Human remains found at Chad Daybell’s property amid search for missing children
The human remains found on an Idaho property are Lori Vallow's missing children, family says; Attorney Andrew Stoltmann weighs in.
Lori Vallow, the Idaho woman accused of killing her two kids, and her new husband, Chad Daybell, were in court on Wednesday for their first appearance since the news that both have been charged with murder in the bizarre case intertwined with doomsday-themed religious beliefs.
Daybell made his initial appearance in court Wednesday morning local time alongside his attorney. He wore a white shirt and a red tie with his hair slicked back – and appeared to smile and laugh as the judge asked if he could hear him. He spoke only when prompted by Judge Faren Eddins. He waived a formal reading of his indictment and was not offered bail. His official arraignment is scheduled for the morning of June 9.
Meanwhile, Vallow appeared only briefly, with her hair down, wearing a blue face mask and a blue shirt. She did not speak and her initial appearance was cut short due to "exigent circumstances" brought to the judge beforehand, Eddins said. Additional details regarding the reasoning were not clear. The new date for her initial appearance was not immediately specified.
Prosecutors announced murder charges against Lori Vallow, 46, and her husband, Chad Daybell in the deaths of her two children. (Madison County Sheriff's Office)
LORI VALLOW, CHAD DAYBELL INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN CONNECTION TO HER CHILDREN'S DEATHS
They were each indicted by a grand jury Monday on multiple counts each of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder related to the deaths of Vallow's two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, who was 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, officials announced Tuesday.
Daybell also faces a first-degree murder charge for the death of his former wife, Tamara "Tammy" Daybell, and two counts of insurance fraud. Vallow was also hit with a grand theft charge related to the Social Security benefits for her children, according to court papers shared online by East Idaho News.
Both suspects were already behind bars while awaiting trial on charges that they conspired to destroy, alter or conceal evidence related to Tylee and JJ’s remains. Both have pleaded not guilty.
"We know many members of the community may feel that progress on this case has been slow," said Lindsey Blake, Fremont County prosecutor. "Due to the ongoing safety restrictions imposed by the courts during the pandemic, we just recently were given permission to present information to the grand jury for their review."
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Tylee and JJ’s remains were discovered in June 2020 buried in Daybell’s backyard in Fremont County, Idaho. The kids disappeared in September 2019 and were not seen for several months before their remains were recovered. Vallow allegedly never reported them missing.
The complex case began in 2018, according to the indictment, when Chad and Lori Daybell – both still married to other people – began espousing their apocalyptical system of religious belief. Things may have begun to publicly unravel in the summer of 2019, however, when Lori Daybell’s brother Alex Cox shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in suburban Phoenix.
Cox asserted the shooting was in self-defense, and he was never charged. At the time, Charles Vallow was seeking a divorce, saying his wife believed she had become a god-like figure who was responsible for ushering in the biblical end of times.
Cox later died of an apparent blood clot in his lung.
Shortly after Charles Vallow’s death, Lori Daybell – then still Lori Vallow – and her children moved to Idaho, where Chad Daybell lived. He ran a small publishing company, releasing doomsday-focused fiction books loosely based on the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also recorded podcasts about preparing for the apocalypse, and friends said he claimed to be able to receive visions from "beyond the veil."
At the time, Chad Daybell was married to Tammy Daybell, a fit 49-year-old school librarian who helped him run the publishing company. She died in October of 2019. Her obituary said she died in her sleep of natural causes.
Authorities grew suspicious when Chad Daybell remarried just two weeks later, and they had Tammy Daybell’s body exhumed in Utah in December. The results of that autopsy have not been released.
The grand jury alleged that the Daybells and Cox conspired with other unnamed people to kill the children, and that they planned to steal the Social Security survivor benefits that the children were entitled to because of the deaths of their fathers. Tylee Ryan’s father died in 2018 of a reported heart attack.
The indictment also alleges the Daybells and Cox conspired to kill Tammy Daybell, and that Cox even practiced shooting, going to a gun range and searching the internet for information about bullet velocity and shooting through vehicles.
Two weeks before her death, Tammy Daybell told the Fremont County sheriff’s office that someone dressed in black and wearing a ski mask shot at her with what she thought was a paintball gun. She wasn’t hit, and with no evidence, law enforcement attributed the incident to a prankster.
Chad and Lori Daybell exchanged text messages saying that Tammy Daybell had been possessed by a spirit named "Viola," according to the indictment, and that she was in "Limbo." The allegations are similar to testimony from a friend of the Daybells who previously said in court that Lori Daybell referred to her children as "zombies."
The friend, Melanie Gibb, said the term referred to someone whose mortal spirit has left their body, allowing it to be possessed by another "dark spirit."
If convicted, Chad and Lori Daybell could face life in prison or the death penalty. Under Idaho law, prosecutors have 60 days to decide whether they will seek the death penalty.
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
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