Before sentencing phase of the murder trial of Chad Daybell, Jurors deliberated for about six hours on Friday before calling it a night and planning to return at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Chad Daybell is a 55-year-old religious book author for whom prosecutors are seeking a death sentence as he was convicted on all counts in the high-profile triple murder case in Idaho on Thursday.
Before beginning their deliberations, Jurors heard arguments for and against the death penalty from both the prosecution and defense on Friday. Rob Wood, the prosecutor said the murders of Tammy Daybell, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.” The Fremont County attorney, Lindsey Blake led the prosecution team and said, “It didn’t matter the age of the victim or who relied on them and loved them. If they were in the way of Chad and his plan – and/or if there was money to be gained for Lori and Chad – those individuals were marked for death.”
John Prior, the defense attorney put the blame on Lori Vallow Daybell for all these “chaos”, Chad’s wife was also convicted in the same case last year. Prior said, “You evaluate that, and you look back and you say, is this a person – if it wasn’t for that trajectory coming in and changing the path – is this where we would be going? It’s not where we’d be going.”
During an emotional day of victim impact statements from family members of JJ Vallow, Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell, arguments were given. Chad Daybell did not speak anything at Friday’s hearing, nor did Prior call any witnesses to speak on his behalf before jurors started deliberating.