Dateline NBC - The Trial of Lori Vallow Daybell

Episode Date: May 16, 2023

Keith Morrison returns to Idaho for the case against Lori Vallow Daybell, who was on trial for the murders of two of her children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and conspiracy to commit the murder of her husband Chad’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell. On July 31, 2023, Vallow Daybell was sentenced to five terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Tonight on Dateline... Has there been any sign at all that she misses her children? It makes you wonder with Mother's Day coming up, if there's any thoughts about those children. Has the jury reached a verdict? Yep. The defendant would please rise. Just hours ago, the verdict in the notorious case

of doomsday mom Lori Vallow Daybell, charged in the murders of her own children, Tylee and JJ. Where are your kids? Now, new revelations. Lori's sister, she's furious. You went up to Hawaii and were dancing on the beach while your kids were on the ground? Oh, a gut punch. Ready to go on with life, trying to find some kind of happiness.

You think I want to be alone? The prosecution was able to show Chad and Lori were in a hurry to get these kids out of their way. Mom, you've been shoving BS on my throat. I can't believe that is actually my mom. She's destroyed so many people's lives. Have you ever seen a thing like this case? It didn't matter what obstacle she had to remove to get what she wanted. This case defies

description. It's judgment day at last in this unholy tale of love, power, and murder. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Keith Morrison with The Trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. Here we are at the climax of one of the most astonishing tales we have ever covered. The defendant, Lori Vallow Daybell, used money, power, and sex to get what she wanted. Yes, that Lori Vallow. The mother of two Idaho children. Investigation of those two missing Idaho children. Coming out in opening statements of the murder trial of the so-called doomsday mom.

No comment. The woman whose story we've been unraveling since we tracked her down as she holidayed with her lover Chad Daybell in Hawaii with deaths in their wake. Four deaths in just three months. Welcome back, Lori. Where are your kids? And then watched in March 2020

as she was returned to Idaho in handcuffs, by then perhaps the most infamous woman in the country. And now it has been shocking here in the courtroom in Boise, Idaho. Three years later, we have it. The full story of Lori Vallow-Dable's imagined ascent to the ranks of the gods and her fall to earth, told at her trial with revelations and proofs and private phone calls and never-before-seen video

of a love affair cloaked in religion that produced death. This relationship that's built on a bunch of bizarre principles, but they both seem to be all in on it. The lies she spewed to authorities. So JJ would be where? He's in Arizona. And her own family. All leading to the awful realization.

You went up to Hawaii and were dancing on the beach while your kids are in the ground? Here, for a woman preoccupied with celestial judgment, You went up to Hawaii and were dancing on the beach while your kids were in the ground? Here, for a woman preoccupied with celestial judgment, was the judgment of 12 very human jurors. Has the jury reached a verdict? Yeah. But before we get to that, where to start? Maybe here. Contestant number 13 is Lori Vallow. This Lori Vallow, as she chose to be seen.

The attractive, fit Mrs. Texas contestant. She's Mrs. Hayes County. The bright, charming mom who could handle anything life threw her way, even if that wasn't exactly true. She'd grown up in a big family, one of five siblings steeped in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were close. Baby sister Summer was devoted to Lori, as, especially later in life, was her brother Alex. Alex, the truck driver and amateur stand-up comedian, and as some would come to call him, Lori's angel of death.

Lori was 22 and already on her second husband when she had Colby. What was it like to be with her as a little kid? She just made everything fun. Colby Ryan adored his mom. That type of person, you know, always had a lot of energy and got everybody else in the house excited. But marriage number two didn't last either, and so it was just the two of them. That is, the two of them and Lori's beliefs. 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. Certainly, their world was not very stable. They moved a lot.

Many apartments, schools, brief friendships. Colby's only constant was her. I grew up being her little best friend. She was a single mom for a while before she had my little sister. That was Tylee with husband number three, sweet Tylee. But that marriage ended too. The breakup as ugly as any breakup could be, which made space for the man who helped her through her custody battles, husband number four, Charles Vallow. He was super polite and kind of tried to take interest in me entirely.

He like seemed like he genuinely cared about us. Cared deeply for Lori too. No one ever doubted that. Charles Vallow swept the family off to a postcard worthy home in Hawaii, where, because Lori wanted him to, he joined the Church of Latter-day Saints, and where Charles and Laurie decided to adopt a little boy, J.J. It wasn't long after we got him out of the hospital that Charles approached me on it. Kay Woodcock is Charles' sister. She and her husband Larry are little J.J.'s grandparents, the parents of J.J.'s biological father. Say hello. Say hello.

Say hello. JJ had autism, and when JJ's parents couldn't care for him, Charles and Lori jumped at the chance. They were simply the best parents there was. And they truly did love JJ. There's no doubt in our mind. They all did. JJ, the love center of the whole family. He just came into our lives and we all just fell in love with him so easily. He just was part of

our family, like, without hesitation. Such a charming story. Such a happy family. On her fourth try, maybe Lori had finally found a husband she could spend the rest of her life with. So, what happened? Well, about the time Colby was grown and leaving home, Charles and Lori moved back to the mainland. Rented a home in Chandler, Arizona. Where Lori's interest in the end times grew. Rapidly. There were chat groups to join, conferences to attend,

like the one here in St. George, Utah, a spiritual conference for a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints group called Preparing a People. So maybe this is where the story really begins. When Lori Vallow locked eyes for the first time on a man named Chad Daybell. This was like an instant fatal attraction. Fatal is, it would turn out, exactly the right word to use. When Laurie Vallow met Chad Daybell at a spiritual conference in 2018, it was like some magnetic force seemed to pull them together.

