BOISE, Idaho — Tom Evans of Boise is one of the jurors that served on the Lori Vallow Daybell trial in the Spring of 2023. When Evans received his jury summons in March, he said he could not have predicted that he would serve on the jury for one of the most high-profile trials in Idaho history.
"There were hundreds and hundreds of people in that jury room, and I just thought this is business as usual in the courthouse. They have trials that needed to be tried, and they need jurors. I had no idea it was the Lori Vallow Daybell case," said Tom Evans, a juror on the Lori Vallow Daybell case. "By the time I actually got called to court, Lori was there, so then I knew for sure, because I did recognize her, so I knew what we were in for. I could see it on other people's faces too, it was just kind of dawning on us, that we were on the jury. There were people crying and in a lot of shock."
Eighteen jurors were chosen that day. He was juror #18.
"The way it worked is there were eighteen of us, and six of us would be alternates, but we wouldn't know who the alternates were until the trial ended," he said.
Evans said he wasn't familiar with the details of the case. He recognized Lori Vallow from the news, but he didn't know much. Once the trial started, he said he learned a lot, and he caught on fast.
"Not knowing a lot about her going into this made it hard for me, and I was really trying to keep up with the testimony and everything that was going on," Evans said. "There was just a time with all the evidence coming together that I felt she was definitely guilty. She would sit with her head to the side with her wavy hair covering her face, and just kind of a sad look on her face."
He saw her react to testimony, but not often.
"Only a few times, did I actually see her react. When they showed the pictures of the exhumed bodies, she was really slumped down and looking away with her head down, that seemed to affect her. The other time, I saw her with one of the witnesses, Lori was staring daggers at her in a really intense way, it looked like she was trying to stare her down, maybe manipulate her," he said.
There was a lot of emotional testimony from people like Lori's oldest son Colby, Kay Woodcock, and Tammy Daybell's sister. He said he was the witness to so much pain in that courtroom.
"That was really hard, there was a lot of testimony that was really tough," Evans said. "These were the actual people; and they were victims of her also."
Evans said the worst part was the day the jury was exposed to the autopsy photos of the victims. It was something he couldn't prepare for.
"That was a really hard day, we kind of knew what we were going into that day in court, but obviously you can't be prepared for that, and it was really hard seeing those pictures," Evans said. "I felt like I had to look, it was my job, but I told myself ahead of time I'm going to take the quickest glance possible. But every one of those images is burned into my mind and will never go away."
He said he was very impressed with the people who brought the case to trial, from law enforcement to the lawyers involved.
"It made me proud of the state that I live in, to see the system working so well, the people within the system doing their jobs. the FBI, the detectives, the Rexburg police, the prosecution team everybody," he said. "The defense team, those guys, I think they gave Lori her due process, I think that's all they could do, I don't think they had much of a defense."
After weeks of being in that courtroom day after day, the prosecution and the defense gave closing statements. It was time to deliberate, but six of the jurors had to go. Only 12 of the 18 would decide Lori's fate.
"The trial ended and almost immediately they are picking numbers for the alternates out of a hat," Evans said.
He said his number, number 18, was called as an alternate juror. He was terribly disappointed.
"At that moment I was shocked, I was hurt, it felt unfair," Evans said. "I did not want my number called at that point, I wanted to be a part of deliberations after having gone through all that."
Evans was free to go, and he went home to wait for the jury's verdict. When the verdict was announced, he was able to go back to court.
"I arranged with the jury administrator to be there and actually have a seat in that courtroom," Evans said. "They offered that to us, and I took them up on that, I wasn't going to miss that."
Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty on all counts. Evans said it was the right verdict.
Months later in July, Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced in Fremont County, Idaho. Evans made the trip to watch the sentencing in person.
Vallow was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for her involvement in the murders of her children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy. She made a stunning statement in the courtroom, claiming her children weren't murdered, and that she still talks to them in heaven.
"The first time I heard her speak in person, I was shocked," Evans said. "I think in some sense she is insane, she has to be, but then she is perfectly capable of manipulating and making things work the way she wants them to work. So, in that sense she's not insane."
While he was in Eastern Idaho, he drove to Chad Daybell's house in Rexburg, he said he wanted to see it in person to honor the children.
"I saw where Tylee and JJ had been buried," Evans said. "It was sad."
Larry and Kay Woodcock, JJ's grandparents, were there.
"The media was there, and they were interviewing people. There was a memorial set up for JJ and Tylee and Tammy there. I could see that Larry and Kay were being interviewed, and when they were done, they came up to us and hugged us. They were so warm, that was a moment that meant a lot to me, and really made me feel better about the whole thing. They were comforting me," Evans said. "I walked away thinking, I can't just go back to my life. What am I going to do, and it came to me that there is a story to be told here. I thought, I'm not a writer, but I'm going to write a book, that's what I'm going to do."
So, he did. Evans' book is called Money, Power and Sex, the Lori Vallow Daybell Trial, by Juror #18. He said the title just made sense.
"The prosecuting attorney, her opening statement started out saying this is a case of money, power and sex. Those were some of the first words I heard as a juror, and it resonated with me, I guess," Evans said. "I wanted to tell the story of the police, the prosecution and the court system, my experience as a juror and being at the trial, Lori and Chad's past. I talk a lot about Tylee and JJ and Tammy and Charles Vallow. I talk a lot about preppers, fundamentalist offshoots and other cults."
He added that he felt writing the book has helped him as a kind of therapy.
The book will be available on Amazon, but not until after the Chad Daybell trial is over. He agreed with the police and the prosecution that he should hold off from releasing the book until Chad's fate is known. Evans said this won't be his only book. He plans on attending Chad's trial, and he said he will also write about what he sees there.
"The first book is about Lori, the second one will be about Chad," he said. "I guess there's a lot more that's going to come out so that's going to be interesting to see. From what I understand there's more evidence and testimony, it won't be a repeat of Lori's trial."
Evans said being a juror, he was truly confronted with evil in this case.
"I was confronted with it, I felt it and I can't describe it to somebody who hasn't experienced it, it's dark and it's heavy and it's all encompassing... it does something to you," Evans said. "It takes a toll."
Evans plans to donate the proceeds from his books to Hope House in Marsing, Idaho. He said he wanted something good to come out of all this.
"Hope House takes in children who are in need, in danger, they have no family, and they give them a home and education," Evans said. "We went out there, and we got to meet some of the directors, toured the place and got to meet some of the kids, they really do a great job."
Even though his jury service is done, Evans said he just can't walk away from this case. Not yet.
"I think the idea is you go serve your time and then go on with the rest of your life," he said. "That's 100-percent what I was expecting to do, but when I walked out of that courtroom, there was no way that was going to happen."
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.