Jurors weigh death penalty after finding Chad Daybell guilty of three murders
A day after delivering a guilty verdict in Chad Daybell맥스카지노s murder trial, an Idaho jury on Friday began deliberating whether he will face the death penalty for killing his first wife and two of his second wife맥스카지노s children.
Daybell was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and two of his second wife맥스카지노s children 맥스카지노 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua 맥스카지노JJ맥스카지노 Vallow 맥스카지노 in a case prosecutors claim was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.
The sentencing phase of Daybell맥스카지노s trial began shortly after the guilty verdict was delivered, with state Judge Steven Boyce giving jurors preliminary instructions. Jurors began deliberating his fate Friday afternoon after hearing victim impact statements and contrasting portraits of the man from lawyers.
In his opening statement to the jury on Friday, prosecutor Rob Wood asked them to consider aggravating factors that would make Daybell eligible for the death penalty.
First, the three murders, he said, were committed for remuneration. Daybell was also convicted of insurance fraud stemming from life insurance policies that allegedly paid him money after his first wife맥스카지노s death. His second wife, as well as Daybell, also were convicted of grand theft because she continued to draw Social Security benefits for her children after their deaths.
Additionally, Wood told the jury, that the murders of the three victims were 맥스카지노especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.맥스카지노
맥스카지노This defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life,맥스카지노 Wood added. 맥스카지노The defendant, by his conduct, whether such conduct was before, during or after the commission of the murders at hand, has exhibited a propensity to commit murder, which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.맥스카지노
The prosecutor concluded, 맥스카지노It is your decision whether one or more of these aggravators has been proven. And if it has been, you must decide if, under these circumstances, imposition of the death penalty would be just or unjust.맥스카지노
The verdict came about a year after Daybell맥스카지노s second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was also convicted of the murder of her children and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also convicted of conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Vallow Daybell has appealed her convictions to the state Supreme Court, with her legal team raising the issue of whether she was mentally competent to stand trial.
Authorities have said they believe Tylee and JJ were killed in September 2019 맥스카지노 the month they were last reported to have been seen 맥스카지노 and that Tammy Daybell was found dead in her Idaho home on Oct. 19, 2019, a few weeks before Chad Daybell married Vallow Daybell.
Addressing the jury Friday, defense lawyer John Prior portrayed Daybell as a once 맥스카지노quiet, reserved, shy young man맥스카지노 who grew up in Springville, Utah, a small, tight-knit 맥스카지노town of faith.맥스카지노 Daybell, his lawyer said, met his first wife, Tammy, and they were married for 29 years, raising five 맥스카지노wonderful맥스카지노 children 맥스카지노very deep in their faith, very deep in their commitment to family.맥스카지노
But Daybell맥스카지노s life changed in late 2018, Prior said, when he met Vallow Daybell, who had already been married multiple times.
맥스카지노Everything that glitters is not gold,맥스카지노 he told jurors. 맥스카지노Lori Vallow glittered. She was not gold. She was the trajectory that changed the plan맥스카지노 Chaos hits and all of these things start cascading and this thing becomes very complicated and difficult.맥스카지노
Prior said the new relationship with Vallow was like 맥스카지노this bomb dropped맥스카지노 on the life of 맥스카지노the small town boy from Springville.맥스카지노
맥스카지노We have to look back at that,맥스카지노 he said. 맥스카지노You examine what Chad Daybell맥스카지노s past was prior to the bomb being dropped, the Lori Vallow bomb being dropped맥스카지노 If it wasn맥스카지노t for that trajectory coming in and changing the path, is this where we would be going? It맥스카지노s not where we맥스카지노d be going.맥스카지노
맥스카지노There맥스카지노s a hole in my heart맥스카지노
Jurors also heard from relatives of the victims on Friday.
맥스카지노It makes me angry and it destroys me to know Tammy was treated how she was,맥스카지노 Tammy Daybell맥스카지노s father, Ron Douglas, told jurors. 맥스카지노I find it comforting to know that Tammy is resting peacefully in Utah, buried alone and near her beloved mother.맥스카지노
Kay Woodcock spoke about her grandson JJ and her step-niece Tylee.
맥스카지노I sit here today and try and explain the immense pain that me and everyone in my family continues to endure daily,맥스카지노 she said. 맥스카지노But how do I do that?맥스카지노
맥스카지노I can tell you there have been too many situations in the past few years where we were slammed with the fact that JJ won맥스카지노t hit another milestone,맥스카지노 she said of her grandson. 맥스카지노The constant question remains: Who would he have become? What kind of man would he have been?맥스카지노
Woodcock remembered Tylee as 맥스카지노the most precious, blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl맥스카지노 and an 맥스카지노absolute mama맥스카지노s girl.맥스카지노
Woodcock added, breaking into tears: 맥스카지노There맥스카지노s a hole in my heart, in the hearts of every member of my family, that can never be filled and will remain for the rest of my life.맥스카지노
Tylee맥스카지노s aunt, Annie Cushing, remembered her walking around the house singing with 맥스카지노the voice of an angel.맥스카지노
맥스카지노Tylee had her whole life ahead of her. She had dignity, she had dreams, she had goals. This defendant stole all of that,맥스카지노 Cushing said.
