The Visit to Hope House

By now most of you know that Susan and I made a visit to Hope House to deliver the first Royalty check from the sale of my first book. Traveling with us were three other Jurors form the case and Lauren from Hidden True Crime. If you haven’t checked out her Video of the visit do it now! It will not disappoint. We had such a great day. Presentation of check to Hope House

Back From Vacation

If you have been checking this site for updates you are probably pretty frustrated with me by now. I have to admit that I have been doing what I can to put Chad and Lori out of my mind for just a few weeks.

I’m back at it though and things are happening:

Lauren Matthias from Hidden: A True Crime Podcast is flying in today to join Susan and I tomorrow at Hope House where we will be presenting them with our first royalty check. This is a big day for me and I am really excited to finally see the fruits of my labors do some good. Some of my fellow jurors are also joining us. It’s going to be a good day!

On. August 13 at 12MT I will be on a podcast called “Just One More Question”.

On August 14 I will be on “The Legal Edge” which I think is on A&E and Netflix.

On August 16 at 3MT I am doing a book signing at Boise Booche. If you live. Close by come and meet me and have a booche with me. It’s surprisingly good and the owners are really good people.

Both of these shows sound really interesting. I will try to give you the links here so you can check it out. I will also put it all on FaceBook of course.

Even though I have been avoiding Chad and Lori as much as possible, I have been keeping up on current happenings. There was a great interview with Prosecutor Rob Wood on Hidden True Crime. Check it out if you haven’t already. I plan to call Rob and follow up on some of what he said.

Even though I haven’t been doing much writing of my second book, it is always on my mind and I have been gathering my thoughts. I have some ideas for some chapters and am excited to get back to it in the next week or so.

First check to Hope House!

We are about to receive our first royalty check from Genius Books. We are planning to hand it over to Hope House on August 8th. It’s a big day for me and has been a long time coming. I hope there are many more checks to come to help support the awesome work they do there. Thank you all for helping me support them.

We did a book signing in Rexburg and met some interesting people. I also took the opportunity to meet with Judge Boyce, his court attorney, Courtney, Prosecutors Lindsey Blake and Rob Wood, Lt. Hermosillo and Det. Kunsaitis.

Thanks to Jeanine and Clint Hansen for setting up the book signing and helping me out.

We will be setting up a book signing soon at Boise Booch and a few other locations. I will post the time and dates.

Money, Power and Sex available on Amazon

Chad is rotting away in jail awaiting his reckoning with God. 4 years ago Tylee and JJ were found buried in his backyard. It has taken a while, but thanks to the dedication of so many people, justice has finally been served.

Meanwhile, my book will finally be available on June 12 on Amazon and wherever books are sold. After so much time and effort, I really hope we sell a lot of books and support Hope House. Buy your copy and help me get some good out of this horrible story. And leave a review!

Book 2 is in progress. Not sure when I will have it finished, but I am working on it.

Book Release!

As you know, I had to wait for a verdict to release my book. Unfortunately this has caused some confusion and delay in some people getting the book in their hands. My publisher is working as hard as he can to get the books printed and delivered to you. The order is in and the printer is working overtime. I’m assured that anyone who preordered and anyone ordering directly will have their books by June 17. It will also go live on Amazon and wherever books are sold at that time.

Thank you all for your patience and your support. We will be handing our first check to Hope House on all of your behalves very soon. Can’t wait!

Verdict and Sentencing

After two months of trial the jury quickly handed down guilty verdicts on six counts of murder and three counts of fraud and theft. The verdict came down Thursday. Susan and I watched it on our phone as our plane was taking off to CrimeCon. After being at the trial everyday, I hated not being there to see it in person. I missed being there with the families of the victims, my friends in the media, my supporters, and everyone who has worked so hard for this moment.

We did sell out my book at CrimeCon though and that was awesome. I was live with Joel from Surviving the Survivor as Chad Daybell was given six counts of the death penalty.

I also did interviews with Trial Watchers and Court TV. I met some amazing people including a wonderful young woman who is getting ready to tell her own story. I will share more about her later.

Sorry it’s been a while

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything here. I apologize to anyone looking for info on the trial. I have been doing the final edits on the book and extremely busy. The good news is I got it all done over the weekend and the book is ready to go as soon as we get a verdict.

I have been in court everyday. As I’m sure you know, the prosecution rested last week and today was the first day of testimony for the defense. We heard from two of Chad’s adult children today and their testimony was honestly maybe just a little unbelievable. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because well, they lost their mother and their father is on trial for her murder.

