Doomsday Author’s Wife Faced ‘Health Struggle’ Before Death, His Lawyers Say
Several of Doomsday author Chad Daybell’s five children will testify in his high-profile death penalty case, where defense lawyers say they will detail their mother’s “health struggle” before her mysterious 2019 death.
“They’re going to talk about their mother’s use of various medical treatments she would use—oils she would put on her leg, medicine, and different herbs she would take, and that their mother was suffering from a number of maladies, and she would refuse to see a doctor,” defense attorney John Prior told Ada County Court jurors in his Wednesday opening statements.
The highly anticipated testimony from three or four of Daybell’s children will help to explain the circumstances surrounding the October 2019 death of his first wife, Tammy Daybell. Prosecutors, however, allege that Daybell conspired with his paramour, Lori Vallow Daybell, to murder Tammy for an insurance payout before flying to Hawaii to get married 17 days later.