Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
BOISE — A man who served on the jury in the Lori Vallow Daybell case plans to attend Chad Daybell's trial as it begins this week in Ada County.
Tom Evans was Juror No. 18 and was one of the 12 jurors who found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty of murdering her two children, Joshua "JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and conspiracy to commit the murder of JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell, her husband's former wife.
Jury selection in the trial of Chad Daybell, Lori Vallow Daybell's husband, began Monday morning. He faces similar charges including the murder of Tammy Daybell.
Evans had never served on a jury when he was summoned to the Ada County Courthouse in April 2023 and knew very little about the Daybell case.
"I just thought it was business as usual at the courtroom. There were tons of jurors called in, but I didn't know they were all for one trial and had no idea what was going on," Evans recalls. "It was really hard. I'm used to being outside and not used to hanging out inside a small room with a bunch of people."
For five weeks, Evans spent his days in a courtroom. Some of the evidence was "horrific" as prosecutors showed autopsy photos and played emotional audio recordings.
Evans says there wasn't a particular piece of evidence or "smoking gun" that made him think Vallow Daybell was guilty; rather, it was a compilation of witness testimony.
"They found her hair between the plastic and the duct tape on JJ's body. That didn't mean much to me because it's a mom's hair and it's going to be everywhere," Evans explains. "To me, it was an accumulation of things. What's weird to say is a lot of the witnesses that had been her friend had more influence on me in making my decision than all of the police, FBI and professional people who testified."
The trial took an emotional toll on Evans, and he tells EastIdahoNews.com he feels like he's finally "getting back to myself" a year later. The court offered to pay for counseling if jurors requested services but for Evans, his way of dealing with the aftermath was writing a book about his experience. It's called "Money, Power and Sex" and will be released when Chad Daybell's trial is over. All proceeds will be donated to charity, Evans says.
Evans feels for the jurors in the new trial as they will determine whether Chad Daybell will get the death penalty if he is found guilty. For Evans, he would have sentenced Lori Vallow Daybell to death if it was an option.
"I would have had no issue," he says. "If somebody does the things they did, they deserve to die and I'm all for the death penalty in that way. Still, it would have been tough."
Watch the entire interview with Evans on EastIdahoNews.com.
