A man in the US murdered his wife and his girlfriend's children during a doomsday-inspired attack.

In a strange and tragic case, a man from the US has been found guilty of murdering his wife and his new girlfriend's two youngest children. The jury only took six hours to reach their verdict, bringing an end to a case that began in 2019 and involved multiple states. Chad Daybell, the accused, stood stoically as the verdict was read, wearing a long-sleeved dress shirt.

But the trial is not over yet. Now, the jurors will have to determine whether Daybell, who is 55 years old, should face the death penalty for the murders of Tammy Daybell, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow. The penalty phase of the trial began on Thursday and will continue on Friday.

This case has captured widespread media attention, and the judge even moved the trial from the rural community where the murders occurred to Boise, Idaho, in an effort to ensure a fair and impartial jury. In this penalty phase, the prosecution will argue that the crimes were particularly cruel and heinous, while the defense will try to present mitigating circumstances that could result in a lighter sentence.

The case started in September 2019, when family members reported the two missing children and a search was launched across multiple states. But as the investigation unfolded, it took several unexpected turns. It was revealed that both Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell, the children's mother, were having an affair when their spouses died unexpectedly. Vallow Daybell's husband was shot to death by her brother, who claimed it was self-defense and was not charged.

After the deaths of their spouses, Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell moved to eastern Idaho, where Daybell was a self-published writer of doomsday-focused fiction. In October 2019, Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy Daybell, died. Initially, he told the police that she had been battling an illness and died in her sleep, but an autopsy later revealed that she died of asphyxiation. Surprisingly, just two weeks after her death, Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell got married, much to the shock of their families.

Almost a year later, the remains of the two missing children were found buried on Chad Daybell's property. It was later determined that both children had died in September 2019. The prosecution claims that Vallow Daybell's brother, who died of natural causes during the investigation, conspired with the couple in all three deaths.

During the trial, prosecutors called numerous witnesses to support their claims that the couple planned to kill the two children and Tammy Daybell in order to eliminate any obstacles to their relationship and gain access to survivor benefits and life insurance. They argued that the couple had created an apocalyptic belief system that justified the killings, claiming that people could be possessed by evil spirits and turned into "zombies."

The prosecution's closing argument described how Daybell used his supposed abilities to determine if someone had become a "zombie" and how close they were to death by reading their "death percentage." They claimed that this was the pattern followed for each of the victims, labeling them as "dark" before ultimately killing them.

On the other hand, Daybell's defense attorney, John Prior, rejected the prosecution's portrayal of Daybell's beliefs. He described his client as a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a deeply religious man who often talked about his spiritual beliefs. Prior argued that the police only looked for evidence to use against Daybell and ignored the actual facts of the case. He even suggested that the children's late uncle, who had killed JJ Vallow's father in Arizona, was responsible for the murders and had tried to frame Daybell.

Both sides agreed that the couple was having an affair, which had started long before Tammy Daybell's death. The defense called Dr. Kathy Raven, a forensic pathologist, as a witness, who reviewed Tammy Daybell's autopsy report and believed that the cause of death should have been classified as "undetermined."

The grandparents of JJ Vallow, Kay and Larry Woodcock, were in the courtroom when the verdict was read. Kay Woodcock was the one who initially alerted the police about the children's disappearance, as she grew worried when Vallow Daybell stopped allowing JJ to speak to his grandparents. The Woodcocks had frequent video and voice calls with the children before their sudden disappearance.

This case has been a tragic and bizarre one, full of twists and turns. And while justice has been served for the victims, it's clear that this case will continue to captivate the public's attention.

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