idaho | Murder Database

Chad Daybell Sentenced To Death For 3 Murders

Chad Daybell has been sentenced to death by the State of Idaho for a triple murder

According to court documents Chad Daybell for the murder of his first wife Tamara “Tammy” Daybell, 49,and his second wife Lori Vallow’s two children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.

Chad Daybell would go to the home of Tamara “Tammy” Daybell and would strangle the woman to death.

Chad Daybell second wife Lori Vallow was convicted of the murders of her two children Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan earlier this year

Apparently Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow believed the only way they could truly move on was to murder those tied to their past

Chad Daybell would be convicted of murder and conspiracy as well as insurance fraud and would be sentenced to death

Chad Daybell Case

Chad Daybell was sentenced to death Saturday upon the recommendation of the jury that convicted him of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the killings of his first wife and two children of his second wife.

Daybell was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and two of his second wife’s children – 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow – in a case prosecutors claim was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.

Judge Steven Boyce on Saturday formally imposed the death sentence after a jury, in a lengthy verdict form read in court earlier, said it found that penalty was appropriate under the law. The judge also imposed a 15-year prison sentence for insurance fraud charges.

Daybell had a blank expression as Boyce sentenced him to death. The judge said jurors had “found beyond a reasonable doubt … that the aggravating circumstances when weighed against the mitigating circumstances do not make the imposition of the death penalty unjust.”

The sequestered jury began deliberating his fate Friday afternoon and mulled the case for six hours before ending for the night. Jurors continued deliberations Saturday about 8:30 a.m. MT, and at 10:45 a.m. the Ada County courts announced the verdict had been reached.

Jurors heard contrasting portraits of the man from lawyers before beginning deliberations in a case that drew national attention in part because of what prosecutors described as the couple’s “doomsday” religious beliefs. The sensational triple murder was featured in a Netflix true-crime documentary in 2022.

In his opening statement to the jury on Friday, prosecutor Rob Wood asked them to consider aggravating factors that would make Daybell eligible for the death penalty.

First, the three murders, he said, were committed for remuneration. Daybell was also convicted of insurance fraud stemming from life insurance policies that allegedly paid him money after his first wife’s death. His second wife, as well as Daybell, also were convicted of grand theft because she continued to draw Social Security benefits for her children after their deaths.

Additionally, Wood told the jury, the murders of the three victims were “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.”

“This defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life,” Wood added. “The defendant, by his conduct, whether such conduct was before, during or after the commission of the murders at hand, has exhibited a propensity to commit murder, which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”

The prosecutor concluded, “It is your decision whether one or more of these aggravators has been proven. And if it has been, you must decide if, under these circumstances, imposition of the death penalty would be just or unjust.”

The verdict came about a year after Daybell’s second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was also convicted of the murder of her children and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also convicted of conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Vallow Daybell has appealed her convictions to the state Supreme Court, with her legal team raising the issue of whether she was mentally competent to stand trial.

Authorities have said they believe Tylee and JJ were killed in September 2019 – the month they were last reported to have been seen – and that Tammy Daybell was found dead in her Idaho home on October 19, 2019, a few weeks before Chad Daybell married Vallow Daybell.

Addressing the jury Friday, defense lawyer John Prior portrayed Daybell as a once “quiet, reserved, shy young man” who grew up in Springville, Utah, a small, tight knit “town of faith.” Daybell, his lawyer said, met his first wife, Tammy, and they were married for 29 years, raising five “wonderful” children “very deep in their faith, very deep in their commitment to family.”

But Daybell’s life changed in late 2018, Prior said, when he met Vallow Daybell, who had already been married multiple times.

“Everything that glitters is not gold,” he told jurors. “Lori Vallow glittered. She was not gold. She was the trajectory that changed the plan… Chaos hits and all of these things start cascading and this thing becomes very complicated and difficult.”

Prior said the new relationship with Vallow was like “this bomb dropped” on the life of “the small town boy from Springville.”

“We have to look back at that,” he said. “You examine what Chad Daybell’s past was prior to the bomb being dropped, the Lori Vallow bomb being dropped… If it wasn’t for that trajectory coming in and changing the path, is this where we would be going? It’s not where we’d be going.”

Jurors also heard from relatives of the victims on Friday.

“It makes me angry and it destroys me to know Tammy was treated how she was,” Tammy Daybell’s father, Ron Douglas, told jurors. “I find it comforting to know that Tammy is resting peacefully in Utah, buried alone and near her beloved mother.”

