(NewsNation) — The grandfather of one of Lori Vallow’s deceased children says he “absolutely” wants the firing squad for Chad Daybell if he is convicted of murder.
Vallow and her husband Daybell are accused of killing Vallow’s two children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, who went missing in 2019 and were discovered in the backyard of Daybell’s Idaho home. Vallow’s trial began Monday, and Daybell’s has yet to be scheduled.
Vallow will not be eligible for the death penalty if she is convicted, but Daybell will. A new law in Idaho taking effect July 1 will permit the use of firing squads; Idaho becomes the fifth state to do so.
Larry Woodcock, the grandfather of JJ Vallow, would be in favor of the execution method if Daybell is convicted and sentenced to death.
“Absolutely,” he said Monday on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”
Larry and his wife Kay are still awaiting a decision on whether they will be allowed in the Boise, Idaho, courtroom before they testify against Vallow. At issue is whether the Woodcocks are to be considered witnesses or victims in the case.
Vallow’s defense team told Judge Steven Boyce that she doesn’t want the Woodcocks in the courtroom, arguing that legally, they aren’t grandparents. They told Boyce that Kay “gave herself the title grandma.”
Kay Woodcock says the situation has left the couple feeling “powerless.”
“Until maybe she’s put away, and then maybe we’ll gain some power back, I don’t know,” Kay told NewsNation. “I’m just praying to God … that Judge Boyce rules in our favor.”
Jury selection began Monday in Vallow’s trial. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, and reporters covering the trial sat in an overflow room, watching Monday’s proceedings on a monitor.
At one point, Chad Daybell’s lawyer, John Prior, walked into the room where reporters were to watch the trial.
“Everyone was doing a double take,” when Prior came in, said Lauren Matthias, a co-host of the “Hidden True Crime” podcast who was covering Monday’s proceedings.
Even if the Woodcocks are barred from the courtroom, “they can’t keep us from talking outside,” Larry Woodcock said. “I just want justice served.”
NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin contributed to this report.