It was an instant lust, an instant attraction. Nate Eaton is the news director of East Idaho News and a Dateline contributor. He and Eric Grossarth, then also with East Idaho News, followed the case of Lori and Chad right along with us from the beginning. It was an instant, I want you, and I will do anything to have you.

Chad Daybell was a member of the LDS Church, sextant at a cemetery and sometimes gravedigger. Author Chad Daybell... Who'd become a speaker and author, whose books of fiction were centered on biblical end times. He was married to a woman named Tammy. They'd raised five children together and along the way had moved here to

Rexburg, Idaho. Why Rexburg? This is where he believed he and the other saints were destined to ride out war, famine, earthquakes, the end times. At that conference, Laurie was swept up in all of it, and especially by Chad, with his books and ideas about the Second Coming. Extreme ideas that strayed far from traditional Mormon teachings. And he looked at her and was mesmerized. He called her a goddess, an actual goddess. Said he could see she had unearthly spiritual powers. And when she went back home to Arizona, she was a changed woman, as her husband Charles confided to his brothers, Bobby and Jerry.

She was saying things like she was supernatural and could fly to different planets. When Charles traveled for work, Lori hosted little groups of end-timers, Chad too, of course. And one night, when her husband returned, she locked him out of the house. And a worried Charles told police a wild story. She 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. After that, said his relatives, Charles got his own place, scheduled times to be with J.J., and spring and early summer of 2019 begged Lori to see reason. Then, on July 10th, Laurie texted her brother Alex, I'm going to need you to stay close to me for the next couple days. Thank you for standing by me. It's all coming to a head this week.

Alex went to Laurie's place, spent the night there. The next morning, Charles arrived, as scheduled, to pick up JJ for school. And then... You need police or paramedics? Both. I'm in police and an ambulance. There was a fight with my brother-in-law and I shot him in self-defense. The police were wearing body cams when they responded to the 911 call from Lori's house. What happened today?

And encountered 51-year-old Alex Cox in the front yard. Inside, Charles was dead. His body sprawled on the living room floor, shot through the chest. A bit later, Lori arrived with her daughter Tylee in tow. How long have you lived here? Like three weeks. She seemed relaxed, tried out a little joke. That's why the neighbors don't know us.

Gotcha. Like, hi neighbor, sorry. Here's the story Lori told down at the station. Charles, she said, was angry, angry at her. He doesn't want a divorce, but I don't like him and don't want to deal with him. So she said when he arrived to pick up JJ for school, he was primed for a fight. And he's like banging on the door. I'm like, oh great, here we go.

And I was just going to be nice. I'm 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. Yelling and screaming, which woke up her daughter, 16-year-old Tylee, she said. So Tylee came out of her room upset, and she had a bat, and she told him to leave her mother alone, like, 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. And I said, what are you doing? He's not going to hurt my sister.

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 she had picked up a baseball 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 hand. And he came at me with the bat again. 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. Okay. But he didn't just sit in the bedroom and wait, he said. He picked up his.45 caliber handgun instead. What happened when you came out with the gun? I said, put that bat down. How many times would you say you told him to put the bat down? Once. Once? Okay. And then he started advancing towards you? Yes. Chandler police detectives Cassandra Inclan and Nathan Moffitt conducted

the interviews of Laurie 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 was in the kitchen when it happened, came around the corner to see Charles on the floor. I just went into mama and 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. and 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 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, you know, 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. The first inkling that perhaps there was more to this story came when detectives drove them back to Lori's house in a police van. The van ride was straight up bizarre for me. It was the weirdest ride I've ever had with, with, you know, three strangers. Why would you say that? Laurie 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. Bizarre? He didn't know the half of it. I think labeling Charles as a zombie was probably the catalyst that set this whole plot in motion. Laurie Vallow's husband of nearly 14 years was dead. Charles, shocked by her brother Alex. He was just yelling at me. And what he, and Lori, described as an act of self-defense.

He's screaming at her, and then my brother heard all the commotion. The police who'd listened had no idea back then the depth of what was going on. Couldn't see the turn, spiritual and otherwise, that Lori Vallow's life had taken since she encountered Chad Daybell nine months earlier. Chad, her lover, and her prophet. It had been love at first sight when they met. Just one problem. Charles was in her way. 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 imagined himself the leader of his own little church of sorts, a group he would call the Church of the Firstborn. Chad told Lori that they had 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. According to Chad, Charles may have looked human,

but in fact he had turned dark, meaning he was possessed by evil spirits. Those evil spirits had turned him into a zombie, a zombie with a new name. As Charles tried to tell police that night that Laurie locked him out of the house. I've taken over Charles' body. 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 for a time, devoted their podcast exclusively to the case of Chad and Lori.

