PAYETTE COUNTY, Idaho — New court documents filed in the Payette twins murder case reveal two completely different stories — prosecutors say the infants were smothered, while the defense says they never recovered from routine vaccinations.
Andrea Renee Shaw, 23, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her twins, Dallas and Tyson Shaw, who were found dead in their Payette home in May of 2025.
READ MORE | Payette woman charged with first-degree murder in 2025 death of twins
What prosecutors say
In a filing objecting to Shaw's request for a bond reduction, Payette County prosecutors say that when Shaw first called 911, she told dispatchers her children were "frozen," which experts later said was rigor mortis. Both were found face down in the bed the twins shared, according to the documents.
Prosecutors say autopsies found fluid buildup in the twins' lungs consistent with being "smothered" — calling it "the only reasonable explanation for why both would die at the same time, on the same night, in the same room, in the same bed."
The same filing says Shaw's story kept changing when detectives interviewed her. She first said she put the boys down for a nap and found them unresponsive about an hour later. When detectives pushed back, prosecutors say she changed her account several times.
In regard to the vaccine claims, the prosecution's filing says three doctors helped investigators rule it out entirely. Prosecutors also point to Shaw's own words — telling detectives the day before the twins died had been "a great day."
What the defense says
Two sworn affidavits filed by the defense tell a completely different story.
In her affidavit, Shaw's mother-in-law, Wendy Marie Shaw, says the boys got very sick after routine 18-month vaccines at Snake River Pediatrics on April 23, 2025 — eight days before they died. She describes blue lips, sunken eyes, severe diarrhea, vomiting and extreme tiredness in the days that followed. According to the affidavit, a doctor at St. Luke's Fruitland told the family the twins' condition "looked like an adverse reaction to the shots."
Wendy Shaw's affidavit also states that the morning before the twins died, Andrea called the pediatric office to report the boys were still sick and was told there were no openings. "To my knowledge, that was the last medical advice Andrea received," she said in the affidavit.
Wendy Shaw says the family believes police had tunnel vision from the start. "Since the twins' deaths, it is my belief that the police have been trying to find crime in what was a tragic loss to our family," she said.
A second affidavit was filed by Angela Wulbrecht, a registered nurse with about 26 years of experience, who says she contacted the Shaw family on her own after hearing about the case.
As a mandated reporter, Wulbrecht says in her affidavit that she told the family upfront she would go to law enforcement if she found any sign the deaths were intentional. Her affidavit states she tried to arrange an independent autopsy through Dr. Ryan Cole, who is a representative on Idaho's Central District Health Board of Health, but Cole determined the tissue had degraded too much to examine.
Cole is a well-known and controversial figure in Idaho. In 2023, the Washington Medical Commission filed disciplinary charges against him, accusing him of making "numerous false and misleading statements" about COVID-19, vaccines and treatments — and he has been one of the more prominent voices in the state skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines.
READ MORE | Washington Medical Commission files disciplinary charges against Dr. Ryan Cole
Shaw's vaccine claims extend beyond her criminal case. She is one of several plaintiffs in a federal civil lawsuit against the American Academy of Pediatrics filed alongside Children's Health Defense. Shortly after the twins died, Shaw and her husband appeared on a Children's Health Defense program and publicly blamed vaccines.
Shaw remains held without bond after a judge revoked it entirely at a July 14 hearing, rejecting her request for a reduction to care for her newborn daughter, who was born three weeks prematurely on June 25, just days before Shaw's initial arrest.
RELATED | Judge revokes bond for Payette mother charged with murdering twin toddlers
Read the full affidavit from Andrea Shaw's mother —
Read the full affidavit from Angela Wulbrecht, a registered nurse, submitted on behalf of the defense —
