Dateline NBC - The Doomsday Files

Episode Date: November 16, 2021

New evidence, exclusive interviews, and an in-depth look at Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, the Idaho couple charged in the murders of Lori’s children JJ & Tylee. Keith Morrison reports.

I'm Lester Holt. Tonight on Dateline, she's the woman at the center of so many suspicious deaths. Now, a whole new twist in the case of Lori Vallow, Mommy Doomsday. I know Lori's your first name, right? L-A-U-R-I. I think it's her stage. Those interview rooms are Lori Vallow's stage. Tonight, newly released evidence in this notorious web of murder. Two dead children, two dead spouses. Her husband was shot to death. He goes nuts.

Goes nuts like yelling and screaming. Yeah, yelling and screaming. She essentially convinces the detective that she's a victim. That's an incredible thing to see. Tell me about Tylee in that interview room. I heard yelling from like right outside my door. It's really tragic because

we all know how the story ends. There's brand new stuff here that we had not heard. Videotapes. My kids are, I'm worried they're in danger. Interviews. What happened when you came out with the gun? I said put that down. Audio recordings.

They could be up to something. It was all for Lori and Chad to be together. Sex, money, and revenge. It's shocking, isn't it? Yes. Here's Keith Morrison with The Doomsday Files. July 11th, 2019. Chandler, Arizona Police Department. A 40-something suburban mom sits down to talk with a detective.

There's been a shooting. Tell me what happened. Chairman of the police department, anybody inside, make yourself known. The woman's husband of 14 years is dead. Start where you think it makes the most sense. Okay, so, um... The woman describes a marriage in turmoil. It's all these threats on my phone all the time,

you know, like whatever, all these things. He has anger issues, she tells them. My child! There are children caught in the middle. My child! In some ways, the story is all too familiar. This has to be her brother. What you might also find familiar,

for an entirely different reason, is the name of the woman telling it. I know Lori is your first name, right? L-A-U-R-I. Okay. And then what's your last name? Vallow. Yes, it's her, Lori Vallow. Welcome back, Lori. Where are your kids? A name known the world over, linked forever to the awful things that happened to her children, Tylee and JJ. We've been reporting on this story for almost two years now. Tonight, there's new evidence, the most complete picture yet, and revelations. Interviews with Lori and her daughter, Tylee.

He honestly just looked like kind of a crazy person. And Alex, Lori's brother and alleged hitman. What's up, Alex? Just keep your hands out where we can see them, all right? New text messages, recordings, interviews, crime scene photos. New details about the adulterous affair that set the whole terrible sequence in motion. A crime wave that moved so quickly, police in three states could not keep up with it. Stand up, face away from me, put your hands behind your back.

Yeah. Much of the story we're going to tell you tonight comes from files that have only recently been made public. New evidence, the puzzle pieces of this strange tale, wild and deadly, which grew perversely from an occasion devoted to piety. It all began here, about a year and a half before Laurie's husband was shot. This is St. George, Utah, where Lori Vallow attended a spiritual conference for a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints group called Preparing a People and met a man named Chad Daybell, a speaker and author whose books of fiction were centered on the end times. I had an idea come for an entire trilogy. This was like an instant fatal attraction.

Nate Eaton and Eric Grossarther, reporters for East Idaho News and Dateline contributors. They've been following the case of Lori and Chad from the beginning. It was an instant lust, an instant attraction, an instant I want you and I will do anything to have you. Lori Vallow was attractive, no question. A former cheerleader. Contestant number 13 is Lori Vallow. Fit and blonde, an ex-Mrs. Texas contestant even. She's Mrs. Hayes County. When Lori attended that conference in Utah, she was married, apparently happily, to husband number four, Charles Vallow.

Charles had converted to the LDS church when they married. It was Lori that kind of led him into that direction. Charles' brothers, Jerry and Bobby, speaking out here for the first time. Charles, a searching soul as he was, picked it up and thought it was beautiful and ran with it. He would have done anything to make her happy. But Lori's previous marriages had ended badly, bitterly. She'd been subjected to psychiatric assessments more than once, but she passed, always. She's very friendly, she's very personable, and it seems as if she used that charm to appear like she may in some cases be the victim. So Lori Vallow was beautiful and charming,

and increasingly infatuated with small groups of Mormon extremists who predicted the imminent end of the world. Lori's son, Colby. Growing up, she's definitely mentioned the end of the world. Like, well, you know what? These things won't matter as much because the world's going to end. And Chad Daybell? Chad Daybell was about the nicest guy you could ever meet in your life.

Former NFL quarterback Scott Mitchell grew up with Chad, knew him as the guy who did not light up a room. I think Chad grew up very average and I think Chad found a way for himself to be something and I kind of like it to like Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump was a fictional character who was built around real events. And you watch the movie and you go, was he really there? For years, Chad Daybell had been writing and self-publishing end-times fiction, fanciful stories about angels and demons. He'd moved his wife Tammy and their five children to Rexburg, Idaho,

where he believed the saved would gather at the end of days. Chad's day job had long been sexting in a cemetery. It's actually the favorite book of a lot of people that read my books. He even wrote a book about being a grave digger, who came to imagine he could talk to the dead and pass back and forth through some sort of veil between this world and the next. When she was there on the other side of the veil...

So very different, these two. Like nitro and glycerin. Chad's childhood friend, Paul Giles. I think she was the 55-gallon drum of high-octane aviation gas into Chad's life. It was apparent almost from the moment the St. George conference began. The saver showed me a window. She was fascinated by Chad's books and his ideas about the Second Coming.

He looked in her eyes and saw a goddess. And by the end of that Genesis weekend, lust was in full flower. A love affair had begun, and like some demonic version of creation, a plan had begun to form. Complete with a helper, some came to call

the angel of death, Laurie's faithful brother, Alex Cox. She had some kind of a hold over him. This is Alex's friend, Jill Kimmel. Alex was the one. He's like, I'm in. I'm yours. What do you need? Disciples joined them, among them a seeker named Zulema. I saw Lori and Chad as law-abiding, God-fearing people.

And a niece. I loved Lori. Lori used to carry me around as a little baby and pretend that I was hers when she was 16. All joined this crusade for the select to get to a heaven due to arrive very soon. But as investigators sifted through secret recordings, newly revealed texts,

all the other fresh evidence. The crusade these lovers were leading began to seem less like a heavenly mission and more like a bloody crime spree. Hey, team, we got one subject down. A parent gunshot wounds in the chest. When we come back, Charles was in her way, and she wanted Charles out of the way. The killing begins. I said, be on the lookout or something. They could be up to something.