Kay Woodcock spoke about her grandson JJ and her step niece Tylee.

“I sit here today and try and explain the immense pain that me and everyone in my family continues to endure daily,” she said. “But how do I do that?”

“I can tell you there have been too many situations in the past few years where we were slammed with the fact that JJ won’t hit another milestone,” she said of her grandson. “The constant question remains: Who would he have become? What kind of man would he have been?”

Woodcock remembered Tylee as “the most precious, blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl” and an “absolute mama’s girl.”

Woodcock added, breaking into tears: “There’s a hole in my heart, in the hearts of every member of my family, that can never be filled and will remain for the rest of my life.”

Tylee’s aunt, Annie Cushing, remembered her walking around the house singing with “the voice of an angel.”

“Tylee had her whole life ahead of her. She had dignity, she had dreams, she had goals. This defendant stole all of that,” Cushing said.

Kelsee Douglas, Tammy’s sister-in-law, told jurors that “pain, fractured relationships and unhealed wounds are all part of the aftermath” of the murders.

“This is the legacy of anguish and sorrow that will haunt our family for generations,” she added.

Tammy’s brother, Michael Douglas, lamented that “the nightmare fodder I have been provided will last me a lifetime.”

Daybell declined to address the court after the victim impact statements.

Law enforcement found the remains of Tylee and JJ on Chad Daybell’s Fremont County property in June 2020, authorities said.

“It’s a sad day. JJ would have been 12 years old,” JJ’s grandfather, Larry Woodcock, said after the verdict Thursday.

Woodcock remembered the victims, and asked the same question, over and over.

“What did they accomplish? Nothing. What did they do? They destroyed families,” Woodcock said of Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell.

But the defendants, Larry Woodcock said, could not destroy the memories relatives have of the victims. “They can’t take that,” he added, growing emotional at one point. When he heard the jury verdict in court, he said, he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

During opening statements, the prosecutor and defense attorney painted contrasting portraits of the defendant.

The state described him as a power-hungry and grandiose man who would stop at nothing for “what he considered his rightful destiny.” His defense lawyer portrayed Daybell as a religious man driven into an unfortunate relationship by a “beautiful, vivacious woman” who knew “how to get what she wants.”

“Two dead children buried in the defendant Chad Daybell’s backyard,” Wood said in his first words to the jury at the start of trial.

“The next month his wife is found dead in their marital bed. Seventeen days after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell, this defendant is photographed laughing and dancing on a beach in Hawaii at his wedding to Lori Vallow, a woman who was his mistress and the mother of the children buried in the graves on his property. Three dead bodies.”

When Daybell “had a chance at what he considered his rightful destiny,” Wood said, he “made sure that no person and no law would stand in his way.”

“His desire for sex, money and power led him to pursue those ambitions,” the prosecutor added. “And this pursuit led to the deaths of his wife and Lori’s two innocent children.”

Tammy Daybell was initially believed to have died in her sleep, and Chad Daybell remarried less than three weeks after her death in 2019.

Prior said Daybell’s life began to change after he met Vallow Daybell, a “beautifully stunning woman” who “starts giving him a lot of attention” and eventually lured him into an “inappropriate” and “unfortunate” extramarital relationship.

Vallow Daybell’s two children from a previous marriage were last seen on different days in September 2019. Tylee Ryan was a “normal, vibrant teenage girl” who loved her friends and her little brother, JJ, was on the autism spectrum and required special care, according to Wood.

In late November 2019, relatives asked police in Rexburg, Idaho, to do a welfare check on JJ because they hadn’t talked to him recently. Police didn’t find him at the family’s house but did see Vallow Daybell and Daybell, who said JJ was staying with a family friend in Arizona, according to authorities.

When police returned with a search warrant the next day, the couple was gone. They were ultimately found in Hawaii in January 2020.

In June 2020, law enforcement officials found the remains of Tylee and JJ on Daybell’s property in Fremont County, Idaho. Vallow Daybell and Daybell were indicted on murder charges in May 2021.

Tylee was believed to have been killed between September 8 and 9, 2019, and JJ between September 22 and 23, according to prosecutors.

