Idaho Home Where Lori Vallow Daybell’s Children Were Buried Has Controversial New Owner

The Idaho home where Lori Vallow Daybell‘s children were found buried in the backyard is under controversial ownership.

The bodies of Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, were discovered on the property of the Rexburg, ID, ranch house owned by Vallow Daybell’s husband, Mormon doomsday author Chad Daybell, in June 2020. Authorities had been searching for the children for months after their grandparents reported them missing.

Two weeks after Daybell’s wife Tammy died under suspicious circumstances, he married his new wife. Vallow Daybell’s previous husband and brother also died mysteriously.

On Monday, Vallow Daybell was sentenced to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole for murdering her children and conspiring to kill Daybell’s first wife. She claimed that she’s not guilty of killing her kids, and she told the court that her children have visited her and are “happy in heaven.”

Chad Daybell’s murder trial is expected to begin next spring.

The ownership and future of Daybell’s sprawling property are just the latest twists in an already convoluted story.

Daybell transferred ownership of the home where the children were discovered to his attorney John J. Prior on May 12, 2021, through a quitclaim deed, according to property records. This could have been to pay for his legal services (which can top $100,000 in high-profile criminal cases), protect the home from creditors, or for some other unknown reason.

A quitclaim deed means the property changes ownership. The new owner is then responsible for the taxes; the mortgage, if there is one; as well as any debts attached to the property in the form of liens.

Clients do transfer real estate to lawyers, often to pay their retainers if they don’t have the cash on hand. But it’s extremely unusual and typically frowned upon despite being legal in most circumstances in the state of Idaho, say attorneys.

“No reputable lawyer would take a case with a quitclaim house,” says criminal defense attorney Jeromy Stafford, who is based in Idaho Falls, ID. “It’s what low-level, shady lawyers do.”

He’s heard of attorneys taking their clients’ cars, guns, and guitars in lieu of cash—but never a house.

Daybell’s attorney has previously found himself on the wrong side of the law. About a decade ago, a 19-year-old woman claimed the attorney attempted to sexually assault her in his conference room, according to the ABA Journal. She allegedly had been seeking employment and legal advice.

The attorney denied the claim, saying he paid her for sex and she consented to his advances. Yet in 2012, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 120 days in jail.

Transferring real estate to an attorney is risky

The transfer could further put the attorney at legal risk.

Often, people who use a quitclaim deed to transfer real estate do so to shield the property from creditors. They might be in trouble financially and are considering filing bankruptcy or are about to get sued. By putting it under someone else’s name, creditors can’t come after the real estate.

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If Daybell moved the property to his lawyer to protect it from victims or creditors, it can be challenged in court. Then a lien could be filed against the property for that amount. That would leave the attorney with nothing.

“It’s not a good practice for an attorney to do,” says bankruptcy and criminal defense attorney Jay A. Kohler. He’s based in Idaho Falls, ID. “It’s very risky, especially in a high-profile murder case like this, to take the client’s assets for whatever reason.”

It also raises the question of what happens if the value of the home is greater than the legal fees in the case.

“Then the lawyer really has an ethical obligation of returning” the excess money, says Louis Rulli, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “How do you do that with a house?”

Would anybody buy the Daybell home?

It’s unclear what will happen to the home now that it’s owned by Daybell’s attorney.

If he decides to sell the home, buyers might be able to overlook the tragic crime given today’s hot market where there is a severe shortage of homes for sale, says associate real estate broker Theresa Brown, of Eagle Point Realty in Rexburg. The four-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom ranch home on 3.75 acres is in a desirable location, a former farming community with good schools.

Some might even want the home just to say they own it.

“People will brag that they have the home of the Daybells,” says Brown.

However, real estate experts believe the home could have a harder time selling.

“It’s a crime that involves kids. It’s the worst kind of crime there is,” says real estate appraiser Randall Bell, of the Landmark Research Group in Laguna Beach, CA. “It’s a rural area, and rural areas tend to fare worse than suburban or urban areas when it comes to a crime scene. … They don’t happen very often.”

Bell specializes in stigmatized real estate and appraised the homes of JonBenét Ramsey, the site of the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide, and the condo where Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered along with Ron Goldman.

There aren’t as many buyers for these infamous properties, and those who show interest typically want “deep discounts,” says Bell. He expects the Daybell house would sell for 10% to 25% less than market value as a result.

The home was sold in 2015. It’s currently valued at more than $331,000, according to Realtor.com® estimates.

Even with the discount, it might not be worth it, says Bell. A home like that will attract crime tourists and potentially even satan worshippers from all over the world, cautions Bell who has witnessed this firsthand.

“Somebody buying that house is going to go through years of annoyance and harassment,” he says. “There’s people coming onto the property, knocking on the door, and it just becomes a major nuisance. [Strangers] want to see where the bodies were.”

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