Lori Vallow verdict latest: New mugshot shows ‘cult mom’ smirking as Idaho judge orders pre-sentence probe

During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Lori Vallow had been driven by “money, power and sex” to kill the three victims.

Vallow and Chad Daybell met at a religious conference in October 2018 when they were both married and began an affair.

As their romance grew, so too did their cult beliefs and conspiracy to kill.

Jurors heard how the doomsday couple believed that they were on a religious mission to gather the 144,000 and that there was a “rating system of light and dark” for the spirits of the people around them.

In the weeks and months before the murders, Vallow allegedly told friends that JJ and Tylee had become “demons”.

Prosecutors said that Vallow used these beliefs to “justify” the murders of her children and love rival.

The state argued that the murders were “premeditated” and “planned” – pointing to evidence including the stash of burner phones the three alleged accomplices had, Cox’s practice at a shooting range prior to a botched attempt on Tammy’s life and a deliberate plan for Vallow to be in Hawaii at the time of Tammy’s murder.

Days before each child was killed, Vallow then allegedly altered their Social Security payments so that the money would be paid directly into her account.

Prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors that Vallow was the ringleader of the murderous plot, and that she “groomed” and “manipulated” both Mr Daybell and Cox to commit the murders.

“They used religion as a tool to manipulate others. Lori manipulated Alex Cox through religion,” he said. “She manipulated Chad through emotional and sexual control.”

Vallow was the “one common thread” tying all the suspects and killings together, he said.

Lori Vallow’s nephew-in-law has spoken out following her murder conviction to say that he believes people “are not inherently good or evil” as she faces new charges for his own attempted murder.

Brandon Boudreaux released a lengthy statement in which he called for “forgiveness” for the doomsday cult mom who was found guilty of murdering her two children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow and conspiring to murder her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife.

“We recognize that people are not inherently good or evil. It’s what makes these tragic events so much harder for those of us who were all affected by these crimes,” he said.

“While we do not glory in any conviction, we recognize the importance of holding accountable those who would commit such terrible atrocities.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

Lori Vallow’s lover, fellow cult leader and alleged accomplice Chad Daybell is yet to stand trial for the three murders of Tylee, JJ and Tammy.

He is facing the same charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tammy.

Mr Daybell is also charged with an additional count of the first-degree murder of Tammy.

Mr Daybell is facing the death penalty on the charges.

The doomsday cult couple were due to stand trial together before the judge ruled in March – just weeks before the trial was due to begin – that the cases would be severed.

While Vallow’s trial began as planned in early April, this pushed Mr Daybell’s case back to a later date.

In a scheduling conference in early May, the court set a rough date of June 2024 for his trial.

More than three years after her children JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, were brutally murdered and dumped in shallow graves on her new lover’s property, Lori Vallow has finally been held to account.

The 49-year-old mother-of-three was found guilty on Friday (12 May) of the murders of her two children as well as conspiracy to murder them and Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell.

Now that she is facing life in prison for her crimes, attention turns to Mr Daybell, who has been behind bars awaiting trial since June 2020.

But what about the one who got away?

The “doomsday cult” couple had a third – lesser-known – alleged accomplice who also conspired with them to kill as part of their bizarre cult beliefs and for monetary greed.

That third co-conspirator was Vallow’s brother Alex Cox – a man who can never be brought to justice as he mysteriously dropped dead as the net closed in.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

“Cult mom” Lori Vallow has been found guilty of murdering her two youngest children in a case that 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.

Following a dramatic six-week trial, jurors deliberated for just under seven hours before returning their guilty verdict on all six counts.

Here are the key revelations from the trial:

More than three years after her children were last seen alive, “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow has been found guilty of their murder.

Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 8, vanished without a trace in September 2019, sparking a multi-state search while their mother appeared carefree – marrying her new husband Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii.

The children’s bodies were finally discovered nine months later buried in a pet cemetery on Mr Daybell’s property in Idaho. Their disappearances and deaths mark only part of a dramatic case that spans a deeply disturbing pattern of murders, unexplained deaths and bizarre cult beliefs about killing zombies.

On Friday (12 May), the 49-year-old mother-of-three was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of her two youngest children in Ada County Court in Boise, Idaho.

She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy, 49.

The bizarre and tragic case has now concluded in a courtroom in Boise, Idaho, where Vallow was convicted of all charges in the murders of her children Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven; Tylee Ryan, 16; and Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell.

Prosecutors alleged that Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with Vallow’s brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their 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.

Harrowing and bizarre details about the cult beliefs which drove – or excused – the 49-year-old came to light during her murder trial in Ada County Courthouse.

But, beyond the trial testimony, there was also some bizarre happenings taking place inside the courtroom:

Lori Vallow’s family and the family of her sister Summer Shiflet have issued a joint statement after she was convicted of murder.

Vallow was found guilty of the first-degree murder of her children Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and of a charge of conspiracy in the first-degree murder of her husband Chad Daybell’s late wife Tammy.

Vallow was born Lori Cox and is one of four siblings, the others being Summer, Adam Cox, and her alleged co-conspirator Alex Cox.

Their initial support of Vallow in the early days of the search for the children evaporated when the bodies of Tylee and JJ were discovered in shallow graves on Mr Daybell’s property outside of Rexburg, Idaho, in June 2020.

Read the statement from the Cox and Shiflet families after the verdict:

The grandparents of Joshua “JJ” Vallow sent a powerful message to his mother Lori Vallow after she was convicted of all charges in the murders of the seven-year-old boy, his sister Tylee Ryan, 16, and Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy.

JJ’s grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock choked up with emotion as they spoke to reporters outside Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Friday after the verdict in the doomsday cult mom’s trial was read out.

“My final message for Lori,” said Mr Woodcock, before breaking into the song “The party’s over” – a song that he and JJ used to sing together.

“Turn out the lights, the party’s over. They say that all good things must end,” he sang.

He then paused and addressed Vallow, saying: “Lori it ended.”