I think he was afraid. And unfortunately, the police, I don't think they took it that seriously. Chad Daybell was smitten, mesmerized by this goddess who'd come his way. And soon the man who imagined he could jump back and forth between this world and the next decided Lori Vallow was a goddess, a woman beyond human, with unearthly spiritual powers. Almost right away, as newly released police evidence reveals, Chad began looking for a way to separate Lori from her husband, Charles. She didn't need much coaxing, none in fact. Charles was in her way, and she wanted Charles out of the way because he was blocking these spiritual gifts.

She was not able to accomplish the mission that she needed to do. Oh yes, the mission. Chad told Lori they'd been married to each other many times over many lives and in this life their greatest mission of all was to bring together the 144,000 true believers for the second coming of Jesus. And that they had to fight off evil spirits inhabiting people in their own families. Charles may have looked human, said Chad, but in fact was a zombie named Ned Schneider. I think labeling Charles as a zombie was probably the catalyst that set this whole plot in motion. Dr. John Mathias is a clinical psychologist with more than 25 years experience as a forensic interviewer and expert witness for the courts. He and his journalist wife Lauren host the Hidden True Crime podcast. They've studied the case from the start, developed their own strong sources,

and devoted their podcast exclusively to the case of Chad and Lori. We have some research from the evidence dump that he was Googling Ned Schneider six months before Charles' death. Who he is is still a mystery, but Chad was surely interested in him. Soon after that, a worried Charles told police that Laurie was threatening to murder him and have an angel dispose of his body. He says, I'm Nick Snyder. I've taken over Charles' body,

and Charles has been killed. I think he was afraid, and unfortunately, the police, you know, they looked at Charles. He's a pretty big guy, and I don't think they took it that seriously. Charles confided in his brothers. She was saying things like she was supernatural and could fly to different planets. At the same time, Lori was texting her brother Alex. Apparently it is tied to Ned being gone, hopefully today or tomorrow. Alex responds, have fun and get rid of Ned already.

Meanwhile, Lori and Chad were making plans. Lori went online for wedding rings. Not long after Chad and Lori met, they went to a Latter-day Saint temple and they felt that they had been sealed. It wasn't something that anybody pronounced upon them that, hey, you guys, Chad and Lori, are married. It was some sort of feeling that they felt they had. How would the LDS church look on an act like that? For a couple to come out and say, we've self-sealed ourselves, you would look at them like they were crazy. But it wasn't crazy at all to Chad. And Lori? This is Lori's other brother. His name is Adam Cox. And later, Adam told the police what she was like after Chad entered her life. She, you know, talks to Jesus in the temple.

She has a higher priesthood than the rest of us, and just some things that were alarming to me. And she goes, you think I'm crazy, don't you? And I was like, I don't know if you're crazy, but none of that makes any sense to me. And then, as this new trove of evidence reveals, events moved at a kind of fever pitch. Adam and Charles discussed an intervention for Laurie. Then Charles discovered the affair and confronted Laurie. And told Chad's wife Tammy, the mother of his five children. So Tammy confronted Chad.

Who, meanwhile, was telling Laurie that Charles was conspiring with her brother Adam to kill her. For insurance money. Got all that? Like some amusing soap opera were not so deadly. On July 10th, the day before the shooting, Laurie texted Alex. I'm going to need you to stay close to me the next couple of days. Thank you for standing by me. It's all coming to a head this week. Indeed it was. Alex responded to that text from Lori by spending the night in her house. The time had come. It was the next morning, July 11th, 2019. By then, Charles and Lori had separated, but that morning Charles had arranged to pick

up their son JJ and take him to school. As he arrived at Lori's house, he texted Adam to tell him something odd. Alex's truck was at Lori's house. So when Charles texts me, Alex is here, I said, that sounds weird. Why is he at Lori's house? I said, be on the lookout or something. They could be up to something. And Charles texted me back, absolutely. The crime spree had begun. 911, where is your emergency?

Coming up. I was worried he was going to come over and cause trouble with me. Lori tells her story. He goes nuts. Goes nuts like yelling and screaming. Yeah, yelling and screaming. She essentially convinces the detective that she's a victim. That's an incredible thing to see.

When Dateline continues. That's right, fire is right up the street. The police in Chandler, Arizona, were wearing body cams when they responded to the 911 call from Lori Vallow's house. What happened today? And here they encountered 51-year-old Alex Cox. He was just yelling at me. Standing in the front yard. Inside, Alex's brother-in-law, Charles Vallow, age 62, was lying dead on the living room floor. A bit later, Lori arrived

with her daughter Tylee in tow. How long have you lived here? Like three weeks. If you've been following the story, you may remember this. That's why the neighbors don't know us. Gotcha. Like, hi neighbor, sorry. But here's what you may not have seen before. The story Lori told police just hours after her husband was shot to death. He doesn't want a divorce, but I don't like him and I don't want to deal with him. Charles had come to her house to pick up their adopted son,

J.J., for school, and, according to Lori, he was angry. And he's, like, banging on the door, like, oh, great, here we go, you know, and it's just going to be nice, and it's just going to be nice as possible. Cell phone data put Charles' arrival at 7.35. You'll want to remember that. He's, like, acting really weird, like he's plotting something.

But anyway, he goes nuts. He's gone nuts on us a lot of times. Goes nuts like yelling and screaming? Yeah, yelling and screaming. So that woke up Tylee, she said. Tylee was Lori's 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. So Tylee came out of her room upset, and she had a bat, and she told him to leave her mother alone, right?

So she was really whatever, and he's screaming at her. And then my brother heard all the commotion. That's Lori's brother, Alex. Remember, she'd invited him over. She came after you with the bat. And here he is telling police he felt the need to protect Lori. All I heard was her say, don't touch me, and then him coming right after her. And I shoved him back.

Okay. And I said, what are you doing? Because I'm going to hurt my sister. Hi. Hi. In another interview room, Tylee was supporting her mother's story. Can you basically tell me what happened today? He honestly just looked like kind of a crazy person.

Tylee told police that Charles made a move for the bat. He just grabbed it and tried to take it, so I held on to the end, and then eventually I fell, and he kind of took it into his hands. Technicians would test the bat, of course, for DNA and fingerprints later. But detectives didn't know. When they talked to Tylee,

they'd turn up nothing conclusive to show that Charles ever laid a hand on that bat. He came at me with the bat again. But Alex claimed there was quite a scrum then in the hallway with Charles. He hit me in the back of the head. I don't know if it was with the bat or not. I assumed it was.

Sure enough, police found a laceration on the back of Alex's head. Although they didn't think it looked like a wound inflicted by a baseball bat in the hands of a big guy like Charles. What did you do? Did you go? I just went straight to the room. Okay. Because I said, this needs to calm down. But he didn't just sit in the bedroom and wait, he said. He picked up his.45 caliber handgun instead.

Chandler police detectives Cassandra Inclan and Nathan Moffitt, conducted the interviews of Lori and Alex. What kind of impression did you get of this guy? He was matter-of-fact, he was up front, but he also said a very standard line of, I was in fear for my safety, so I shot him. Two shots. Lori said she heard them from the kitchen,

then came around the corner to see Charles on the floor. I just went into Mama and I'm like, I've got to go to get JJ to school. And Tyler was like looking at me with like the crazy eyes, like what just happened? And I told her to get in the car and we're going to take JJ to school. And they did. Cell phone data shows they left the house

at 7.49 a.m. Five minutes later at 7.54, surveillance video shows Lori, JJ, and Tylee at this Burger King drive-thru grabbing breakfast before school. She was like, we're just going to take JJ to school and I was like, okay, so I just got in the car.

Differences of degree, but all three, more or less less told the same story. He was just yelling at me. Backing Alex's claim that he shot Charles in self-defense. There were small indiscrepancies, but it wasn't anything that was major. Anything that you went, oh man, this is a big deal or there's a major problem here. So it didn't make it itself obvious in the beginning. It didn't.

But in fact, something rather amazing had taken place during Lori's interview. We do have victim services that work within the police department. They're right over here. A victim's advocate? That's what the detective was offering. There was this incredible transformation that occurs in Laurie's interview. She essentially convinces the detective that she's a victim, right? And that's an incredible thing to see in 30 minutes. But an investigation began, and things began to emerge. Things that didn't add up.

Like, for example, Alex claimed he fired his two shots while Charles was standing, confronting him. But the bullet police found in the floor beneath Charles' body suggested Alex took the second shot when Charles was already down. Then there was this. Remember, Laurie had texted Alex and asked him to stay close with Charles coming over. So why did Alex respond to police questions this way?

Is there a reason you spent the night there last night? No, not really. Okay. Just hang out. We're going to hang out today. Okay. Did your sister ever tell you she was concerned for her safety or well-being for Charles coming there? No. Now, compare that to the way Lori answered the question.

Did your brother live there with you? No. He had stayed with me last night because I was worried he was going to come over and cause trouble with me. Okay. And just wanted someone else there, like my brother there, because I trust my brother. Then there was the timing of things.

Phone records showed Lori left the house with the kids at 7.49 a.m. Charles had been shot by then. But Alex did not call 911 until 8.36, more than 45 minutes after the shooting. And after Laurie left the house. And yet on that call, Alex told the operator. How long ago did this happen? A couple of minutes.

Now that was a lie. And Alex knew it. In fact, before he called 911, he phoned Lori. They had a chat. He didn't mention that. And neither did she. It would be months before detectives could add up all the bits and pieces. What a pity, given what happens next.

Coming up. Are you calling in reference to a death claim? Yes. Charles' life insurance policy. A million dollar motive for murder? Are you aware of who the primary beneficiary of the policy is? It's me.

After their interviews at the Chandler Police Department, the detectives gave Lori, Alex, and Tylee a ride back home. The van ride was straight-up bizarre for me. It was the weirdest ride I've ever had with, you know, three strangers. Why would you say that? Lori was just, it was kind of like a happy-go-lucky. She was just kind of smiling. It was just a very, very bizarre ride back.

Word of Charles' death spread among his family. What was that like? It was being thumped and hit in the chest with a cannonball or something. They said it was self-defense. That was not self-defense. That was an ambush. There's a lot of inconsistencies about that story. Then again, they'd been worried for a while,

given the things Charles had been telling them about Lori's spiritual 180. He said she had chosen a different path, but maybe he didn't know the extent of the path she chose. Well, as detectives dug into the death of Charles, they began to uncover more about Lori's path and evidence that her spiritual guru and boyfriend, Chad Daybell, was deeply involved in, well, in whatever was going on. For example, this newly released phone call. That's Chad calling a funeral home in Arizona just hours after

Charles' death. We really don't want anything but a cremation and then to send the cremains to a family in Louisiana. Is there any way to know a ballpark price on that? Yes, and I'm sorry for the law. Oh,

thank you. Chad probably wouldn't have made it as a secret agent. At the beginning of the call, he actually uses his name, but then when they ask for his name again, he changes it minutes later. Like on the spot, like, oh no, I better come up with something. D-A-B-A-L, Dayball. How are you related to the person at house? I'm his nephew.

I live in Iowa. Of course, death often does lead to questions about money. As detectives learned when they heard this call from Lori. Are you calling in reference to a death claim? Yes. This is Lori, five days after Charles' death, inquiring about his life insurance policy of a million dollars.

And your relationship to the insured? Um, he's my husband. And what was the cause of his passing? Well, he was shot. Was it a homicide? No, it was an accident. Are you aware of who the primary beneficiary of the policy is? It's me. Not exactly. Days later, Lori was informed that the beneficiary was in fact not her at all. News that Lori had to break to Chad. She texted him, quote, So I talked to the insurance company. He changed it in March.

So it was probably Ned before we got rid of him. It's a spear through my heart. And there it was. We got rid of him, meaning Charles. A text found months later that left no doubt Lori was upset that the shooting of Charles did not produce an insurance payout. She was not happy. They were counting on that money.

They were. Later, detectives found that another member of Lori's circle was thinking about life insurance. Lori's niece, Melanie, texted her a week after Charles' death. You should get a life insurance policy on JJ, Tylee, and you. Because after Charles, we see that anything can always happen if it's in the Lord's will. But even if Lori and Chad couldn't cash in on insurance, the detectives would discover

they had plenty of motive to want Charles out of the way. And with Alex and his gun, they also had the means. I told Lauren, this is like watching a robot. When somebody ends up dead that happens to be your brother-in-law of 15 years, right? Like you'd expect some humane response. Of course, something. Right, something. Yeah. Given the stakes, how peculiar was it that Alex,

who had a part-time career as a stand-up comic, started cracking jokes while police were taking his photograph? You know what's sad when you're posing for photographs and you don't have a good side? Tylee, on the other hand, a bundle of nerves, said Dr. Mathias. She can't sit still, so the anxiety is the most evident part of that interview. Under her breath, Tylee was humming. A song from the Disney movie Moana. And the lyrics are heartbreaking. I've been standing at the edge of the water, long as I can remember, never really knowing why.

I wish I could be the perfect daughter but I come back to the water no matter how hard I try Wow if you want to know how complicated it is to be Lori Vallow's daughter I think it says it right there a daughter unaware as she defended her mother that her own fate was waiting. And it wouldn't be long. Coming up, Chad Daybell's secret romance novel. He's had this fantasy for years of kind of the perfect Mormon partner.

