Gag order issued for upcoming Chad Daybell murder trial
Mar 28, 2024, 5:43 PM | Updated: Mar 29, 2024, 7:16 am
Chad Daybell and his attorney, John Prior, appear in a hearing on Oct. 29, 2020. (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
With jury selection only days away in the murder trial of former Utahn Chad Guy Daybell, the Idaho court has issued a gag order through the completion of jury selection.
The trial is now covered by a non-dissemination order that forbids any party to the case, “including the prosecuting attorney, defense attorney and any attorney representing a witness, victim or victim’s family,” from making written or oral statements about the case.
The court document states the gag order takes effect Thursday through April 15, “or until after opening statements have been presented with evidence underway.”
This follows the defense’s legal team participating in an interview with a reporter. The court order states:
“The court is now advised, and has confirmed, that counsel for the Defense participated in an interview with a reporter about this case,which interview has now been publicly broadcast during this stage where unbiased jurors are being sought.”
Daybell, who was born in Provo, Utah, and grew up in Springville, Utah, is accused of the first-degree murder of his first wife Tamara “Tammy” Douglas Daybell and the children of his second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell. He has pleaded not guilty. The remains of the children were found on his property on June 9, 2020.
He moved to Salem, Idaho, in 2015.
The trial has been moved from Fremont County, where the killings took place, to the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. The move was ordered in the interest of Daybell getting a fair trial with a jury that didn’t know about the case and had not determined his guilt or innocence.
His second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder of the same victims. She was sentenced to live in prison without the possibility of parole. She is in Arizona on trial for the death of her late husband Charles Vallow.
Chad Daybell’s trial will be streamed live on the KSL+ app, KSL TV’s Facebook page and the KSL News YouTube page.
