By Katie McLaughlin
FREEMONT COUNTY, Idaho (Court TV) – An Idaho district judge has signed an order that will send Lori Vallow Daybell to a state mental health facility. In the meantime, her husband Chad Daybell has entered a plea of Not Guilty in court today. Just moments ago, he appeared before District Judge Steven Boyce at the Fremont County Courthouse for his District Court Arraignment.
District Judge Steven Boyce temporarily suspended the criminal case against Vallow Daybell after her mental competency was called into question.
Judge Boyce concluded that she lacks “fitness to proceed,” was “incapable of assisting in the defense of this case,” and lacks the “capacity to make informed decisions about treatment.” However, the judge’s filing did state Vallow Daybell is “not dangerously mentally ill.”
Lori Vallow Daybell (left) is shown in a March 6, 2020, file photo. Her husband, Chad Daybell, right, listens during his preliminary hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, on Monday, August 3, 2020. The couple is charged with concealing evidence by destroying or hiding the bodies of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan at his eastern Idaho home. (John Roark/Post Register via AP, Pool)
Essentially, the treatment that Vallow Daybell receives should lead to her being fit to stand trial.
By law, she will be held for no more than 90 days. If her mental health is deemed intact, the case will carry on. If not, there will be another pause in proceedings.
Vallow Daybell and self-proclaimed “Doomsday Prophet” Chad Daybell face multiple charges in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow; as well as Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
