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Idaho mom who killed 2 of her kids goes on trial over death of her husband

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Idaho mom who killed 2 of her kids goes on trial over death of her husband


PHOENIX — Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mother with doomsday religious beliefs who was convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival, is on trial again. This time, she’s accused in Arizona of conspiring to murder her estranged husband.

The case has drawn public attention in part because Vallow Daybell, 51, has doomsday-focused religious beliefs. She isn’t a lawyer but has chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial. Opening statements are scheduled Monday in a Phoenix courtroom.

Prosecutors say she conspired with her brother to kill Charles Vallow, so she could collect money from his life insurance policy and marry her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.

Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty and has not spoken publicly about the details of Vallow’s death. Here’s what to know about the case.

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Vallow was fatally shot in July 2019. Vallow Daybell then moved to Idaho with her children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan. She married Daybell just two weeks after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell. The children went missing for several months before their bodies were found buried in rural Idaho on Chad Daybell’s property. JJ was 7 and Tylee was 16.

Vallow Daybell is already serving three life sentences in Idaho for the children’s deaths and for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in the three killings.

Four months before he died, Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Vallow Daybell, saying she had become infatuated with near-death experiences and had claimed to have lived numerous lives on other planets.

He alleged she threatened to ruin him financially and kill him. He sought a voluntary mental health evaluation of his wife.

Police say Vallow was fatally shot by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, when Vallow went to pick up his son at Vallow Daybell’s home in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb. Vallow Daybell’s daughter, Tylee, told police that she confronted Vallow with a baseball bat after she was awakened by yelling in the house.

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Tylee said she was trying to defend her mother, but Vallow took away the bat, according to police records. Cox told police that he fired after Vallow refused to drop the bat and came after him.

Cox told investigators that Vallow Daybell and the children left the house shortly before the shooting. Investigators say she went to get fast food for her son and bought flip-flops at a pharmacy before returning home.

Cox, who claimed he acted in self-defense and wasn’t arrested in Vallow’s death, died five months later from what medical examiners said was a blood clot in his lungs. Cox’s account was later called into question.

Vallow Daybell was a beautician by trade, a mother of three and a wife — five times over.

Her first marriage, to a high school sweetheart when she was 19, ended quickly. She married again in her early 20s and had a son. Then, in 2001, she married Joseph Ryan, and they had Tylee. They divorced a few years later, and Ryan died in 2018 at his home of a suspected heart attack.

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Charles Vallow entered the picture several months later. Vallow and Vallow Daybell married in 2006 and later adopted JJ, but by 2019 their marriage had soured. The two were estranged but still married when Cox fatally shot Vallow.

Public interest from around the world only grew as the investigation into the missing children took several unexpected turns, each new revelation seemingly stranger than the last.

Daybell, who was once a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune,” has been the subject of a Netflix documentary and Lifetime movie.

While representing herself, Vallow Daybell has complained about news coverage of her criminal cases, invoked her right to a speedy trial, questioned whether a government witness was truly an expert and engaged in disputes over the pre-trial exchange of evidence.

At a hearing last week, she lost a bid to strike three people from the prosecution’s witness list, including the grandmother of her adopted son. Another witness says Vallow Daybell spoke about Vallow as being “possessed” in the months before his death. When the judge asked her to argue her point, Vallow Daybell lowered her head, sighed and paused a few seconds. “Their information is not firsthand,” Vallow Daybell said. “These witnesses are all coming together. They are watching everything that goes on on TV regarding this.”

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If convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Vallow, she would face a life sentence.

Vallow Daybell will wear civilian clothing during her trial and will not be handcuffed or shackled when jurors are in the courtroom. She, however, is expected to be wearing a belt-like device under her clothes that will let a jail officer deliver an electric shock by remote control if there’s a disturbance.

The Idaho investigation began at the end of 2019 when Vallow Daybell’s adopted son’s grandmother, worried about his welfare, reached out to police. Vallow Daybell had been evasive when asked about her two youngest children.

Chad Daybell called 911 in October 2019 to report that his wife Tammy Daybell was battling an illness and died in her sleep. Her body was later exhumed, and an autopsy determined she died of asphyxiation.

Idaho police did a welfare check on the kids in November 2019 and discovered they were missing and hadn’t been seen since early September. Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell left town a short time later, eventually turning up in Hawaii without the kids. She was arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on a warrant out of Idaho.

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Defense attorneys told jurors that she was a “kind and loving mother” who happened to be interested in religion and biblical prophesies.

A witness at the Idaho trial said Vallow Daybell believes evil spirits have taken over people in her life and turned them into “zombies.”

The trial over Charles Vallow’s death will mark the first of two criminal trials in Arizona for Vallow Daybell.

She’s scheduled to go on trial again in late May on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.

Someone in a Jeep fired a gunshot at Boudreaux in 2019 outside his home in a Phoenix suburb, missing him but striking his car. The Jeep matched the description of one registered to Charles Vallow, who was killed nearly three months prior to the shooting outside Boudreaux’s home.

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Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she would face a life sentence. ____ Associated Press writer Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.



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Part of I84 Will Close This Week in Southern Idaho For Bridge and Ramp Work

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Part of I84 Will Close This Week in Southern Idaho For Bridge and Ramp Work


The Idaho Transportation Department has quite a few large projects happening around the state. One of those is the replacement of the I84 interchange to Burley and Heyburn. The work began in 2024, and a new step in the progress begins this week.

