Chad Daybell found guilty of murder in ‘doomsday’ killings

A jury in Idaho on Thursday found Chad Daybell guilty of first-degree murder in the killings in 2019 of his first wife and two of his current wife’s children in a case that drew widespread attention because of the couple’s “doomsday” religious beliefs.

Daybell, 55, maintained a blank expression as he stood next to his lawyer, John Prior, while the verdict was read Thursday.

In addition to three counts of first-degree murder, Daybell was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and two counts of insurance fraud.

In 2021, prosecutors in Fremont County charged Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, in the deaths of two of Vallow Daybell’s children, Joshua Vallow, 7, known as J.J.; and Tylee Ryan, 16. Daybell was also charged with murder in the death of his previous spouse, Tammy Daybell.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday in Fremont County District Court in St. Anthony, Idaho. Judge Steven W. Boyce of the 7th Judicial District noted after the verdict was read that prosecutors had filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty. After a short recess, the judge said a sentencing hearing would begin Friday morning.

Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell, now 50, pleaded not guilty to the charges. She was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison without parole in July.

(Kyle Green | Pool via AP) Chad Daybell, right, talks with defense lawyer John Prior before his verdict was read his in his murder trial at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Daybell was convicted of killing his wife and his new girlfriend's two youngest kids in a strange triple murder case that included claims of apocalyptic prophesies, zombie children and illicit affairs. (Kyle Green/)

The couple’s religious beliefs had drawn outsize attention to the case for years. According to the indictment, they “did endorse and teach religious beliefs for the purpose of justifying” the deaths of the children. News headlines labeled Vallow Daybell the “Doomsday Mom.”

Daybell has written novels with doomsday themes, and both he and Vallow Daybell were linked to an entity called Preparing a People, which aims to ready its followers for the second coming of Jesus Christ, its website said.

Daybell and Vallow Daybell married after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell, in 2019. At first, her death was attributed to natural causes, but it was reexamined after Vallow’s children disappeared, and authorities investigated whether there was a potential connection.

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An autopsy found that Tammy Daybell died of asphyxiation and that her death occurred about a month after Chad Daybell had increased the amount of coverage in a life insurance policy for her.

In February 2020, Vallow Daybell was arrested in Hawaii after authorities said that she had not cooperated in the search for the missing children. Their remains were found in June of that year, buried on Chad Daybell’s property in Idaho. He was arrested and charged with concealing evidence.

The case, which drew widespread attention for its underpinnings in extreme religious beliefs, was the subject of a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary series, “Sins of Our Mother.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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