Doomsday Mom Lori Vallow Daybell Was Arraigned on More Murder Charges
Lori Vallow Daybell will spend the rest of her life in prison for killing her children and conspiring to kill her husband’s first wife in a bizarre and tragic case—in which the 50-year-old believed her children to be possessed “zombies,” and herself to be a reincarnated “sexual goddess” helping prepare for the second coming of Jesus.
Now, she’s facing additional charges related to the death of her fourth husband and attempted murder of her niece’s ex-husband. Vallow Daybell was arraigned in a Maricopa County, Arizona, courthouse Thursday—one week after she was extradited from Idaho and jailed on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree premeditated murder. She is accused of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, as well as planning the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux, both in 2019. She entered a not guilty plea on both counts.
An initial pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 18, 2024, and Vallow Daybell’s trial will, for now, begin on April 4.
Vallow Daybell was previously sentenced to life without parole in July following her May conviction for killing her children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7. Prosecutors alleged she saw them as obstacles to her relationship with her husband Chad Daybell, 54, and described him as a wannabe religious cult leader. The bodies of the children were discovered in shallow graves in the backyard of Chad’s Idaho home in June 2020.
Next year, Chad will also face trial for the murders of the two children, as well as his first wife Tammy Daybell, who was killed two weeks before Chad and Lori were married. Here’s what you need to know about the complex and twisted tale of the married couple’s relationship that drove Lori—and Chad, according to prosecutors—to murder.
Doomsday Bonding and a Husband’s Death
Chad Daybell and his wife Tammy moved from Utah to Rexburg, Idaho, in 2015, after Daybell claimed to have heard voices telling him to relocate there. That same year, Lori became interested in Daybell’s self-published series of doomsday-focused books loosely based on Mormon teachings.
After Chad and Lori met in 2018, he told her she was a “sexual goddess” who had been married to Chad several times in previous lifetimes. He claimed people were represented by light or dark indicating their association with Jesus or Satan and that Lori was meant to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers to prepare for the second coming of Christ. The following year, their doomsday beliefs began to intertwine with deadly encounters.
In February 2019, Lori’s then-husband Charles Vallow said she claimed to be the reincarnated wife of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith and that she no longer cared about him or J.J., their then-6-year-old son. Charles filed for divorce soon after and sought a protection order from Lori due to a “genuine fear for his life.”
That July, Lori’s brother Alex Cox shot and killed Charles in Chandler, Arizona, in what he called an act of self-defense. Lori, J.J., and Tylee Ryan (Lori’s daughter from a previous marriage) witnessed the shooting, and ultimately, Cox didn’t face criminal charges. Months later, in December, Cox died of natural causes, due to a blood clot and high blood pressure, authorities said.
Cox’s widow later testified that Chad and Lori heavily influenced Alex, who always sought their permission or approval before making decisions. Chad had told Alex he was a “warrior” and Lori’s “protector,” according to the testimony. Lori, already in a romantic relationship with Chad by this point, had moved to Idaho with her children to be closer to him.
A Dead Wife and Two Missing Kids
In October 2019, a masked man threatened Tammy in her driveway with what she thought was a paintball gun. Ten days later, she died in her sleep from what was initially declared natural causes. Chad refused to allow an autopsy. He and Lori were married two weeks after Tammy’s death, raising concerns among family members.
“You don’t get married weeks after you just buried your wife of almost 30 years—you just don’t do that,” Tammy’s sister Samantha Gwilliam said.
That same month, an unidentified shooter inside a Jeep registered to Charles Vallow fired at Brandon Boudreaux as he was returning home from the gym in Gilbert, Arizona. The bullet missing his head by inches, according to court documents. At the time, Boudreaux was in the process of finalizing a divorce from his wife, Melani Pawlowski, who is Lori’s niece. He later said Pawlowski asked for the divorce after spending time with Lori and her religious group earlier in the summer.
According to Fox 10 in Arizona, investigators now belive Cox was the suspect in the incident and that Lori had identified Boudreaux as a “dark spirit.”
Soon after in November 2019, police questioned Lori about the whereabouts of her daughter Tylee, in response to requests from extended family members. She had last been seen alive that September. Lori, who had previously withdrawn her kids from school, claimed they were staying in Arizona with family friend Melanie Gibb, but Gibb said that wasn’t true.
As police investigated Tylee’s whereabouts, they discovered J.J. was missing as well. Gibb later told police that Lori and Chad had asked her to lie about the location of the children, but she refused. She also said Lori had come to believe in “zombies” and that she called J.J. and Tylee zombies several times in the past, believing them to be possessed.
As the investigation intensified, Tammy’s body was exhumed by authorities, and an autopsy revealed she had been been murdered by asphyxiation. In February 2020, Lori was arrested in Hawaii for desertion and non-support of her children and was extradited to Idaho.
Bodies Discovered and Murder Convictions
The bodies of Tylee and J.J. were found in June 2020, buried in shallow graves in Chad’s backyard in Rexburg. Tylee’s DNA was found on a pickaxe and shovel in a shed on the property. Chad was arrested later that day for destruction or concealment of evidence.
“Charred remains, that’s what was left of Tylee,” Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said in court. “You will hear it explained as a mass of bone and tissue. That’s what was left of this beautiful young woman.”
On May 25, 2021, Lori and Chad were charged with counts related to the murders of Tylee, J.J., and Tammy. Blake said all three were killed because they were obstacles for Lori and Chad’s relationship and that Lori was willing to “remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants.”
Lori’s defense attorney described her as a loving and protective mother who fell under the sway of Chad’s “weird” apocalyptic religious beliefs. He argued Chad and Alex Cox were responsible for the deaths. Nevertheless, after a trial that made national news, Lori was found guilty on May 12, 2023, and on July 31, she was sentenced to three life sentences to be served consecutively.
“Jesus Christ knows the truth,” Lori said during her sentencing. “Jesus Christ knows no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happened. Suicides happened. Fatal side effects of medications happened.”
Chad’s trial on his murder charges is scheduled to begin April 1.
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