As the trial of a woman charged in three killings in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot began Monday, attorneys asked potential jurors if they would have trouble being impartial after viewing autopsy photos of children.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty, but only Vallow Daybell's trial begins Monday. The cases have been severed, and Chad Daybell's trial is still months away. Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison if convicted.One potential juror said she had two elementary school-aged children, and she believed it would be difficult for her to look at that sort of evidence. Still, she said, she would try to put her feelings aside and remain impartial if selected for the jury.
Court administrators have anticipated a lot of interest in the case, setting up a special parking area for TV news trucks and cordoning off an area in front of the building for photographers and others. Smith asked if her avid CSI-watching would affect her feelings about the evidence from experts and crime lab technicians during the case.
The group would spend time praying to get rid of the zombies and believed, if they were successful, the possessed person would physically die, freeing their trapped soul from “limbo.” Vallow Daybell called JJ and Tylee “zombies” several times before they died, Gibb told investigators. Their marriage ended suddenly in July when Lori's brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her husband outside the family's suburban Phoenix home. Police initially determined the shooting was in self-defense and Cox was never charged.
Chad and Lori married just two weeks after Tammy's death. Authorities exhumed Tammy Daybell's body and expanded their investigation.Prosecutors say the Daybells espoused strange doomsday-focused beliefs to further their alleged plan to kill the kids and Tammy Daybell, then collect life insurance money and the kids' social security and survivor benefits.
Vallow Daybell’s close friend Melanie Gibb told investigators that the couple used a scoring system to determine whether people were good or evil, and that they believed people became “zombies” when they were possessed by evil spirits. In that court document, Vallow Daybell's attorneys said she was in her own apartment in Rexburg, Idaho, when the children died at a nearby apartment where her brother lived. The attorneys said she was with a couple of friends, “and/or Chad Daybell.”
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: abc15 - 🏆 263. / 63 Read more »
Source: fox13 - 🏆 550. / 51 Read more »
Source: KSLcom - 🏆 549. / 51 Read more »
Source: KUTV2News - 🏆 281. / 63 Read more »
Source: KUTV2News - 🏆 281. / 63 Read more »
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »