Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering her two children, as well as conspiring to murder her husband’s first wife in a plot that stemmed from the ‘doomsday’ prophesies she believed. Daybell was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, whose remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to her husband, Chad Daybell, following a months-long search. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her children and her husband’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died on Oct. 19, 2019, less than a month before Lori and Chad married in Hawaii.
Judge Steven Boyce gave the 50-year-old Vallow consecutive sentences of life without parole months after the Idaho mom’s May conviction for the deaths other children, as well as 49-year-old Tammy Daybell. The judge had previously granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the death penalty in the case. Vallow was also convicted of grand theft by deception in the case for collecting government payments after the murders of her children, receiving a 10-year sentence for that conviction.
Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are members of an offshoot sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chad Daybell is the author of more than a dozen apocalyptic-themed novels, which have been described as religiously extreme. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the two belonged to a Christian fundamentalist “doomsday cult” in which they expressed beliefs that dark spirits can possess bodies and should be cast out and that Vallow believed she would help bring about “the end of days.” Chad Daybell, 54, is charged in connection with the deaths of Tylee, J.J. and Tammy, but will be tried separately. He has pleaded not guilty.
Vallow Daybell also faces separate charges in the July 2019 death of her husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot by her brother Alex Cox. Cox claimed he shot Vallow in self-defense and was not charged in the shooting; he died in December 2019. Vallow Daybell has been charged in Arizona with conspiracy to commit murder in his death. She has also been charged in Arizona for conspiracy for the 2019 attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux, who was married to Vallow Daybell’s niece.
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