ST. ANTHONY, Idaho, Oct. 20, 2021 (East Idaho News/Gephardt Daily) — The Idaho Supreme Court has approved moving the trial of Chad Daybell, who is accused of multiple crimes in the deaths of his former wife Tammy Daybell and the children of wife Lori Vallow Daybell, J.J. Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.
Daybell’s attorney John Prior asked that proceedings be moved from Fremont County because he felt his client could not receive a fair trial in the Seventh Judicial District, the East Idaho News reports.
On Oct. 8, District Judge Steven Boyce ruled the trial should be moved and suggested Ada County be the new venue.
“It is hereby ordered that venue in this case be and is hereby transferred from Fremont County, Seventh Judicial District, to Ada County, Fourth Judicial District, for purposes of trial only,” Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan wrote in Wednesday’s order.
The Ada County Courthouse is in Boise, Idaho’s State Capitol. Ada County is Idaho’s most populous county with about 495,000 people or about 26% of the state’s population.
Boyce will remain on the case, and additional staff will remain from Fremont County. The date for the trial has not yet been set.
Daybell — a former Utah resident — and wife Lori Vallow Daybell are charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder.
Lori’s case is on hold after Boyce committed her to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in June, when a mental health professional deemed her unfit for trial. A hearing is scheduled for Lori on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed a motion for “an expedited hearing or status conference on motion and extension of commitment.” Boyce ruled the motion and extension of commitment be sealed and the accompanying motion for the expedited hearing. It is not yet clear if Thursday’s hearing will be open to the public.