Fifty shades of Chad and Lori. I wouldn't call him madly in love. I'd call him madly in lust. When Dateline continues. Something was happening to Chad Daybell. The once quiet ex-gravedigger had assumed a mantle of godly certainty. And now, for the newly minted widow, Lori Vallow, he became a great lover, as he worked the phone like a teenager with FOMO, fear of missing out. That furtive call to the funeral home, and text to Lori, quote,

I am heading to bed so that I can come snuggle tightly against you. Of course, this was fantasy snuggling. A text directed to Laurie in Arizona, but Chad, still in Idaho, still very married to his wife of 29 years, Tammy, the mother of his five children. Except, Chad told Laurie, their trysts were more than fantasy, that he'd go into his closet at night and cross some otherworldly threshold to be with her. That's Chad Daybell flexing his muscles for Laurie.

If Chad Daybell is not a prophet, then he's just an average Joe. In fact, more newly released records show that immediately after Charles was killed, Chad poured out a love story. All in texts and emails to Laurie. Two chapters, 12 full pages, hundreds of texts, never before heard. It was written as if fictional. It was the story of their meeting at that religious conference in St. George, Utah. Friday morning, October 26th, driving south on the freeway, a voice said,

You will meet an extraordinary woman today who will change your life forever. He doesn't use the name Chad and Lori. He uses the names James and Lori. He uses the names James and Elena. Before long, the story continued. James and Elena were introduced at a conference in St. George. A conference just like the one they attended, of course. Their feelings were very strong, as if they had known each other oh so long. They lived at a time when Jesus walked the earth together, and now they're back reunited again. He called Elena, or Lori, an exalted goddess

and was obsessed with her physical beauty. He couldn't deny their connection and his absolute attraction to her. She still seemed way out of his league. He's had this fantasy for years of kind of the perfect Mormon partner, and here it is in front of him, and he doesn't want to lose this opportunity. Chad's romance novel often took turns that would make a harlequin editor blush. Their spirits could not be restrained any longer, and a long-awaited makeout session took place in that lobby. This was manifest in the mortal world to James and Elena through the

scientific phenomenon known as loin fire. Loin fire. I'm not sure what science they're referring to there, but maybe like biblical science? It's already basic, I think. Yeah, I wouldn't call him madly in love. I'd call him madly in lust. We'll spare you much of the rest of that story, but this is the key point. As James placed his hands on her head, he connected with Elena's true eternal self. He knew he was in the presence of an exalted goddess who had returned to earth to perform a special mission. She then gave him a tremendous blessing that helped him realize how much she truly loved him and wanted to be with him forever. The love story shows that Chad's grandiosity is increasing. But a month after Charles' death, Laurie was getting impatient. Chad was still married to Tammy.

So Laurie opted to play Hard to Get, this text. I'm just a distraction. Go have fun with your family. I really do want you to. I just can't be in the way anymore. If things change, we can talk, but we have nothing until things change anyway. Must have worked, because two days later, after talking to God, she texted a friend. I got father saying things are moving, that I need to get to Idaho by the end of the month. She would have her Chad, and he her. And there would be a sacrifice.

Coming up. They talked in code a lot. Any suggestion as to what was being said? Yes, a street name for Valium or Xanax. New information on the darkest chapter of this story, what happened to the children. My guess is they had already plotted out some of these crimes in advance. It was two months after Charles' death when Laurie left the jurisdiction of police in Arizona and moved into a rented townhouse in Rexburg, Idaho,

and Alex rented his own space in the same complex. But here, too, there were inconvenient people in the way of Lori and Chad. That list included Chad's wife, Tammy, and Lori's children, 7-year-old JJ and 16-year-old Tylee. Here's new information. Hadn't Chad been suggesting for quite some time that Tylee had gone dark? Two days after they met in St. George, Utah,

it took two days for him to send Lori Vallow an email saying that her 16-year-old daughter Tylee is dark. But it didn't deter Lori from moving forward with the relationship. Yeah, and then she was like, take me now. Sold. Ironic, of course. When Tylee was young, Lori, with Alex's help, waged a ferocious custody battle to keep Tylee away from her biological father, Lori's third husband, Joe Ryan.

Alex even went to prison for attacking Joe. He said he wanted to kill the man to protect Tylee, to make sure she stayed with her mother. Now, a decade later, Chad was in charge. Chad so versed in the Bible and its stories of sacrifice. It's important to keep in mind, I think, with Chad and Lori, that there's always a religious component. You know, the story of Abraham and Isaac, where God wanted to see if Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. And I think you see some of that here with Chad.

I think Chad is testing Lori to some degree. This seems like the ultimate test to ask to sacrifice your kids. A few days after Lori and her kids moved to Idaho, they went to Yellowstone Park, where they posed for these pictures with Uncle Alex. By that evening, September 8th, they were back in their new townhouses in Rexburg. Lori and the kids in hers, Alex in his.

And then, middle of that night, as GPS records show, Alex went to Laurie's place, spent two hours there. Was it common for Alex to spend the night at Laurie's place? No, he was not over at Laurie's house ever at night, except one particular night when they tracked him in the early morning hours, I believe somewhere around 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Tylee was never seen alive again. As for J.J., less than a week later, on September 14th, Lori and J.J. went on an outing to a wildlife park. Lori, we are at Bear World.

It's such a beautiful day. But that very week, as friends later told us, Lori said JJ had become a zombie. And now the new evidence spells out events in pictures and texts, a digital trail. September 22nd, a last photo of JJ, ready for bed, in his red pajamas. That very day, Lori sent this text to Alex. Lori, do you have eggs?

Alex, do you want me to get eggs and bring them to you? They talked in code a lot. Any suggestion as to what was being said when they talked about eggs? Yes. A street name for Valium or Xanax is eggs. And I've definitely wondered if that's what Laurie was referring to. With that, they could make the children go to sleep and do whatever with them they wanted to. Right. That evening, after the egg conversation, according to investigators, J.J. was acting up. A friend who was visiting saw Alex take J.J. outside. And then a couple hours later, Alex brings back J.J. He walked in. He had J he had JJ on, it was asleep on him, and he carried him up to bed.

By morning, JJ was gone, and he was never seen again. And Lori sent a message to the babysitter she'd hired just days earlier. Here is her newly revealed text. Lori. JJ's grandparents came this weekend and they took him for a few weeks to give me a break, so he won't be back until probably the end of October. What do you make of the timeline, the death of Tylee, and then just a couple of weeks later, the death of JJ? I think it suggests premeditation. My guess is before Laurie moved to Rexburg,

they had already plotted out some of these crimes in advance. And there would be more deaths soon, yes. But first, another shooting. Coming up. Um, someone just shot my window. A gun, a bullet, a brazen new attack. So why is someone laughing on secret recordings? This is like a crime novel.

