Chad Daybell's children are coming to his defense as he faces the possibility of the death penalty for the crimes he's accused of.
Daybell is currently in the Fremont County Jail in Idaho, charged with the murders of current wife Lori Vallow's children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan as well as the death of his previous wife, Tammy Daybell. He was arrested after the remains of the children were discovered buried on the Daybell family property.
Of the many loved ones left heartbroken in the aftermath of these killings are Chad and Tammy's five children: Garth, Emma, Seth, Leah, and Mark. In a sit-down special, 48 Hours: The Secrets of Chad Daybell's Backyard, the Daybell children share their belief that their father is innocent of the crimes he's accused of.
Chad's five children all believe that he is innocent and have decided to stand by him. "He was framed," daughter Emma Murphy told 48 Hours.
"This is his property. If there's bodies buried here, it would be attributed to him."
When asked who would frame her father, Emma says that Lori Vallow and her brother Alex Cox, who was involved in the crimes but died of natural causes before investigators could charge him, were responsible.
"I think it's pretty clear it was Lori and Alex," Emma says.
"Alex came … and left for periods of time. … We don't know … exactly what he was doing."
Aside from the children's murders, Chad Daybell is also charged in wife Tammy's murder. However, the Daybell children all say their mother was in failing health prior to her death, and it wasn't entirely out of nowhere. They also claim they were the ones who decided against an autopsy, not their father.
"The narrative is that he was going, 'No, no, no autopsy.' But he was standing there — in complete shock, traumatized, letting us make the decision," Emma said.
"If he was trying to hide something, you — I wouldn't leave something like that up to my kids if I was trying to hide something."
The Daybell children say they didn't hear a word that Tammy's death was considered supicious until authorities were already exhuming her body.
"They told me that she'd been asphyxiated … but we never saw an autopsy," Emma said.
"Asphyxiation doesn't necessarily mean smothered," added brother Mark Daybell.
"According to my understanding, it just means the breath was interrupted. And in the end, she wasn't able to breathe. And according to that, there's more facts we need."
The Daybell kids also insist that learning the details of the case has been hard for them, not just because of their proximity to the case but because authorities have "told us things before that turned out to not be true," according to Garth.
Chad Daybell recently waived his right to a speedy trial, which likely puts his day in court sometime in early 2022. Lori Vallow's mental capacity is currently under review to determine if she is fit to stand trial.
