Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘Doomsday Cult’ Prophet Murder Trial: 6 Shocking Moments from Opening Statements

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

Chad Daybell, husband of convicted killer Lori Vallow Daybell, is on trial in Idaho for allegedly killing his first wife and two of his new wife’s children. During their opening statements, the prosecution and defense laid out what the jury can expect to see and hear over the next several weeks. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber recaps the case and the top moments from day one of the trial. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lcsidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. This defendant believed he had a right beyond the ordinance. When he had a chance of what he considered his rightful destiny, he made sure that no person and no law can stand in his way. Don't be distracted by speculation. Don't be distracted by guesses. or assumptions, or hunches, it all comes down to facts and evidence.

It is part two of the Lori Valo-Daybell and Chad Daybell case, the extremist couple who skyrocketed to notoriety when two children were reported missing and later found dead. Lori Valo-Dabell faced trial, was convicted, sentenced to prison, but will her husband Chad Daybell meet the same fate? We're dissecting opening statements and what we can expect during Daybell's trial over the next 10 weeks. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. It was a strange love story that became a missing person's case, that then became three homicides. Idaho prosecutors charged Chad Daybell and his wife, Lori Valo Daybell, with the deaths of Lori's children, 7-year-old J.J. Valo and 16-year-old Tiley Ryan, as well as Chad's deceased wife, 49-year-old Tammy Daybell. Now, the children's bodies, they were found buried on Chad's property on June 9, 2020, more than six months after they were reported missing. And during that time, Lori and Chad, they refused to tell family members or authorities where the children were. As for Tammy, it was believed at first that she had died in her sleep from natural causes, but upon further investigation and a second autopsy, it was determined that she had been murdered, saying that she died by asphyxiation at the hands of another. is actually charged with her first-degree murder. Now, there was always speculation, and the evidence suggests,

that Lori's brother Alex Cox was the person who helped carry out the actual killings of the kids. In fact, there is a photograph of him at Yellowstone National Park with Tiley and JJ on September 8th, 2019, right before when investigators say the kids were killed. It's actually believed that he may have deposited their bodies on Chad's property the next day. After all, we heard evidence that Cox's phone was near the daybell property on that day. But here's the thing about Alex Cox. He isn't around to defend himself. No, he died from a blood clot.

So Lori and Chad, they were each charged with several counts, including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. A judge determined that the two cases would be severed. They would be separated. Lori's trial happened first back in April and May of last year. prosecutors argued that Lori participated in the murders for several reasons. First, that she wanted to live a free life with Chad, two, for financial gain because she would collect her children's social security benefits while Chad collected life insurance benefits on Tammy's death.

And three, and this is the really big one, that she and Chad felt justified through their extreme religious beliefs that there were dark spirits out there. Yeah, that people could be identified as good or evil and that the kids were. were possessed, and you have to get those demons out. Yeah, let me amplify that for a minute. So our understanding is Chad worked in cemeteries for years and then became an author writing about the apocalypse and doomsday, these religious theme narratives.

So Chad and Lori, they end up meeting in 2018 at a conference and later came to believe that they had been married in a past life. They had an affair. And tying in with this idea that they wanted to live a full, free life, One of the most devastating pieces of evidence is that just two weeks after Tammy Daybell dies and while the kids are missing, Lori and Chad are in Hawaii. Yes, they get married. Pictures of them on the beach happy, smiling.

Isn't that so nice? The woman that he had been married to since 1990 dies and he's frolicking around. Definitely didn't help Lori Valu Daibel in her case. I can't imagine that's going to help Chad Daybell and his. While she was awaiting trial, another piece of evidence was that Lori's jailhouse phone calls were recorded. And her only living son, Colby Ryan, calls her after the kid's bodies are found. And he's pleading with her for answers and an explanation. And at one point, she actually laughs.