I'm going to kill you, whether you're going to murder today or tomorrow. 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. I've got a six-year-old with special needs. Maybe they should have. In the weeks before the shooting, Laurie's text to her brother Alex focused on the problem of Charles,

or Ned Schneider. Texts like this one. Hard to understand without context, but it seemed to make perfect sense to Alex. Apparently it is tied to Ned being gone, hopefully today or tomorrow. Alex responds, have fun and get rid of Ned already. Meanwhile, that tumultuous spring,

Lori and Chad were making plans. 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. And now Charles, or Ned, was dead.

So back to that self-defense story Lori and her brother had quite convincingly told police. There were cracks. 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. And the story that Charles threatened Tylee and Alex with a baseball bat?

Forensic tests found nothing conclusive to show Charles ever held that bat. And then there was this. Remember, Lori 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 Laurie 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. And just wanted someone else there, like my brother there, because I trust my brother.

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 Lori's interview. She essentially convinces the detective that she's a victim. 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 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 Laurie. They had a chat.

He didn't mention that. And neither did she. But those revelations would come later, much later. Too late to stop the dreadful, unthinkable things to come. When Kay Woodcock and her husband Larry heard about what happened to Charles Vallow, right away their minds went to this. He was ambushed. He was ambushed. There's no doubt about it.

Hand down. It was premeditated. Remember, Kay is Charles' sister, and she and Larry are grandparents to little JJ, who'd been adopted by Laurie and Charles. They'd been worried for a while, given the things Charles had been telling them about Lori's spiritual 180, as were Charles' brothers.

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 Debo, was deeply involved in whatever was going on. For example... How can I help you today? We just had a death in the family. That is Chad calling a funeral home in Arizona just hours after Charles' death.

Chad probably wouldn't have made it as a secret agent. on that? Yes, and I'm sorry for the loss. Oh, thank you. Chad probably wouldn't have made it as a secret agent. What is your name, please? It is Chad Daybell. 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. How do you spell that last name, please? D-A-B-A-L, Dayball. How are you related to the person at house? I'm his nephew. I live in Iowa. Chad, of course, did not live in Iowa. He was in Idaho and was not related to Charles. Lori was busy on the phone, too.

Are you calling in reference to a death claim? Yes. and was not related to Charles. Lori was busy on the phone, too. Are you calling in reference to a death claim? Yes. This is Lori, just four days after Charles' death, inquiring about his life insurance policy of a million dollars. And your relationship to the insured? 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, Charles changed it to his sister Kay. News that Laurie 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. They were. Meanwhile, something was happening to Chad Daybell. The once quiet ex-gravedigger had assumed a mantle of godlike 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 Laurie. Quote, I am heading to bed so that I can come snuggle tightly against you. I adore you. You are truly my best friend on earth and throughout eternity. Of course, this was fantasy snuggling. A text directed to Laurie in Arizona, but Chad was still in Idaho. Still very married to his wife of nearly three decades, 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, records show that immediately after Charles was killed, Chad poured out a love story, all in texts and emails, to Lori.

It was written as if fictional. It was the story of their meeting at that religious conference in St. George, Utah. He doesn't use the name Chad and Lori. He uses the names James and Elena. James and Elena were introduced at a conference in St. George.

A conference just like the one they attended, of course. The feelings were very strong, as if they had known each other oh so long. He called Elena, or Lori, an exalted goddess. 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 make-out 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? That's already basic, I think. 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. 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's death, Lori was getting impatient. Chad was still married to Tammy. So Lori 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. Kay and Barry Woodcock were grief-stricken for the death of Charles Vallow, and furious. Straight-out murder, they called it. And now, on top of that, they were worried, very worried, about J.J.

It had been months since Charles' death, and ever since then, Laurie had been ghosting them. And they hadn't heard a word from or about their grandson, J.J. You know, we called Lori so many times. I emailed her, texted her, left voicemails, everything. Please, whatever, we want to see J.J. No response, none. What was Lori up to? They had no clue, Investigators didn't either.

That two months after Charles' death, Lori left the jurisdiction of police in Arizona and moved into a rented townhouse in Rexburg, Idaho. And Alex rented his own place in the same complex. But here, too, there were inconvenient people in the way of Laurie and Chad. A list that included Chad's wife, Tammy. And so terribly disturbing. Also apparently on the list were Laurie's own young children.

Seven-year-old JJ and 16-year-old Tylee. 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 T Tylee, is dark. Dark, just the way he'd describe Lori's now dead husband, Charles. When Tylee was young, Lori, with Alex's help, waged a ferocious custody battle to keep Tylee away from her biological father. That was the husband before Charles.

Alex even went to prison for attacking Tylee's dad. He said he wanted to kill the man to protect Tylee, to make sure she stayed with her mother. But now, a decade later, Chad was involved. 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. It was just days before Tylee's 17th birthday. 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 would later

show, Alex went to Lori's place, spent two hours there. Was it common for Alex to spend the night at Lori's place. No, he was not over at Lori's house ever at night except one particular night. 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 the next week, as friends later told us,

Lori said seven-year-old J.J. had become a zombie. Lori's friend Melanie Gibb and her now-husband David Warwick came to Rexburg for a spiritual conference. Did you see Tylee there? No. What did Lori tell you about where she was? She told me she was at BYU-Idaho going to school with some friends. The BYU-Idaho campus is just up the hill from Lori's townhouse.

