Chad's Trial Date and More
Hello Friends!
There are a few things to discuss, so let’s get right to it.
Chad had an uneventful scheduling hearing this morning. The judge scheduled his trial for November 8 to December 17. That’s a possible six-week trial. How certain is the date? Well, on the scale from being carved in Jell-O to being carved in stone, I’d say it’s in the wet cement category. Idaho law, 19-3501(3) requires that the court must dismiss any action unless good cause to the contrary is shown, “If a defendant, whose trial has not been postponed upon his application, is not brought to trial within six (6) months from the date that the defendant was arraigned before the court in which the indictment was found.” That means that unless Chad waives his right to a speedy trial and asks to continue it, the trial will happen. Why might Chad ask for more time? The biggest reason will be if the state files their notice of intent to seek the death penalty. If that happens, the court will appoint new, death-penalty qualified lawyers, and they will have to get up to speed. Additionally, death penalty cases are investigated and prepared differently and more painstakingly than other cases. There are still so many variables in play that it’s hard to say whether the scheduled trial will happen.
There are usually pretrial motions that need to be drafted and filed well before trial. The judge gave Prior extra time to file those motions because there is so much discovery to compile that the prosecutor hasn’t finished their part yet. The prosecutor explained that the discovery is voluminous, and they intend to send Prior all the information from both cases. That means some of the information will duplicate what Prior already has. Mark Means might take a page from Prior’s playbook. Prior has been in touch with the prosecutor and discussed the discovery problem. The prosecution has promised the discovery by July 15, 2021.
When a prosecutor prepares discovery, it’s not as simple as just making photocopies of everything, dumping it in a box, and telling the defense attorney to come and get it. These days, discovery is provided electronically. The prosecutor’s office compiles and numbers every page, then indexes every document to assure they have provided a complete copy of all the records to the defense. It’s a time-consuming and detailed process that can take days to complete. Once that’s done, the data is either sent via a secure server to the defense or downloaded directly onto a hard drive. Prior offered to provide a hard drive for that purpose, but the prosecution declined. That’s likely because the prosecution doesn’t want to run the risk that their computer could be contaminated by using a drive that their IT department hasn’t cleared.
John Prior has discussed discovery appropriately and professionally, and the state has responded in kind. Prior has a lot of work ahead of him; in addition to the stacks of documents, he also has five days of grand jury testimony to listen to. Judge Boyce ordered that any motion hearings occur before September 10, 2021. That means Prior has to file his motions before that date and allow time for the state to respond and the court to set a hearing.
Unlike John Prior, Mark Means has continued to file frivolous, time-consuming, and, some might say, harassing motions. The criminal bar, both prosecution and defense, tends to be a collegial group. The attorneys know they will be dealing with one another long after their current client forgets their name and that their professional reputation isn’t worth sacrificing. It’s a lesson Mark Means has yet to learn. Means has filed a motion demanding that the case be dismissed, and the state be sanctioned for not providing him with the discovery when he asked for it. He has also filed a motion to hold Melanie Gibb in contempt for not responding to the subpoena he served on her. It’s hard to see the authority for Means’ motion to dismiss the case because of discovery violations since Lori was declared incompetent before she was even arraigned, and it’s usually arraignment that triggers the obligation to provide discovery. I think the state may argue that he’s technically not even entitled to discovery.
As many of you know, I appear regularly on Lauren and Dr. John Matthias’s YouTube Live episodes on their channel, Hidden True Crime. I admire and respect Lauren and John for the approach they’ve taken to the case. Lauren is a journalist, and Dr. John is a forensic psychologist. Like all of us, they are trying to make sense of this inexplicable case. Because of the popularity of their channel, many people associated with the case have reached out to them. Lauren recently aired an interview with a man named Shawn Littlebear. Littlebear was involved in the founding of Preparing a People (PaP). PaP was a group that organized conferences and other events for the prepper community. They primarily aimed their events at the LDS Church members, and Chad Daybell, Melanie Gibb, and Julie Rowe all spoke at their events. It appears that these conferences were the jumping-off point for Lori and Chad’s strange beliefs. Because Littlebear was present in the early days of the organization, Lauren was interested to hear him recount the memories of that time. Many have been critical of Lauren for giving Littlebear a forum. Littlebear’s experience is just a tiny piece of a large and complex puzzle, but if we truly hope to understand and learn from this case, we have to listen to all parts of the story, even those that seem strange or that we disagree with. We need to understand so that we can recognize the warning signs before children die.
Lori remains in a mental hospital where she is receiving restorative treatment with the goal of restoring her to competence so she can proceed to trial. Rumors are swirling about possible charges in Arizona. Those charges involve the death of Lori’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux. Boudreaux is the ex-husband of Melani Pawlowski, Lori’s niece.
About a month ago, law enforcement in Arizona announced they had completed their investigation into crimes involving Lori Vallow and were referring the cases to the prosecutor’s office. I live in Arizona and have found their charging process excruciatingly slow. Additionally, they don’t want to file the charges too soon and run into their own speedy trial issues. There may be other co-conspirators, including perhaps, Lori, Chad, and Melani Pawlowski.
Money appears to be the motivation. Lori believed she was the beneficiary of a million-dollar life insurance policy when her husband, Charles, died. Lori even went as far as to change the password on the life insurance account so that Charles couldn’t access it. Instead, Charles was able to contact the insurance company and secretly change his beneficiary to his sister, Kay Woodcock. When Lori’s brother, Alex, shot Charles in July 2019, Lori was shocked to discover her new life wasn’t going to be underwritten by Charles’s life insurance. Brandon Boudreaux also had a million-dollar life insurance policy, and his ex-wife, Melanie, was still the beneficiary. On October 2, 2019, someone drove the Jeep with Texas license plates that Tylee usually drove to Brandon Boudreaux’s new residence. An unknown assailant took a shot at Brandon out the back window. Brandon could not determine if there was anyone else in the car but said the shooter looked like Alex Cox.
When the attempt on Brandon’s life was unsuccessful, Lori and Chad still had their plan to murder Tammy as a backup. On September 8, 2019, while Lori and Alex took Tylee and JJ to Yellowstone National Park, Chad and Tammy signed documents to increase Tammy’s life insurance policy to the maximum limit. September 8, 2019, was also the last day Tylee was seen alive. Police believe her body was disposed of in Chad’s backyard beginning the next day.
