Chad Daybell is one of the most talked-about figures in modern American true crime. A self-published author of apocalyptic novels and a former gravedigger, he was convicted of murdering his first wife and the two youngest children of his second wife, Lori Vallow. The case combined strange religious beliefs, a whirlwind marriage, and the disappearance of two children in a way that gripped the nation for years. Today Chad Daybell sits on death row in Idaho, his story still unfolding through appeals, prison letters, and the loyalty of his own children. This article explains who he is, what he did, and where his case stands now.
Who Is Chad Daybell?
Chad Guy Daybell was born on August 11, 1968, in Provo, Utah, and grew up in a devout Latter-day Saint family in the nearby city of Springville. As of 2026, he is 58 years old. After graduating from Brigham Young University with a journalism degree in 1992, he worked as a newspaper copy editor and, for many years, as a gravedigger and cemetery caretaker. In 1990 he married Tamara “Tammy” Douglas, and together they had five children and built a small publishing company. Daybell wrote roughly two dozen books, most of them apocalyptic fiction about the end of the world, earthquakes, invasions, and the return of Jesus Christ. He also claimed to have had near-death experiences that gave him visions of the future, and he predicted the world would end in July 2020. Over time, his beliefs drifted far from mainstream religion and attracted a devoted following of people preparing for doomsday.
How Chad Daybell Met Lori Vallow
Chad Daybell met Lori Vallow around 2018 at a religious conference in St. George, Utah. At the time, both were married to other people, but they quickly bonded over their shared belief in prophecy and the coming apocalypse. According to prosecutors, they began an affair and developed a private belief system in which they rated the people in their lives as “light” or “dark.” Anyone labeled “dark” was, in their minds, possessed by an evil spirit and no longer truly themselves, essentially a “zombie.” Conveniently, this belief marked several people standing in the way of their relationship. Their romance moved quickly and became the driving force behind the tragedy that followed. Within about a year of meeting, both of their spouses were dead, and two of Lori’s children had vanished.
The Deaths of Tammy, JJ, and Tylee
Three people connected to Chad Daybell died within a few months in 2019. Lori’s daughter, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and her adopted 7-year-old son, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, were last seen in September 2019 after moving with their mother from Arizona to Idaho. Weeks later, in October 2019, Chad’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, died suddenly at home at age 49. Her death was first blamed on natural causes, and just two weeks after that, Chad married Lori in a beachside ceremony in Hawaii. When JJ’s grandparents could not reach the boy, they alerted police, launching a missing-children investigation. For months, Chad and Lori insisted the children were fine. In June 2020, investigators searched Chad’s property in eastern Idaho and made a horrifying discovery: the remains of both children buried in the backyard. Tammy’s body was later exhumed, and authorities determined she had been asphyxiated rather than dying naturally.
The Trial and Verdict
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow were originally set to be tried together, but their cases were separated, and Lori was convicted first in 2023. Chad’s own trial began in April 2024 in Boise, Idaho, and lasted about eight weeks. Prosecutors argued that he orchestrated the deaths out of greed and obsession, driven by his affair with Lori, a desire to collect life insurance money after Tammy’s death, and a wish to keep drawing government benefits meant for the children. They laid out the couple’s “zombie” beliefs and the suspicious timeline that linked everyone’s death to Chad and Lori’s relationship. Daybell chose not to testify in his own defense. On May 30, 2024, after only a few hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty on every count, including three counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy, insurance fraud, and grand theft.
The Death Sentence
Because prosecutors had announced they would seek capital punishment, the same jury moved into a sentencing phase after the guilty verdict. Under Idaho law, jurors had to agree that the crimes involved serious aggravating factors that outweighed any reasons for mercy. In a surprising decision, Daybell chose not to present any evidence that might have spared his life, telling the judge it was his choice. Family members of the victims delivered emotional statements describing the pain his crimes had caused. On June 1, 2024, the jury recommended death, and the judge formally sentenced Chad Daybell to die. He remained calm and showed no emotion as the sentence was read. With that, he became the newest inmate on Idaho’s small death row, while his wife had already received life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Where Is Chad Daybell Now?
Chad Daybell is currently held on death row at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, located south of Boise. He lives under the strict conditions of a maximum-security facility and has appeared at hearings only by video, usually declining to speak. He is one of just a handful of inmates on Idaho’s death row, which is far smaller than those in larger states. Despite his isolation, Daybell has kept some connection to the outside world, mostly through his adult children, who have visited him, corresponded with him, and continued to support him publicly even after his conviction.
The Appeal and Execution Timeline
Almost immediately after his sentencing, Daybell’s attorney filed a notice of appeal, asking the Idaho Supreme Court to review both the conviction and the death sentence. Idaho automatically reviews every death sentence, and a team of appellate defense lawyers was appointed to handle the lengthy process. As of early 2026, that appeal remains ongoing. When it comes to an actual execution, the honest answer is that it is likely many years, and possibly decades, away, and no date has been set. Idaho’s capital appeals move through several layers of state and federal courts, which is the main reason executions there take so long. The state has also struggled to carry out executions and has worked to add the firing squad as a method. Some inmates on Idaho’s death row have waited more than forty years.
Chad Daybell’s Letters and His Children
In 2025, a website appeared featuring letters written by Chad Daybell from his prison cell, created with the help of his daughter, Emma Murray. Presented as unfiltered and personal, the letters include his reflections on his life, his trial, and his marriage, along with quirky sections recommending books and music. Critics have described the letters as an attempt to soften his image and rewrite his story rather than express any real remorse. Daybell’s five children from his marriage to Tammy have been his most loyal defenders. In a widely watched television interview, they insisted their father was framed and pointed to Lori and her brother as the true culprits. Two of the children even testified on their father’s behalf at his trial, and their continued devotion has been one of the most emotional threads of the entire case.
What Happened to Lori Vallow
Lori Vallow Daybell followed a separate but equally dramatic legal path. She was convicted in Idaho in 2023 of murdering her two children and sentenced to life in prison without parole. She was then sent to Arizona, where she chose to represent herself in court. In 2025, she was convicted in two more cases of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and a former relative by marriage. She received additional life sentences, closing out her trials. Her brother, believed to have carried out much of the violence, died in late 2019 and was never charged. While Chad faces death, Lori will spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Conclusion
The Chad Daybell case remains one of the most disturbing stories in recent memory because it is so hard to explain. A quiet author of end-times novels became the center of a plot that cost three people their lives, including two innocent children. The courts have delivered their judgment: Chad Daybell is a convicted murderer sentenced to death, and Lori Vallow will die in prison. Yet the case continues to echo through appeals, prison letters, and a family still divided over a father’s guilt. For the loved ones of Tammy Daybell, Tylee Ryan, and JJ Vallow, no verdict can undo the loss, but the justice system has, at last, spoken.
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