Testimony begins in case of Lori Vallow Daybell, "doomsday mom" accused of killing her children
The prosecution and defense in the trial of Lori Vallow Daybell — accused with her husband Chad Daybell of murdering her two children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan — made their opening arguments to the jury on Monday in Boise, Idaho.
Vallow Daybell has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft, a felony. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
It's the latest in a religious-tinged case that started with a search for the two missing children, grew to include investigations into other deaths in the extended family, and will continue with the trial of Chad Daybell, expected later this year, and separate proceedings for Vallow Daybell in Arizona.
The children disappeared in September 2019 and their remains were found in June 2020, buried on Daybell's property in Rexburg, Idaho.
One of the conspiracy charges Vallow Daybell faces is in connection with the death of Chad Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell, who died in October 2019. The grand theft charge relates to Social Security benefits Tylee Ryan was receiving for the death of her father.
In her opening statement, Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake said Vallow Daybell and her husband used their religious beliefs — including that evil spirits that cast people out and turn their bodies into zombies had possessed Tylee and JJ — to try to persuade those around them not to question their actions and even to justify murder.
Vallow Daybell, she argued, wanted money and wanted Chad Daybell, and sought to remove the obstacles — her children, Daybell's spouse — that stood in her way, Blake said.
Defense attorney John Archibald told jurors that in this country, we get to choose our religious beliefs, and Vallow Daybell's began to change when she met her husband. But, he argued, jurors need to focus on what evidence shows she did — not what her husband or brother, Alex Cox, may have done. Cox was seen with JJ before he went missing, and himself died in December 2019.
Archibald said Vallow Daybell was with other people in her apartment when JJ and Tylee were murdered, and in Hawaii when Tammy Daybell died.
Then, witness testimony began with Kay Woodcock, the sister of Lori's deceased husband Charles Vallow and the biological grandparent of JJ Vallow. She and her husband had been the ones to ask police to check on the children after failing to get in contact with JJ or Vallow Daybell.
Over the last two weeks, prosecutors and Vallow Daybell's defense attorneys whittled down an initial pool of 1,800 potential jurors who submitted questionnaires to just 18 who will hear the case. From those 10 men and eight women, 12 will ultimately deliberate and decide.
The couple's swift marriage — two weeks after the death of Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy, and less than six months after the shooting death of Lori Vallow Daybell's husband, Charles Vallow, by her brother Alex Cox — and their doomsday-focused religious beliefs have fueled intense interest in the case.
The trial is expected to take up to 10 weeks.