“We are filled with unfathomable sadness that these two bright stars were stolen from us, and only hope that they died without pain or suffering,” the families of the children said in a statement after the remains were found.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/01/us/chad-daybell-murder-sentencing-death-penalty/index.html

Chad Daybell Now

Chad Guy Daybell
IDOC #: 158991
Status: In custody
Age: 56

Idaho Maximum Security Institution J Block

Offense	Sentencing County	Case No.	Sentence Satisfaction Date
Insurance Fraud	Fremont	CR22-21-1623	Life
Criminal Conspiracy	Fremont	CR22-21-1623	Death
Murder I	Fremont	CR22-21-1623	Death

Majorjon Kaylor Murders 4 In Idaho

Majorjon Kaylor is a killer from Idaho who was convicted of the murders of a family of four

According to court documents Majorjon Kaylor became upset when a member of the murdered family allegedly flashed his wife and daughter. Instead of getting the police involved Kaylor would take matters into his own hand and would shoot and kill four members of the family including two teenagers: Kenneth Guardipee, 65; his daughter, Kenna Guardipee, 41; and her two children, Devin Smith, 18, and Aiken Smith, 16

Majorjon Kaylor would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole

Majorjon Kaylor News

Quadruple murderer Majorjon Kaylor was sentenced Monday, March 25 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the death of a Kellogg, Idaho family of four.

In a jam-packed courtroom Monday afternoon, both Kaylor’s and the victims’ families watched Kaylor walk in the courtroom wearing all black with handcuffs and ankle shacklings.

Kaylor gave no reaction when his sentencing was handed down.

Family members of the victim’s family gave impact statements directed to the judge and Kaylor himself.

“Words will never describe the loneliness I feel daily. All of us have had our lives changed to grief,” Russell Guardipee, a family member, said.

“We lost three generations. I haven’t seen, heard or touched my kids in nine months. I can’t sleep,” Gerri Silva the mother of victim, Kenna Guardipee, said.

“The event is a particular heinous event. You’ve taken four individuals from this community based on your decision,” Judge Barbra Duggan said to Kaylor.

Kaylor pleaded guilty to lesser charges — four counts of second-degree murder, in December of 2023 for the death of 65-year-old Kenneth Guardipee, his 41-year-old daughter, Kenna Guardipee, and her sons, Devin Smith, 18, and Aiken Smith, 16.

“He killed an entire branch of our family tree. Never any great grandchildren to watch grow up. I lost my best friend (referring to Aiken). He spent hundreds of hours volunteering throughout the community. An entire beautiful family taken by one person,” David Silva, grandfather to Aiken and Devin, said.

On June 18, 2023, Kaylor killed the four, execution style, in the duplex they lived in. Kaylor told police he snapped and, “did something about it.”

“It” was Kaylor’s allegation that Devin Smith had exposed himself to the suspect’s wife and children through a window at least three times. He said the cops were called twice, but nothing was ever done about it.

Judge Duggan said Kellogg Police Officers took a report on June 13.

“If something happens again, I’m not going to call you guys,” Kaylor told officers.

Judge Duggan said on June 18, Kaylor shot Kenna in the hand, torso, and temple, shot Kenneth to torso and head, then Kaylor entered the home and shot Aiken in his back and temple. Devin was shot four times.

Kaylor called 911 and said he “executed an f*g pedophile and his family.” DISPATCH: “You shot four people and they’re all dead?” “Yes, I shot four people,” Kaylor said.

“You said you were protecting your children, but who’s protecting them now? You’re nothing but a two-bit killer. Not only did you destroy my family, but yours as well,” Joe Guardipee, a family member, said.

Kaylor’s public attorney argued that the government failed Kaylor and his family. The attorney claimed Kaylor reported what Devin was reportedly doing to police, but nothing was ever done.

“They were hoping the government would provide some type of solution, but they never (did). The grandfather, Kenneth said ‘if he (Devin) wanted to hurt your kids, he could.'”

Following that statement, he killed all of them. Mr. Kaylor knows he violated the law, and it doesn’t mean that this was premeditated,” Kaylor attorney said.

Ben Allen, Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney, requested 50 years fixed. Kaylor’s attorney requested the judge to allow Kaylor out on parole.

Judge Duggan allowed Kaylor the opportunity to speak, however he declined, “no, thank you,” Kaylor said.

“There are no words to describe these senseless murders. A good father would never murder, let alone, an entire family. A good father would not take justice into his own hands. A good father would not leave their children without a father. A good father would not leave his children to defend his actions in a small community. There are many good attributes to being a good father, but your honor, he doesn’t have any of them,” Jolene Sharp said.

