BOISE, Idaho (Scripps News Boise) — The Idaho trial for Lori Vallow Daybell is inching closer, as the formal jury selection process is set to start on April 3. New documents give insight into what exactly prosecutors will be trying to prove during the trial which is expected to last several weeks.
On Wednesday, Vallow Daybell was transferred and booked into the Ada County Jail from Madison County where she has been housed since the Spring of 2020. Ada County officials say Vallow Daybell is in solitary confinement, with safety in mind for her and other inmates.
Lori Vallow Daybell was booked into the Ada County Jail on March 22, 2023 (Ada County Jail)
New documents posted online outline the state’s proposed jury instructions which show what prosecutors will try to prove – beyond a reasonable doubt – for each of the charges Lori Vallow Daybell is facing.
The 23-page document largely mirrors the original indictment.
Prosecutors will try to prove that Lori Vallow Daybell — along with her husband, Chad Daybell, and her brother, Alex Cox — planned, in advance, the killings of Lori’s children — Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow — and Chad’s previous wife — Tammy Daybell.
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In connection to the deaths of JJ and Tylee, prosecutors will also outline evidence alleging that Vallow Daybell intentionally did not report the children’s deaths in order to continue collecting social security benefits in their names for five months.
The bodies of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were discovered buried on Chad Daybell’s property on June 9, 2020.
Part of the proposed jury instruction explains that jurors could find the defendant guilty, even if they do not believe she was the one to physically do the crime if the prosecution proves beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant “engaged in conduct, or did aid, abet, advise, counsel, or procure another to engage in conduct which caused the death of” each victim.
Among what we expect to hear more about in the death of Tammy Daybell, are claims that Chad increased her life insurance policy to the maximum amount just weeks before her death.
READ MORE: Jury selection process laid out for trial of Lori Vallow Daybell
The prosecution will also be presenting evidence that alleges Chad and Lori Daybell espoused extreme religious beliefs to justify and encourage the homicides of all three victims on different dates in September and October of 2019, including Lori referring to her children as “zombies” and text messages between Lori and Chad claiming Tammy was in “limbo” and possessed by a spirit named “Viola”.
Religion will likely be a focus of questioning during jury selection.
Potential jurors will start filling out questionnaires at the courthouse on Monday, March 27, with the formal voir dire questioning process beginning on April 3. Only portions of that process will be shared with the public through remote viewing rooms inside the Ada and Madison County Courthouses. Seating reservations need to be made in advance the day prior for the entire trial.