I was like, huh, she got her into BYU. I wonder how she did that. Tylee was still high school age. Lori's eldest son, Colby, was wondering about his sister Tylee, too, how she was coping in the months since her stepdad's death. I was texting her. I said, hey, I love you. You want to talk? Let's talk.

After Charles, I felt like I want her to know, like, the door is completely open. Call me, let's talk about anything you want. And what was the response? It'd be like, hey, love you, super busy. But was that Tylee texting or someone else? When Melanie and David were visiting in late September, they did see JJ. Lori made a point to tell her that JJ was out of control. She was obsessed about talking about it,

to the point where she was saying, look how he's behaving. He's, look how hyper he is here. She was planting ideas to show me that she believed he was a zombie. And to my mind, he looked like typical JJ to me. One evening, David saw Alex taking JJ outside after he was acting up. And then,

a couple hours later, Alex brings back JJ. He walked in, he had JJ on, it was asleep on him, and he carried him up to bed. September 22nd, a last photo of JJ

ready for bed in his red pajamas. Less than 48 hours later, Laurie sent a message to the babysitter she'd hired just days earlier. She would not be needed. Laurie. 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. Where were the children?

Officials weren't looking for them, not yet anyway. And the mission continued. There was another dark individual in their way. Um, someone just shot my window. Lori Vallow's children, J.J. and Tylee, had not been spotted with or without their mother in more than a week. But Lori herself didn't seem concerned. She was far more interested in spending time with Chad Daybell and pursuing their mission of gathering those 144,000 souls to be saved and added to their little group.

The Church of the Firstborn, as Chad called it. She the goddess, he the highest of priests. Some members of Lori's family seemed all in, too. Her brother, Alex, and their niece, Melanie. I loved Lori. Lori used to carry me around as a little baby and pretend that I was hers when she was 16. Melanie and her Aunt Lori were close, and soon, Melanie was swept up in her new beliefs, too, which took a toll on her marriage with her husband back in Arizona.

911, where's your emergency? Um, someone just shot my window. I was pouring in my house. That is the husband. Brandon Boudreaux in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Arizona. May he a frantic call to 911. Okay, someone shot at your vehicle? Yeah, and it hit my window.

It shattered my driver's side window as I was trying to pull into my driveway. Sorry, I'm a little lost for breath. At the time, he and Melanie were separated, and now they were going through a nasty custody fight. 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. They just drove off. I saw them drive off. Brandon described the vehicle as a gray Jeep with Texas plates. The very same Jeep that Lori's daughter Tylee drove.

A gift from her now dead stepfather, Charles. And the guy driving the Jeep? Brandon thought it could be 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 is denied wanting Brandon dead. After all, she said he was the father of her children. She even suggested he made up the shooting story.

But texts show that Brandon was indeed out of favor with Chad and Laurie. 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, in the language of Chad and Lori's group, often meant marked for death. When we spoke with her, Melanie denied being part of Lori and Chad's group,

denied there even was a group, or as some labeled it, a cult. You know, the unsaid thing in this conversation here is that were you both kind of members of this group of people who gravitated around Chad and Lori and... No, I'm not any, I'm not and never have been a member of any cult. I gravitated towards Lori being my aunt because she had great faith and still does and so yeah I love her and try to spend time with her but I'm not a member of any cult,

and she's not either as far as I know. After the shooting, Melanie moved to Idaho, right near her Aunt Lori and Uncle Alex. Brandon went into hiding with their four children, quite convinced he told us later that Alex and Melanie were trying to hunt them down. Then, big news. Chad texting Lori. His wife Tammy had become a demon named Viola. Something would have to be done. And he said, I wouldn't be surprised if she dies in her sleep.

Time for the next act by the Church of the Firstborn. 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. 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? 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? Soon after talking to Julie, 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 three demonic entity is in her body. Sound familiar? 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, Not fully sure of the timing for removal, but I don't want to wait. 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. 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 Tammy's sister, Samantha. I got a phone call from Chad telling me that she had passed away in her sleep. How do you process something like that? You don't. I mean, like, there's just so many thoughts running through your head.

And a lot of it was like, no, that didn't happen. What did Jets say happened? That she'd been sick and had a coughing fit and passed away. How did he sound on the phone? He sounded upset and devastated. I mean, I was crying and he was crying. And, yeah, it was a really hard moment. 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 back then, had no reason to be suspicious. And two weeks later, November 5th, Chad and Lori'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. The next time they spoke, Samantha grilled Chad about this new wife of his. I said, okay, so tell me about her. And I said, she have children? And he told me, no, her children are grown. We'll be empty nesters. Empty nesters? Lori's children, JJ and Tylee, were indeed conspicuously absent from those blissful wedding photos. And so was her adult son, Colby, who didn't even know they'd gotten married.