Kaylor’s guilty plea was reached as a result of mediation between the prosecution and defense. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder. Mediation also dismissed a felony burglary charge.

Shoshone County Sheriff Holly Lindsey said Monday that it could take anywhere between a week to several months before Kaylor is transferred to state prison.

Anyone convicted of second-degree murder in the State of Idaho faces anywhere from ten years to life in prison.

https://www.bigcountrynewsconnection.com/idaho/north-idaho-quadruple-murderer-majorjon-kaylor-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/article_3b38c8c7-e345-52cf-92c9-9e7cd4ec0887.html

Brad Compher Murders Nori Jones

Brad Compher is a convicted killer from Idaho who murdered Nori Jones back in 2004

According to court documents Brad Compher would stab to death Nori Jones inside of her home in September 2004. Compher who met Nori Jones on a chance meeting would break into her home in order to steal her engagement ring or to sexually assault her

The murder case would go cold and the family of Nori Jones would have to wait until the advancements in DNA testing would finally lead to the arrest of Brad Compher

Brad Compher would be convicted and will be sentenced later this year

Brad Compher Case

After nearly 20 years, the family of Nori Jones received justice Monday when Brad Scott Compher was convicted of felony first-degree murder for stabbing the 25-year-old to death inside her Pole Line Road home in September 2004.

It took just four hours for the 12-person jury, which included eight men and four women, to find Compher, 49, of Pocatello, guilty of killing Jones. His trial lasted 10 days, including a combined two and a half days that were spent selecting a jury and providing them with instructions as to handle the case.

Compher opted against taking the stand in his own defense. Throughout the trial he appeared impassive, raising his eyebrows a few times and occasionally looking up to a large television from which various pieces of evidence were shown. Compher appeared to be taking his own notes, folding a piece of legal paper into a square and placing it in his shirt pocket during breaks and recesses.

Proceedings began Monday with the closing statement from Bannock County Assistant Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Radford. The rest of the prosecution team included Bannock County Chief Civil Deputy Brian Trammell and JaNiece Price, the homicide and narcotics specialist for the prosecutor’s office.

Radford began by asking jurors not to overthink the evidence and to “rely on your common sense,” when determining whether or not there was any reasonable doubt that Compher killed Jones.

He compared the case to a Monet painting, stating, “You don’t just consider one piece of evidence in isolation, you look at the entire thing. When you consider all of the evidence together, that is when you get the full picture.”

Radford said that this case was charged as felony murder because Compher killed Jones while in the act of committing a burglary or rape, noting that a burglary only means that he broke into Jones’ home with the intent to commit a serious felony crime.

It was during an interaction at the Idaho Department of Labor or a visit to Jones’ home to assist the brother of Jones’ landlord in moving some lumber that Compher first made contact with Jones, Radford said, adding that it was after one of those encounters that he hatched a plan to steal an engagement ring from her or to rape her.

Radford said Compher gained entrance to the home through a back window, one that left a palm print that, although it couldn’t be matched to Compher’s palm print, was something that was DNA tested, which revealed that there was less than one in 93 trillion chance that the DNA matched anyone but Compher.

Radford also spoke about how Compher’s DNA was located on a ring that was seemingly removed from Jones’ hand after rigor mortis had set in considering Jones’ left hand was found to be in an awkward position with her ring finger extended.

Speaking to the evidence that showed Compher’s DNA profile was located underneath the fingernails of Jones’ right hand, Radford showed the jury a picture of a significantly deep stab wound to her left hand and pointed to the previous testimony of the forensic pathologist who conducted her autopsy who said such an injury could have made her left hand inoperable.

“Don’t get bamboozled,” Radford said.

Radford also spoke about how Y-STR testing found that “it would be reasonable to assume” that Compher’s DNA profile was found on both vaginal and anal swabs that were taken from Jones’ body as part of a sexual assault kit being administered during her autopsy. He said Jones’ body was found in “a sexually vulnerable position.”

Radford finished his closing statements by telling the jury that Compher told investigators twice that he had never been to Jones’ home or met her as a means of covering up what he did at her house in 2004. He said that the jury would find that he murdered Jones while attempting to rape her and that they would find sufficient evidence to convict him of felony first-degree murder.

