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This date of Idaho plaintiff versus Laurie Nareen Valow, aka Laurie Nareen Daybell, defendant.

Welcome to a special episode of 48 Hours. I'm Jonathan Vigliotti.

The murder trial of Idaho mother Laurie Valow Daybell is underway.

She's accused, along with her husband Chad Daybell of the unthinkable, murdering her two youngest children, Joshua, J.J. Valow, and Tiley Ryan, as well as Chad's late wife, Tammy Daybell.

Though originally scheduled to be tried together, the couple had their cases severed, and Chad Stroud will begin at a later date.

Both have pleaded not guilty. Recently, a judge removed the death penalty from Laurie's case, and she could face life in prison if convicted.

Suspension started swirling around Laurie N. Chad, an author of religious Doomsday novels, after her children vanished in the fall of 2019.

Shortly after children's disappearances, Chad Daybell's wife Tammy died under mysterious circumstances.

Within weeks of Tammy's death, Laurie and Chad were married on a beach in Hawaii.

In June of 2020, the children's bodies were found buried on Chad Daybell's Idaho property.

Prosecutors say the couple killed all three, fueled by their end of time's beliefs and to steal social security funds and insurance money.

The focus of this trial will be the three killings, but Laurie Daybell also faces murder conspiracy charges in Arizona, connected to the 2019 shooting death of her previous husband by her brother Alex Cox, who died shortly thereafter.

Laurie's selection began on Monday, April 3rd, and the opening statements were presented a week later on Monday, April 10th.

Despite massive interest in the trial, the judge has barred cameras from the courtroom.

We've never done this at 48 hours before, but our team is taking the audio from the proceedings and sharing highlights from those crucial opening arguments in this special episode.

Today, I'm joined by 48 hours producer Greg Fisher, who's been watching all this unfold from inside the courtroom.

And Greg, you and I have been on this really since day one.

We produced together three 48 hours episodes.

We even saw the the gravesites where JJ and Tiley were buried.

So thank you for joining us. It's been a long road for you.

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