Episode Details

Jury selection in Chad Daybell’s capital murder trial began on April 1, 2024, at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, where the case had been moved because of concerns about finding an impartial jury in eastern Idaho. Judge Steven Boyce and attorneys questioned prospective jurors individually about their knowledge of the case, exposure to extensive media coverage, personal connections to the investigation and whether they had already formed opinions about Daybell’s guilt. Because prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, prospective jurors were also questioned closely about their views on capital punishment and whether those beliefs would prevent them from considering either a death sentence or a lesser punishment. Many potential jurors were excused because of financial or scheduling hardships associated with a trial expected to last roughly two months, while others were removed because they acknowledged that the publicity surrounding Lori Vallow Daybell’s earlier trial or the discovery of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan on Daybell’s property could affect their ability to remain impartial.

By the end of the initial voir dire process, the court had assembled a pool of 57 qualified prospective jurors, from which prosecutors and Daybell’s defense exercised their remaining challenges. On April 9, the final jury of 12 members and six alternates was selected, completing more than a week of screening designed to find people who could decide the case solely on evidence presented in court. The process was particularly important because Daybell faced three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges connected to the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and Lori Vallow Daybell’s children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. With the jury seated, the case moved into opening statements and testimony, beginning the evidentiary phase of a trial that ultimately lasted nearly two months.


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