Chad Daybell, the man once described as a doomsday cult leader, has started publishing letters from death row after being convicted of murdering his first wife and his wife’s two children.
Daybell, 56, was sentenced to death in 2024 for killing Tammy Daybell, 49, along with Joshua 'J.J.' Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, the two children of his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell. The case gripped the US because of the disturbing claims of apocalyptic prophecies and cult-like behaviour surrounding the couple.
Now locked up at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, Daybell has launched a website called Letters from Chad, where he shares what he calls 'uncensored and unfiltered' dispatches from his cell.
Despite the guilty verdicts, Daybell insists he is innocent.
In his first letter, published on a dedicated ‘Letters from Chad’ website, he wrote: “I have never caused anyone’s death, and never conspired to commit such acts against anyone. I share in your sadness, pain, and grief over the deaths of Tammy, Tylee and JJ. I don’t have all the answers even now, but I’m grateful a more complete story will be shared during my appeals process.”
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The letters are being released with the help of his daughter, Emma Murray. Murray has publicly claimed she believes her father was framed and has set up a similar Letters from Chad page on X (formerly Twitter) to circulate his writings further — as shown in the post above.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, she said: “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.”
In his opening statement, Daybell tried to strike a friendly tone, saying: “Hello, my friends! This is Chad Daybell, writing to you from my cell in Idaho’s Maximum Security Institution. 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!”
He also hinted at his adjustment to life inside, adding: “I suppose you could say I’ve settled in. As for Death Row itself, I won’t be sharing details about my daily schedule or information about my fellow inmates. As the newest arrival on Death Row, it isn’t my place to talk about such things. It really is a different world in here, but I’m surviving, and I spend a lot of time working on my upcoming appeals.”
Daybell insists that media portrayals of him are false, claiming: “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.”
Acknowledging that many will never accept his side of the story, he added: “All I can hope for is that these letters can begin to generate feelings of healing, reconciliation, and understanding.”
For now, the bizarre writings of a convicted killer will continue to drip out online, even as he faces death row and his appeals process begins.
Topics: True crime, Death Row, Idaho
Ben Williams