She laughs at him. According to Lori's own text messages, she believed that her children were demons that needed to be destroyed. A jury ultimately found Lori guilty on all counts, including murdering her own children, as well as conspiring to murder J.J. Tiley and Tammy. During her sentencing hearing, Lori made a statement, but really didn't show much remorse. I have had many communications with Jesus Christ, the Savior of this world, and our heavenly parents. I've had many angelic visitors have come and communicated with me and even manifested themselves to me. Because of these communications, I know for a fact that my children are happy and

and busy in the spirit world. Because of my communications with my friend Tammy Daybell, I know that she is also very happy and extremely busy. I have always mourned the loss of my loved ones and I have lost many in this mortal world. However, I know more than most people. I know where they are now and what they're doing. I know how wonderful heaven is and I'm homesick for it. every single day. I know we all lived in heaven before we were born on earth, and we were all adult spirits in the heavenly realm. We chose to come to earth as mortals. Heaven is more wonderful than you can possibly imagine. I do not fear death, but I look forward to it. Judge Stephen Boye sentenced Lori Valo Debel to life in prison for each of the murder and conspiracy charges to be served consecutively.

So now, nearly a year later, it is time for Chad to once again step into the spotlight. And now 55-year-old has entered a not-guilty plea. And unlike his wife's trial, the death penalty is on the table for him. So this is going to be a longer trial, a more complicated task for this jury if they ultimately convict him. But let's talk about the beginning of the case. So on Monday, after a few days of jury selection, Chad's trial finally got underway, beginning with opening statements opening statements so important in a case they laid the groundwork for what's to come I know they're not evidence but they can definitely persuade jurors one way or another so the prosecution

which has the burden of proof they went first and rob wood the prosecutor laid out these chilling accusations against chad davelle grand procedure yes two dead children buried in the defendant chad davelle's backyard in September of 2019 The next month, his wife is found dead in their marital bed. 17 days after the death of his wife, Tammy Daveau, this defendant is photographed, laughing and dancing on a beach in Hawaii at his wedding. It's Lori Valo, a woman who was his mistress and the mother of the children buried in the graves on his property. Three dead bodies.

This defendant believed he had a right beyond the ordinance. When he had a chance of what he considered his rightful destiny, he made sure that no person and no law would stand in his way. His desire for sex, money, and power led him to pursue those ambitions. And this pursuit led to the deaths of his wife and loried his two menaceant children. Now, in my legal opinion, great way to lay out an opening statement. You tell the jury the most important series of events right at the outset, what this case is about.

And from there, Prosecutor Rob Wood does something very interesting. He kind of plays in the idea of Chad as an author in relation to this wild story that is the case. Chad Dayville is an author who wrote tell, who wrote books about the apocalypse. During this trial, you will hear a story more troubling when the story is real. Chapter 1. The defendant was a seemingly ordinary man. You'll see that he craves and his defense. He worked in journalism, and he worked as a sexton in a graveyard.

He married his wife Tammy in 1990, after meeting at Riddle Young University, and they settled in Utah. As a full-time homemaker and mother, Tammy's love for her family was foundless. Together, Tammy and the defendant started a small publishing company, which Tammy supported in many ways. They had five children together. They moved to Idaho, where Tammy became a beloved school librarian. She was demoted to service, her community, and her family. but for this defendant, that ordinary existence was not enough. Chapter 2. Lori Valo was a homemaker from Arizona.

She was married to her fourth husband, Charles Valo, and she was the mother to Tiley Ryan and J.J. Valo. Tiley was a normal, vibrant teenage girl. She loved her friends. You'll hear that she loved her Jeep. She loved Chiple. She loved her little brother, JJ. JJ was a seven-year-old boy on the autism spec. He required extensive special care need.

He loved his sister. You'll hear about a pivotal date that set in motion the deaths of Tammy, Eileen, J.J. October 26, 2018. That was a day when Chad Dayville and Lori Vala met at a religious conference in St. George, Yola, where they were introduced by mutual acquaintance. At this time, both still married to other spouses. That introduction, set in motion, the reality you're going to hear about.

So that theme of chapters that Chad is an author. Well, let's break this story down into chapters. And at the same time, he's showing JJ entirely these two innocent children humanizing these victims for the jury. And from there, Wood talked about Lori and Chad's extreme beliefs, which again was a purported motive to kill. Chapter 3. You'll hear that in the world that Chad and Lori planned for themselves, they identified those who stood in the way of their dream as dark, their spouses, Lori's own children, and any who oppose them were labeled sometimes as dark spirits or even zombies. This was more than an alleged

belief of frightening labor. The evidence will show that it was a convenient narrative that humanized people who stood in their way and were labeled as obstacles. This narrative gave them the pretext to remove people from this world for their own day. Prosecutor Wood tells the jury that he plans to present evidence like forensics, DNA, messages, recordings, and more. Members of the jury, days are probably weeks from now, when the evidence in this trial is fully unfolded, we will have the opportunity to speak with you again. And at that time, we will ask you to end this horrible narrative.

