Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Lori Vallow Guilty, What's Next

Episode Date: May 14, 2023

Lori Vallow convicted on all counts in her murder trial. Vallow was accused in the deaths of two of her children, Tylee and JJ.  As she awaits her sentencing comes word that Vallow will be extradited from Idaho to Arizona too face a third murder charge over the death of her ex-husband.  Charles Vallow is her fourth husband.  Lori Vallow's brother Alex Cox,  fired the fatal shot that killed the man who adopted JJ Vallow.    Nancy Grace talks with Sheryl McCollum- Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Host of new podcast: Zone 7. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Cult mom Lori Vallow finally convicted. But what about Chad Daybell? And now we learn that cult mom Lori Vallow, hey, it ain't over yet. She's heading to Arizona for yet another murder case. That in the shooting death of her husband, Charles Vallow. Now that would be her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. The prophet, Chad Daybell, was number five. And I got a pretty sneaky suspicion that the prophet is going off script. I do not believe that unlike his wife, the goddess, Lori Vallow, I don't think he's going to stand by her at trial. I think he's going to sell her straight down the river. Joining me right now is the founder

and director of the Cold Case Research Institute, forensic expert, and star of a hit podcast, Zone 7, Cheryl McCollum. So, you know, after we learned that, it's kind of hard for it to come out. After we learned that the prophet Chad Daybell's penis was named the storm. Yeah. Okay. That was like eating a dirt sandwich in court, which I've had to do many, many times. It looks like the Prophet Chad Daybell and the Storm are going on trial for murder. Tell me your thoughts, A, on the verdict regarding cult mom Lori Vallow, and B, what's up for the Storm? The verdict was absolutely just and accurate. I think that a lot of us are waiting and waiting to be able to say convicted murderer, you know, Lori Vallow. And we can do that now. And I think Mother's Day is an appropriate weekend to be able to do that.

Regarding the storm, I think the storm is going down. I think that he understands. Yeah, you know what? I'm going to try to ignore your phraseology, but go ahead. I think putting the storm and going down in one sentence is just too much. But go ahead. That's just you. But he realizes absolutely what's coming for him. So he knows, one, you've got the murder charge that he's facing, but he

knows he's probably more than likely going to be somehow implicated in what happened to Charles because you had a million dollars on the line here. You had a crime scene that was staged and his name's going to be all over it. No question about it. The extradition of cult mom, Lori Vallow to Arizona is coming up. It could be weeks. It could be months. We know that it's going to be three months until she is sentenced.

Interestingly, the DP death penalty off the table for Lori Vallow, but not so for Chad Daybell. And this is what I think is the reasoning behind that. As you know, Cheryl McCollum, there are very strict deadlines that the state has to meet. I remember, I think you may have been there, it's a big blur now. We had this giant, giant Xerox machine at the district attorney's office. It literally took up a room. And there was a strict deadline. If I wanted to start a trial on, let's just say, Monday the 10th,

very often it would be the Friday night before, 10 days before, I would have to be getting out discovery because it had to be postmarked 10 days prior to trial. Normally, I'd hand it over much longer before that, but that Xerox machine would break down, and I would be in there throwing a fit all alone. It'd be like 10 o'clock at night trying to Xerox the defendant's statements and the crime lab report and this and that. And yes, I would have shared it with the defense, but here you can look at the file, but you had to actually give it to them. You couldn't just show it to me. You had to give it to them before a certain deadline or that evidence would not be allowed at trial. You know, scientific reports like this is positive for cocaine and these are his fingerprints

and this is the fiber from his carpet, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, then I would have to drive it to the Atlanta airport because they had the very last, I guess, FedEx or mailing that would go out at midnight. And it had to be postmarked that day or it wouldn't come in. I'm leading up to something. Just go with me on this. you know, rapidly accelerating leading up to trial, the state found evidence like that long blonde hair that absolutely DNA proved was Lori Vallow's on the tape wrapped around seven-year-old JJ. That happened within the discovery period. And I think that a lot, well, not a lot, some very vital evidence was discovered during that period. And I think that a lot, well, not a lot, some very vital evidence was discovered during

that period. And it was too late to hand it. It was handed over, but it didn't meet the deadlines. Now, why is that important? Because Lori Vallow, Colt Mom Lori Vallow, had filed a demand for speedy trial. So the trial couldn't be further noticed or continued a month later. It had to be done then or else should be acquitted under the law. And I think that's why they took the DP off the table because the state could not, not that they were doing anything sneaky or nefarious, they could not meet that deadline. And I believe that's why the DP was taken off the table. That's just me. That's a solid reason. But let's talk about the reality. If you have the death penalty. Oh, yeah. All the discovery deadlines, they're not real. Is that what you're saying? No, no, no. I'm saying something regarding the death penalty in prison. If you get the death

penalty, you get a single cell by yourself. You get total privacy. I would like to see her in general population. I would like for her to see the full effect of being in prison the rest of her days. That's just me. Okay. So that was, okay. That was an okay observation, but who wouldn't? Can we talk about the strongest evidence at the trial? And I believe that hair that I was just describing was incredibly, incredibly strong. That's funny true. Yeah, yeah. Another thing, the prophet, and she, the goddess, are exchanging sex messages over and over and over as they plot to kill Tammy Daybell.