Until... I saw the pictures of them and just the dancing and just knowing that they are there alone, both of them having so much family that they just cut. There's just no word for it. Two dead spouses, two missing children, and no police anywhere had put it together yet. The night they encountered Lori's brother, Alex,

outside the home of, just maybe, the next victim. What's up, Alex? Just keep your hands out where we can see them, alright? 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, 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. 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 criminally trespassed from this residence, correct? 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... 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 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.

Then the officers noticed somebody sitting in a car on the street nearby. Who's in the car with you? It's my Uncle Alex. Uncle Alex the very person who Brandon believed had tried to kill him who already had killed Lori's husband

possibly others as well What's up Alex? Do you have your ID on your man? Let me get that for you real quick Can I open the door? Yeah if you need to. Just keep your hands out where we can see them, all right? Given Alex's history, it's reasonable to wonder what he and Melanie were up to.

And eventually, investigators learned that Chad had labeled two of Brandon's kids dark. But that night, the officers had no idea. 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 over the phone. Right, but if my kids were in there... It doesn't matter. We can argue about it all day. 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. All right, let's go ahead and have a seat in there. I've never been in a cop car before. And still nearby was Melanie's uncle, Alex. Mr. Cox? Yeah?

I'm going to leave this with you. Melanie's 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, thanks.

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. The kids are in danger. Really, you're going to have their Uncle Alex take them? You think that's better?

I'm, it's just... That'll make them safer. Melanie denied there was any plot. It was just a mother worried about her kids, she said. And then a couple of weeks later, back in Rexburg, where Lori's kids had last been seen, Hi! You Lori? Lori, I'm Lieutenant Bob.

the police showed up, asking the question everyone wanted answered. So, Joe, do what you are. 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. For Chad to consider himself a patriarch and then to give a blessing to Alex could be blasphemous. But 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 theal 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 said help to sister. Charles was dead. Tammy was dead. Lori's children were missing. By late November, four months after Charles was shot, the Woodcocks were growing more and more worried Kay didn't even know where Lori was living. And she hadn't heard from the kids since the shooting. It was extremely unnerving to us because we had no idea what was going on. We knew nothing. Then, on one sleepless night, Kay crawled

out of bed, turned on her computer, and found her way into the Gmail account of her now-deceased brother Charles by guessing his password. Charles had three common passwords. First one I put in worked. I'm looking at his inbox and I see emails from Amazon. So I clicked on one and it was an order being delivered to Rexburg, Idaho. I said, well, damn, this is their address. This is where they are. A eureka moment, if there ever was one.

So as soon as the sun came up, Kay called in a welfare check on the kids using that Idaho address. And not long after, there was a knock on Lori's townhouse door in Rexburg. Hi. Hi. You Lori?

Hi. Lori, I'm Lieutenant Ball from the police department. How are you? You got a minute? Police body cams recorded the conversation. So, JJ, where are you? He's in Arizona. Who's he with in Arizona? He's with one of my friends in Arizona.

But of course, that was a lie As we now know, JJ was not in Arizona And Tylee had not enrolled at BYU It was, where's JJ? Where's JJ? Where's JJ? And Tylee Where's JJ? And Tylee Where's the kids? Lori's son Colby

had also heard from police by that point and he phoned his mom I was freaking out and I said the two detectives are looking for Tylee and JJ what is going on? She said I got it, I'll take care of it I love you

But when Colby called back the next day Phone's gone not like off, like disconnected line, like called, canceled. So I freak out. I call Tylee's number. It's off. Leave her a voicemail. I email my mom. I text her. I'm going as much as I can possibly get to try to talk to her. And that was it. Last word, she says she's got it. A few days after Colby had frantically tried to reach his mom, police went to Lori's condo and discovered Lori was gone.

The search for these children has now gone national. Out of the latest twist in a mystery surrounding the disappearance of two siblings who vanished months ago. Police say their mother and her husband are refusing to cooperate with the investigation. A national search for the children was soon underway. And what about Alex? Well, whatever he knew, he was not telling investigators.

But he was talking to his new wife, Zulema. Chad had arranged their marriage as a reward to Alex for his devotion to Lori and their church. It was months later when Zulema told the police what Alex told her after he learned that authorities were going to exhume the body of Chad's wife, Tammy, whose death would later be ruled a homicide. And that's when he said, I think I am being their fall guy. Alex, who'd always stood by his sister, seemed to develop doubts about Chad and Lori

and their mission. Now, 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. Then, said Zulema, Alex told her something she didn't understand. 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 $5,000 and $7,000 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 Alex wasn't the only one who should have been worried about the future. For all the talk of visions and prophecy, is there any way Chad and Lori saw this coming? Hey, Chad and Lori, it's Dateline. How are you? 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 feared dead.

Lori's niece's husband, Brandon, had survived an attempt on his life. It was a tally worthy of La 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.

