The judge in Chad Daybell’s murder case has ruled that a typo in the indictment against him does not mean he should be acquitted of one of the deaths
A clerical error in an amended indictment could have led to the dismissal of one of the murder charges in Chad Daybell’s trial.
Judge Steven Boyce pointed out the error when the state rested on Thursday after six weeks of testimony.
Daybell, 55, is on trial for the 2019 murders of his former wife Tammy, and Vallow’s children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and JJ, seven. The children were found buried in Daybell’s Idaho backyard nine months after they went missing in September 2019.
Prosecutors say the couple conspired with Vallow’s late brother Alex Cox to carry out the murders as part of their doomsday cult beliefs and that Daybell’s “desire for sex, power, and money” led to the murders. But his defence attorney claims he was manipulated by Vallow.
Last year, Vallow was convicted in the three murders and sentenced to life in prison. Jurors heard how she, Daybell, and Cox were fuelled, in part, by their bizarre cult beliefs.
If convicted, Daybell faces the death penalty or life in prison.
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