Many criminal trials are heading to court in 2024 following several high-profile murders that shocked the nation and continue to make headlines for months and even years after they were committed.
One of the most high-profile cases possibly heading to a trial this year is the quadruple homicide of four University of Idaho students. A former Democratic county leader and religious doomsday follower are also set to go before a jury on murder charges.
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Here are some of the most infamous cases coming to court in 2024.
Chad Daybell — Idaho
Chad Daybell is facing a triple murder trial for the deaths of his first wife, Tammy, and the children of his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell.
Daybell faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, insurance fraud, and one count of grand theft. Originally, Daybell and Vallow Daybell were set to have a joint trial, but the cases were severed in March. Now, Daybell faces the death penalty if found guilty of murder.
Vallow Daybell is serving multiple life sentences for the murders of Tammy Daybell, J.J. Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, after a jury found her guilty in May.
The remains of J.J. Vallow and Ryan were found buried on Daybell’s property in June 2020. Vallow Daybell and Daybell were indicted and charged with murder, conspiracy, and grand theft related to the children’s deaths in May 2021. Both pleaded not guilty to all charges. The couple was also accused of stealing Social Security benefits from the children.
Daybell’s triple murder trial, which is scheduled for April 2024, will be broadcast by the court, Idaho Judge Steven Boyce ruled in November. Jury selection begins in March.
Vallow Daybell and Daybell allegedly believed the children were possessed by evil spirits and that if they prayed, a possessed person would physically die, freeing their trapped souls from “limbo.”
Robert Telles — Nevada
Robert Telles, 46, the former Las Vegas Democratic county administrator of estates, is accused of killing an investigative reporter in 2022. He is an attorney who practiced civil law before becoming a Clark County administrator.
Jeff German, 69, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found stabbed to death outside of his home in Las Vegas in September 2022. German held a four-decades-long career, breaking stories on organized crime, government corruption, the Las Vegas mass shooting, and more, according to his news organization. His yearlong investigation into the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority led to an audit that resulted in several arrests.
German published several articles on Telles, alleging the mistreatment of his staff and that the married politician was carrying on an affair with a staffer. The articles largely contributed to Telles’s defeat in the Democratic primary, which prosecutors claim led Telles to murder the journalist.
Telles claimed he had been framed for the murder of German, pleading not guilty to his alleged role in the reporter’s death. Prosecutors have noted “overwhelming” evidence, such as finding his DNA under German’s fingernails, a vehicle resembling Telles’s in the area at the time of the murder, and the outfit of the murder suspect caught on camera found at Telles’s house cut up, among others.
The former administrator requested to represent himself in court, later informing a Nevada judge that he hired lawyer Gary Modafferi to assist in defending him. Modafferi told the Associated Press at the time that he did not plan to argue matters in court and instead was advising Telles on constitutional matters relating to police gathering evidence.
Telles’s trial was set to begin on Nov. 6, 2023, but the judge pushed the trial to March 18, 2024. He faces life in prison if convicted and will not face the death penalty, according to prosecutors.
Robert Crimo III — Illinois
Robert Crimo III, the suspected Highland Park shooter, will go to trial this year, facing 21 counts of murder, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated assault relating to the mass shooting that occurred on July 4, 2022, in Highland Park, Illinois.
He is charged with killing seven people and injuring 48 others after he opened fire on a Fourth of July parade. The victims of the shooting included Katherine Goldstein, 64; Kevin McCarthy, 37; Irina McCarthy, 35; Jacki Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.
The trial is set to begin on Feb. 26, with his next court appearance set for Jan. 10. The trial is expected to take four to six weeks. Crimo expedited his right to a speedy trial and plans to represent himself.
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., began his 60-day sentence in prison in November 2023 for misdemeanor reckless conduct charges.
James and Jennifer Crumbley — Michigan
James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of a Michigan school shooter, will stand separate trials for their alleged roles in the mass shooting that resulted in the death of four students.
Their lawyers asked for separate trials after prosecutors shared new evidence in the case despite presenting a united defense for two years, per the Associated Press.
The Crumbleys had been set for a Jan. 23 trial but will face separate trials in 2024. A specific date has not been set.
Their son, Ethan Crumbley, 17, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December 2023. He opened fire at Oxford High School more than two years ago, killing four students and injuring seven others. He pleaded guilty to several charges, including one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder, in 2022.
“I am a really bad person. I have done terrible things that no one should ever do,” he said at his sentencing hearing.
The four students killed by Ethan Crumbley in November 2021 were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.
Richard Allen — Indiana
Richard Allen has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi, Indiana. Allen was charged in October 2022 for the February 2017 murders.
Williams and German were reported missing on Feb. 13, 2017, and their bodies were found the next day on the Delphi Historic Trail. The charges against Allen were the first major developments in the case since a sketch and video clip of the suspect were released by police in 2019.
Allen’s trial, originally set for January 2024, was pushed to October 2024 and is set to take place between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1.
Bryan Kohberger — Idaho
Nov. 13, 2023, marked one year since four University of Idaho students were murdered in their off-campus home. Bryan Kohberger, 28, a graduate criminology student from Washington State University, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary related to the Nov. 13, 2022, deaths.
The victims are Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. They were found stabbed multiple times in the chest and upper body with a large knife, with some carrying defensive wounds. Mogen and Goncalves, who were best friends, were found murdered in the same bed. Chapin and Kernodle, who were dating, were also discovered in the same room.
Kohberger’s phone was tracked heading to Moscow, Idaho, before the attack and as the driver of a white Elantra returned to Pullman, Washington, on the night of the murders. The Elantra was a vehicle of interest in the case.
The suspect was pulled over twice by Indiana officers within a nine-minute time frame on Dec. 15. Local law enforcement did not know Kohberger was a suspect when he was pulled over for traffic stops, both for which he was not issued a ticket. It was later revealed that FBI investigators asked Indiana police to pull Kohberger over the second time to get body camera footage of his hands.
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In late December, Kohberger was arrested following the monthslong investigation. He chose to remain silent and, therefore, had a “not guilty” plea entered for him on May 22. The trial was set to begin on Oct. 2, 2023, but Kohberger then waived his right to a speedy trial, postponing the trial indefinitely.
On Dec. 29, the house where the murders took place was demolished against opposition from some of the families of the victims. Law enforcement is using 3D imaging to illustrate the house, which may allow a jury to walk through the crime scene virtually, according to the Idaho Statesman.
