The doting grandfather of Lori Vallow’s murdered son vowed that “today is the day” as he arrived at the cult mom’s murder trial and blared the song “The party’s over” outside court.
JJ’s grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock have attended every day of the trial of the woman now accused of their seven-year-old grandson’s murder, listening to harrowing testimony of the little boy’s final moments and seeing graphic photos of his remains buried on Chad Daybell’s property.
It was Larry and Kay who raised the alarm about Ms Vallow’s missing children JJ and Tylee Ryan, 16, back in September 2019 when the mother-of-three moved them from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho, and they couldn’t get in contact with their grandson.
Nine months later, JJ and Tylee’s remains were found in shallow graves on Mr Daybell’s property.
After a gruelling six-week trial, Mr Woodcock appeared to be in more upbeat spirits as he arrived at Ada County Court in Boise, Idaho, on Friday morning and voiced hope that justice would be served.
“Today is the day,” he told journalists outside the court, dressed in a “World’s Greatest Papa” t-shirt. “I’m not be the world’s greatest papa… but I hope I was the world’s greatest papa to JJ and Tylee.”
He played “The Party’s Over” while lined up outside the court before blaring “We Will Rock You” inside.
Both songs held a special personal meaning to him and his grandson JJ and they would often sing them together, he said.
His optimism comes as jurors continue deliberations for a second day in the “doomsday cult mom’s” murder trial.
The jury of seven men and five women began deliberations on Thursday afternoon before concluding after four hours with no verdict. They resumed deliberations at 9am local time on Friday morning.
While the judge banned cameras from the courtroom, the hotly-anticipated verdict will be livestreamed.
The 49-year-old mother-of-three is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7. She is also charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her new husband Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell, 49.
Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019.
Tammy died one month later in October 2019 – her death initially ruled natural causes before an exhumation and autopsy revealed she had been asphyxiated.
Over the course of the trial, jurors heard from over 60 state witnesses as prosecutors laid out their case that Vallow was motivated by both her doomsday cult beliefs but also by her lust for Mr Daybell and financial greed when she conspired with him and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims.
Jurors then heard from zero defence witnesses after Ms Vallow’s attorneys made the bombshell move on Tuesday to announce that they would not be giving any defence case or calling any witnesses.
During closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors argued that Ms Vallow was driven by “money, power and sex” to kill the three victims – and then steal their money when they were dead.
Ms Vallow was the “one common thread” tying all the suspects and killings together, said prosecutor Rob Wood.
“The evidence in this case points to one common thread and that thread is Lori Vallow,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the defence’s closing statement, Ms Vallow’s attorneys argued that – instead of being the leader – Ms Vallow was the “follower” of her new lover Mr Daybell.
In what marked the first time Ms Vallow has turned on her lover, her attorney Jim Archibald sought to paint her as a hardworking “good mom” whose life suddenly changed when she met Mr Daybell.
“One year after meeting Chad, four people are dead,” said Mr Archibald.
Ms Vallow faces life in prison on the charges while her alleged co-conspirators are yet to face justice.
Mr Daybell was due to stand trial with Ms Vallow but the cases were severed weeks before her day in court. He is now due to stand trial in 2024 over the three murders.
Meanwhile, Cox died before he could ever stand trial.
On 11 December 2019 – hours after Tammy’s body was exhumed – he died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, with indications of a blood clot wedged in the arteries of his lungs. However, the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.
Separate to the Idaho case, Ms Vallow is also facing charges in Arizona of conspiring with Cox to murder her fourth husband Charles Vallow. Vallow was shot dead by Cox in Arizona in July 2019.