I mean, it removes every shred of a facade of a motherly concern for these children. Everything. All she is concerned about is hopping in the sack at some motel with Chad Daybell, who is a complete idiot. I mean, have you read any of his prophecies? I have not. But I want to go back. Oh, hold on. I think I'm going to gag right now.

Listen to this. Okay. James, their pseudonym for each other, James and Elena. But I want to go back. Oh, hold on. I think I'm going to gag right now. Listen to this. Okay. James, their pseudonym for each other, James and Elena. James took her in his arms, and they smiled at each other. The vibration in the room was intense. Their hearts reached out to each other in glorious reunion. James gently touched the side of Elena's breast and he was in ecstasy. You know, there's so much more.

I mean, I don't know how the jury kept their lunch down looking at these two in court. Oh, Nancy. Well, James and Elena, again, they're going to prison. So he's going to have plenty of time to write these lovely things to her. But let's go back seriously because when the dna came back matching lori valo to the hair that was found on the duct tape yep wrapped around aj i thought of you immediately because you remember with casey anthony i'm just gonna have to think that through but i'll save that for another day when you find out about the defendant's hair

wrapped in that duct tape, you thought of me. Thank you. I think that's the first thing I should say, but go ahead. The reason is because you said something so passionately one day, and it was so dead accurate. You were like, there's no way you're ever going to find duct tape on somebody's face and it not be murder. Well, yeah, I was talking about the fact that the duct tape facilitated the death. It may not have been the intentional mode of death, but when you wrap duct tape around, let's just say Kaylee Anthony's face around her mouth and nose, she's going to die. Just jj of course i think he was already dead but doing

that um to the child to jj and her hair being in it not just on his pajamas or his socks or his person which could have come from a hug but on the tape that facilitated his death. Right. You no longer have an accident. You no longer have something that she's going to be able to explain, just like with Casey Anthony. There's no way to explain why that action was taken. And when you look at JJ,

him having the scratches on his throat, that to me was when the devil walked in that room because that baby tried to save himself and couldn't Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Another thing that came out in trial, which we really didn't talk about that much, these damning text messages about plotting to cause the children pain, JJ and Tyler.

I want you to hear this. Daybell asks Vallow if she wants him to, quote, cause pain to children. And he says that they were dark people. Daybell, oh, Vallow told him to hold off, but if these children they were with acted up again, quote, we can zap them. Also, she says that Daybell responded, if they're going to act up, we'll at least give them a reason to scream. he also states that he had quote turned up the pain on her daughter it just i don't i don't understand anyone's thinking when they talk about children in this manner but i also think that her demeanor in court really hurt her, Cheryl McCollum. What do you think? The jury sat and watched her every day, have no emotion, was stoic. To me, it sometimes even smug.

That absolutely affected the way that they saw her, the way they understood this crime. Again, when you have a mama that is going to allow any man to harm their children to the point they're going to scream, she knows it's going to happen. So it's premeditated and she sits by and allows it. Let me ask you what you think, what you predict in the prophet Chad Daybell's upcoming trial. I mean, she would not take this stand. She would not sell him or her brother Alex Cox down the river. I don't think that's going to work for him. And I'm basing that on the way he has behaved in court. The few times they've been in there together before their cases were severed, she would smile and be flirtatious toward him, try to mouth words at him. He'd just go and look away from her.

I know that's just body language, but I think he's going to try to blame everything on her. I think body language is important because a lot of times that's something you don't even realize you're giving away. Just like Vallow, after the guilty verdict, she crossed her arms while the jury was leaving. She was disgusted. She was over that. So I think what you're observing with Daybell is important because here's the thing. He is now on an island alone. He doesn't have the benefit of her, you know, whatever you want to call it, sexual, I don't know, whatever she's doing for him, she can't do anymore. So he doesn't have that. He's alone the majority of the time with his own thoughts, his own fears, his own feelings. If the right person can get to him, whether it's a family member or an attorney, I think there's a great possibility that he's going to flip. took the DP death penalty off the table for cult mom Lori Vallow in this trial, Arizona has the death penalty.