There will be a number of bridge and ramp closures that will affect traffic on Interstate 84 this week while crews work. The closures will also impact access and traffic on State Highway 24, Centennial Drive, Highway 30, and State Highway 25 in the area.

Part of I84 Will Close This Week in Southern Idaho For Bridge and Ramp Work

The Idaho Transportation Department shared an update and the details of the closures today on social media. Drivers should be cautious and pay attention to signs regarding traffic changes during the closures, which are expected to last through Friday, May 15th.

Beginning on Monday evening, at 6 PM, crews closed Interstate 84 at exit 211 to work on the new bridge. Traffic in the area should use exit 211 to bypass the closure. Work should be finished by 7 AM on Tuesday, but it could still affect the morning drive for some travelers.

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READ ALSO: 5 Injured in Southern Idaho Head-on Collision

On Tuesday, the Exit 211 on and off ramps will close intermittently while crews repave SH24. Centennial Drive will also close at some point during this work. The ramps will alternate closures for 6 to 8 hours, and work is expected to continue through Friday. The social media post shares suggestions on alternate routes for drivers during the closures.

Lane reductions are expected to last through June on State Highway 24. Details on the project can be found on the ITD website.

36 of the Worst Idaho License Plate Rejections From 2025

We have to admit that we don’t understand all of these, but the ones that we do really make us question why someone would want these on their car. This isn’t even all of them – we were sent 28 pages with 25 to 30 submissions on each page of rejected personalized plates from 2025.

Gallery Credit: Credit N8 Bird

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Delicious New Menu Item Expected To Hit Idaho Costcos Soon

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Delicious New Menu Item Expected To Hit Idaho Costcos Soon


There’s something special and timeless about the Costco food court.

Having a Costco Card doesn’t just mean you unlock your grocery shopping there but you now get to go to the best food court known to man: The Costco Foodcourt.

Everyone loves their great prices and great options. Whether you’ve wanted to get a pizza to share with your family or one of their beloved giant hot dogs everyone’s got a good reason to go to the Costco Foodcourt.

Costco has been adding a lot of new menu items recently including fun ice cream flavors. Now they have yet again added something new to their menu.

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Idaho Costcos

Where to find Costcos in Idaho.

Gallery Credit: Shannon Buccola

Costco has added a new menu item that everyone is already going crazy for. In a new viral Instagram reel an influencer revealed that Costco food courts around the country would be adding chicken strips to their menu! This feels like the perfect addition to the already extremely popular Costco food court and we can already see everyone going crazy over this new menu item.

Credit: Instagram/costcohotfinds

Credit: Instagram/costcohotfinds

As of right now it appears the chicken tenders are going to be 6.99 and include 5 chicken strips. They also seemingly have a new sauce that is going to be paired with these chicken strips and it looks delicious!

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Credit: Instagram/costcohotfinds

Credit: Instagram/costcohotfinds

You’ll have to check out all of the local Idaho Costcos for when these hit stores because they just look delicious!

Look at those chicken tenders:

 

 

 

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Costco Foodcourt’s New Item

It’s a Caramel Brownie Sundae!!!

Gallery Credit: Shannon Buccola

Change Complete at Costco’s Food Courts

Who would have thought that an age old debate would bring out such a reaction in Costco shoppers!?

Gallery Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM

 

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This is How to Identify an Idaho Christian Nationalist

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This is How to Identify an Idaho Christian Nationalist


You’ve heard that our federal Constitution was made for a moral people.  The line is attributed to the founding father and second President, John Adams.  Notice he said “moral,” not “Christian.”  One of my friends was a graduate of Liberty University, a prestigious Christian school.  His mission in life was to evangelize, but he always cautioned his listeners that our founders spoke of a Creator, and not Jesus.  Some of our early leaders were devout Christians.  Many of them were also womanizers, drinkers, and gave religion no more than lip service.  They were people who wanted to be left alone, and if they practiced faith, it was personal, and they didn’t believe it was the government’s role to dictate morality.

They Mock Good People of Other Faiths

I’m reminded of a story about the 2024 Republican National Convention.  Harmeet Dhillon, a rising star in the party, spoke.  She referenced her Sikh faith, and someone in the crowd felt compelled to shout “Jesus is Lord!”  Now, maybe a majority believes that, but are you sure He wants you to taunt good and moral people?  Or would God prefer a gentler approach?  For instance, you could pray for conversions.

Where does the Great Commission instruct you to be rude to people of good moral character?

Idaho’s Glenneda Zuiderveld was an alternate delegate, and when a seatmate said the man was rude, the state senator dismissed the argument.  “We’re all going to be judged,” she said.  What’s a Senator’s purpose in politics?

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

A few days ago, a local church had a men-only event for candidates.  A group of liberal women demonstrated outside.  I don’t know why they can’t organize their own event instead, but apparently, they would rather be confrontational.  They’ve accomplished nothing more than preening and making a claim that they’re more virtuous, but the church is within its rights to hold a men-only event.  If you want a women’s only event, I’m not bothered.  Let me add a caveat.  Some of the men involved believe that it’s okay to berate members of the LDS Church as they enter the temple.  I wouldn’t say screaming at someone that they’re going to hell is a sign of moral people.  Again, if you think they’re wrong, then pray for them.

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Some people wonder why they’re called Christian nationalists.  Do we need to draw them some pictures?

Brad Little Through The Years

Gallery Credit: Kevin Miller





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