Kelsee Douglas, Tammy맥스카지노s sister-in-law, told jurors that 맥스카지노pain, fractured relationships and unhealed wounds are all part of the aftermath맥스카지노 of the murders.
맥스카지노This is the legacy of anguish and sorrow that will haunt our family for generations,맥스카지노 she added.
Tammy맥스카지노s brother, Michael Douglas, lamented that 맥스카지노the nightmare fodder I have been provided will last me a lifetime.맥스카지노
Daybell declined to address the court after the victim impact statements.
Law enforcement found the remains of Tylee and JJ on Chad Daybell맥스카지노s Fremont County property , authorities said.
맥스카지노It맥스카지노s a sad day. JJ would have been 12 years old,맥스카지노 JJ맥스카지노s grandfather, Larry Woodcock, said after the verdict Thursday.
Woodcock remembered the victims, and asked the same question, over and over.
맥스카지노What did they accomplish? Nothing. What did they do? They destroyed families,맥스카지노 Woodcock said of Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell.
But the defendants, Larry Woodcock said, could not destroy the memories relatives have of the victims. 맥스카지노They can맥스카지노t take that,맥스카지노 he added, growing emotional at one point. When he heard the jury verdict in court, he said, he felt like he couldn맥스카지노t breathe.
맥스카지노Sex, money and power맥스카지노 were key focuses in the trial
During opening statements, the prosecutor and defense attorney painted contrasting portraits of the defendant.
The state described him as a power-hungry and grandiose man who would stop at nothing for 맥스카지노what he considered his rightful destiny.맥스카지노 His defense lawyer portrayed Daybell as a religious man driven into an unfortunate relationship by a 맥스카지노beautiful, vivacious woman맥스카지노 who knew 맥스카지노how to get what she wants.맥스카지노
맥스카지노Two dead children buried in the defendant Chad Daybell맥스카지노s backyard,맥스카지노 Wood said in his first words to the jury at the start of trial.
맥스카지노The next month his wife is found dead in their marital bed. Seventeen days after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell, this defendant is photographed laughing and dancing on a beach in Hawaii at his wedding to Lori Vallow, a woman who was his mistress and the mother of the children buried in the graves on his property. Three dead bodies.맥스카지노
When Daybell 맥스카지노had a chance at what he considered his rightful destiny,맥스카지노 Wood said, he 맥스카지노made sure that no person and no law would stand in his way.맥스카지노
맥스카지노His desire for sex, money and power led him to pursue those ambitions,맥스카지노 the prosecutor added. 맥스카지노And this pursuit led to the deaths of his wife and Lori맥스카지노s two innocent children.맥스카지노
Tammy Daybell was initially believed to have died in her sleep, and Chad Daybell remarried less than three weeks after her death in 2019.
Prior said Daybell맥스카지노s life began to change after he met Vallow Daybell, a 맥스카지노beautifully stunning woman맥스카지노 who 맥스카지노starts giving him a lot of attention맥스카지노 and eventually lured him into an 맥스카지노inappropriate맥스카지노 and 맥스카지노unfortunate맥스카지노 extramarital relationship.
Vallow Daybell맥스카지노s two children from a previous marriage were last seen on different days in September 2019. Tylee Ryan was a 맥스카지노normal, vibrant teenage girl맥스카지노 who loved her friends and her little brother, JJ, was on the autism spectrum and required special care, according to Wood.
In late November 2019, relatives asked police in Rexburg, Idaho, to do a welfare check on JJ because they hadn맥스카지노t talked to him recently. Police didn맥스카지노t find him at the family맥스카지노s house but did see Vallow Daybell and Daybell, who said JJ was staying with a family friend in Arizona, according to authorities.
When police returned with a search warrant the next day, the couple was gone. They were ultimately found in Hawaii in January 2020.
In June 2020, law enforcement officials found the remains of Tylee and JJ on Daybell맥스카지노s property in Fremont County, Idaho. Vallow Daybell and Daybell were indicted on murder charges in May 2021.
Tylee was believed to have been killed between Sept. 8 and 9, 2019, and JJ between Sept. 22 and 23, according to prosecutors.
맥스카지노We are filled with unfathomable sadness that these two bright stars were stolen from us, and only hope that they died without pain or suffering,맥스카지노 the families of the children said in a statement after the remains were found.
CNN맥스카지노s Taylor Romine and Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.