Week 1 recap: Lori Vallow Daybell trial focuses on dark beliefs, deadly motives
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PHOENIX — The first week of Lori Vallow Daybell’s murder conspiracy trial has concluded and testimony, at times, was contentious.
Vallow Daybell, who has already been convicted of killing her two children, Tylee and JJ, is defending herself against murder conspiracy charges related to her former husband, Charles Vallow’s death.
Charles Vallow was shot dead by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox. Originally, Cox told Chandler police officers he acted in self-defense. Now, investigators believe he conspired with Valley Daybell to have her husband killed.
Here’s what you need to know before the second week of the trial begins.
Vallow Daybell made national news in 2019 when her two children, Tylee and JJ, went missing and she refused to answer questions about where they were. Charles Vallow, her husband, had been shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother, who later died of natural causes, in July 2019, months before Tylee and JJ went missing,
While her children were missing, Vallow Daybell was spotted vacationing in Hawaii with doomsday author Chad Daybell, whom she married in December 2019. She got the name “doomsday mom” due to their religious beliefs.
Investigators discovered Tylee and JJ’s bodies buried in Daybell’s backyard in June 2020. They believe the kids were killed in September 2019.
In May 2021, Daybell and Vallow Daybell were charged with murder and conspiracy in the death of her children.
After two delays for mental health checks, Vallow Daybell’s trial started in April 2023 and took about six weeks before a jury came back with a guilty verdict on all six counts she faced. Throughout the proceedings, prosecutors in Idaho accused Vallow Daybell, Chad Daybell and Cox of conspiring to kill people who were “obstacles” to Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s relationship.
She was given multiple life sentences in that case with no chance of parole.
Chad Daybell stood trial in Idaho in 2024, where he was convicted on all charges, including the murders of Tylee, JJ and his first wife Tammy Daybell. He was sentenced to death in Idaho.
Vallow Daybell is now on trial in Arizona for conspiracy to commit murder related to Charles Vallow’s 2019 shooting death. Investigators said Vallow Daybell conspired with her brother to kill Charles Vallow. Her brother, Alex Cox, can’t be charged in any of these cases because he died in December 2019, apparently of natural causes, according to the medical examiner.
Vallow Daybell is representing herself in the trial. She doesn’t have to wear her county-issued orange jail clothes during her trial. The judge also granted her motion to wear civilian clothes.
She doesn’t have to wear any handcuffs or leg restraints, but we do know from MCSO that she’s wearing a RACC belt, also known as a stun belt.
That means if she tries to flee, she could get stopped with a shock. You can watch the video below to see the belt in action on 12News’ Troy Hayden.
Content retrieved from: https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/lori-vallow-daybell-trial-week-1-recap/75-cfe8fe14-5332-48dd-b321-8be6638b0932.