Compher’s defense team included Chief Deputy John Scott Andrew of the Bannock County Public Defender’s Office, contracted attorney Gary Edward Proctor of Baltimore and Bannock County Deputy Public Defender Rilie Fry.

It was Proctor who delivered closing statements in the case Monday, beginning by explaining that it was his honor to represent Compher.

Proctor reminded the jury that what he says and the previous statements from Radford are not considered evidence and that “what matters in this case is your recollection.”

Proctor said it’s reasonable to assume that Compher left his DNA on a palm print on the back window when he went to Jones’ home prior to the murder with her landlord’s brother.

The notion that Jones’ injuries suggest she fought back against her attacker and previous testimony from investigators that Compher was observed with scars on his arms years after the incident should mean that some of Compher’s DNA should have been found in the house, Proctor argued.

Fingerprints that were matched to Compher on the rear door of the home could have been left when he exited the home after getting a glass of water, Proctor said.

Proctor also argued that it was possible that the many detectives and investigators who processed the crime scene at Jones’ home could have cross-contaminated evidence, mentioning that at one point the Pocatello Police Department marked the sexual assault kit as having been destroyed even though it was not.

Proctor also pointed to several items that were listed as being taken from the home but were never sent off for additional testing, including the bed sheets and comforter from her room, hairs taken from under Jones’ fingernails and cigarette butts found outside the home.

Turning the jury’s attention to a different potential suspect, Robert Spillett, was a major component of Proctor’s closing remarks

He said it was “not our job” to prove that Spillett murdered Jones but if the jury began to deliberate with any inclination that Spillett might have been involved “then you have a doubt that (Compher) was involved.”

Proctor mentioned that Jones’ neighbor witnessed a man with sandy blonde hair exit a white maintenance truck and tamper with the only exterior light at Jones’ home three or four days before she was killed. Testimony during the trial revealed that Spillett had blonde hair at the time of her death and that he drove a white truck with a flatbed.

Proctor also mentioned that a phonebook with Jones’ current address and phone number was found in Spillett’s home and that Spillett made Jones so uncomfortable when visiting her at her workplace that she felt it necessary to purchase a fake engagement ring and hide in the bathroom when he came in.

The final aspect of Proctor’s closing remarks had jurors focus on the testimony about a dream Spillett had in which he described elements of the crime scene — that Jones’ sheets were blue, that she had green on her walls, and that she was found nude with cuts on her legs.

Proctor made it a point to note that Spillett described the dream as depicting a “brutal” scene of Jones’ killing, adding that Spillett told investigators that it was like an out-of-body experience.

“It was an in-body experience,” Proctor said. “He said these things because he was there because he knew them to be true.”

Proctor ended his closing statements by asking the jury to remember this trial and to be able to talk to their friends about how they were able to send Compher home.

Ultimately, however, the jury felt that sending Compher home would have been a mistake.

The guilty verdict was delivered around 3:30 p.m. Monday with a packed gallery in the Bannock County courtroom of 6th District Judge Javier Gabiola. After which, Compher was handcuffed and escorted out with an entourage of court marshals and sheriff’s deputies.

Several members of the gallery could be heard crying as the verdict was read. Proctor could be seen embracing Compher in a hug after the verdict was read.

Because of the guilty verdict on the first-degree murder charge, prosecutors withdrew a weapons enhancement that Compher faced for using a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony crime.

Gabiola offered Compher a chance to speak about the guilty verdict, to which Compher said, “I can’t really talk right now.”

Compher was then remanded back into the custody of the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello where he will remain incarcerated until April 30 when he appears back in front of Gabiola to receive a sentence that at maximum will keep him behind bars for the remainder of his life.

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/crimes_court/brad-compher-found-guilty-of-felony-first-degree-murder-in-2004-killing-of-nori-jones/article_b33386f6-da62-11ee-adb0-1310dc08e5c7.html

Kenneth Jones Murders Stephanie Eldredge

Kenneth Jones was a teen killer from Idaho who would be convicted of the murder of Stephanie Eldredge

According to court documents Kenneth Jones was living in Idaho with his brother and his brother’s fiance Stephanie Eldredge. Stephanie Eldredge would be reported missing in 2007 and would not be found until 2010.

Kenneth Jones would be a suspect earlier on in the disappearance and murder of Stephanie Eldredge however due to lack of evidence he would not be charged.