That's where she's going for the trial of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. And there, as you know, the death penalty was put on a moratorium after a botched execution of Joseph Wood back in 2014. And since that time, they have changed their cocktail for the DP, the needle, lethal injection, to one simple ingredient, pentobarbital. She can look at the death penalty in Arizona. You've got now three dead bodies that have legally been chalked up to you. I think there's a very good chance she could get the death penalty in AZ. If you're ever going to use the death penalty, it's in a case like this. If we're ever going to say that a person deserves to be put to death by the state, it is here. It's when somebody has this just trail of death behind them

only for their own advancement. I'm not somebody that's completely bought in, that they thought this was the end of time. This has a very evil thread of money all throughout it. Explain. Well, she started reading these books by Chad. She's thinking he's got money. He's some big time, you know, author.

She wanted the million dollar insurance from Charles. She wanted to, again, gain financially from these people. There's no question about it. To get rid of your children, again, there's money because she goes and she gets their Social Security. I mean, there's a thread here you can't ignore that she's doing. She wanted that money. She wanted the beautiful wedding. Can I tell you something?

You're right. And I just jumped to the next step, the logical conclusion for what you're right. And I just jumped to the next step, the next conclude the logical conclusion for what you're saying. I really believe that she should be prosecuted in Arizona for the murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, for pecuniary or money gain. I really do. Because when you add that, that is an aggravating circumstance for which you can get the death penalty. And listen, DP is up to the jury. It's the state's duty to advance it. And it's the jury's decision. But if the state wants to seek the death penalty on her, which they did here in Idaho, but they got up against that timeline and had to withdraw it. Not so in Arizona. Pecuniary gain is one of the most successful trial strategies

to get ADP because it displays, Cheryl, such a cold heart. And Charles Valley murder was just the beginning. After that came Tylee and JJ, his son. Then came Tammy J. Bell. And then came Alex Cox. And there's always Joseph Ryan.

I guess that would have been her third husband. Right? Oh, yeah. And I find it really hard to believe with all these dead bodies that he died of natural causes. And I got another problem with Alex Cox's COD cause of death because according to official documents, there have been two different CODs for one person. Okay, that stinks to high heaven. So something's way wrong with that.

So in my mind, his death is suspicious as well. And wouldn't you just know it? The trigger man dies of natural causes. I'm not buying that at all. Not only does he die of natural causes. He's with a wife he's been married to for what, two weeks? That Chad hooked him up with as a thank you for being so supportive of his sister. I only hope Cheryl McCollum that the prophet Chad Daybell's pickup line can come into court. that pickup line being, hey, we were married in a previous life.

We've already had sex, so what's the problem? Well, when you self-seal yourself to somebody, you know, I guess it's pretty easy to convince that same person you were married in a previous life. Hey, I wonder if we can get a wedding shower for the weddings we had before. Listen, I don't need any more pots and pans or irons, which I'm not going to use anyway. But, you know, I'm just thinking this through because, you know, Cheryl, you and I have been through a lot of cases together, not just covering them, but trying them, investigating them. And we are actually laughing at some of the things that Cult Mom Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell have done. And I think that's kind of, would you say, when a case is so upsetting, like what was done to JJ and Tylee. It is overwhelming. It's dark and upsetting

and if you don't watch out it will grab you by the toe and drag you under and you will never see the light of day again. And I guess laughing at some of the, like the storm, the name for his penis. I've got a lot of other names for his penis, but that ain't one of them. And thinking about how stupid they were. Going on Amazon and buying your quote, beach, B-E-A-C-H, wedding dress to marry the prophet Jabal before his wife died. And then, whoa, she dies, and you have a wedding on the beach. Like, a couple of weeks later. It's just crazy.

It is. It is crazy. Lori Vallow's sister said it best. You were dancing on the beach while your children were buried in the ground. There's no way any mama can make sense of that in her head. It's not going to happen. So, again, yes, when you think of Tylee being burned and they can't even tell you how she died, so we don't have a cause of death for her. That's how pitiful that baby was treated and just junk thrown on top of her.

And then you've got JJ that you know at one point was alive when he was being suffocated because he's trying to save himself. Covered in bruises, trying to breathe through that plastic bag they had over his head. But of course we have to talk about the storm. We have to balance that. So, yeah, we're going to make fun and we're going to laugh because there has to be that, you know, balance that we can just self-protect ourselves.

You know, I know it's hard to understand, but thinking about, I mean, really thinking about it. And I used to make juries do this, and I would be so upset. I couldn't sleep at night, literally could not sleep at night. To make a jury confront the evidence because it's so upsetting and so unsettling to think about what was done to these two children. It's just so hard to think about. And if you notice, you said about how JJ fought for his life. He was asphyxiated with a plastic bag. That's how he died. And there are bruise marks on his body where he tried to fight to get that bag off of his face and his head. Same thing with Tammy Daybell. She was asphyxiated and she had bruising on her body where she tried

to live. And by God, they're going to answer up for this. True, of course, as they head to hell, but in a court of law. So help me, God. Thank you. Cheryl McCollum. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.