Lori Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell are charged together, but will they stand trial together? A hearing on Thursday may help determine that question. You can watch in the player above. Court is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. ET.
Chad Daybell’s defense argued that he and his wife’s cases should remain separate. Their logic, according to a filing obtained by Law&Crime, is that joining them in criminal court would invite even more local media coverage than before.
“Defense asserts that the overwhelming amount of local media coverage makes it impossible for the [sic] Mr. Daybell to receive a fair trial in the Eastern Idaho area,” wrote attorney John Prior. “Joining the cases, combines the coverage of both Defendant’s local media as well as national media and only adds to the level of attention and knowledge prospective jurors would have in this case.”
Chad Daybell faces two counts of destruction, alteration or concealment, and conspiracy in destruction, alteration or concealment. His wife faces two counts of conspiracy. The allegation: They were involved in the bodies of Lori Daybell’s children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, who were 7 and 16 when they went missing in September 2019. Prosecutors said that the couple lied, and bolted out of Rexburg, Idaho when cops did a welfare check at the behest of Joshua’s paternal grandmother. The victim’s were found last June in property belonging to Chad Daybell.
Lori Daybell’s brother Alex Cox is considered an unindicted co-conspirator, but he’ll never get his day in court: He died in December from a blood clot in his lungs, said the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona. Cox was also the man who shot and killed his sister’s previous husband, Joshua’s adoptive dad Charles Vallow, back when Lori lived in Arizona in July 2019. No charges have been filed in connection to that case, though local cops have reportedly been eyeing the widow.
Lori Daybell is charged in Madison County on other charges related to her children disappearance. Allegations include her telling a friend to lie about knowing the whereabouts of Joshua Vallow.
[Screengrab via East Idaho News]
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