silly and goofy personality ... The only way I could describe the impact of their lives being lost is like a nuclear bomb dropping,” he said. “It’s not an overstatement to say that I lost everything.”

Idaho law allows for execution by lethal injection or firing squad, though firing squad executions have never been used in the state.