Yeah, somebody's recording this. When Dateline Continues. What's that saying? Life comes at you fast sometimes. Just a week after J.J. was last seen, and three weeks after Tylee disappeared, Lori was caught here on surveillance video at a storage unit she'd rented in Rexburg, Idaho. The next day, Lori was joined

by the still very married Chad Daybell. They moved items into the unit, a tire and what looked like a folded back seat from some vehicle, before Chad, on the way out, gave Lori a hand, in a very intimate way. That same day, in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Arizona, a frightened man called 911.

Um, someone just shot my window, and I was pouring in my house. I drove away, but I can see them driving off, as I was trying to pull into my driveway. Sorry, I'm a little lost for breath. The voice on the line belonged to this man, in my house. I drove away, but I can see them driving off as I was trying to pull in my driveway. Sorry, I'm a little lost for breath. The voice on the line belonged to this man, Brandon Boudreau. At the time, he was going through a nasty custody fight with his wife, Melanie. Melanie, the niece of Lori Vallow and Alex Cox, the one who'd earlier suggested life insurance for JJ and Tylee. Brandon told the police that he was arriving home from the gym around 9 a.m.

He saw a Jeep parked nearby, and then a gun equipped with a silencer appeared in the Jeep's rear window. And suddenly, he said a bullet whizzed by his ear and shattered the window of his car, and then the shooter and the Jeep took off. In court papers, Brandon described the vehicle as a gray Jeep with Texas plates. Police confirmed it was a Jeep Charles had bought for Tylee, one with a removable rear seat. And the guy driving the Jeep? Later, Brandon told a private eye, it looked like Lori's brother, Alex. Remember, Alex had already killed his sister Lori's husband. So was he trying to shoot his niece Melanie's husband too? Brandon certainly thought so. In an interview with Melanie and her new husband in March 2020,

we asked Melanie about that. Did you ask Alex if he tried to shoot Brandon? I did. Then he made some jokes about it and then we both talked about how insane that would be for him across the street with a rifle in broad daylight in a recognizable car. Did he ever actually deny it?

Yeah, he denied it many times. Melanie herself has denied wanting Brandon dead. After all, she said, he was the father of her children. But newly released texts show that Brandon was indeed out of favor with Chad and Lori. Chad had labeled Brandon a Gadianton, which the Book of Mormon calls a secret criminal organization of robbers in ancient America. It's the ancient mafia in the Book of Mormon.

Friends said Chad had also labeled Brandon dark. And dark, we know by this time, often meant marked for death. And then there was this. The day after the shooting in Arizona, mid-afternoon, Alex appeared at that storage unit in Idaho. As you can see, he carried out the tire Chad put in the day before and then also carried out the folded back seat. It is 922 miles and takes just over 14 hours to drive from where Brandon Boudreau lived back to that storage unit in Rexburg. It was definitely possible to go both places in that Jeep.

Soon after that, Alex returned to Arizona to help niece Melanie pack up her belongings and move to Idaho, where she would live in an apartment right next door to her Aunt Lori and near her Uncle Alex. Later, in secretly recorded phone calls obtained by Dateline, Melanie offered a friend her thoughts on the attempted murder of Brandon. And I don't know if somebody did shoot out his car window or if he did it himself. After the attempt on his life, Brandon went into hiding with their four children,

quite convinced he told us later that Alex and Melanie were trying to hunt them down. But Melanie, on this call with her friend, said Brandon made it all up. I believe it was totally fabricated. The shooting? on this call with her friend, said Brandon made it all up. I believe it was totally fabricated. The shooting? Yes.

He tried to plot it on me. I obviously wasn't even in that area. I know the shooting did happen because he got in the car. No, I saw Brandon's car. I sent it. The car window was shot at. But I think him shooting at his own car is what happened, or somebody he's doing business with.

But Brandon totally just spun that to say, well, now I'm hiding with all the kids to protect them. When we spoke with her, Melanie offered us a similar explanation of the shooting, and she denied being part of Lori and Chad's group. Denied there even was a group, or as some labeled it, a cult. I'm not and never have been a member of any cult. But on that recorded call, she certainly seemed to talk like a member of what Chad had come to call the Church of the Firstborn.

And yes, she told her friends she was on the hunt for Brandon and the kids. There's like a whole bunch of warrior angels that are like trying to help find the kids right now. This is unreal. This is like a crime novel. Yeah. Somebody's recording this. Some of what was then very real would be hard to make up. Like a certain text message sent around the same time, recovered later by police,

and now finally revealed. Chad texting Lori. Big news. His wife Tammy had become a demon named Viola. Something would have to be done. Coming up. Did he ever express frustration to you that Tammy was still alive? Yes.

The sudden death of spouse number two. Insiders speak out. I said, oh, wow. What did the coroner say with the autopsy show? And that was it. He knew I knew. During that first week of October 2019, as investigators in Gilbert, Arizona, looked for whoever fired a shot at Brandon Boudreau,

the leaves changed and fall came to eastern Idaho. And Julie Rowe, who writes and speaks about the end times and related matters, picked up the phone to call her publisher, Chad Daybell. For months, Chad had been telling Julie he'd been having visions about his wife, Tammy. Visions of Tammy dying. It was unsettling, said Julie. I asked him, do you still see Tammy dying. It was unsettling, said Julie. I asked him, do you still see Tammy dying? Because he had told me he saw her dying in a car accident.

And he said, yes. I wouldn't be surprised if she dies in her sleep, though. Even though Julie herself routinely discussed prophetic visions and visiting heaven on the other side of the veil, she was rattled by the things Chad was telling her. Did he ever express frustration to you that Tammy was still alive because he couldn't move on while she was alive? Yes. At least four times that I know of, he said to me, I don't feel like my plan can move on until Tammy dies or until Tammy's dead.

I got this ick feeling, but I could never imagine somebody I knew would kill somebody, right? Oh, how many times have we heard that? Anyway, just after that phone call, the newly released records reveal, Chad texted Lori with a real headline. Chad to Lori. Hello, sweet angel. Big news about Tammy. Please let me know if you're awake and can talk. I love you. The short version is that she has been switched. Tammy is in limbo, and a level 3 demonic entity is in her body. Sound familiar? He says, I'm Nick Snyder. Remember, they said the very same thing about Charles shortly before Alex shot him to death.

But Chad seemed to want to press the accelerator regarding Tammy. In this text, Chad wrote, Four days after that text, Tammy posted on Facebook that someone wearing a mask had approached her as she arrived home from a church event and fired several rounds at her with what she thought was a paintball gun. This is Tammy's sister, Samantha. I think she thought it was a kid. Was she sure it was a paintball gun? I mean, I think in her mind, what else could it be?

