An Idaho judge has ruled that Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell will not be tried separately for the murder and conspiracy cases involving Vallow’s two children and Daybell’s late wife Tammy Daybell.
As East Idaho News reports, District Judge Steven Boyce filed a written decision Monday denying Daybell’s defense team request to sever his and Vallow’s murder and conspiracy trials, as Vallow’s competency to stand trial remains in question. Daybell and his wife will be tried together in connection to the death of his late wife and Vallow’s children Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, whose remains were found on Daybell’s Salem, Idaho, property in June 2020.
According to the report, Daybell’s team argued that Vallow’s continued psychological evaluation would present too much uncertainty about trial proceedings. Vallow had not yet been determined competent to stand trial.
“Defendant’s main argument centers on his contention that ‘uncertainty’ will result due to co-defendant Vallow’s status and the stay in effect in her case,” Boyce wrote in the decision obtained by East Idaho News.
“While the court does not dispute there may be an additional burden on the defense presented by an inability to know at this time whether co-defendant Vallow will be fit for trial when the trial begins, that ‘uncertainty’ in preparing for trial is not a determinative factor for the court to consider in reviewing Idaho Criminal Rule 14 (Relief from Prejudicial Joinder) or the cases interpreting it.”
J.J. Vallow’s grandmother Kay Woodcock told the newspaper that she is relieved the co-defendants will be tried together, sparing the grieving family two separate trials.
“I am so relieved! Having the cases joined will save us from more emotional torture,” she told East Idaho News. “We have already been through enough anguish from this evil duo. They’ll be staring at each other in court feeling miserable they can’t touch.”
The trial is expected to begin in January 2023.
Read and listen to CrimeOnline’s extensive coverage of the “Cult Mom” murders here.
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