What’s next for the Killer Doomsday Cult Couple Chad and Lori Daybell

The “Doomsday” cult prophet Chad Daybell could face life in prison or death after he was convicted Thursday of killing his ex-wife and his current wife’s two kids in a triple murder case centered around apocalyptic prophesies and zombie children.

Chad Daybell, 55, was found guilty for the murders of his ex-wife Tammy Daybell, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow. The jury deliberated for less than 12 hours after the nearly two-month trial.

The children’s mother and his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on the same conspiracy and murder charges last year.

What is next for Chad Daybell?

The jurors are now tasked with deciding if Daybell should face the death penalty for his murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges. After Thursday’s verdict, the penalty phase of the trial resumed Friday.

Prosecutors will attempt to show that the crimes merit the death sentence due to their depraved, heinous or cruel manner or that they meet one of the other “aggravating factors” detailed by state law.

Daybell’s defense will try to show mitigating circumstances.

Idaho law allows for execution by lethal injection or firing squad. Daybell could also face life in prison instead.

“That’s what you get for murdering children. That’s what you get for murdering your wife,” Woodcock said. “Chad made his decision — he knew it was wrong.”

The judge issued a gag order prohibiting attorneys on both sides from talking with the media until the trial is complete.

‘Mawmaw, Pawpaw, I don’t know’

The investigation into the “Doomsday” couple started five years ago when JJ’s grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, became concerned that Lori was refusing to let them speak with the boy on the phone.

While the family members lived in a different state, they were close to their grandson and would have regular video calls with him.

Woodcock said JJ was autistic and very bright. If he ran out of things to say, JJ would tell them “Mawmaw, Pawpaw, I don’t know.”

“In the last couple of years of his life, he was developing his wit and his personality. If there’s anything that I miss, it’s his wit,” Woodcock previously said. “There’s not a day that goes by now that my wife and I don’t turn to each other and say, ‘Mawmaw, I don’t know,’ or ‘Pawpaw, I don’t know.'”

In September 2019, Kay asked police to check on her grandson’s wellbeing. Investigators soon discovered the boy and his half-sister, Tylee Ryan, were missing. When police returned the next day, the Daybells had left town.

They were found months later in Hawaii as the search for the missing children unfolded back at home. Lori and Chad Daybell were arrested in Kauai for failing to meet a court order to produce the children.

The search for JJ and Tylee spanned several states and months. Nearly a year later, the children’s remains were found buried in June 2020 on Daybell’s property in eastern Idaho.

A forensic pathologist revealed JJ’s cause of death in April 2023 as asphyxiation with a plastic bag and duct tape over his mouth. Tylee’s cause of death was determined as “homicide by unspecified means.”

Prosecutors say Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, conspired with the couple in all three deaths. He died of natural causes during the investigation, but was never charged.

‘Doomsday Cult’ Couple’s Complicated Relationship

Lori Daybell, whose maiden name is Cox, was first married at 19-years-old to her high school sweetheart. The pair divorced shortly after and three years later, she married William Lagioia, with whom she shares a son, Colby.

In 2001, she married her third husband, Joseph Ryan, after divorcing Lagioia in 1996. Ryan is her daughter Tylee’s father. He died of an apparent heart attack in 2018.

In 2005, Lori married Charles Vallow, with whom she adopted their son, JJ. Her husband filed for divorce in 2019, citing Lori’s extreme religious beliefs and alleged threats against his life.

Those close to her, describe Lori as a doting mother and devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints prior to 2018.

Lori and Chad Daybell first met in October 2018 at a “Preparing a People” conference. The two were immediately attracted to one another claiming they had been married in multiple previous lifetimes. Despite being married, the two continued to develop a relationship.

Then in July 2019, Lori’s husband, Charles Vallow, was shot to death by her brother Alex Cox who claims it was self-defense. Cox was not charged.

Lori and her children, JJ and Tylee, along with Cox moved to eastern Idaho to be closer to Chad Daybell, a self-published writer on Doomsday-focused fiction.

Her children disappeared in September 2019.

In October 2019, Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died. He originally told police she was battling an illness and died in her sleep. An autopsy later determined she died of asphyxiation.

Lori and Chad Daybell married two weeks after Tammy was killed.

The couple was indicted on murder charges in May 2021.

Prosecutors in Daybell’s case called witnesses that claimed he and Lori conspired to kill the two children and his first wife because they wanted to overcome any obstacles to their own relationship.

The attorneys also said the couple justified their killings by creating an apocalyptic belief system where evil spirits can possess people and turn them into “zombies.” The only way to save someone’s sole is for them to die.

Fremont County prosecutor Lindsay Blake said Daybell honored himself as a leader of “The Church of the Firstborn.” He allegedly told Lori and others he could determine if someone had become a “zombie.” He also could decide how close to dying someone was by reading their “death percentage.”

Lori claimed to be a deity, according to divorce papers from her estranged husband. Lori allegedly believed she was sent to usher in the apocalypse and carry out the work of believers.

Daybell’s defense attorney, John Prior, claimed Daybell is a traditional member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is next for Lori Daybell?

While speaking during her sentencing last year, Lori Daybell told the court she had spoken to Jesus, her children and her husband’s first wife and said they were “happy and busy in the spirit world.”

“Jesus knows me and Jesus understands me,” she said. “I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy. Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen.”

She was the subject of the Netflix true crime docuseries, Sins of Our Mother.

She is currently awaiting trial in Arizona. She is charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was JJ’s father.

She is also facing conspiracy to commit attempted murder of her niece’s now ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who survived the shooting after being fired at multiple times while returning home from taking his children to school.

Cox, Lori’s brother, was the alleged shooter.

The final pre-trial conference is scheduled for July 5. The trial is set to begin August 1.