That it must have been a prank of some kind. Yeah, but who pulls that kind of a prank? A prank? Police don't think so. In fact, newly released phone records show that earlier that evening, Lori's brother Alex texted Lori from a burner phone. He was on the move. I'm showing drive time from apartment to Chad's as about 10 minutes. Meaning, police think, that Alex was the one who fired those rounds at Tammy.

I think that investigators will say this was not a paintball gun. This was a real gun that either misfired or the shooter did not aim correctly. It was just 10 days after that paintball incident that Chad Daybell called 911 to report that Tammy had died in her sleep. Phone records show Alex was parked near Chad and Tammy's that very night, and police discovered a text sent to Lori's phone the next morning by a friend. I'm not sure if you heard, but Chad's wife died last night. Lori responded, oh my gosh, I did not hear that.

I'm in Hawaii and it's 6 a.m. Do you know what happened? The response, yes, she awoke in the night coughing, threw up, collapsed, and passed away. Tammy was buried days later in her hometown in Utah. There was no autopsy. Chad's choice, the sheriff said. And law enforcement, without knowing any more of the story from Arizona, had no reason to be suspicious. And two weeks later, November 5th, Chad and Laurie's romance novel reached what fantasy fiction might call happily ever after. They were married on the beach in Kauai, much to the surprise of Tammy's family.

Obviously, I was really upset. You feel almost betrayed. Yeah, yeah, because I felt like that was too soon for anybody to get over my sister. After a short honeymoon at the Kauai Beach Resort, Chad and Lori approached this woman, Jeannie Martin, who was advertising an apartment for rent. They came in and they said they needed room right away. Chad filled out this rental application, claiming an income of $30,000 a month. Claiming he was an author looking for a peaceful place to write. Jeannie said it was obvious Chad and Lori were very much in love. Then as they were getting ready to go, she stopped.

And she goes, now Chad, you know, is a prophetic guy. He's a healer. He is the person you want to come to if you need anything, any prayer. And I thought, well, if you say so. As a landlord, some develop background checking skills that would make a private eye proud. But Jeannie? All she had to do was Google Chad Daybell's name. And then she texted Chad.

I came across an obituary for your real wife, Tammy. I said, I see that's only been a couple weeks ago. I said, that must have been a horrible shock. I asked him, what happened to her and whatever, you know? And so he came back with this text. Yes, Jeannie, it was such a shock. When I woke up that morning, I could clearly see that she had been dead for a couple hours. And at the grave, she talked to me and she told me she's happy on the other side of the veil, helping people like she always does. And for me to go on with my life, I'm thinking this hasn't been two weeks.

And I'm like, are you disconnected? And I texted back and I said, oh, wow, what did the coroner say? We're at the autopsy show. And so you already knew Lori already? He never texted me again. That was it. He knew I knew. Two dead spouses, two missing children. Laurie's brother, Alex, linked to all of them. And now the evidence newly revealed that Alex might not have been finished yet. Coming up.

What's up, Alex? Yeah. Do you have your ID on your man? Yeah. Just keep your hands out where we can see him, all right? Alex and his niece, Melanie. Was there a new plot afoot out there in the dark? We're actually going to be taking you into custody tonight.

Okay. When Dateline continues. As Chad and Lori were honeymooning in Hawaii, back on the mainland, some of those in their inner circle were up to something. This is police video in American Fork, Utah. And this is Lori's niece, Melanie. What was she doing here? You'll remember Melanie's husband, Brandon, said someone he thought Lori's brother, Alex, had taken a shot at him in Arizona.

After which, Brandon took the kids and went into hiding, eventually ending up here at his parents' place just south of Salt Lake City. And now here was Melanie, right outside, demanding to see her children. Officers, I have a legal mediation agreement. My kids have been held out of state. This was the second time Melanie showed up at the house, so Brandon's dad called the police. I asked an officer to come here last night to do a check-in because I'm worried they're in danger. But you came over here after being told that you were permanently trespassed. But I have an agreement saying that.

From this residence, correct? Out of state. This was not long after Melanie was seen entering the family's garage. My kids are, I'm worried they're in danger because my husband's been doing a lot of things that cause me to worry. He says he was shot at a month ago and then he went into hiding and no one in Arizona has seen him for weeks or my children. Melanie continued to argue with the officers, asking them to let her go inside and check on the kids or remove them and put them in her car. So police went inside and checked, and...

But they are safe and they're taken care of. So we're not just going to go in there and remove them from the house. Melanie also asked the officer something that, well, it may sound familiar. Do you have a victim's advocate I can speak to in the police department, please? She keeps saying, get me a victim's advocate, get have a victim's advocate I can speak to in the police department, please? She keeps saying, get me a victim's advocate, get me a victim's advocate. And I can picture Lori saying this to her because that's what happened to Lori

when Charles was killed. She's trying to override the process. She won't let go of it. Then the officers notice somebody sitting in a car on the street nearby. Who's in the car with you? It on the street nearby. Uncle Alex, the very person who Brandon believed had tried to kill him, who already had killed Lori's husband, possibly others as well. Alex Cox, you know his date of birth? I don't. I'm sure he'd be happy to give it to you. minutes later another officer approached alex who is, here, calm, cooperative, unruffled. From where? From Arizona. Oh, what the heck?

Apparently that was too warm. Here's your ID back, man. Thanks. Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it, man. No problem. Given Alex's history, it's reasonable to wonder what he and Melanie were up to. After investigators heard from a friend of Laurie's that Chad had labeled two of Brandon's kids zombies. All right, Melanie.

Today you're going to be receiving a citation for criminal trespass. Initially, police decided to give Melanie a ticket. Because you're not allowed on that property. Right, but if my kids were in there... It doesn't matter. We can argue about it all day. The conversation continued at the American Fork Police Department, and before long, officers changed their minds and upgraded the charges.

Okay, so things have changed a little bit, okay? Okay. Your criminal trespass is enhanced to domestic violence. How does that work? Because you were in a domestic relationship, You had you know in-laws there You trespassed you entered the garage Unlawfully, so we're actually gonna be taking you into custody tonight So I'm just gonna need you to go and stand up face away from me place your hands behind your back

You can just set that right there, we'll take everything with you. Are these cuffs too tight? No sir. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and double lock them so they don't cinch up on the ride over to the jail, okay? Here, just stand right here. All right, let's go ahead and have a seat in there and still nearby was Melanie's uncle Alex

mr. Cox yeah I'm gonna leave this. Melanie is going to be going to the Utah County Jail tonight. Okay. So where would I bail her out? Yeah, you're going to be able to bail her out. It doesn't take very long to process her. All right. Thanks. Thanks, guys. Within hours, Alex Cox posted nearly $2,000 bail, and Melanie was freed.

She eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor criminal trespass and received a six-month suspended sentence and a year of probation. If those Utah police officers unwittingly foiled a murder plot, we may never know. I see a lot of projection. The kids are in danger. Really, you're going to have their Uncle Alex take them? You think that's better? I don't make them safer. Melanie had told a friend that warrior angels were looking for her kids. Maybe Alex was one of them.

In any case, his loyalty to Lori was about to be rewarded. Coming up, someone new sits down to chat with police, Alex's wife. Do you think Alex truly loved you or was just doing it because Chad and Lori told him to? I have asked that myself many times. Mid-November 2019, Chad and Lori's church of the firstborn was flush with expectations of eternal glory. The happy couple had just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii. Melanie had returned home after her arrest for trespassing in Utah. She was accompanied by Alex, who was about to be rewarded for his efforts on behalf of their new church and his

sister Lori. A ceremony borrowed from Mormonism, a patriarchal blessing. So a patriarchal blessing is a blessing that baptized members of the church go and get from a patriarch or an official who has been called to give these blessings. You get them once in your lifetime. So how would the LDS church view Chad giving Alex a patriarchal blessing?

For Chad to consider himself a patriarch and then to give a blessing to Alex could be blasphemous. But newly released records show Chad's blessing started like this. Alexander Lamar Cox, on this special day, I lay my hands upon your head to give you a patriarchal blessing as a member of the Church of the Firstborn, of which you have earned the privilege to be a member. The blessing was full of flattery and references to Alex's service to Laurie,

who, remember, Chad had repeatedly called a goddess. Powerful goddesses needed to be protected, and you were selected to help protect your sister. Oh, yes, Alex had helped his sister. Charles was dead. Tammy was dead. Laurie's children were missing. And now Alex was to be rewarded with a wife.

I bless you with the knowledge that through marriage you will be united with a partner who will match your powers and complement your strengths. One of the things that they started saying to me from the beginning was that putting me in a position of being so special. This is Ulema Pastinas, another charter member of Chad's Church of the Firstborn. Her special gift? She believed she could conjure up storms and fires, call up earthquakes at will.

And here she is, in newly released video, talking to the police about another sudden death connected to the group. Here's how Zulema described Alex. He was the kind of person that I could go deep, deep conversations and deep discussions about the scriptures. And I've never been able to do anything like that with anybody. Much, much less, you know, someone who is interested in me. You know what I mean?

Zulema had already been married at least three times, maybe more. But Chad and Lori told her she needed to marry Alex to complete her mission. Whatever that was. They started saying, you know, Alex will be part of that for you. He will be the supporter that you will need. Do you think Alex truly loved you or was just doing it because Chad and Lori told him to? I have asked that myself many times. I just got this feeling that, like, okay, I think that it's time for me to marry him. But before Alex and Zulema could plan a wedding, there was trouble.

You may have heard this part of the story. How in late November 2019, days after that blessing ceremony, the grandparents of Lori's son, JJ.J., alarmed they hadn't heard from him, called police, who went to Lori's townhouse in Rexburg. Hi. Hi. You Lori? Lori, I'm Lieutenant Ball, Police Department.

How are you? You got him in there? Yes, sir. Police body cams recorded the conversation. So J.J. would be where? He's in Arizona. Who's he with in Arizona? He's with one? He's in Arizona. Who's he with in Arizona? He's with one of my friends in Arizona.

But of course, as we now know, JJ was not in Arizona. And neither was Tylee. And the next day, when police returned to conduct a more thorough search, Lori was nowhere to be found. And we now know exactly what Lori and Chad did. They hopped a plane to Orange County, California and then flew on to Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai. Two tickets, no kids.

Seven-year-old Joshua, J.J. Vallow, and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan have been missing since September. A national search for the children was soon underway. And with Chad and Lori on the lam, some members of the group panicked. I remember that we put Mellie on the phone and I remember her,

she just started crying and crying because they weren't answering calls. All of a sudden you feel like, oh my goodness, I have no guidance now. Except perhaps the guidance offered by Chad and Lori's quickie wedding. Zulema and Alex went to Las Vegas and got married that very week. And Melanie did too. Same place, same weekend. She'd met a man named Ian, she told us.

They'd known each other a couple of weeks. If you know and feel right about it, there's no sense in dating around with tons of people. But the honeymoon was over for these members of the Church of the Firstborn, almost before it began. Coming up... Did you feel drugged? Drowning.

I was kind of like really like I was drowning. A jaw-dropping question. Was Alex's new wife also his new target? In the back of my mind, I keep thinking that that was supposed to be my last thing.

And it very well could have been. When Dateline Continues Early December 2019, the disappearance of JJ and Tylee was becoming an international news story. Lori and Chad were losing control. And in a story full of chilling disappearances and odd, inexplicable moments, thanks to the newly released Chandler Police Department records,

you can now add another. Las Vegas, the day after Alex and Zulema's wedding, at their hotel. Alex, who'd been trained as a massage therapist but lost his license in Texas for sexual misconduct two decades ago, made Zulema an offer. My back was bugging me, and after the trip there, I was in the car, and he said, oh, he's like, I'll just give you a massage and just fix your back.

I'm like, okay. So, but for some strange reason, this is really weird, he said that he needed to find a Walmart because he wanted to buy this big, huge piece of plastic to put on the bed so the oil didn't get on the bed a moment reminiscent of that TV show Dexter and after the massage well so lemme said things got even stranger I was kind of like really like drowsy, drowsy. And then I remember waking up. I was in and out, in and out. I could hear him talking. And I'm like, Alex. I'm like, who are you talking to?

He's like, nobody. I was talking to myself. But he said nothing for the rest of the evening. Nothing. A police detective said that Zulema was lucky to be alive, and she seemed to know it. It's certainly a bizarre moment, but the question is, if he does intend to kill her,

what's the motivation? Is it that she knows too much? It's time for her to pass on to the next world? Maybe to speed things up, since she controls the elements, go to the other side and cause an earthquake already? I would have to believe that Chad Daybell would have approved of it if that was the case.

What would Chad want from having Zulema murdered? That's where it's a little nebulous. And there were cracks forming between the other couple married in Vegas that weekend as well. Melanie's new husband, Ian, had an ex-wife who'd heard about the attempted murder of Brandon in Arizona and was quite concerned about what kind of family Ian was joining. So she called Ian. And then she called Brandon to warn him.