Not sure what else Mr. Prior has in store, but I know he has at least one expert witness coming up. I’m hoping he wraps it up soon for my own selfish reasons: I’m dying to release my book and I can’t do it until we get a verdict.

Stay tuned. It should happen soon. Maybe even this week.

Thanks to all of you who have preordered. Since Facebook censored it, sales have almost tripled! We will be presenting our first check on behalf of all of you to Hope House hopefully next week.

My second book is in progress. I have had to put it down for a while, but it’s well on it’s way and will get back to it soon.

Thanks again for all of your support!

Tylee and JJ’s Memorial

On April 27 my wife, a fellow juror and myself took the 4 hour drive to Idaho Falls to attend the memorial. It took place in the downtown at the beautiful Colonial Theatre and was attended by over 200 people.

It was a moving ceremony of their lives to say the least. The most poignant moment for me was when Larry sat on the stage by the picture of JJ and talked about his time with JJ. So many other moments that I will never forget. Listening to JJ’s biological father and Kay’s son Todd’s phone call from prison where he is serving his time, I hope in a positive way. We need Todd to overcome his demons and help fight our battle to not only get justice in the case we are in the middle of now, but also to help other children in danger.

Seeing JJ’s M & Ms jacket brought tears to my eyes as did seeing Tylee’s pictures of her and her friends.

I got to meet in person for the first time Lori’s brother Adam and Uncle Rex. I already knew these guys well, but it felt great to get hugs from them.

I also had the opportunity to talk to Chad’s brother, Matt and his wife, Heather. Both are people who I have been hoping to talk to, but this wasn’t the time for interviews and it felt really nice just to be able to have a conversation with them and so many others without the pressure of trying to get information from them to help with my book.

I also get to talk to Lori’s cousin, Megan Connor. She sang four songs to us, one of which was Ave Maria. Megan has an amazing voice and hearing her sing was a privilege I won’t forget.

I am thankful for all of these people for having the guts to put themselves out there. They could easily just hide away and who could blame them. Instead they choose to take the risk of the criticism they might receive, as unfair as that might be. They are as much living victims of the horrible crimes as anyone. They have lost people who they love. They are in no way to blame, unlike Chad and Lori’s inner circle of friends.

I didn’t take any pictures. I didn’t need to. The images are burnt into my mind. There are pictures and video all over the internet if you want to see them and I recommend you do.

Back in court at 8:30am tomorrow and back to work seeking justice, answers, and a way to keep children in our communities safe from people like Chad and Lori who are still out there.

Melanie Gibb

Anyone who has followed this case has been waiting for Melanie Gibb to take the stand. She had a phone call with Chad and Lori which she recorded and shared with police on December 8, 2019. Two weeks earlier Chad and Lori asked her to lie to police when they called her to ask about JJ. She did lie to police and admitted it before she made the call.

In the call she tries to get Chad and Lori to tell her where JJ is, but they just tell her that he is safe and happy. They say they can’t tell her anything more for her own protection, but they refuse to tell her why she might be in danger.

The relevance of the call to this case is that it directly ties Chad to the murder of JJ. He is on the phone with Lori lying about the fact that JJ was dead and buried in his backyard.

In John Prior’s cross examination of Gibb, I was hoping he would expose the content of her texts with prosecuting attorney, Rob Wood. He didn’t do that, but I think he plans to call her back to the stand as a witness for the defense.

I had a great discussion about the trial with Lori Vallow Daybell’s Uncle Rex and brother Adam. I always like being interviewed by them on their Silver Linings podcast. I think it is amazing that these two men take the time to do their podcast and are willing to put themselves out there the way they do.

Things are getting more interesting

This trial has been nothing more than boring so far. For those of us who have followed it closely there have been moments of interest followed by hours of tedium. I know that fireworks are coming and we got a glimpse of that today.

Mr. Prior accidentally published his notes to the jury. Is he totally inept or was it on purpose? I haven’t seen enough of him to know and I could not read what he posted. The jurors could though. It would have been on the monitor right in front of them.

I have been a little disappointed so far in his cross examination of Melanie Gibb. This is where I thought Mr. Prior would blow things up. He isn’t done though so maybe tomorrow? We’ll see. She has corresponded a lot with prosecutor Rob Wood and I hope we get to see the text of that correspondence. I was sure today that as the clock wound down, he would want to end with fireworks and he kind of did, but not in any memorable way for the jury.

So, is he going to disappoint or is there more to come? We’ll have to wait and see. Whatever happens, I want fireworks. I want these witnesses to be exposed. I want to see if maybe the prosecution is protecting some of their witness. I wouldn’t blame them for it, but I think some of them might be culpable and that is what I want to know.

