Idaho

What to know about Idaho’s death penalty after Chad Daybell was sentenced to death

Published

2 years ago

June 3, 2024

What to know about Idaho’s death penalty after Chad Daybell was sentenced to death

(CNN) — Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the murders of his wife and two of his second wife’s children this weekend, but when and whether he will be executed remain wide-open questions.

It’s typical for the appeals process in capital cases to go on for years, and they often reach the US Supreme Court before an inmate is ultimately put to death. In Idaho, the imposition of a death sentence is followed by a mandatory post-conviction review, and defendants are able to pursue an appeal after the filing of a death warrant.

Click here for complete coverage of the Chad Daybell trial

In the meantime, the high-profile nature of Daybell’s case – and the looming capital trial of Bryan Kohberger, who’s pleaded not guilty in the killings of four University of Idaho college students – will bring renewed attention to Idaho’s death penalty, which is seldom used and attracted headlines earlier this year when officials halted their first execution attempt in more than a decade.

Here’s what to know about the death penalty in Idaho.

Executions are uncommon

Executions are relatively rare in Idaho, which, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, has carried out just three executions since 1976, when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. The first was in 1994, followed by two others in 2011 and 2012.

To put this in context, Texas has put to death 580 inmates within the timeframe, DPIC’s data show – by far the most of any state. And Oklahoma, which has carried out the highest number of executions per capita, has executed 124.

Only a handful of the 27 states where the death penalty remains legal have carried out as few executions as Idaho: Kentucky, Montana and Pennsylvania have also each put to death three people since 1976. Kansas, Wyoming and Oregon have executed even fewer, with zero, one and two executions, respectively.

Additionally, Idaho’s death row housed just eight inmates prior to Daybell’s sentence, according to the Idaho Department of Corrections. California – which, it should be noted, has a population more than 21 times the size of Idaho – has 638 condemned inmates, nearly 80 times the size of Idaho’s death row.

Officials recently halted an execution

Idaho officials attempted to carry out the state’s first execution in 12 years several months ago. But they were forced to abort midway through the procedure, citing difficulties setting an intravenous line to deliver the fatal drugs for lethal injection.

That echoed difficulties seen in executions in other states, including Alabama. Officials there similarly had to call off two executions in 2022 after authorities were unable to access the inmates’ veins before their death warrants expired.

The Idaho State prison complex near Kuna is shown on February 28, the day officials halted the execution of Thomas Creech after they failed to find a vein to establish an IV line to carry out the lethal injection. (Kyle Green, AP)

The execution of Thomas Creech, scheduled in Idaho for February 28, was “unable to proceed” after eight failed attempts to establish IV access, state Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt said at the time. The execution team encountered two different issues, Tewalt said at a news conference: In some instances it was “an access issue,” and in others a “vein quality issue.”

Tewalt praised the medical team’s willingness to halt the execution, telling reporters the state’s “first objective is to carry this out with dignity, professionalism and respect,” and he disputed the suggestion the execution was a “failure.” The department said in a statement Creech’s warrant would expire while the state considered next steps.

2 execution methods, both with challenges

The decision to call off Creech’s execution also raised questions about when and how the state would endeavor to put an inmate to death in the future.

Tewalt told reporters a second attempt using lethal injection – Idaho’s main method of execution – would require the state to seek out new chemicals.

While he expressed “a high level of confidence” the state could secure the drugs, a number of states have struggled in recent years to obtain them after pharmaceutical companies began prohibiting the use of their products for that purpose. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, for example, has repeatedly postponed executions citing companies’ unwillingness to sell the drugs necessary.

Idaho recently legalized a second method of execution, with an aim toward sidestepping this kind of supply problem. Last year, Gov. Brad Little signed a new law allowing the Department of Corrections to use the firing squad if the drugs are not available.

But as of late February, the state lacked the facilities it needed to carry out an execution by firing squad, Tewalt said. In a message to corrections staff, the director said his department had been working to retrofit its execution chamber to accommodate the alternative method.

“Those initial efforts were unsuccessful because contractors who would engage in this type of work have expressed their unwillingness to work on a project related to executions,” Tewalt said, “but efforts are ongoing.”

The director added construction on the execution chamber would prevent the state from being able to use it – even for lethal injection – until the work is completed.

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Idaho

Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances

For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.

“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.

The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.

Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.

Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.

Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.

“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.

Doing so is a risk, he said.

“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.

Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.

But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.

Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.

Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.

“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.

The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.

House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.

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Idaho

University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders

Published

18 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

University of Idaho professor awarded M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders

A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.

A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”

“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.

“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”

Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.

Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.

The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.

Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.

Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”

The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.

Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.

In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.

During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.

However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.

She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.

It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.

The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.

With Post wires

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Idaho

Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Gas prices expected to exceed as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages

BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.

The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.

“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”

On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.

State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline

Washington / $4.37
Oregon / $3.92
Nevada / $3.70
Idaho / $2.97
Colorado / $2.89
Montana / $2.82
Utah / $2.74
Wyoming / $2.73

In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.

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