Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s 2 children in jury decision

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A jury in Idaho unanimously agreed Saturday that convicted killer Chad Daybell deserves the loss of life penalty for the grotesque murders of his spouse and his girlfriend’s two youngest kids, ending a grim case that started in 2019 with a seek for two lacking kids.

The 55-year-old Daybell, sporting a costume shirt and tie, sat together with his arms in his lap on the protection desk. He confirmed no emotion when studying he would face the loss of life penalty for the murders of Tammy Daybell, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow.

When requested by the decide whether or not he wished to make a press release, Daybell declined.

Jurors discovered him responsible Thursday and selected the loss of life sentence after deliberating for simply over a day.

The mom of the kids is Lori Vallow Daybell, whom Chad Daybell married shortly after his spouse’s loss of life. Vallow Daybell was convicted final 12 months within the three murders and is now awaiting trial in Arizona, charged with homicide in reference to the taking pictures loss of life of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Charles Vallow was JJ’s father.

The case started in 2019, when a member of the family referred to as police. Investigators quickly realized each kids have been lacking, and a multistate search ensued. Almost a 12 months later, their stays have been discovered buried on Chad Daybell’s property. Tylee’s DNA was later discovered on a pickaxe and shovel in a shed on the property, and JJ’s physique was wrapped in trash baggage and duct tape, prosecutors have mentioned.

Throughout an almost two-month-long trial, prosecutors mentioned Chad Daybell, a self-published creator who wrote doomsday-laced fiction, promoted uncommon non secular beliefs together with apocalyptic prophecies and tales of possession by evil spirits so as to justify the killings.

“This has been a tricky case due to its complexity, each in telling the story of an investigation that spanned years and attempting to determine one of the best ways to current it in a method that might make sense to others,” Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake mentioned outdoors the Boise courthouse after the sentencing.

Kin of the victims welcomed the jury’s choice.

“That is the perfect justice we will presumably get. And once more, it doesn’t change the end result, however it’s excellent news, and it brings closure for everyone that’s been harm,” Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s oldest little one, instructed reporters.

Larry Woodcock, JJ’s grandfather, thanked the decide, legislation enforcement and the individuals who have adopted the case and shared their assist over time.

“You might be household,” he mentioned. “I have a look at the faces, and I’m going to let you know all: I’m going to overlook you.”

“We noticed justice,” he added. “Equal, sincere and righteous.”

Daybell’s protection lawyer, John Prior, argued throughout the trial that there wasn’t sufficient proof to tie Daybell to the killings, and advised Vallow Daybell’s older brother, Alex Cox, was the wrongdoer. Cox died in late 2019 and was by no means charged, and Vallow Daybell was convicted final 12 months and sentenced to life in jail with out parole.

In the course of the sentencing listening to, Prior requested the jurors to evaluate Daybell on his life earlier than he met Vallow Daybell, describing her as a bomb that blew him off the trajectory of an in any other case healthful life. However Daybell additionally declined to supply any mitigating proof throughout the sentencing listening to. Mitigating proof is commonly used to encourage jurors to have sympathy for a defendant in an effort to indicate {that a} life sentence can be extra applicable than capital punishment.

Members of the family of the victims gave emotional statements to the jurors. JJ Vallow’s grandmother, Kay Woodcock, tearfully described how the 7-year-old would present empathy and compassion to others by gentle touches and by steadily asking if these round him have been OK. She additionally mentioned Tylee was a doting large sister, and that it warmed her coronary heart to see them collectively.

“I can’t categorical simply how a lot I want for extra time to create recollections,” Woodcock mentioned, starting to weep.

Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s oldest little one, described what it was prefer to lose his total household. His father died years earlier.

“My three youngsters won’t ever know the kindness of Tylee’s coronary heart or JJ’s foolish and goofy character … The one method I may describe the impression of their lives being misplaced is sort of a nuclear bomb dropping,” he mentioned. “It’s not an overstatement to say that I misplaced every thing.”

To impose the loss of life penalty, the jurors needed to unanimously discover that Daybell met at the very least one of many “aggravating circumstances” that state legislation says qualifies somebody for capital punishment. Additionally they needed to agree that these aggravating components weren’t outweighed by any mitigating components that may have lessened his culpability or justified a lesser sentence.

The jury determined there have been aggravating components together with an utter disregard for human life and the murders being particularly heinous and merciless.

Idaho legislation permits for execution by deadly injection or firing squad, although firing squad executions have by no means been used within the state.

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