However Kenny Jones would later reportedly confessed to a cellmate that he had struck Stephanie Eldredge in the head and then suffocated her however since this could not be collaborated with evidence he was not charged

In 2018 Kenneth Jones would be charged with the second degree murder of Stephanie Eldredge. Kenny Jones was already in prison for arson charges would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and would be sentenced to 21 years in prison

Kenneth Jones Interrogation Video

https://youtu.be/ZSaj2kqmi1c?si=USOHiXWIqZgEH5aK

Kenneth Jones Now

Kenneth Ryan Jones
IDOC #: 100721
Status: In custody
Age: 35

Mailing Address
Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino C1

Kenneth Jones Case

Thirteen years after Stephanie Eldredge was reported missing, the criminal case against her killer came to a close.

District Judge Joel Tingey ordered Kenneth Jones, 32, to serve a minimum of nine years in prison for manslaughter with an indeterminate period of six years in prison. He also sentenced Jones to an indeterminate period of five years in prison for destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, that will be served consecutively with his manslaughter sentence, meaning the time must be served separately.

A misdemeanor sentence of one year for resisting or obstructing officers was also made consecutive with his felony sentences. The unified sentence of 10 to 21 years is also consecutive with his 2011 prison sentence for arson, meaning Jones will not be eligible for parole until 2033.’

Kenneth Jones was arrested in 2019 after Idaho Falls Police Department Lt. Jessica Marley began focusing on the cold case. Jones pleaded guilty in October. When he pleaded guilty, Jones admitted to pushing Eldredge, causing her to fall back and hit her head, which later lead to her death. He then wrapped her body in electric tape and a blanket and buried her in a shallow grave in the foothills.

Bonneville County Prosecutor Daniel Clark said in court that the theme of Thursday’s sentencing would be closure, which had been denied to the Eldredge’s family first when she went missing in 2007, then when her body was found in 2010, buried in the foothills with no explanation for how she got there.

Eldredge’s family members told Tingey how those years of uncertainty affected them. All three of her daughters gave victim impact statements saying they felt the loss of their mother and the shock of finding out it was Jones, the brother of the man Eldredge was dating at the time of her death.

Taylor, Eldredge’s oldest daughter, said she had four photos of her mother to remember her by, and stories from those who knew her.

“I don’t remember her voice,” Taylor said. “I don’t remember her laugh.”

Taylor said she had always been “the girl whose mother was killed,” and that others would ask her about it.

“You’ve ruined the lives of so many, but most of all you’ve ruined your own,” Taylor said to Jones.

Eldredge’s two younger daughters gave similar statements. They grew up without any old videos or recordings of their mother.

“You took another human’s life, and you hid it for 13 years,” the middle child said.

The youngest daughter, who Eldredge was caring for the day she was killed, said Jones lived with her family for 12 years before she knew her uncle was the killer.

“He watched my dad struggle for every day and shrugged it off like it was nothing,” the girl said.

Jamie Robinson, a family member of Eldredge’s, gave an impact statement on behalf of Eldredge’s mother, who has declined in health and was unable to attend the sentencing.

“Not one day goes by without a conversation about Stephanie,” Robinson said. She said Eldredge’s mother had suffered nonstop from her daughter’s death.

Robinson also emphasized the constant fear the family felt when Eldredge disappeared, the horror of learning she had died, and the grief of her funeral.

“I don’t know how to forgive someone who is so evil,” Robinson said of Jones.

Zachary Eldredge, who was Stephanie’s husband before they separated, said he wished Stephanie could have been there to see their child grow.

“I don’t think we can ever be normal with this experience,” Zachary Eldredge said.

Defense Attorney Curtis Smith reached a joint recommendation for the sentence with prosecutors during mediation. He said Jones had been remorseful each time they spoke about what happened. He argued, however, that Jones was 18 at the time he killed Eldredge, and that they were living in a home where drug use was common, creating an unstable environment for him.

Smith said Kenneth Jones had wanted to come forward about the death, but was afraid his family would disown him.

“Kenny could not get over the mental anguish of would his family love him if he came forward and told the truth,” Smith said.

Smith also said Jones had not intended to kill Eldredge when he pushed her during the argument.

Clark said he appreciated Smith’s and the victim’s family’s cooperation during the mediation, but he challenged Kenneth Jones’ version of events.

“The defendant says this was an accident,” Clark said. “The conduct was intentional.”

Clark said that while Jones may not have meant to kill Eldredge, he pushed her on purpose. Clark said Jones also did not call for help, preventing any chance of saving her.