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. Tonight, two Arizona kids are missing after vanishing without a trace. Their mother and her new husband are now considered persons of interest. Eventually, a tip led us here to Kauai, where we found Lori and her new husband Chad at a resort hotel dressed

for the beach. Hey, Chad and Lori, it's Dateline. How are you? Are you setting out today? No, no comment. Where are your kids? Here's Chad and Lori. When police in Hawaii found Chad and Lori lounging poolside, they served them with a

court order to produce evidence that Tylee and JJ were alive and well. Do you need something? Any questions? Do you have any questions for that? No? Okay. Weeks later, when Lori had still not responded, she was arrested and flown back to Idaho. Lori, where are your kids? She was arrested and flown back to Idaho.

And then, three months later, on June 9, 2020, while investigators were searching Chad's home, They called from and paid for by Lori, an Indian at Madison County Jail. Lori called Chad from jail. Hi, Dad.J. and Tylee, buried in Chad's backyard. Chad was arrested while driving away. There he is! There he is! Chad, get out of the car! Investigators pored over Lori and Chad's texts and emails,

and the picture they painted was not pretty. Chad was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee and his wife, Tammy. Lori was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy in her children's deaths and conspiracy to kill Tammy Daybell. Both pleaded not guilty. But Lori's trial went on hold after a judge deemed her incompetent to stand trial. She was transferred to a mental health facility. I'm sure you've heard lots of people suggest that she, 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. And it did, for ten months, until the judge said Lori had restored competency and was fit to stand trial. And so, last month, press from around the world descended on Idaho again. We will go on the record on this matter, state of Idaho versus Lori Noreen Vallow. It was judgment time of Lori Vallow. Even her pre-trial hearings drew huge throngs as she managed for the cameras

to darken her lips with red candies and somehow managed to keep her hair at least partly bottle blonde. This case defies description. East Idaho News Director Nate Eaton covered the trial gavel to gavel. When you think it can't get any crazier, it does. And when you think it can't be any more unbelievable, something new is dropped. Lori and Chad are being tried separately. Lori's trial began 1st, April 2023.

It was the judge's decision to exclude television cameras from the courtroom during trial. To avoid a circus, perhaps. But it did not keep the crowds away, eager for a look at the woman charged with killing her own children and orchestrating the murders of her husband and her lover's wife. There were people from everywhere, Australia, South Africa, all of the states. You had to get a ticket, and those tickets were gone every day within one minute.

It was like a Taylor Swift concert. In court, it was soon apparent that the prosecution would allege a base and very earthly motive for murder. Not religion, not end times or angels and demons or dark spirits and zombies, but rather this. Money, power, and sex. That's what this case is about. The judge did allow audio recording. And this is Prosecutor Lindsay Blake. It didn't matter what obstacles she had to remove to get what she wanted. Those obstacles, said the prosecution, were the four people closest to Lori and Chad, Tammy Daybell, Charles Vallow, and Lori's children, JJ and Tylee.

Prosecutors walked jurors step by step through what they said was Lori and Chad's calculated plan. First, their romance novel love affair that set everything in motion. This relationship that's built on a bunch of bizarre principles, but they both seem to be all in on it. From the very beginning. From the very second they met, that first weekend forward. Till today. They presented page after page of Laurie and Chad's text messages to each other about the children and the spouses going dark. They showed the jury that text, Laurie to Chad, in which she admitted they

got rid of Ned, a.k.a. the evil spirit that inhabited her husband Charles. Got rid of him by using Laurie's brother Alex as trigger man. Used Alex for all the murders, said the prosecution. We learned through this trial that Alex would do anything for Lori. They showed the jury how Alex's phone put him in the time and place where the children were killed and when and where their bodies were buried. And the very night Chad's wife, Tammy, died, supposedly of natural causes. Who was there?

Alex was in the neighborhood that night. Lori and Chad not only wanted to get these inconvenient people out of the way, the prosecutor said, the pair also needed money to fund their new life together. Remember how Lori attempted to claim Charles Vallow's life insurance policy? Well, the jury heard how Chad did the same for Tammy at the school district where she worked, a mere two days after her death. In all the history of the district, they never had somebody come in so quick to find out how to claim the life insurance money. Chad and Lori ended up getting $430,000. Lori was even cashing in on her dead children by collecting their social security benefits, something the prosecution suggested she planned ahead of time.

Before JJ and Tylee died, Lori changed bank account information. The deposits that were going into Tylee's account were suddenly diverted to Lori's account. So JJ would be where? He's in Arizona. Prosecutors also played that recording of Lori talking to police, lying about JJ's whereabouts. Who's he with in Arizona? He's with one of my friends in Arizona. That friend was Melanie Gibb, the one who stayed with Lori right around the time JJ disappeared.

Prosecutors played a phone call Melanie secretly recorded with Lori right around the time JJ disappeared. Prosecutors played a phone call Melanie secretly recorded with Lori. If you really loved me, you wouldn't have told the police that I had JJ with me. That doesn't look good. I mean, you had to think of my welfare if you loved me.

I do, and I did exactly what I felt the Lord was instructing me to do. The Lord? No. Greed and lust, prosecutors argued, motivated Lori. And then a woman named Audrey Baratiero took the stand. She had once been part of Lori and Chad's inner circle, and she told the jury what happened when she ended her friendship with Lori.

