Prosecutors in the Fremont County, Idaho criminal case against Lori Vallow, 47, (aka Lori Daybell) and her husband Chad Daybell, 52, want to keep certain defense witnesses from a change of venue hearing. You can watch in the player above. Court is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. MT / 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
Vallow is the Idaho woman long scrutinized and later charged in the disappearances and deaths of her children Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, who went missing on separate days in September 2019. She is separately prosecuted in Madison County in connection to snubbing authorities in connection to the kids. Her fifth husband Chad Daybell faces charges of destruction, alteration, or concealment after the children’s bodies were found on his property. Lori Vallow and he are both charged with conspiracy in the same matter. Investigators also say that Alex Cox–Vallow’s brother, who shot and killed her fourth husband Charles Vallow, and later died of a blood clot–was also apparently at the children’s gravesites on dates shortly after their respective disappearances, judging by his phone records. To be clear, no one is charged with killing Joshua or Tylee.
The case captured national attention, and as typical in these sorts of matters, there’s going to be a change of venue hearing to determine whether the cases should be moved. Prosecutors want to make sure two defendant witnesses–Andrea Tracy Schaat, and Joe Adriany–do not testify at the change of venue hearing. They are survey takers who spoke to people in Fremont, Madison, and Bonneville Counties about the Vallow-Daybell case, according to prosecution filings obtained by Law&Crime. The state said the defense failed to identify the witnesses as experts. Ironically, they also knocked the witnesses’ qualifications and methods as survey takers.
From the Adriany filing:
The survey conducted by Mr. Adriany is deficient and irrelevant as it limits its questioning to simply ask respondents if they are familiar with the Defendants and whether or not they are guilty. No questions were asked about whether a respondent could set aside their opinions and biases. No questions were asked about whether respondents believed in the principle of innocent until proven guilty. No questions were asked about whether the respondents believed the accused are entitled to a fair trial.
You can read the filings here:
Daybell State Motion in Limine – Columbo Investigations by Law&Crime on Scribd
Daybell State Motion in Limine – Andrea Tracy Schaat by Law&Crime on Scribd
[Mugshot of Vallow via Madison County; mugshot of Daybell via Rexburg Police Department]
