“Cult mom” Lori Vallow is currently on trial in a case that has shocked the nation with its bizarre doomsday cult ties and the tragic deaths of almost everyone close to the mother-of-three and her new husband Chad Daybell.
The 49-year-old is charged with the murders of her children Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 16, and conspiracy to murder Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell.
JJ and Tylee vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to authorities for many months.
One month after they were last seen alive, Tammy – an otherwise healthy 49-year-old – died suddenly and Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell soon jetted off to Hawaii to get married on the beach.
In June 2020, the remains of JJ and Tylee were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho, and the doomsday cult couple were eventually charged with murder.
Prosecutors allege that Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with Ms Vallow’s brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their bizarre cult beliefs – but also for financial purposes so that they could collect Tammy’s life insurance money and the children’s social security and survivor benefits.
After lengthy delays – due to the pandemic and Ms Vallow’s admission into a mental health facility – her trial is finally under way in a courtroom in Boise, Idaho.
Here are the key revelations from the trial – so far:
‘Money, power and sex’
During opening statements, prosecutors said that Ms Vallow was driven by “money, power and sex” to murder her two children and her new husband’s then-wife.
“Money, power, and sex – that’s what this case is about,” said Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake.
“Tylee had money. Lori wanted it. Tylee’s gone. JJ took time and he also lost his father. When he lost his father, he became much more difficult to care for. He was entitled to social security benefits. The defendant didn’t want to have to take care of JJ anymore. He had money. JJ’s gone.”
Ms Blake told jurors that the saga first began back in October 2018 when Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell met in person for the first time at a religious conference.
Despite both being married, their romance grew with Ms Blake saying: “The defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants – and she wanted Chad Daybell.”
Doomsday couple used cult beliefs to ‘justify’ murder
The doomsday couple allegedly used their cult beliefs to “justify” their actions, the prosecutor said in opening statements.
“She was here on a religious mission to gather the 144,000, so she needed to spend her time and energy there,” said Ms Blake. “What she did on earth no longer counted for her.”
As part of their cult beliefs, they believed in a “rating system of light and dark” for how they ranked the spirits of the people around them.
Over time, this evolved into the belief that some people – including the children – were “zombies” and the only way to get rid of the zombies was for the human body to be destroyed.
Tammy Daybell’s cause of death revealed
The cause of death of Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy was revealed for the first time during opening statements.
Ms Blake told jurors that Tammy, 49, died “at the hands of another and died of asphyxiation,” citing the Utah medical examiner.
Tammy died suddenly on 19 October 2019. Mr Daybell declined an autopsy – despite her young age and lack of health concerns – and her death was ruled natural causes.
The prosecutor said that, 10 days before her death, Tammy had called 911 to report that someone had taken a shot at her in the driveway of her home.
When Tammy then died, Cox raised concerns about being made the “fall guy” for her death by the doomsday couple.
One day after he made that comment – on 11 December 2019 – Cox also died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, however the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.
After the investigation into the missing children ramped up, Tammy’s body was exhumed and an autopsy carried out.
Sobbing Brandon Boudreaux testifies about children and shooting
Ms Vallow’s former nephew-in-law Brandon Boudreaux broke down in tears as he testified about the moment he learned about JJ and Tylee’s deaths – and then had to identify JJ’s remains.
He was married to Ms Vallow’s niece Melani Pawlowski for ten years and was close to JJ and Tylee.
However, in 2018 he said things changed and “got more bizarre” when Ms Pawlowski became more involved in the doosmday cult with Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell.
The couple divorced and he was living in a new home when, on 2 October 2019, he was the victim of a failed shooting attempt. After that, he said he began looking into his estranged wife’s doomsday cult and learned that Mr Daybell’s wife Tammy had also died recently.
Alarming items found in Vallow’s garage
Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo testified how his officers found several alarming items during a search of Ms Vallow’s home.
Arizona officials had raised the alarm about JJ and Tylee’s disappearance but, by that time, Ms Vallow had moved the children from Arizona to Rexburg.
After being railroaded by Ms Vallow, Mr Daybell and Cox as to the children’s whereabouts, police executed a search warrant on her home in November 2019.
In the garage, investigators found several guns, ammunition, empty magazines, silencers and Army-grade knives. There was also Hazmat-style suits and preparedness bags with emergency kits and a camouflage suit.
Black trash bags full of clothes and papers and JJ’s toys and prescription medication was also found in the search.
He testified that Ms Vallow appeared to have fled, with no clothes left behind in her closets.
Graphic photos show JJ was buried in pyjamas
Graphic photos revealed that JJ was still wearing his red pyjamas and a pull-up nighttime diaper when his remains were found buried in a shallow grave on Mr Daybell’s property on 9 June 2020.
The last proof of life of JJ is a photo taken on 22 September 2019 showing the little boy sitting on a sofa dressed in a matching set of red pyjamas.
Shocked jurors were shown images of JJ’s body found in the shallow grave – still dressed in the red pyjamas.
His arms were wrapped in duct tape and his head was wrapped in a white plastic bag with thick layers of duct tape around it. He had been partly covered in a blue children’s blanket before wood panelling and three white stones were placed on top of him in the shallow grave.
Det Hermosillo told the court that search teams digging on the property were first struck by the “strong odour” of a decomposing body.
The team then uncovered what “appeared to be the crown of a head” – later found to belong to JJ – protruding through the earth. Tylee’s remains were then found not far from her younger brother’s, close to a fire pit in the pet cemetery on the property.
State of Tylee’s remains meant autopsy was impossible
Tylee’s body was so badly burned that an autopsy to determine her cause of death was impossible, jurors heard.
The 16-year-old had been dismembered, burned and her body parts were dispersed around the grounds.
“Eventually we uncovered bits and pieces of Tylee, whom we assumed was Tylee, that had been burned. There were pieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh that were falling apart,” he said.
Jurors gasped and JJ’s grandparents sobbed as harrowing images were shown in the courtroom of both the burial site and images taken JJ’s autopsy.
At one point, Ms Vallow’s attorneys asked the judge to allow her to be excused from the court while the graphic testimony and photos were shown. The judge swiftly denied the request.
Jailhouse call reveals Daybell warning Vallow as police close in
Jurors heard a jailhouse phone call where Mr Daybell warned Ms Vallow that police were closing in on the day that her children’s remains were discovered buried on his property.
In the call, made at 11.03am on 9 June 2020, Mr Daybell is heard telling his new wife that law enforcement were on the scene searching his property in Rexburg, Idaho.
At the time, Ms Vallow was behind bars in Madison County Jail after she failed to meet a court order to present the children.
“They are searching the property,” a forlorn-sounding Mr Daybell says.
He later adds: “So, we’ll see what transpires.”
Just around one hour later, the remains of JJ and Tylee were discovered buried on Mr Daybell’s property.
