Gruesome 2004 Idaho Case Will Be Featured on New True Crime Series

Another true crime television series is about to take viewers to Rexburg, Idaho. We’re sure when you hear the words “true crime,” “Rexburg” and “Idaho” in the same sentence you’d assume it’s another look at the Daybell-Vallow case. 

With how profile Lori Vallow’s case was in 2023 and Chad Daybell becoming the first Idahoan sentenced to death row in nearly seven years, that’d be a natural assumption. However, that’s NOT the crime that A&E is featuring on their series Tell Me How I Died on Friday, July 26. 

READ MORE: Suspect in Horrifying Idaho Triple murder Hasn't Been Seen in Nearly 7 Years

The series just premiered on Friday, July 19. According to its description on DirecTV’s guide page, it follows the work of forensic pathologists as they work to bring families closure and law endorsement answers in highly questionable cases. Basically the experts in this series have three jobs rolled into one: detective, physician and advocate for the dead. 

The second episode of the series is titled “Locked Away” and the description reads:

During a welfare check, authorities discover a man has been living for years with the mummified bodies of his wife and daughter. 

The description may sound a bit familiar to Idahoans, especially those living in Eastern Idaho, in 2004. East Idaho News reports that the man they’re describing is David Kaneko, who was found guilty of multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter after said welfare check.

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An archived article from the Lewiston Tribune explains that family members had been concerned about Kaneko’s wife Lorraine and their daughter Laura, for several years after they went from being active members of their community and church, to rarely being seen outside the double wide trailer the family lived in in Rexburg. It goes on to paint a graphic picture of what law enforcement found during the final welfare check on June 19, 2004. 

Lorraine and Laura’s severely decomposed bodies were found under a blanket, partially mummified, surrounded by hundreds of air fresheners. Between the decomposed body, spoiled food and bags of used toilet paper, investigators had to search the homes in hazmat suits to protect themselves from biohazards and the smells in the home. 

Tiny Madison County wasn’t really equipped to handle such a strange and disturbing case and it took quite some time to find the right combination of experts to figure out how the women died and when the women died. Laura was probably dead for about three years by the time her body was found. Lorraine likely died two years later. 

If you plan on watching the episode, we don’t want to give too much away. Just know that while going through evidence, investigators found one of Laura’s journals. In an entry from 1994, Laura mentions having a revelation about marrying an apostle from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before she could do so, she believed she had to go through a cleansing ritual. 

And we’ll let the episode which talks to investigators, the man who did the autopsies, family members and Nate Eaton (yup, the same Nate Eaton that gave America some of the best coverage of the Daybell-Vallow case from the beginning was working at an Idaho Falls television station during this case) take it from there.