BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho jury unanimously agreed Saturday that convicted murderer Chad Daybell deserves the death penalty for the gruesome murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children, ending a dark case that began in 2019 with a search for two missing children.
Daybell, 55, wearing a dress shirt and tie, sat with his hands in his lap at the defense table. He showed no emotion upon 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.
When asked by the judge if he wanted to make a statement, Daybell refused.
Jurors found him guilty on Thursday and decided on the death sentence after deliberating for just over a day.
The children’s mother is Lori Vallow Daybell, whom Chad Daybell married shortly after his wife’s death. Vallow Daybell was convicted last year of the three murders and is now awaiting trial in Arizona on murder charges in connection with the shooting death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Charles Vallow was JJ’s father.
The case began in 2019, when a family member called the police. Investigators soon realized the two children were missing and a multi-state search was launched. Almost a year later, his 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 said.
During a nearly two-month trial, prosecutors said Chad Daybell, a self-published author who wrote apocalyptic fiction, promoted unusual spiritual beliefs, including apocalyptic prophecies and stories of possession by evil spirits, in order to justify the killings.
“This has been a difficult case because of its complexity, both in telling the story of an investigation that spanned years, and in trying to figure out the best way to present it in a way that made sense to others,” said the district attorney. Fremont County, Lindsey Blake. she said outside the Boise courtroom after the sentencing.
Relatives of the victims welcomed the jury’s decision.
“This is the best justice we can get. And again, it doesn’t change the outcome, but it’s good news and brings closure to everyone who was hurt,” Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s oldest son, told reporters.
Larry Woodcock, JJ’s grandfather, thanked the judge, authorities and people who followed the case and shared their support over the years.
“You’re family,” he said. “I look at the faces and I’m going to tell you all: I’m going to miss you.”
“We saw justice,” he added. “Equal, honest and fair.”
Daybell’s defense attorney, John Prior, argued during the trial that there was not enough evidence to link Daybell to the murders and suggested that Vallow Daybell’s older brother, Alex Cox, was to blame. Cox died in late 2019 and was never charged, and Vallow Daybell was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
During the sentencing hearing, Prior asked jurors to judge Daybell on his life before he met Vallow Daybell, describing her as a bombshell that knocked him off the path to a healthy life. But Daybell also refused to offer any mitigating evidence during the sentencing hearing. Mitigating evidence is often used to encourage jurors to have sympathy for a defendant in an effort to show that a life sentence would be more appropriate than capital punishment.
Family members of the victims gave emotional statements to jurors. JJ Vallow’s grandmother, Kay Woodcock, tearfully described how the 7-year-old showed empathy and compassion for others through gentle touches and frequently asking if those around him were okay. She also said that Tylee was a loving big sister and that it warmed her heart to see them together.
“I can’t express how much I wish I had more time to make memories,” Woodcock said, beginning to cry.
Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s oldest son, described what it was like to lose his entire family. His father died years before.
“My three children will never know the kindness of Tylee’s heart or JJ’s silly, goofy personality… The only way I could describe the impact of the loss of their lives is like the dropping of a nuclear bomb,” he said . “It’s no exaggeration to say I lost everything.”
To impose the death penalty, jurors had to unanimously decide that Daybell met at least one of the “aggravating circumstances” that state law says qualifies someone for the death penalty. They also had to agree that these aggravating factors were not offset by any mitigating factors that could have lessened his culpability or justified a lesser sentence.
The jury decided there were aggravating factors, including a total disregard for human life and the murders being especially heinous and cruel.
Idaho law allows execution by lethal injection or firing squad, although executions by firing squad have never been used in the state.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
