An Idaho doomsday author who prosecutors say became obsessed with apocalyptic beliefs and labeled people as “zombies” and “dark spirits” was found guilty Thursday in the deaths of his ex-wife and his current wife’s two youngest children.
The verdict concludes Chad Daybell’s nearly two-month trial in the deaths of his ex-wife, Tammy Daybell, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.
Daybell, wearing a blue-collared shirt and yellow tie, stood stoically as the jury found him guilty of all counts against him including insurance fraud.
The children’s remains were found in June 2020 on Daybell’s property in Fremont County, Idaho. Police said they believed Daybell hid the remains between September 2019 and June 2020.
Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan.Fremont County Sheriff’s Office
Tammy Daybell died in 2019, weeks before Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married. Her death was initially considered to be natural causes, but her remains were later exhumed. Following an autopsy, her death was determined to be a homicide by asphyxiation.
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Daybell, along with Vallow, were indicted in 2021 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception in the children’s deaths.
They were also charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with Tammy’s death. In addition, Chad Daybell was charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Vallow was convicted in May and received multiple life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.
Zombies, dark spirits and mysterious deaths
The case began in 2019 after several concerned family members told Rexburg police that they had not seen or talked to Joshua and Tylee. Police formally started looking for the children that November.
Authorities had accused Daybell and Vallow of failing to cooperate with the investigation into the children’s disappearance and lying to police about their whereabouts. They had initially told officers that Joshua, who was adopted and had special needs, was in Arizona with a family friend, but police determined it was a lie.
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The couple abruptly left Rexburg and went to Hawaii. In February 2020, Vallow was taken into custody by police in Hawaii after she failed to produce the children to authorities in Idaho.
As the investigation into the children’s whereabouts continued, police uncovered a trail of mysterious deaths connected to the couple.
Vallow’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was fatally shot in July 2019 by her brother, Alex Cox. Five months later, Cox died from a pulmonary embolism, a condition that causes one or more arteries to become blocked by a blood clot. (Lori Vallow and her brother had initially said that Charles Vallow was shot in self-defense. Lori Vallow was later charged in Arizona, where she and Charles lived, with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Cox was never charged.)
In October 2019, Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy Daybell, was found dead of what was believed to be natural causes at the time.
Chad Daybell and Vallow married two weeks after Tammy’s funeral, NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City reported. In December 2019, investigators exhumed Tammy’s body and conducted an autopsy that ruled her death a homicide.
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In opening statements in Chad Daybell’s murder trial, prosecutors said that Lori Vallow and Daybell, a self-published author of more than two dozen books about doomsday and near-death events, had become obsessed with apocalyptic beliefs and labeled people who stood in the way of their dreams as “zombies” and “dark spirits.”
“You’ll hear in the world Chad and Lori planned for themselves, they identified those who stood in the way of their dream as dark,” Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood said.
“Their spouses, Lori’s own children and anyone who opposed them were labeled sometimes as dark spirits or even zombies,” he added.
Vallow’s niece, Melani Pawlowski, testified that the couple believed people could be possessed by evil spirits and that “zombies” would eventually be overcome by a dark spirit and die.
Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake reiterated Wood’s remarks, insinuating in closing arguments Wednesday that Daybell was the mastermind behind the couple’s scheme and decided who was “dark.”
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“Chad has the answers, Chad has the knowledge, Chad has that special ability,” she said.
Once he deemed a person dark, they had to be killed, she said.
Children’s remains found in pet cemetery and fire pit
Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo testified at Daybell’s trial about the moment officers found the children’s remains.
Court documents revealed that Joshua had been buried in a pet cemetery on the property and Tylee had been dismembered and burned in a fire pit.
“There were taller shrubs. In the middle of the 6-by-6 section, it looked like there was just a little bit of grass,” Hermosillo said about law enforcement discovering Joshua’s remains under a tree.
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“The ERT team began excavating that site. They removed the top layer of soil. … At that point, you could see what appeared to be three large white rocks,” he told the jury. “As soon as they did that you could start to smell the odor, through my training experiences a decomposing body.”
The detective said officials found a “small body wrapped in black plastic with duct tape around it.”
Hermosillo told the court that Daybell tried to flee “as soon as that was discovered.”
Dr. Garth Warren with the Ada County Coroner’s Office testified that “Tylee was received in multiple” body bags.
One body bag had smaller bags inside that contained “multiple collections of soft tissue, bone and debris including dirt and rock,” he said. The second body bag contained pieces of a “melted green bucket” and a “collection of human remains” and organs including the heart and lungs, he told jurors.
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“This isn’t what heart and lungs typically look like,” he said as jurors were shown photos. “They’re obviously charred, portions of them are burned away and significantly shrunken as well.”
In the third bag was a portion of a “blackened and charred” skull, Warren said, as well as a portion of a jaw with “partially charred” teeth. The remains were identified as Tylee’s through dental X-rays, he said.
Daybell’s children come to his defense
Daybell’s son and daughter testified in his defense, telling the court that he “valued” their mother, Tammy Daybell, and was distraught over her death.