Don’t f*** with Judge Boyce. I think people misread him. He is soft spoken in court, but he is absolutely in control of his courtroom. When court ended today he held a hearing. There is an attorney named Terry Radcliff who filed a motion with the court to inject himself into the proceedings I guess as an attorney for the defendant. HIs motion was filed late at night and was rediculous. This trial has been planned for years and this guy just now tries to inject himself?

Anyway, Judge Boyce shut him down in spectacular fashion. If you want to know more about it I would suggest listening to Nate Eaton’s Courtroom Insider.

Hoping for more interesting testimony tomorrow….

Day 3 of Testimony

Today was a mix of new information, some fireworks and some boredom. I know it’s important to the case, but listening to FBI Specialist Nicole Heideman testify about Chad, Lori and Alex’s phones was pretty tedious. The most important thing I heard her say is that Chad used nine phones and Lori and Alex both used six. I mean who does that? Drug dealers for sure and people who have something to hide.

We got new information from Rexburg Detective Eric Wheeler. He had car cam on Chad after he was detained when they found JJ’s remains in his backyard. Chad was talking with his daughter Emma making arrangements since he figured he was going to jail. The most interesting thing I heard Emma say was that the spirit told her she would be moving soon and now she understands that since she would be moving across the street back into Chad’s house. I heard Chad say things would come together soon, I think meaning that the second coming of Christ was about to happen.

There were a few fireworks when John Prior cross examined Detective Wheeler. He actually made some good points about Wheeler not looking at Tammys’ death certificate and generally not looking deeper into Tammy’s cause of death before exhuming her body.

Opening Statements

We got opening statements and two days of testimony this week. The first and only witness so far has been Lieutenant Ray Hermosillo from the Rexburg Police Dept.

He started testifying about when the police were alerted about the missing children, the search of Lori’s apartment, garage and storage unit and went on to testify about finding and exhuming the bodies of JJ and Tylee. It’s very sad and gruesome testimony. It was exactly the same as what we heard in Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial, but still extremely difficult to listen to. In the gallery, we were not subjected to the pictures again, but I remember them.

Chad’s attorney, John Prior interupted Lieutenant Hermosillo several times while Prosecutor Rob Wood questioned him. Priors cross examination of Hermosillo was a little disjointed to say the least. I was waiting for the top of Hermosillo’s head to explode, but he held it together like the professional he is. I felt like I could see the stress on his face though and I worry about him. He is not allowed to talk to me or anyone not directly involved in the case other than regular chit chat. Still, when I or my two fellow jurors who are attending the case encounter him in the hall, we make sure he knows we support him. I don’t feel like it’s near enough though.

Not sure who the next witness for the prosecution will be, but we’ll find out Monday morning.

Preemptive Strikes

We have a jury! I sat in the courtroom and watched 18 people go through what I had to go through exactly one year ago. I feel for those people. I don’t want to speak for them, but I know some of them at least are in shock right now. That feeling won’t leave them for a long time. I only hope that in the end they have the same feelings I have now. Of course, I can’t talk to them right now, but as soon as the trial is over I will do my best to let them know I am available if they want to know what to expect in terms of moving on with their lives.

Listening to Judge Boyce today, I can’t understand how I didn’t know that I was on the jury when the preemptive strikes were over. I know I listened carefully to everything he said. It’s all kind of a blur though so maybe I was catching on and maybe it’s my memory that’s foggy. The way I remember it, I thought I was just in another group of several groups when I walked out of the courtroom and into the jury room. It was in the jury room where I remember realizing that I had been selected as a juror.

I could not be more appreciative of the people I have gotten to know. Fellow jurors during the trial and many others after. Larry says we’re all family and I feel it. It’s way more than words.

Opening Statements will happen Wednesday, April 10 beginning at 8:30am mountain time and the first witness will be called right after.

I will tell you that one potential juror failed to show up today. Of course, that could be for any number of reasons. I hope that juror has a good one. I also hope that it’s nothing too drastic.

I’m not getting any work done in terms of writing my second book, but that’s okay. As soon as the trial is over I will get right back to it. I am gathering a ton of information. I spend a lot of time when court is on recess just listening to people talk. People like Kay and Larry and Tammy’s Aunt Vicki. I do three of four interviews everyday and in return, I get to interview people involved in the case.

Stay tuned!

50 Jurors in the Pool

Another day of jury selection. They reached their goal of 50 today. They will do preemptive strikes tomorrow. Preemptive strikes is where each side gets to release 16 jurors without cause. Once that is completed we have an 18 person jury! It’s looking like opening statements could happen Monday.

