U.S. NEWS
Chad Daybell on trial in deaths of wife and Idaho kids his girlfriend called ‘zombies,’ friend says

BY REBECCA BOONE
Updated 12:56 PM EDT, April 1, 2024

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The trial of a man charged with the deaths of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children began with jury selection in Idaho this week, serving as a second act in a bizarre case that has drawn worldwide attention and already resulted in a life sentence for the mother of the children.

Chad Daybell’s trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks, and jury selection began in Boise Monday morning with 7th District Judge Steven Boyce reading the charges to the potential jurors and telling them that it is up to prosecutors to prove the charges — Daybell does not need to prove his innocence.

The 55-year-old self-published author is charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Tammy Daybell, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and JJ’s big sister, Tylee Ryan, who was last seen a few days before her 17th birthday.

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