“Stephanie could have survived this at that time,” Clark said.

Kenneth Jones gave a statement, calling himself a “coward” for not coming forward.

“I don’t expect forgiveness from anyone, and I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me,” Jones said.

Tingey agreed to accept the binding recommendation made by both attorneys. He said he read Jones’ statement describing what happened, and found it “plausible, but suspect.” He also noted Jones’ decision to not come forward sooner.

“Pleading guilty is a mitigating factor, but that didn’t occur for 13 years,” Tingey said

https://www.postregister.com/news/crime_courts/kenneth-jones-sentenced-to-prison-bringing-closure-to-stephanie-eldredges-death/article_a8d18874-9e8f-5c47-8082-56d61f4f2a4f.html

Majorjon Kaylor Murders 4 In Idaho

Majorjon Kaylor is a killer from Idaho who was convicted of the murders of a family of four

According to court documents Majorjon Kaylor was upset that one of the victims had flashed his wife and daughter. Instead of calling the police Kaylor would go to the neighbors home where he would murder Kenneth Guardipee, 65; his daughter, Kenna Guardipee, 41; and her two children, Devin Smith, 18, and Aiken Smith, 16

Majorjon Kaylor would be arrested at the scene, would later plead guilty to four counts of second degree murder and is expected to be sentence to life without parole

Majorjon Kaylor Videos

Idaho man accused of killing four neighbors appears in court

Majorjon Kaylor Case

A 32-year-old man in Idaho will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after admitting that he broke into his neighbor’s home and massacred all four members of the family — including two teenagers — on Father’s Day earlier this year to “execute vengeance.”

Majorjon Kaylor on Monday formally pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree murder in the slayings of Kenneth Guardipee, 65; his daughter, Kenna Guardipee, 41; and her two children, Devin Smith, 18, and Aiken Smith, 16, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Majorjon Kaylor claimed that he had “snapped” after the 18-year-old victim exposed himself to Kaylor’s wife and young daughter, leading him to go on the violent rampage.

Kaylor had originally been charged with four counts of first-degree murder plus an additional count of felony burglary over the horrific mass shooting. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed to reduce the murder charges from first-degree to second-degree and dismissed the burglary charge.

According to the plea deal, the parties involved in the case, as well as the victims’ surviving family members, reached the aforementioned agreement after sitting down with a senior district judge who mediated the discussions.

As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies with the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office at about 7:20 p.m. on Sunday, June 18, responded to a 911 call reporting that multiple people had been shot and killed inside a residence located in the 500 block of West Brown Avenue in Kellogg, Idaho, which is about 50 miles from the state’s western border with Washington.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they took a 31-year-old man who was “believed to be connected to the deaths” — later identified as Kaylor — into custody and later charged him with the four murders.

Investigators said that the shooting “happened after a dispute between neighbors occurred.” The four victims all lived in the lower apartment of a duplex while Kaylor and his family lived in the upstairs apartment. The families had only shared the space for a few weeks prior to the deadly incident.

According to a copy of the probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, the massacre occurred less than a week after Kaylor and his family filed a report accusing Devin Smith of indecent exposure. In the police incident report, Kaylor’s wife said that Devin Smith on June 13 stood fully naked in his ground-level bedroom window and masturbated in front of her and her young daughter while they were playing outside.

“We responded to the call, investigated the call, and the report was done that day and submitted to the prosecutor’s office for charges,” Kellogg Police Chief Paul Twidt said after the incident. “I stand by what my officer did, and he did everything he could at the time. Nobody could have foreseen anything like this.”

Following Kaylor’s arrest, authorities say he confessed to killing the four family members. He explained he tried to speak with Kenna Guardipee and her father about the teen allegedly exposing himself, but became angry when they did not appear to take the issue seriously.

Majorjon Kaylor said that he finally just “snapped” and “lost it,” and then he “did something about it.” The indictment stated that all four slayings were “to execute vengeance.”

The bodies of the Guardipees were found just outside the rear entrance of the home while the Smith brothers were located inside the home. Each of the victims suffered a gunshot wound to the head with a .45 caliber handgun that authorities say they recovered from the scene.

Kaylor is currently scheduled to appear for his sentencing hearing on March 25, 2024.

Man admits to massacring his neighbor’s entire family after teen allegedly exposed himself to wife, daughter