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Chad Daybell pleads not guilty to 'doomsday cult' murder charges

Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow, were indicted late last month in connection with several murders

Fox News/June 9, 2021

By Audrey Conklin

Chad Daybell, husband to Idaho "cult mom" Lori Vallow, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, before Idaho District Court Judge Steven W. Boyce.

Daybell and Vallow were indicted late last month in connection with the deaths of Vallow's two children, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow  and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, and Daybell's former wife, 49-year-old Tammy Daybell, according to officials.

Photos posted to social media showed Daybell's kids at his Wednesday's arraignment, which was held on the one-year anniversary of the day JJ and Tylee were discovered buried on Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho.

Daybell's next hearing is scheduled for June 23 at 9:30 a.m. MT and will be available to watch via Zoom, Boyce said Wednesday.

Vallow has reportedly been suspended, as the court ruled Tuesday she is "not dangerously mentally ill" but she "lacks fitness to proceed."

The mother and murder suspect has been committed to an Idaho Department of Health facility, where she will remain for up to three months – bringing to a temporary halt the proceedings for murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges against the mother of three, according to court papers filed late Tuesday and obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.

The pair is at the center of a tangled case that involves several suspicious deaths, as well as a bizarre apocalyptic religious belief that prosecutors claim the couple designed to justify the murders of Vallow's two children and Daybell's late wife.

Vallow and Daybell were each indicted on multiple counts each of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder related to the deaths of JJ and Tylee, officials announced last month.

Fox News' Stephanie Pagnones contributed to this report.

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