This article was written by Eric Grossarth of East Idaho News.
New dates are on the calendar for the combined jury trial for Chad and Lori Daybell in 2021.
The couple was scheduled for separate jury trials until last month when District Judge Steven Boyce approved a motion by Special Prosecutor Rob Wood to combine the cases. The Daybell trial is now scheduled to begin on July 12. The trial is anticipated to last for several weeks. The trials were previously planned for the first part of 2021.
The Daybells are charged with felonies related to the concealment, alteration and destruction of the bodies of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, Lori’s two children. In June, investigators found the bodies buried on Chad’s Salem property.
All jury trials in Idaho postponed until 2021 due to spike in COVID-19 cases
Lori has been in custody since February after prosecutors said she had abandoned her children.
Chad was arrested on the day the children were found in his backyard.
Additionally, Chad’s attorney John Prior was scheduled to argue for dismissal of the case in November, and a hearing was to be held to move the trial out of Fremont County. Those hearings have now been rescheduled to Jan. 6.
Prior has argued that Chad cannot obtain a fair trial in the small eastern Idaho county due to extensive media coverage of the case. Mark Means, Lori’s attorney, has also asked to move the trial expressing similar concerns.
