Dr. Insanity - Husband Discovers His Wife Is A Mass Killer

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

In this video Charles Vallow discovers his wife Lori Vallow's horrifying secret.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lori Vallow, Daybell, is a former beauty contestant. She's lost her mind. She thinks she's a resurrected being and a God. Anybody you spoke to who knew Lori back then said that she was like the mother of the year. So what makes her a danger to herself and two others? She threatened me, murder me, kill me. We're gathering together as saints, as brothers and sisters,

and preparing for the second coming of Christ. She threatened to murder you? Yes. Six months later, Valo was shot and killed. Police say they found a man with gunshot wound who was later pronounced dead. The first death that kicked off this multi-state mystery. Inside is Lori Valo's husband, dead on the living room floor. What happened today?

How did it get to this? He said, you're not Charles. I don't know who you are, what you did with Charles, but I can murder you now with my powers. So how does she pose a threat to your children? Lori, where are your kids? No comment, they've been missing for four months. You have nothing to say? Now, Lori Daybell appears to be somebody else.

She has two missing children. J.J. Valo, Tiley Ryan. I don't know what she's going to do with them. I don't know she's going to flee with them. She's going to hurt him. All right. Is this house or the one with the flashing light? Right there.

Car's all down. I don't know where my food is off? Well, get in. Oh my gosh. It all started on January 31st, 2019, when Charles Vello was still alive and had just returned from a business trip to find he was locked out of his own house, with no sign of his wife, Lori, or his kids, JJ and Tai Lee. His car had also gone missing and a large sum of cash had been withdrawn from his bank account. So in an effort to get some answers, he called 911.

What's going on tonight? I can't get in touch with my kids. How old are your kids? Six and a half and sixteen. She's lost her mind. I have the house to say it. She thinks she's a resurrected being in a God and remember the 144,000. She's come, Jesus is coming next year.

So what makes her a danger to herself and to others? She threatened me, murder me, kill me. She threatened to murder you? Yes. She said, you're not Charles. I don't know who you are, what you did with Charles, but I can murder you. but I can murder you now with my powers. Is this just all recent or has it been going on?

It's been going up about four or five years. It's gotten really, really bad lately. She goes to the temple every day and speaks with Moron and Jesus Christ. Last couple days, she says, I'm not Charles. You're not Charles. You're Nick Schneider. According to Lori, Nick Schneider is an evil spirit who has possessed Charles' body. And he believed these threats against his life were very real.

In the last few years, she had become obsessed with the teachings of a man named Chad Daybell, a man well known for writing dogmatically and teaching his thoughts about the end of days, the second coming of Christ, and other more unique concepts, like evil spirits and zombies. Both Chad and Laurie were also members of preparing a people, a cult who were preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it. Lori also believed she was a member of the 144,000, a group of high priests who will administer the everlasting gospel to the world in its last days. She also believed that every human was on a scale between light and dark,

and the darker one's spirit was, the more dangerous they were to her and her beliefs. Laurie had actually become so involved in this new religious belief that Charles had become concerned not only for himself, but his two children as well. She said to me, Charles's stuff is gone. You're not Charles, your stuff is gone. I don't know what that means. And how long have you been trying to get in touch with the kids? since yesterday. So how does she pose a threat to your children? I don't know what she's going to do with them. I don't know if she's going to flee with them.

She's going to hurt him. Today she said, come take the kids. I don't care what happens I just want to see my boys okay and she's got a pickup order. A pickup order can be obtained after one parent fails to deliver a child to another parent. As Charles has not heard from his kids in days, he felt he had no choice but to take action. The cops then helped Charles get back in the house, but it was too late as Lori and the kids were gone. The very next morning, Charles called 911 again, this time directing them to a hotel in Gilbert, Arizona, where he believed Lori was hiding out with J.J. and Ty Lee. This time, though, Charles had managed to obtain an emergency mental health petition, a note that would require Lori to check into a mental health institution and undergo assessment. What's going on? Why is she here and you're not here, or you staying here with her?

