Chad Daybell Laughs
Chad Daybell, the husband of “doomsday” mom Lori Vallow, laughed and smiled during his first court appearance Wednesday since being charged with murdering his stepchildren and his ex-wife.
Dressed in a white button down shirt and a red tie, Daybell, 52, had a slight smile on his face when the virtual court appearance kicked off at 11 a.m. local time in Fremont County, Idaho.
Dressed in a white button down shirt and a red tie, Daybell, 52, had a slight smile on his face when the virtual court appearance kicked off at 11 a.m. local time in Fremont County, Idaho.
When Judge Faren Eddins asked if Daybell could hear him, he broke out into a toothy grin and appeared to laugh before leaning forward and answering “yes.”
As Eddins then read out the eight charges against Daybell — which include raps of first-degree murder for the death of Vallow’s two kids, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and ex Tammy Daybell — the prolific doomsday writer maintained a slight smile on his otherwise emotionless mug.
Chad Daybell was charged for the murders of Tylee Ryan and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and his ex-wife Tammy Daybell.
About a half hour later, Vallow was set to make her initial appearance — but the hearing was postponed after her attorney made an oral motion to Eddins, citing unspecified “exigent circumstances.”
While the alleged killer mom did appear briefly, dressed in a light blue long sleeve shirt and a surgical mask, she made no comments and didn’t speak.
Her attorney didn’t return a request for comment seeking more information on why the hearing needed to be postponed. Exigent circumstances is a legal term that tends to mean unforeseeable circumstances that require immediate action.
The state opposed the motion to continue, but Eddins ultimately granted it and said the initial appearance would be rescheduled at a later date.
For more than a year, Idaho prosecutors have been building a case against Daybell and Vallow — and on Monday, a grand jury finally indicted the couple for the deaths of Tylee and JJ, adding to charges they’re already facing for allegedly burying the kids’ remains in a makeshift pet cemetery.
Daybell was also charged with the death of his ex-wife Tammy, who was previously said to have died in her sleep. The indictment did not lay out exactly how prosecutors believe the three died.
It does allege that the couple — who are members of the doomsday cult Preparing a People — espoused and taught “religious beliefs” with the purpose of “justifying” the kids’ deaths.
It also claims the pair exchanged text messages discussing “death percentages” for Tammy and JJ and said Chad’s ex-wife was in “limbo” and “possessed by a spirit named Voila.” Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell are members of the doomsday cult Preparing a People.
And it alleges that Daybell increased his wife’s life insurance to the maximum amount allowed a month before she died, while Vallow continued to collect her kids’ social security benefit checks after they passed away. Daybell will be back in court on June 9 for his arraignment.
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