This is from a recording of that call. The ex relaying to Brandon what she had heard from Ian about Melanie. Hey Brandon, it's Natalie. She admitted to Ian that her and her uncle plotted your murder. I'm so sorry, Brandon. I don't know if there was like any question in your mind, whether she did it or somebody else, but now you know. We should note, Melanie has never been charged with any crime related to the shooting, and when we spoke with her, denied being involved. But the investigation remains open, and Ian and his ex-wife did go

to the police about it, as he told us last year. He was wondering, who the heck have you hooked up with? She explained, you know, her fears and what she'd heard, and she said that she was going to be going in and talk to the police tomorrow. At that point, I didn't know the FBI were going to be there or involved, but I said, okay, yeah, I'll go with you, and I'll share what I know. The FBI was at the meeting because of the search for Lori's missing kids, JJ and Tylee. Ian agreed to help the FBI by wearing a wire. What did they want you to record? They wanted the whereabouts of

Tylee and J.J. if there was anything I could get on that. I did my best for a little bit, and, you know, there was nothing there. It wasn't being discussed. Then Ian came clean to his new wife that he'd been secretly recording her. You know, you're shocked, like, why didn't you come to me?

You know, I want to help. The whole point was not to come to you. Sure. Sure. They wanted to know your unguarded thoughts. Yeah, and I didn't have anything to hide. And so, okay, you record my conversations. I'm okay with that. Melanie and Ian are still married, by the way.

We asked them to comment for this report. They did not respond. But things did not go so well for the other newlyweds, Alex and Zulema. Zulema would later tell police that Alex said he was okay with killing Charles because he, quote, killed a zombie. But after Alex found out that the authorities were going to exhume the body of Chad's wife, Tammy, whose death would later be ruled a homicide, Alex seemed to develop doubts about Chad,

Lori, and the mission. And that's when he said, I think I am being their fall guy. And I'm like, the fall guy for what? What is it? Tell me. What is it that they're trying to pin on you? What did they do?

And he just wouldn't say anything else. Did you think that Chad and Lori had done something to Tammie? Was that your impression based on that statement? I didn't know what to think at the time. I still saw Laurie and Chad as a very spiritual, kind, loving, charming, law-abiding, God-fearing people. So why would Alex tell Zulema about the money? He said to me, Zulema, if anything happens to me, I want you to know that there is money in a bag in the closet. He said, it's not much,

but it's for you. And how much was in there? Between five and seven thousand dollars or something like that. Did you ask him, like, why would anything ever happen to you? I did. I said, don't say things like that, Alex. I said, why don't we just say something like that? And then he said, just in case. Just in case. Maybe Chad wasn't the only one with the visions, because what Alex told Zulema could be called prophetic.

Coming up... I remember somebody came saying that he was considered a crime scene and that I needed to leave. The man linked to so many deaths. Now, new details about his. It's awfully convenient, isn't it? But it is a little too convenient. Early December 2019, a little more than a year after Chad Daybell met Lori Vallow, their spouses, Charles and Tammy, were dead. Lori's children, JJ and Tylee, were missing and presumed dead.

Lori's niece's husband, Brandon, had survived an attempt on his life. It was a tally worthy of the Cosa Nostra or some sort of crime family. All of that in less than six months. And there was one more untimely death to come. Okay, what is the emergency? A few days after Alex told Zulema about the bag of money, if anything happens to me,

he was in their bathroom in Gilbert, Arizona, and he collapsed. And I remember them taking us to the hospital. They started working with him, and I don't remember much of what happened between that and until the time that they brought me back to the room for me to turn off the machines for him. Then I remember somebody came saying that I couldn't touch him anymore, that he was considered a crime scene, and that I needed to leave. It will surprise no one that there was considerable suspicion early on of foul play. Until the autopsy came back and concluded that the death of Alex Cox was not a crime at all. It was blood clots in his lungs that killed him, said the M.E.

Zulema said he'd been complaining about chest pains for about a week. Killings, a priestly blessing, and then an untimely death. Connected somehow? Who knows? Alex was 51. He and Zulema had been married for less than two weeks. It's awfully convenient, isn't it? Yeah, that might be the most convenient thing out of this entire story. But if Zulema mourned, the family of Charles Vallow, shot dead by Alex six months prior,

did not. Well, Alex, probably lucky he died because I'm not an angry or violent person, but I tell you what, it probably would have taken me a lot to stop from going to Arizona, paying him a little visit. Alex was dead.

The police were investigating the deaths of Charles and Tammy. The FBI was trying to find the missing kids. It was all coming down on Chad and Lori. A month later... Hey, Chad and Lori, it's Dateline. How are you? On the island of Kauai... We said nothing? No comment. Where are your kids? Lori refused to produce the children, and within weeks, she was arrested and flown back to Idaho in March. And three months later, on June 9th, 2020, investigators found the bodies of JJ and Tylee

buried in the backyard of Chad Daybell's home. This is the last picture ever taken of JJ in his red pajamas. He was still wearing them when they found his body in the ground. Chad was arrested while driving away. There he is! There he is! Chad, did you see him? body in the ground. Chad was arrested while driving away. He's been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee and his wife Tammy. Not guilty. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for the summer of

2022. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. From what I understand, there will be no plea agreement. Chad Daybell does not want a plea agreement unless all the charges were to be dropped, which we know that's not going to happen. So Chad Daybell will take this all the way to the death chamber if that's what it takes in his eyes. Is there anything to indicate what his defense will be? I think they're going to point the fingers at Alex and Lori, mainly at Alex. And a lot of this new evidence that's come out

from the Chandler Police Department shows that Alex did play a fairly significant role in the happenings. As for Lori Valadeva, she has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of JJ and Tylee. She's also facing conspiracy to commit murder charges in Arizona, where police believe she planned Charles's shooting with Alex. But Lori's trial is on hold.

She's being held in a mental health facility after a judge found her not competent to stand trial. I'm sure you've heard lots of people suggest that, oh, she's just faking it. It's a reasonable assumption. I think if you look at Lori's history of manipulation and deceitfulness, you certainly have to wonder if she is faking it. Wouldn't surprise you to see this go on and on for quite some time.

It could. But, you know, some of this would depend on how well she does in treatment. It's hard not to wonder what might have happened or not happen if Lori's psychiatric issues had been addressed sooner. Like when her husband Charles told the police in Gilbert that she believed he was a demon named Ned Schneider. When he begged the police to get Lori some help. The Gilbert Police Department declined our interview request but issued a statement

saying its officers appropriately followed our policies and procedures involving the service of the mental health detainer. The end of the awful affair, driven by lust and apparently money, and maybe even their idea of God. And now, as they sit alone in their respective confinements, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell think and believe we know not what. They might still think that none of this really matters in their mind. Okay, give me the death penalty. Give me life in prison.

Jesus is coming. He's going to save us. That may be their train of thought, that no matter what happens, it's all going to be okay because we're going to save us. That may be their train of thought, that no matter what happens, it's all going to be okay because we're going to be reunited and Jesus will return. Or they could be in for a very big reality check when everything comes crashing down. That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again next Friday at 9, 8 central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.