She threatened to kill me. This testimony, this experience has never been revealed. She said that she would cut me up, but that she didn't want to have to because it would be so messy and there would be so much blood and bleach. Lori leaned forward on the table and stared at Audrey. She looked over to her attorney and said, I never said that. What importance did that have for the prosecution?

The prosecution, I think, wanted the jurors to hear that Lori was not above killing anyone. That included Brandon Boudreau, the ex-husband of Lori's niece, Melanie. He testified for the prosecution about that attempt on his life, which he believed was orchestrated by Chad and Lori.

After my shooting, I started to have my beliefs about who I thought did it, and I got concerned about the situation. One after the other, they appeared. People who once professed to love Lori now had painful stories to tell. Like Lori's younger sister, Summer. Here's two sisters who were really close growing up,

and one's testifying at the other one's murder trial. I love you with all my heart. It kills me. Prosecutors played this phone call, Summer to Lori in prison, shortly after the children's bodies were discovered. Is there another explanation? I'm willing to hear it. I don't want to hear it. Absolutely, but I can't talk about it.

You went off to Hawaii and were dancing on the beach while your kids are in the ground? When I heard it, it was a gut punch. off to Hawaii and we're dancing on the beach while your kids are in the ground? When I heard it, it was a gut punch. There is nothing in the scriptures that is godly about hurting a child. Nothing. Summer is going through every stage of grief. She's furious at Lori. She's heartbroken that the children are gone. Nobody knows what I've been through with my children that I love more than anything. Lori, you were dancing on a beach with a smile on your face, taking wedding photos. Yeah, months later.

You don't see? Trying to go on with life, trying to be happy, trying to find some kind of happiness. You think I want to be alone? And then there was Lori's only living child, Colby. Once they were as close as two people could be. Now? He walked in the courtroom. Lori leaned over to her attorneys and said, that's my baby. And he took the stand and he wouldn't even look at her.

Mom, you've been shoving BS on my throat for a very long time. This is Colby, all grown up now, in this jailhouse call confronting his mother. Pure blasphemy. This is funny. You're laughing. You don't know what happened. Why? Why don't know what happened. Why? Why don't I know, Mom? Oh, because I was kept in the dark to protect me? You know who needed protecting?

My little dead siblings. That's who needed protecting, Mom. In that same call, here's what Lori had to say about Tylee and JJ. They know exactly what happened, and they love me, and we are still together forever. They love me, and they are fine, and they do know the truth, and I know the truth. The truth? What is the truth, according to Lori Vallow? As the trial progressed, Lori kept everyone guessing, even her own lawyers.

Would she testify? Would she answer to any of it? Everyone walks in the courtroom. What's it going to be? What's it going to be? The trial of Lori Vallow was a catalog of awful moments, moments that shocked even the most hardened. To the prosecution, it was a tale of greed and lust. For each other, for power, all wrapped up in invented zealotry. You began to doubt the sincerity of this religious fervor of theirs. Yes, yes. I don't know of any religion that says you can kill people and not just kill them, but bury them in the yard

like animals. What the jury heard about Laurie and Chad and Alex was often repulsive, but it was all circumstantial evidence, until they got to the forensics. A phalanx of medical examiners, investigators, and pathologists came to court to explain the terrible details. Tammy's body had been exhumed during the investigation, bruises still visible. Now medical examiner Dr. Eric Christensen testified that she had not died from some mysterious illness in her sleep. They are certainly consistent with someone being restrained and would be consistent with asphyxia as a cause of death.

She had markings on her upper arms that were consistent with someone holding her down, some bruises. Kneeling on either side of her and then choking her. Correct, yeah, or smothering her or something. Was it Chad, Alex, Lori who killed her? The prosecutor did not say, but maybe he didn't have to. Laurie was charged only with conspiracy in Tammy's death. Then, the children. Law enforcement detailed the state in which they found J.J. and Tylee.

Tylee's body, burned and mutilated beyond recognition, impossible to determine cause of death. J.J. still dressed in his red pajamas, his head wrapped in plastic, duct tape covered his mouth. A pathologist explained how he died. Have you formed an expert opinion concerning the cause of death of J.J. Vallow? I have.

What was that? I determined the cause of death to be asphyxia by a plastic bag over the head and duct tape covering the mouth. This gruesome testimony was accompanied by crime scene and autopsy photos. At least one juror wet. Lori Vallow tried to avoid those photos, even asked to be excused from the courtroom that day. And the prosecution fought that vehemently. They said, this is her trial. If the jury has to see these photos, she should have to see these photos.

And the judge agreed. And so jury has to see these photos, she should have to see these photos. And the judge agreed. And so she had to stay there. And during that portion, she was wiping her eyes. She appeared very upset and she looked down the entire time. All of this was too much for JJ's grandfather, Larry Woodcock, who came to court throughout the trial. I don't think I'll ever forget hearing Larry Woodcock sobbing as we see a photo of J.J. Vallow on the screen. It was gut-wrenching. None of that physically tied Lori Vallow to the killing

until weeks into the trial. They call this DNA expert and the prosecution says, so you found a hair on the duct tape. We did. You tested it. What did you find? And I thought it was going to be Alex Cox or J.J. Vallow's hair. The partial DNA profile matched the DNA profile that was provided for Lori Vallow Dayville. That, it seems to me, was about the only piece of forensic evidence that tied her directly to killing people. Yeah, it was the only piece of evidence that we heard in the trial that tied Lori Vallow directly to the deaths of her children.

