Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell appeared separately in court his week, Daybell on Thursday in Idaho and Vallow Daybell on Wednesday in Arizona, for hearings on their upcoming murder trials in those states.
Vallow Daybell, who was convicted last year in Idaho and sentenced to three life sentences on the murders of two of her children and Daybell’s first wife, appeared for a hearing in Phoenix that last for five minutes, asking that she be allowed to skip the next hearing in her case, scheduled for April 24.
She is charged with conspiracy to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and an attempted murder conspiracy that targeted her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, as CrimeOnline has reported. Both shootings were commited by her brother, Alex Cox, who later died himself, reportedly of natural causes.
Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial was initially set to begin April 1, but a judge postponed it until August 1, citing the mountains of evidence attorneys will have to pour through. On Wednesday, he suggested that the August date may also be pushed back, the Idaho Statesman reported.
“A large amount of discovery is about to be disclosed — approximately 88,000 pages of discovery. I imagine that’s going to take some time for the defense to get through,” Judge Justin Beresky said.
Beresky also granted Vallow Daybell’s request not to be present at the April hearing.
Daybell is set to go on trial beginning April 1 on the same charges his wife has already faced — the murders of her children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and his first wife, Tammy Daybell. His attorney on Thursday told Judge Steven Boyce, who also oversaw Vallow Daybell’s trial, that they planned to call seven expert witnesses, the Statesman said.
John Prior did not say who the witnesses were or what they would be testifying about, but he told the judge they would fly in from out of state in May.
Prosecuting attorney Lindsey Blake told Boyce she believes the trial will take about eight weeks, and Prior concurred. She said she intends to file motion within the next week. Jury selection is expected to take about two weeks.
Boyce, who has permitted livestreaming of the trial with courtroom cameras, said that witnesses will be instructed not to view the livestreams, or recordings of them, before their testimony.
Daybell could have the death penalty if he is convicted.
