Chad Daybell Trial Liveblog Day 1: Opening statements, detective takes stand

EDITOR'S NOTE: We will be following the trial, streaming it in the video player above and liveblogging it below. Refresh throughout the day for updates.

BOISE, Idaho (ABC4) — Opening statements kicked off Wednesday's trial of an Idaho man charged with killing his wife and his then-girlfriend's two youngest children in an unusual case rooted in extremist religious beliefs.

Chad Daybell, 55, is facing charges of first-degree murder, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Tammy Daybell, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. Last year, their mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, received a life sentence without parole for the killings.

Prosecutors say the couple justified the three killings with doomsday beliefs, part of an elaborate scheme to eliminate any obstacles to their relationship and to obtain money from survivor benefits and life insurance. Vallow Daybell referred to her two youngest kids as zombies, one friend testified during her trial.

Chad Daybell was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he self-published fiction loosely based on its teachings.

In fall 2019, he tried to fraudulently collect on his late wife's life insurance policy, and Vallow Daybell continued to collect both children's social security benefits after they died.

Chad Daybell has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to take more than two months. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if Daybell is convicted.

While the prosecution's opening statement leaned heavily on the timeline of the murders and their proximity to Lori and Chad's marriage, the defense team attempted to paint Lori as a manipulator pulling his strings. They also positioned Lori's brother, Alex Cox, as a "protector" who would defend her no matter what.

The state began its case against Daybell by calling a Rexburg, Idaho police detective to the stand. Det. Ray Hermosillo testified that he was asked to investigate the apartment complex where several of the case's main people lived. Originally, Hermosillo said he was asked to surveil the Daybells by officials from a police department in Gilbert, Arizona. Specifically, he was asked to do a welfare check on JJ Vallow and to seize and impound a Jeep owned by Charles Vallow, Lori's late husband.

He noted that when he first went to perform a welfare check on JJ Vallow, he met Chad Daybell and Alex Cox. Both of them initially claimed they had no mobile phone number for Lori, though Chad eventually did give Hermosillo the number. Hermosillo testified that Chad had initially refused to give Lori's phone number because he felt he was being accused of something.