An occult-obsessed mother who was found guilty on Friday by an Idaho jury of murdering her two children and conspiring to kill her husband’s former wife will be extradited to Arizona after sentencing, it now emerges, to face charges of murdering her fourth husband.
Lori Vallow, 49, showed no emotion as the verdict was read out in Boise, following a five-week trial.
Jurors found her guilty of murdering seven-year-old JJ and 16-year-old Tylee in September 2019.
Shortly after the verdict was read out, it was confirmed that she will be extradited following sentencing in Idaho to Arizona, to face murder charges.
Vallow is accused of conspiring to kill Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, in July 2019.
Her brother Alex Cox fired the fatal shot – Cox died five months later from a blood clot, in what coroners ruled was a natural death – but a grand jury in June 2021 found Vallow should be charged with one count of conspiracy to commit first degree murder.
Charles Vallow (left, with wife Lori) was shot dead in July 2019 in Arizona by Alex Cox, his wife’s brother. Cox died in December 2019. In July 2021, Lori Vallow was charged by a grand jury with conspiracy to murder her husband
The 49-year-old was emotionless as the verdict was read out on Friday in Boise, Idaho. Her defense team did not call a single witness nor did they put forward any kind of explanation for how the children died
Before Charles Vallow died, he had filed for divorce.
Cox was never charged after shooting him dead, and argued self-defense.
Allister Adel, Maricopa County Attorney, said that the two-year gap between the crime and the decision to charge Lori Vallow was due to the complexity of the case.
He said in July 2021 that ‘complex, difficult cases of this nature take time to properly investigate and solve.’
Vallow is likely to be sentenced for the murder of her children in three months time, Judge Steven Boyce said on Friday.
Her conviction did not come as a surprise.
Her defense team did not call a single witness nor did they put forward any kind of explanation for how the children died.
Vallow’s children vanished in September 2019.
Their mother, who had recently met and married Doomsday-cult enthusiast Chad Daybell, avoided questions and evaded the authorities.
She fled to Hawaii, refusing to tell the police where her children were, or answering any kind of questions about not only her children but the vast web of death and deceit that seemed to engulf her family.
Chad Daybell is facing similar charges but his trial was paused.
Vallow, who was found mentally competent to stand trial, now faces life in prison. Prosecutors previously took the death penalty off the table.
Vallow kept her hands crossed as some of the counts were read out
Vallow is accused of killing seven-year-old Joshua (JJ), left, and 16-year-old Tylee, right
Before the verdict was read, Vallow chatted with her attorneys – who did not attempt to explain how her children died
As the verdict was read, JJ’s grandfather Larry and his grandmother Kay wept.
Afterwards, prosecutors Rob Wood and Lindsey Blake said in a statement: ‘We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict, and we want to thank them, as well as the alternates, for their service over last six weeks during this trial.
‘Given the pending case against the co-defendant, we are unable to conduct any additional interviews or discuss further details of this matter.
‘We want to assure each of you that we remain committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell.
‘We also want to express sincere appreciation to the many members of law enforcement and the community who tirelessly worked together to hold Lori Vallow Daybell accountable.’
The bizarre case drew nationwide interest in 2019 after the children vanished. It took another nine months for their bodies to be discovered in shallow graves in Chad Daybell’s backyard.
JJ had been suffocated with a plastic bag, while Tylee’s corpse was so badly burned and dismembered that it is still not clear how she was killed.
Spectators lined up as early as 4am at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, to get a coveted spot in the courtroom and see the verdict in the case of the ‘cult mom’ accused of three murders, including her own children.
JJ’s grandfather Larry Woodcock was elated with the verdict
Lori was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Chad’s wife, Tammy, who died from asphyxiation in October 2019
Match made in hell: Lori and Chad met in October 2018 at a religious conference
The State argued that Vallow was motivated by ‘money, power and sex’ and that she used all three of those things to achieve her twisted ends.
Jurors heard how they saw her children and Daybell’s wife as ‘obstacles’ to the romantic life they envisioned for themselves in Hawaii.
Prosecutors said Vallow and Daybell believed – or chose to believe – that those who stood in their way were ‘dark’ possessed individuals who they referred to as ‘zombies.’
After JJ and Tylee’s disappearance, authorities started looking at all the deaths that were connected to the pair.
Tammy Daybell was Chad’s wife when he met Lori and the mother of their children. She died suddenly in October 2019.
Initially, her death was ruled as the result of natural causes.
After attention turned to Lori and Chad, she was exhumed and reexamined.
The last known photograph of Tylee, center, during a family trip to Yellowstone National Park with JJ, left, her uncle Alex Cox, right, and her mom Lori, in September 2019
Lori and Chad fled Idaho for Hawaii, refusing to tell anyone where the children were. They got married in a beach ceremony and ignored the mounting questions and concerns for her kids
An autopsy – which Daybell had refused the night she died – shows she had died of asphyxiation, the same cause of death which would later be determined for JJ.
Vallow was eventually arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 – five months after JJ and Tylee were last seen alive.
The children would not be found for another four months.
Jurors heard from Prosecutor Lindsey Blake described how charred remains were all that was left of Tylee.
She told jurors: ‘You will hear it explained as a mass of bone and tissue. That’s what was left of this beautiful young woman.’
Tylee’s DNA was later found on a pickaxe and shovel in a shed on the property.
Eventually, Lori was arrested and ordered back to Idaho from Hawaii
Chad, her loyal husband, was by her side. He is now also facing charges
JJ’s body was wrapped in trash bags and duct tape – the tape binding his arms in front of him and wrapping around his head. He had been suffocated inside a plastic bag.
The two children and Daybell’s previous wife Tammy were all killed because they stood in the way of the couple’s relationship, the State said.
‘Remember, the defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants, and she wanted Chad Daybell,’ Blake told jurors.
‘The defendant used money, power and sex to get what she wanted.’
Jurors also heard from friends and relatives of Vallow that she and Daybell believed the children were ‘dark’ and referred to them as ‘zombies’ before they disappeared.
‘The common theme was the body has to be destroyed,’ Blake said.
‘The defendant and Chad used their self-proclaimed religious teachings to justify their actions to others — their actions from affair to murder.’