“He was more distressed than I ever seen him in my entire life,” his daughter, Emma Murray, told the court. “I was used to my parents being in control and in charge and seeing him so distressed and emotionally out of control was very scary to me. I didn’t doubt his grief at all.”
Murray said her mother had some health issues and would bruise easily. Before her death, her mother had been working on becoming more physically fit, Murray said.
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At the trial, Murray was questioned about Joshua and Tylee. She told the court that when she asked her father where the children were, he told her that they were in a “safe place.”
Garth Daybell said his mother would “collapse” after coming home from work, had a hard time moving heavy items and had “fainting spells.” On the day of her death, he said he did not hear any sounds of a struggle or fight.
The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building on Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters.
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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the U.N.’s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the U.S. further retreats from global cooperation.
President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, following his administration’s review of participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a White House release.
Most of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives. Other non-U.N. organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Global Counterterrorism Forum.
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“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as his administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including capturing autocratic Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and indicating an intention to take over Greenland.
U.S. builds on pattern of exiting global agencies
The administration previously suspended support from agencies like the World Health Organization, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. It has taken a larger, a-la-carte approach to paying its dues to the world body, picking which operations and agencies it believes align with Trump’s agenda and those that no longer serve U.S. interests.
“I think what we’re seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway,’” said Daniel Forti, head of U.N. affairs at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”
It has marked a major shift from how previous administrations — both Republican and Democratic — have dealt with the U.N., and it has forced the world body, already undergoing its own internal reckoning, to respond with a series of staffing and program cuts.
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Many independent nongovernmental agencies — some that work with the United Nations — have cited many project closures because of the U.S. administration’s decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Despite the massive shift, the U.S. officials, including Trump himself, say they have seen the potential of the U.N. and want to instead focus taxpayer money on expanding American influence in many of the standard-setting U.N. initiatives where there is competition with China, like the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization.
The latest global organizations the U.S. is departing
The withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, is the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the U.S. from international organizations focused on climate and addressing climate change.
UNFCC, the 1992 agreement between 198 countries to financially support climate change activities in developing countries, is the underlying treaty for the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump — who calls climate change a hoax — withdrew from that agreement soon after reclaiming the White House.
Gina McCarthy, former White House National Climate Adviser, said being the only country in the world not part of the treaty is “shortsighted, embarrassing, and a foolish decision.”
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“This Administration is forfeiting our country’s ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters wreaking havoc on our country,” McCarthy, who co-chairs America Is All In, a coalition of climate-concerned U.S. states and cities, said in a statement.
Mainstream scientists say climate change is behind increasing instances of deadly and costly extreme weather, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall events and dangerous heat.
The U.S. withdrawal could hinder global efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it “gives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that tracks countries’ carbon dioxide emissions.
It will also be difficult to achieve meaningful progress on climate change without cooperation from the U.S., one of the world’s largest emitters and economies, experts said.
The U.N. Population Fund, the agency providing sexual and reproductive health worldwide, has long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump cut funding for it during his first term. He and other GOP officials have accused the agency of participating in “coercive abortion practices” in countries like China.
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When President Biden took office in January 2021, he restored funding for the agency. A State Department review conducted the following year found no evidence to support GOP claims.
Other organizations and agencies that the U.S. will quit include the Carbon Free Energy Compact, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
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Today’s top stories
President Trump continues to suggest that the U.S. will have a lengthy and active role in Venezuela after capturing the ousted president Nicolás Maduro. Trump has proposed several plans for Venezuela’s future government and economy. In those proposals, U.S. companies are expected to play a key role.
President Trump dances as he departs after speaking during a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. House Republicans will discuss their 2026 legislative agenda at the meeting.
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🎧 Trump and his aides are unclear about the future of Venezuela, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. When the president says the U.S. will run the country, many eyes are on Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller, known for his stringent immigration policies, is one of the U.S. officials overseeing Venezuela. Ordoñez also says Miller has more recently described ruling over the hemisphere by force.
➡️ Last night, Trump posted on social media that Venezuela will turn over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S. While seizing current oil production is one thing, overhauling Venezuela’s oil industry requires a far greater effort. Here’s why.
While meeting with House Republicans yesterday, Trump attempted to offer his party a roadmap to victory in this year’s midterm elections. The president acknowledged the possibility of his party losing the majority in the House this year. Trump said in his speech that the president’s party often loses the midterms.
🎧 NPR’s Domenico Montanaro says that while it’s true the midterms are hard on the president’s party, it is even worse when a president’s approval rating is below 50%.Trump is facing his lowest second-term approval ratings, largely due to the rising cost of living. During yesterday’s speech, the president didn’t offer much on the topic. When he did discuss the economy, it was about how the stock market is at historic highs. He also touted his tariffs, which have actively raised prices on many things. People have informed pollsters for months that they believe the president’s policies have harmed the economy. Montanaro says one area where Trump and Republicans could take action is legislation on health care.
The Pentagon is preparing a six-month review to evaluate what it calls the military “effectiveness” of women serving in ground combat roles. Undersecretary Anthony Tata requested that the Army and Marine Corps submit data on the readiness, training, performance, casualties and command climate of ground combat units and personnel by Jan. 15. The effort aims to determine how gender integration has influenced operational success over the last decade.
