Lori Vallow trial: Chad Daybell collected wife Tammy's life insurance money just 2 days after her death
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
BOISE, IDAHO: During the trial of Lori Vallow, a district employee testified on Thursday that Chad Daybell visited the school district where Tammy Daybell, his deceased wife, worked just two days after her death to claim her life insurance money. The case has gained national attention partly due to the unusual and extreme 'doomsday' beliefs that Vallow and Daybell shared.
Vallow, 49, and her fifth husband, Chad, stand accused of a sick plot, fueled by their 'cult' beliefs, to 'mercy kill' JJ, 7, and Tylee, 16 in Rexburg, Idaho, in September 2019. In addition, they also face charges for Tammy's death in October 2019.
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Chad Daybell collected life insurance days after Tammy's death
Angela Yancey, the payroll and benefits administrator at the Sugar-Salem school district in Idaho, where Tammy worked as a librarian at Central Elementary, testified as a witness on Wednesday, May 3. Yancey stated that it was unusual for someone to collect a deceased person's life insurance so soon after their death, recalling the day Chad Daybell came to the school district.
'Tammy had increased her life insurance coverage to the maximum amount'
Further, Yancey stated when she asked Chad to provide a death certificate for Tammy, he claimed that he had already ordered eight of them. Yancey, who has helped employee families with life insurance 15 times, found this unusual, as this was the most she had ever heard of someone ordering death certificates, the very least three, she said. Yancey added that she conducted benefit meetings where life insurance policies were discussed and that Tammy had increased her life insurance coverage to the maximum amount, which was five times her salary, in September 2019.
The total amount of the life insurance policy was $130,000. Tammy had previously elected for only the minimum amount of $10,000 in life insurance when she was first hired by the school district in 2017. As per the East Idaho News, Tammy and Chad both signed the necessary form because the former had elected spouse coverage for her life insurance policy. On the day of Yancey's testimony, it was also reported that a foundation was created in Tammy's honor to support literacy programs and libraries in Utah and Idaho, and it wished her a 'Happy Heavenly Birthday' on Twitter, as Wednesday would have been her 53rd birthday.