Lori Vallow Daybell Judge to Decide Whether to Reconvene Grand Jury

Lori Vallow Daybell was relaxed in court during an hour-long hearing on Tuesday, laughing and smiling as her attorneys asked District Judge Steven Boyce to reconvene a grand jury to clarify the charges against her.

Specifically, attorney John Thomas said, two of the counts in the current indictment each list two separate allegations — conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, EastIdahoNews.com reported.

“I’ve been practicing law for 20 years and this particular charge baffled me,” defense attorney John Thomas said. “We don’t want to do this again and have an appeals court say they couldn’t make heads or tails on what’s going on with this.”

Prosecuting attorney Rob Wood disagreed, saying the two charges are related.

“The state fundamentally disagrees that it will be confusing to a jury,” Wood said. “We believe the charges are linked and aren’t completely separate. We believe the jury will find that they (Chad and Lori Daybell) agreed to commit those two crimes.”

“These are charges based on evidence provided to the grand jury. They didn’t have a problem with it so if they found it, we can put it in front of the trial jury,” he added.

Boyce didn’t rule on the matter Tuesday, insteading saying he would issue a written order after consideration. A sealed hearing on other matters was held out of public view.

Chad Daybell did not attend the hearing.

The Daybells are accused of killing two of Vallow Daybell’s children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, as well as Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, as CrimeOnline previously reported.

The couple will be tried together, with the trial set to begin in January.

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[Featured image: Lori Vallow Daybell sits in a police car after Tuesday’s hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. (East Idaho News/Tony Blakeslee/East Idaho News via AP, Pool)]