Your verdict will be the link that writes the final chapter of this trial. A chapter that delivers justice for Tandy, justice for JJ, and justice for title. Whenever I think about this case, it just always reminds me of you have to be careful about who you're letting into your life. You have to know who you're surrounding yourself with, right? Well, that is why I want to call out our great sponsor here on sidebar, truthfinder.com. This is a service that can provide actual safety for you guys. Why do I say that? Because TruthFinder is one of the largest public record search services in the whole world.

Their goal is to help people like you learn what's going on with the people in their lives. Here's how it works. You go on their website, truthfinder.com, and you type in a name. Any name. Make it simple. You can type in my name, Jesse Weber, 1B. Don't make the mistake. Who has two Bs?

Anyway, you say you type in my name and within minutes you get access to reports that include information like phone numbers, addresses, associates, previous arrests, criminal convictions. No, I don't have any of those. But you know what's really useful is if you type in an address, let's say your home address or let's say you're about to move somewhere, you type in that address and it tells you the registered sex offenders that may live in that area too. That's the point. Unless you use TruthFinder, you may never know the reality about the people around you. And think about it. Let's say you make a new friend or you're about to start dating someone. Maybe you're about

to buy something from someone online. TruthFinder is the way to find out what these people are about before letting them into your life. And I also think it's a great resource to use to reconnect with maybe long lost friends or family members because TruthFinder can help you track those people down, track down their information. And right now, you can get 50% off of confidential background reports. You just go to truthfinder.com slash LC sidebar. 50% off. I hope you check it out. And after a short break, Chad's defense attorney, John Pryor, delivered his opening statement. Now remember, despite all of this, despite what we heard in Lori's case, despite what we've read in the media, he is innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution still has their burden,

still has to prove their case. But what is the defense for Chad Daybell? Well, listen very carefully to who he puts the blame on. So I'm just going to talk to you a little bit about my view of the case and the facts and evidence. And what's important are facts and evidence? I think that when we went through the jury selection process, we talked about facts and we talked about evidence. And the judge gave you an instruction to talk to you a little bit about you take into consideration the facts of this case, not be distracted by other things. Don't be distracted by speculation.

Don't be distracted by guesses or assumptions or hunches. It all comes down to facts and evidence. In about October of 2018, Chad was going out and he was invited by one of the witnesses that you hear in this case to speak about his books. And this was not uncommon. He would travel and he would be asked to say, well, come and talk about some of the things that you believe in. You talked about these premonitions, life experiences. You're going to hear testimony about that. And he was invited on one particular occasion in late October.

And he attended this. And while he was there trying to sell his books, and like most of us who are business people, the focus of these meetings really was for Chad to try to get his books published because that's how he made a living. And he was there in one of his booths trying to promote his books and laid them out there. And this beautifully stunning woman,

when Lori Valor comes up and she starts getting him a lot of attention and she pursued him and she encouraged him. You'll hear testimony that she went so far as to grab behind the booth and sort of help him and trying to sell some of his books. She obviously had an interest

and maybe she felt that he was this publisher or maybe she had an opinion in your testimony about that. You see what he's doing here? You see what John Pryor's doing? Lori is the one who pursued Chad. She is in the driver's. seat. She is the manipulative one. But it wasn't just Lori that Chad threw the blame on or seems

to throw the blame on, but also her brother Alex Cox. Again, the guy who's dead. Prior says Alex Cox would do anything for his sister, that he was the protector, that if there was a problem for Lori, Alex would come running to the rescue. And it is so interesting because both the prosecution and the defense are basically arguing that Alex Cox was involved. that he was probably the one who physically carried out these crimes, but they disagree on Chad's involvement. And speaking of that, how can Chad argue a way that the kids' bodies were found on his property?

