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() Chad Daybell, who is facing the death penalty for killing his ex-wife and two stepchildren, has reflected on his victims in a series of prison letters.
A new website called “Letters From Chad” was created for Chad Daybell in August, featuring letters about his time on death row in an Idaho maximum security prison.
Daybell, 54, was sentenced to death last year after being found guilty in May 2024 of murdering his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and his new wife Lori Vallow’s children, Tylee, 17, and JJ, 7.
Daybell and Lori were both associated with a doomsday cult, and they claimed the children were zombies with dark spirits inside them.
Chad Daybell’s prison letters
In the letters, Daybell writes about his life before and after prison, his trial and recounts the story of his relationship with his murdered ex-wife. Daybell’s daughter, Emma Murray, confirmed the authenticity of the letters to the U.S. Sun.
“My father, Chad Daybell, was convicted by the state of Idaho to die. I started a page on X to share his letters and thought you might be interested,” Murray wrote to the publication while declining to comment further.
“Hello, my friends! This is Chad Daybell, writing to you from my cell in Idaho’s Maximum Security Institution,” Daybell wrote in his first letter.
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FILE – Chad Daybell sits at the defense table after the jury’s verdict in his murder trial was read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Daybell has been sentenced to death for murder of wife and girlfriend’s 2 youngest children on Saturday, June 1. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool) -
Chad Daybell enters the courtroom during his preliminary hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, on Monday, August 3, 2020. A detective Monday described in excruciating details how investigators unearthed the remains of two children who had been missing for months while searching the rural Idaho property of a man charged with concealing evidence. The testimony came during a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold Chad Daybell for trial. (John Roark/Post Register via AP, Pool) -
FILE PHOTO — Defense attorney John Prior, right, addresses Magistrate Judge Faren Eddins as to why he and Chad Daybell, left, are not wearing masks in court during a preliminary hearing.(John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool) -
A booking photo provided by the Rexburg (Idaho) Police Department shows Chad Daybell, who was arrested Tuesday, June 9, 2020, on suspicion of concealing or destroying evidence after local and federal investigators searched his property, according to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said they uncovered human remains at Daybell’s home Tuesday as they investigated the disappearance of his new wife’s two children a case that’s drawn global attention for its ties to two other mysterious deaths and the couple’s doomsday beliefs. (Rexburg Police Department via AP) -
Chad and Tammy Daybell
“This is the first of several letters I will send. I want to thank everyone who sent me cards and letters while I have been incarcerated. Your kind words of support really helped me. I cherished each one!”
Emma Murray and her siblings previously spoke out to defend Daybell, claiming he was framed for the crimes. Chad Daybell didn’t testify at trial, and the letters are his first public comments about the case.
Chad Daybell says ‘more complete story will be shared’
Daybell said he was told by his attorneys to “sit quietly, not smile, and not show any emotion as evidence was presented.” He noted it “made me appear to be cold and uncaring, which is the opposite of who I am.”
“I share in your sadness, pain, and grief over the deaths of Tammy, Tylee and JJ,” he writes. “I don’t have all the answers even now, but I’m grateful a more complete story will be shared during my appeals process.”
He went on to write, “I am using this method to share my story because I want you to receive it uncensored and unfiltered, directly from me.
“I am aware of how I have been portrayed in the media. Frankly, those portrayals of me are unrecognizable. I am not the man the media has created. I am not a cult member who should be feared. I am not a conspirator or a killer. I never have been.”
“I am a father, a grandfather, a husband, a son, a brother, and a friend with a firm faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he added.
Chad Daybell mourns his ex-wife, Tammy
Daybell dedicated one letter to his ex-wife, Tammy, writing, “I loved her, and I still do. She was my life partner and the mother of our five amazing children.
“We built a wonderful family together. We were married for nearly 30 years, and I always sought to keep her safe and protected. She was the anchor of my life, and I never considered harming her.”
He claims Tammy was sick for months before she died but refused to go to a doctor. However, witnesses at trial all testified that she never showed signs of illness, as reported by East Idaho News.
It could be years before Daybell is executed, and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, is serving a life sentence for the same crimes he was convicted of.
