A day after delivering a guilty verdict in Chad Daybell’s murder trial, an Idaho jury weighing whether he will face the death penalty on Friday heard contrasting portraits of the man. Daybell was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and two of his second wife’s children – 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow – in a case prosecutors claim was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs. Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts and video on all the top stories The sentencing phase of Daybell’s trial began shortly after the guilty verdict was delivered, with state Judge Steven Boyce giving jurors preliminary instructions.
In his opening statement to the jury on Friday, prosecutor Rob Wood asked them to consider aggravating factors that would make Daybell eligible for the death penalty. First, the three murders, he said, were committed for remuneration. Daybell was also convicted of insurance fraud stemming from life insurance policies that allegedly paid him money after his first wife’s death.
His second wife, as well as Daybell, also were convicted of grand theft because she continued to draw Social Security benefits for her children after their deaths. Additionally, Wood told the jury, the murders of the three victims were “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.” “This defendant exhibited utter disrega.