There was a whole lot of circumstantial evidence, a whole lot of text messages, a whole lot of back and forth. But as far as the actual dead bodies in his backyard, it was that one hair. When it was the defense's turn to present their case, call a witness or two, something, anything. The attorneys asked for a few moments to speak with their client. That was the moment. Is Lori going to take the stand? The courtroom is cleared. They had a private conversation for probably 20 to 30 minutes. Everyone walks in the courtroom. What's it going to be?

What's it going to be? The defense stands up and does not say Lori will now take the stand. Instead, they say, we do not believe the prosecution has proven this case and we rest our case. What was her defense team thinking? Lori probably could have had a pretty strong defense and blame everything on Chad.

She could have said that he took advantage of me and I was in a bad place mentally and he encouraged me to go down this route. The decision not to do that had been Lori's. She was in charge. She told her attorneys what to do. She said, I do not want you going after Chad or Alex. But at the 11th hour in closing arguments, Lori's attorneys made a U-turn. No one here thinks Lori actually killed anyone. They blamed Chad after all. Said Lori was just naive, not a killer. She's not leading anyone. She's following Chad.

She thinks Chad is following Jesus, but he's not. Inside the courtroom, Lori grew visibly upset, crying, wiping tears, sources confirming she was furious that her attorney went after Chad. She is still madly in love with Chad. And then it was the jury's case. We know we'll get a just verdict, a righteous verdict.

And that's all we have ever asked for in this. For seven hours, they deliberated. And then announced they were ready. All rise, please. The judge live-streamed the moment. Lori, appearing almost serene, waited, even as her fate was read aloud. Guilty. Guilty of the first-degree murder of her children, Tylee and JJ.

Guilty. And guilty of conspiring to murder Chad's wife, Tammy Daybell. This is KCR 22211624 State of Idaho versus Lori Valo, Fremont County. On July 31st, Lori returned to a courtroom to face sentencing for her crimes and the victim's loved ones,

including JJ's grandmother, Kay. I pray no one ever must deal with this type of circumstance. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Today is the day that she will finally be punished for her manipulation, cruelty, and criminal acts. She has shown no remorse for the murders, the lying, the deceit, or the pain. But then, a surprise. Lori, who had chosen not to take the stand at her trial, rose to speak. Jesus knows me, and Jesus understands me. I mourn with all of you who mourn,

my children and Tammy. Now, what did that mean? Lori went on, claiming that in fact no one had been murdered, offering, without explanation, that the victims may have died by other means. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen. Then, this bizarre claim. Lori said that a near-death experience 20 years ago had left her able to communicate with the spirit world.

And she'd had visits from all the victims. Tylee came to me as a spirit after she died. She said, she commanded me, ande came to me as a spirit after she died. She said, she commanded me and she said to me, stop worrying, mom. The first time JJ visited me after he passed away, he put his arm around me and he said to me, you didn't do anything wrong, mom. I love you, and I know you loved me every minute of my life. My eternal friend Tammy Daybell has visited me on several occasions. She came to bring me peace and comfort, and I know that she is extremely busy helping her family, especially her children and grandchildren. And I look forward to the day when we are all reunited,

and I, too, will rest with them in the arms of my Jesus. Thank you for your comments to the court. The judge and most everyone else in the courtroom seemed baffled by Lori's statement and by her attitude. And it is the most shocking thing, really, I can imagine, is that a mother killed her own children, and you simply have no remorse for it. Even sitting here today, there's no remorse for what you did. You haven't said you're sorry.

You haven't done anything to seek leniency from this court. You may not believe to this day that you've done anything wrong and you still may think you're justified by your religious beliefs for what happened here. I'm not here to judge that, but I don't believe that any God in any religion would want to have this happen. And then, after a hearing that stretched two and a half hours... I am prepared to pronounce sentence. Mr. Thomas, Mr. Archibald, and the defendant, would you please rise for the pronouncement of sentence? ...came the punishment that most expected.

You are sentenced to the custody of the State Board of Corrections to serve the maximum allowed sentence of fixed determinate term of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. In the end, the judge handed down multiple life sentences with no chance of parole, meaning that without a successful appeal or a governor's pardon, Lori Vallow will never again breathe free outside prison walls. Ms. Vallow Daybill, you are hereby remanded to the custody of the Sheriff of Fremont County to be delivered to the proper authorities of the Idaho Department of Corrections for execution of this sentence.

But is it over? No, it isn't over. It's far from over. It's expected Chad Daybbell will be tried next year. He's charged with the murders of the children and his wife Tammy. He's pleaded not guilty. And more charges are waiting for Laurie in Arizona for conspiracy in the murder of her husband Charles. She has told those around her she believes Jesus will come

and rescue her from all this. She, the goddess with the power to choose death for others, is going to prison almost certainly for the rest of her very human days.