Special series
Trump has tried to bury the truth of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. NPR built a visual archive of the attack on the Capitol, showing exactly what happened through the lenses of the people who were there. “Chapter 3: Assault on the Capitol,” lays out the timeline of key moments throughout the day as the riot unfolded.
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On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Trump held a “Save America” rally at the Ellipse, a site near the White House and U.S. Capitol. Multiple speakers promoted voter fraud myths and urged Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election. Meanwhile, a group of 200 Proud Boys marched toward the Capitol. Before Trump’s speech ended, violence erupted on Capitol grounds. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “was the most videotaped crime in American history, if not world history,” according to Greg Rosen, a former federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department unit that investigated the riot. But conspiracy theories still falsely label the assault a “normal tourist visit.” NPR’s review of thousands of court videos shows rioters assaulting officers with weapons, calling for executions and looting the building. These videos show the exact timing of events as they occurred. Corresponding maps show the locations where the conflict took place.
To learn more, explore NPR’s database of federal criminal cases from Jan. 6. You can also see more of NPR’s reporting on the topic.
Picture show
The tin soldier, a marionette puppet made by Nicolas Coppola and the main character in “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” show at Puppetworks.
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For more than 30 years, Puppetworks has staged classics like The Tortoise and the Hare, Pinocchio, Aladdin and more in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Every weekend, children gather on foam mats and colored blocks to watch wooden renditions of the shows. The company’s founder and artistic director, 90-year-old Nicolas Coppola, has been a professional puppeteer since 1954. The theater has puppets of all types, including marionettes, swing, hand, and rod. They transport attendees back to the 1980s, when most of these puppets were made. Over the years, Coppola has updated the show’s repertoire to better meet the cultural moment. Step inside his world with these images.
3 things to know before you go
This tiny forest in Los Angeles, CA is one of many micro-forests around the world offering green space and contributing to local biodiversity.
Demian Willette/Loyola Marymount University
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Scientists are establishing micro-forests in big cities to boost biodiversity and rejuvenate compromised land. Short Wave producer Rachel Carlson visited California’s largest micro-forest. Tune in to hear her account of the experience.
The Hungarian arthouse director Béla Tarr has died at 70. He’s best known for his bleak, existential, and challenging films, including Sátántangó.
While we often associate serendipity with luck or happy accidents, its origin suggests it’s more than just happenstance. This week, NPR’s Word of the Week explores the historical impact of serendipity and offers tips on how to cultivate it.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Amazon has been accused of listing products from independent retailers without their consent, even as the ecommerce giant sues start-up Perplexity over its AI software shopping without permission.
The $2.5tn online retailer has listed some independent shops’ full inventory on its platform without seeking permission, four business owners told the Financial Times, enabling customers to shop through Amazon rather than buy directly.
Two independent retailers told the FT that they had also received orders for products that were either out of stock or were mispriced and mislabelled by Amazon leading to customer complaints.
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“Nobody opted into this,” said Angie Chua, owner of Bobo Design Studio, a stationery store based in Los Angeles.
Tech companies are experimenting with artificial intelligence “agents” that can perform tasks like shopping autonomously based on user instructions.
Amazon has blocked agents from Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and a host of other AI start-ups from its website.
It filed a lawsuit in November against Perplexity, whose Comet browser was making purchases on Amazon on behalf of users, alleging that the company’s actions risked undermining user privacy and violated its terms of service.
In its complaint, Amazon said Perplexity had taken steps “without prior notice to Amazon and without authorisation” and that it degraded a customer shopping experience it had invested in over several decades.
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Perplexity in a statement at the time said that the lawsuit was a “bully tactic” aimed at scaring “disruptive companies like Perplexity” from improving customers’ experience.
The recent complaints against Amazon relate to its “Buy for Me” function, launched last April, which lets some customers purchase items that are not listed with Amazon but on other retailers’ sites.
Retailers said Amazon did not seek their permission before sending them orders that were placed on the ecommerce site. They do not receive the user’s email address or other information that might be helpful for generating future sales, several sellers told the FT.
“We consciously avoid Amazon because our business is rooted in community and building a relationship with customers,” Chua said. “I don’t know who these customers are.”
Several of the independent retailers said Amazon’s move had led to poor experiences for customers, or hurt their business.
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Sarah Hitchcock Burzio, the owner of Hitchcock Paper Co. in Virginia, said that Amazon had mislabelled items leading to a surge in orders as customers believed they were receiving more expensive versions of a product at a much lower price.
“There were no guardrails set up so when there were issues there was nobody I could go to,” she said.
Product returns and complaints for the “Buy for Me” function are handled by sellers rather than Amazon, even when errors are produced by the Seattle-based group.
Amazon enables sellers to opt out of the service by contacting the company on a specific email address.
Amazon said: “Shop Direct and Buy for Me are programmes we’re testing that help customers discover brands and products not currently sold in Amazon’s store, while helping businesses reach new customers and drive incremental sales.
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“We have received positive feedback on these programmes. Businesses can opt out at any time.”