It’s been fun hanging out with Nate Eaton from EastIdahoNews.com. Every evening at around 6:30 MT he does Courtroom insider on YouTube. He recaps the events of the day. Great way to keep up.

At the lunch break Lauren Matthias of Hidden True Crime does her lunchtime live on YouTube. I promise you that if you watch both Lauren and Nate, you will have all the news of the day about the trial.

Also, check out the interview I did with Elizabeth Vargas on News Nation last night. It was an honer to be on her show.

Chad’s attorney, John Prior was on his game today. One potential juror called him on his ability to go on and on until you have forgotten what it was he was asking you. He talked a lot about “everything that glitters is not gold”, I think giving us a clue what his strategy will be. He told us he has a beautiful girlfriend that is too good for him. There’s more, but you get the idea.

Pre orders for my book are going well. It means the world to me that you all are helping me out supporting Hope House. If you would like a signed copy, let me know and I’ll do whatever I need to do to make that happen.

Jeanine Harrop Hansen sent me a bag full of wrist bands in honor of Tylee, JJ and Tammy. If you see me, make sure to ask me for one.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all of the people coming into Boise for the trial Monday.

I’ll keep you up to date when I can.

Beginning of Jury Selection

Two days of jury selection in the Chad Daybell trial and 20 potential jurors have not been released. They need to get to fifty before they can select the final 18. Looks like it’s possible that it could happen by the end of this week which would likely mean opening arguments would start the following Monday. Still a long way to go though so we’ll see.

The big news is that my book is finally available for pre-order. Just hit the Purchase Book button. Don’t forget that all of the profits from the book go directly to Hope House to help children in need. Believe me, Hope House appreciates your support.

Remember that the book can’t be released until there is a verdict in the Chad Daybell trial hopefully around the end of May.

I have had the opportunity to reconnect with some people while attending the trial and that has been awesome for me. I have spent time with Detectives Ray Hermosillo, Chuck Kunsaitis, fellow juror Laura, Lauren Matthias from Hidden True Crime, Tammy Daybell’s Aunt Vicky to name a few.

If you haven’t already checked out Hidden True Crime podcast you are missing out on a lot of good information. Lauren and her husband Dr. John Matthias are so full of good information and are super interesting.

I will continue to go to Chad Daybell’s trial and keep you updated here.

I am well into my book two about this case and hope to wrap it up and have it available within a few months after the trial is over.

Seat In The Courtroom

Chad Daybell is in Boise and jurors are in the process of being selected for his upcoming trial.  Judge Boyce has given me a seat in the courtroom and I plan to attend at least most of the trial.  No one is sure when opening arguments will start.  It depends on how long it takes to select a jury.  My guess is April 8.

Justin Lum has put out a trailer for his documentary about the Lori Vallow Daybell trial and it looks awesome.  It’s called:  No Remorse, the Trial of Lori Vallow.  He interviewed me for it last fall.  We’ll see if I made the cut.

Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com is interviewing me today.

My book:  Chad Daybell, the One Mighty and Strong is coming along.  Just like my first book, new information keeps coming to light, so it’s evolving as I write it.

I’ve been thinking about the jurors for Chad Daybell’s trial.  I am concerned about them and will reach out to them when the trial is over to talk about my experience over the past year.  Hopefully that will help them know what to expect, although I’m sure it’s different for everyone.

Hidden:  A True Crime Podcast has a great interview with Larry Woodcock.  You should check it out.  I’m looking forward to reconnecting with Kay, Larry and Lauren at the trial.

Chad Daybell Trial About to Begin

The long anticipated Chad Daybell trial is set to start in Boise on April 1, just a few weeks from now. I will be attending at least most of that trial and talking to whoever will talk to me during breaks, before and after the daily trial.

My first book, Money, Power and Sex, the Lori Vallow Daybell Trial by Juror Number 18, is in the hands of my publisher and will be released as soon as there is a verdict in the Chad Daybell trial. Hopefully around the end of May. I will be sure to post on here and all over social media when it comes out. It will be available on Amazon and anywhere else books are sold I guess.

Crimecon, a huge crime nerd convention, is happening in Nashville the weekend of May 31. I plan to be there and hopefully will be able to release my book there.

My second book, Chad Daybell, the One Mighty and Strong, about Chad Daybell and his trial is already in progress. I expect to release it not long after his trial is over. The prosecution promises there will be new information and new evidence so I’m super excited to see what they present in trial.

Chad Daybell is scheduled to be transferred to Boise on March 20.

Check back here for updates. I will try to blog at least weekly, about the trial as it progresses, and I will post important dates or events as they come up.