REXBURG, Idaho — The trial of Chad Daybell is set to begin on Monday as jury selection gets underway. Daybell, a 55-year-old man, is facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly plotting with his wife, Lori Vallow, to kill his first wife and Vallow’s two children. Vallow has already been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her two youngest children, as well as Daybell’s first wife.
Vallow, who is currently in Arizona awaiting trial on additional charges, is accused of conspiring to kill her estranged husband and her niece’s ex-husband. The case took a shocking turn when Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles Vallow. Cox claimed self-defense and was never charged in the case before his death from natural causes.
Chad Daybell, a former publisher and author of fictional books with apocalyptic themes, is now married to Lori Vallow. He gained attention for hosting a podcast about preparing for a doomsday scenario and claiming to have received visions from “beyond the veil.” Investigators became suspicious when Daybell married Vallow just two weeks after his first wife’s death in 2019.
Vallow and her children moved to Idaho to be with her new husband. It was there that the bodies of her two children were discovered buried in shallow graves in Daybell’s backyard in 2020. Daybell is facing charges of criminal conspiracy, first-degree murder, and insurance fraud for the deaths of Vallow’s children and his first wife.
Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s first wife, died in 2019, just weeks before his marriage to Lori Vallow. Initially believed to have died of natural causes, an autopsy later revealed that she died of asphyxiation. The investigation also uncovered text messages between Chad and Lori discussing Tammy’s possession by a spirit named Viola.
Despite Lori Vallow having the death penalty taken off the table, Chad Daybell is still facing the possibility of the death sentence. His attorney, John Prior, expressed readiness for the trial and the desire to tell Daybell’s side of the story. As jury selection begins, the trial will shed light on the gruesome details surrounding the deaths of Vallow’s children and Chad Daybell’s first wife.
(This article was rewritten in AP News Style format with no direct quotes or citing of any news organization.)