BOISE, Idaho — The past year featured hundreds of powerful stories on the people, places, positives and tragedies across Idaho. From the end of one chapter in the case of Lori Vallow Daybell, an ordeal that began in 2019, to celebrities taking in the greatness of the growing Gem State – KTVB covered it all.
Here's a look back at the top 15 digital stories of 2023. The results are measured by the number of unique visitors to each story on the KTVB digital platforms, which include KTVB.COM, KTVB+ and the KTVB YouTube channel.
Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty on all charges in an Ada County court in May, roughly four years from the murders of her two children and death of her husband's former wife. After each "guilty," she still remained frozen in stance. The entire courtroom was full, but not one person said a word.
Public records filed by KTVB unveiled Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, changed the title of his white 2015 Hyundai Elantra five days after the stabbings took place. Police said a white Hyundai Elantra was in the area at the time of the murders.
Two Idaho lawmakers in February introduced a bill to charge those who administer mRNA vaccines with a misdemeanor.
Sen. Tammy Nichols (R-Middleton) and Rep. Judy Boyle (R-Midvale) sponsored HB 154. The bill text said "a person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state."
East Idaho was home to dozens of A-listers in July attending a dinner party at Jimmy Kimmel's impressive 25.83-acre property in Swan Valley. Actress Kristen Bell shared images on Instagram of the star-studded squad enjoying the Gem State, with guests like Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Jason Bateman, John Mulaney, and Bell's husband and fellow actor, Dax Shepard – just to name a few.
Thirty teenagers were traveling on a Treasure Valley YMCA summer camp program school bus that crashed near the North Fork Payette River on Highway 55 in August. First responders from around southern Idaho were sent to the crash, which police said left 11 injured and closed the road from Banks to Smiths Ferry.
People all over Idaho come to KTVB for their weather updates and forecasts. The KTVB weather team is: Idaho's Chief Meteorologist Rick Lantz, meteorologist Sophia Bliss, meteorologist Rachel Garceau and Hector Mendoza. After 25 years of forecasting the weather in the Treasure Valley, meteorologist Jim Duthie's retirement became official Dec. 29.
A 38-year-old man in March killed one woman and injured another inside the Westmark Credit Union near Highway 44 in Eagle, before turning the gun on himself in the parking lot, according to the Ada County Sheriff's Office. Officials said the shooter likely knew the woman who he allegedly killed and "actively targeted her in the attack."
Millions of Supplemental Security Income recipients were scheduled to get two payments in June, but the second was an advance for July — not a bonus payment — our team found after questions from VERIFY viewers. Social Security was created in 1935 to pay retired workers a continuing income after retirement.
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students, was found through DNA at the scene and tracing his car movements through video, according to a probable cause affidavit released Jan. 5. More DNA was obtained from the trash of Kohberger's family residence in Pennsylvania.
Following a six-week trial where Idaho prosecutors presented 60 witnesses and hundreds of evidence exhibits, silence cut the courtroom like a knife as the unanimous verdict was read on May 12. Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty on all charges against her, which include murdering and conspiring to murder her son, JJ Vallow, her daughter, Tylee Ryan and conspiring to murder her husband's former wife, Tammy Daybell.
After a discovery request was filed by Bryan Kohberger's attorney on Jan. 10, asking for "statements of co-defendant," social media began to speculate about whether police thought there was someone else involved in the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students in a home in Moscow.
Sara Brady, the woman who went to a closed playground in April 2020 and asked police to arrest her, filed a tort claim asking for $500,000 against the city of Meridian this spring. Brady wrote that her damages include emotional distress and attorney’s fees. On social media in April, she said her legal costs were almost $50,000.
On Jan. 4, Moscow murder suspect Bryan Kohberger was moved out of a Pennsylvania jail, transported on a flight to the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, and booked into the Latah County Jail. Three days prior – before the Moscow Police Department had released details about why Kohberger was arrested – his extradition lawyer, Jason LaBar was interviewed by NBC.
LaBar gave information about the suspect's cross-country drive from Pullman, Washington, to Pennsylvania, his interactions with Kohberger and various allegations circulating online as the case garnered national attention.
Attorneys for Lori Vallow Daybell in court documents filed in January 2023 claimed she had an alibi, and that JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were killed while at her brother Alex Cox's apartment. She claimed she was in her nearby apartment in Rexburg with three others at the time of the murders.
Additionally, Lori Vallow Daybell claimed she was in Hawaii with two of her friends at the time of Tammy Daybell's death in Salem, Idaho. The motions also included a request to have "confidential joint settlement and strategy sessions" with her husband Chad Daybell before her case went to trial.
10-month-old Zeke Gregory Best, the son of Jeremy Albert Best who was wanted in connection to a homicide, was found dead by hunters on Dec. 2, the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office said. An AMBER Alert was issued for the infant on Dec. 1, and authorities said they were looking for Jeremy Best after his wife was found dead at a home in Victor, Idaho, on Nov. 30.
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