Take a listen. After that, things started rolling. Issues started happening, but eventually, yes, there was a murder, and there was a burial. And you've heard discussion about the backyard of Chad Daybaugh. We have a four-and-a-acre farm in Fremont County, Idaho. And you'll hear testimony that the body of JJ Valo was discovered behind an irrigation pond and a tree out in the pasture. So technically, yes, maybe the backyard, but more accurately described as the pasture hidden behind a tree.

You're going to hear testimony that also in the middle of this pasture was a raspberry patch, former raspberry patch, that was then turned into a place for them to bury the cats, the dogs, and all of the animals on the farm. again out of the pasture of the field and not the backyard with your testimony about that so it really wasn't his backyard per se but the pasture did he really know what was dumped there could it be that Alex Cox deposited the bodies without him knowing I've seen pictures of the property it's not huge so I don't know how much the jury will believe that but listen that's I think the best way to explain it a lack of knowledge of what's on your property I mean that's the only thing they can argue. Now, Prosecutor Wood, he mentioned DNA in his opening statement, and John Pryor does too, saying that he plans to call a DNA expert who helped apparently get Amanda Knox

exonerated during her murder trial in Italy. Dr. Ham Pinckian is going to talk about the hair sample that was found on the plastic of Alex Cox and that it was Lori Valo. Dr. Hanpincian is going to talk about several, and I mean several other hairs that were found on the plastic of J.J. Valo. But he's also going to say that there was no DNA evidence, no hair sample of Chad Daybell on Tiley Ryan or on J.J. Valo. And what about Tammy Daybell, right? Well, this is really interesting because John Pryor says, don't be so quick to assume that she died at the hands of another, that she had a lot of issues. You're then going to hear from Dr. Raven. Dr. Raven is a forensic pathologist. And she's going to talk a little bit about circumstances surrounding Tammy Daybill. And what Dr. Raven is going

to say is that there's no indication that this is either a homicide or any other crime, and that the only conclusion she could come to is you can't determine what the cause of death was. There's no way to determine it. Tammy Daybell was buried. You'll hear testimony about that. And then a short time later, the police officers showed up and they dug her body up after she'd been buried. after she was laid to rest, and then continued after the body was put that in the ground, and continue to examine it for whatever they were lucky. And what you're going to find is based on that, Dr. Reagan's going to say, you can't determine what the cause of death is.

You're going to hear testimony from the Dave L children, from the children themselves, four of the five children, I think, three or four of the five children, testimony. They're going to talk about their mother's health struggles. They're going to talk about their mother's use of various, medicinal treatments that she would use, oils that she would put on her leg, medicine and different herbs that she would take, and that her mother was suffering from, that her mother was suffering from a number of maladies,

and that she would refuse to go see a doctor or get it treated. And Dr. Raven's going to enlighten you a little bit about some of the circumstances regarding Tammy Debo. You're going to hear a lot of evidence, and the judge has talked to us a little bit about not making a decision. until you appear all of the evidence. And there's a specific jury instruction in top spot. The jury instruction is, you know, consider all the evidence.

Listen to the instructions from the court on how you're to proceed. Listen to the arguments of the prosecuting attorney and the defense. And then and only then do you make your decision? And at the conclusion of all that evidence, at the conclusion of the judge's instructions, the arguments of both of the defense attorneys, I'm going to ask you folks to return the verdict on D.T. Thank you, folks.

Thank you for your time. So I will tell you, I think this was a good opening statement by John Pryor, too. I think he argued everything that you have to argue in this case, that it was Alex Cox, that it was Lori Vallad, that we're not sure what happened to Tammy, that the forensic evidence might not tie back to Chad. This is everything you have to do. We'll see how the case progresses. And again, this is a trial that it's expected to last several weeks. Chad faces the death penalty if he's found guilty. And as for Lori, by the way, she was actually extradited to Arizona to face more charges.

Yeah, Lori is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was killed by her brother Alex Cox. The idea there was that he was acting in self-defense, questionable. And her former nephew-in-law, Brandon Burdrow, who is actually allegedly shot at by Alex Cox. So we will, of course, continue to follow this case for you right here on Sidebar with all the updates. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.