Idaho juror attends Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial, reflects on lingering trauma

• Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Arizona for conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow.
• A juror from Daybell’s Idaho trial, where she was convicted of killing her children, is observing the Arizona proceedings.
• The Arizona trial is focusing on the 2019 shooting death of Charles Vallow by Lori Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox.

Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the fatal shooting of her ex-husband Charles Vallow has attracted observers from across the country, including a man who was a juror in her earlier trial in Idaho.

When Tom Evans, 67, stepped into a Phoenix courtroom this week, it was not as a juror but as an observer — an outsider looking in on a case that has consumed his thoughts for two years.

In May 2023, Lori Daybell was found guilty in Idaho of the deaths of two of her children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and adopted son Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, as well as conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, the ex-wife of her husband, Chad Daybell, who was also convicted, in May 2024, in the three deaths. All three were killed in the months after Charles Vallow’s death.

Evans, a retired Idaho contractor, ended up writing two books after serving his civic duty, one about Lori Daybell’s trial, the other about Chad Daybell and his murder trial. Lori Daybell was sentenced in Idaho to life without parole; Chad Daybell to death.

“I couldn’t just walk away from it,” he said in an interview with The Arizona Republic. “There were too many questions left unanswered.”

Now, he’s in Arizona for Daybell’s second trial, which stems from the July 2019 shooting death of Charles Vallow in Chandler. Charles Vallow was killed by Lori Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense and died not long after.

On April 8, the fourth day of Lori Daybell’s Maricopa County trial, prosecutors began presenting evidence from the shooting scene, calling first responders and police officers who photographed Charles Vallow’s body.

Images of Charles Vallow after he was shot were shown to the court during testimony.

Evans said it was images like these that took an emotional toll on him during the Idaho trial. As a juror, he viewed graphic crime scene photos of the children’s remains.

“The hardest thing was just being exposed to those images,” he said. “You don’t forget that.”

He said he suffered from night terrors and emotionally withdrew from his daily life.

His wife noticed first, telling him he wasn’t present, not really.

“I think I was in denial,” Evans said. “About two days before we left to drive to Phoenix, I realized that this is the first time I’ve actually taken the time to just reflect on everything.”

It would take two years — and the completion of his second book — before he could begin to deal with the psychological strain of the case.

For the jurors now seated in Phoenix, Evans has a simple message: Take care of yourselves.

“Don’t do what I did and try to move on like nothing happened,” he said. “Get counseling — even if you don’t think you need it.”

Even after writing two books about the case, Evans said he’s still searching for answers, and his biggest question has yet to be answered.

“How do you get to a place where you believe killing your children is the right thing to do?” he wondered.

He said he’s also looking to the Arizona case for more insight into how the events unfolded.

“I don’t know why Lori wasn’t dealt with before Charles was murdered, or certainly before she went to Idaho and murdered the kids,” he said. “So I think we need answers to those questions, and this is how we get that.”

Chandler police investigated Charles Vallow’s death after he was shot. Cox was never charged. The Charles Vallow case remained under review until July 2021, when the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office indicted Daybell, two months after her Idaho indictment.

Evans said he was struck by the speed of jury selection in Lori Daybell’s second trial: 12 jurors and four alternates were chosen within two days of the trial starting. He also expressed concern about the remaining alternates: three.

One juror was replaced on the second day of testimony after he said he couldn’t afford to miss work. A second juror was almost removed after he said he had witnessed body camera footage of the shooting scene, but ultimately was allowed to stay.

“In a trial that might go this long, people could get sick — anything could happen,” Evans said. The trial was scheduled to last several weeks.

After meeting Lori Daybell’s family and writing about her, Evans said he came to view her as a narcissist and lifelong attention-seeker, traits that may have gone unnoticed or unchallenged by those around her.

“She’s very good at drawing people in and taking advantage of them,” he said.