Long story. She's had kind of a relative to me on. Upcountry support his body. as I could, but it's gotten really, really bad, like this. She's had a break. She says, I'm Nick Schneider. I've taken over Charles's body, and Charles had been killed. I'm going to kill you. You're murdered today or tomorrow. Charles had already tried to find Laurie earlier that morning by turning up at JJ's school, but despite seeing her car in the parking lot, there was no sign of her at all. However, she had left her purse in the car, so Charles took it in hopes that it would stop her from getting away. This worked perfectly as she walked into the Gilbert police station later this same morning to report her missing purse. But her version of events was much different.

So this morning when I took my son to school, he was waiting somewhere and like stole my purse out of the car, my whole purse. So my phone, my wallet, my money, my everything was in there. What is it like that motivates him doing this kind of stuff? Does he say one? I caught him cheating and I had evidence and I told him about it and he travels a lot for business. So I told him about it and told him not to come home and that his stuff would be gone and that his car would be gone. And it was, so he's a little mad. She claimed that she'd caught Charles having an affair and told him not to come home, locking him out of the house and taking his car. The first of many carefully fabricated lies that would not only ruin Charles's life, but end it.

Police informed Charles that he can't steal Laurie's property no matter what the motive. A deal was then formed between them saying that if Charles returned her purse, then the police would immediately follow up with the mental health petition. But eventually it went through and Lori underwent her assessment. However, in two hours, Lori was released with the doctors finding no issues at all. This decision sentenced Charles to death and put his kids' lives in jeopardy. Charles filed for divorce and six months later,

his body was found at Laurie's house with two gunshot wounds across his body. The fate of his children was now in the hands of their delusional and dangerous mother. Hey, team, we got one subject down, a parent gunshot wounds in the chest. He's right here in the living room. Firearm is going to be in the front door, in the front bedroom, laying on the ground next to a case. You want to stay in here, I'll see if I get this guy's info. When Charles's body was found, an investigation determines the shooter to be Alex Cox. a man who just so happened to be the brother of Laurie Valo.

What's going on? What happened? He came with me with a bat. Was he living here or visiting? He came to pick up the son. Okay, is this son inside? No. My sister took him to school. Okay, so it was just you at the house?

Yes. And he came, how long, what time did he come to pick up the son? Uh, I don't know, 20 minutes ago, maybe. Okay, so you know who he is, let him in? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. No, I think they were talking earlier than she left, and then he got into him with me.

Alex seems very vague in his answers and says he can't remember exactly what happened other than the pair simply got into a fight but those kinds of answers aren't going to satisfy the cops especially when there's a dead man involved so you both so you get in an argument what is it over I was over my sister he was he was getting physical with her and so my niece came out with her bat and he took the bat away from my I thought you said your niece left she did So before, before your sister and your niece left. Yeah. At some point your sister and her husband are arguing.

Yes. Verbal argument. And then your niece pulls out a bat? Well, it wasn't verbal. He was getting close and she came out to defend my sister with her bat. Your niece? Yes. Okay.

And then she poked at him and he took it away. Okay. And then he's coming back at me and he's took out the bat and he's like, what are you doing? And where are you at it? We're in the living room. Okay. And I turned around and he hit me in the back of the head with the back. I went to my room and got my gun.

So you went to your room, meaning the room you're staying in? Yeah. Okay, you brought a gun with you? Yes. You always bring a gun? Okay, why didn't you stay just in your bedroom and close the door? Is that something you didn't think about? No, you didn't turn to me.

This final statement should actually have torn down Alex's entire argument, as it technically proves this wasn't self-defense at all. When Alex went to his room to grab his gun, he should have been able to usher his family inside, close the door, and stand his ground from there. Instead, he grabbed his gun and, without a second thought, ran straight up to Charles and shot him. But at this point, there were still so many looming questions. The cops decided to bring in all parties back for an interrogation to try and get to the bottom of it all, and figure out exactly what happened to Charles.

Start when you think it makes a little sense. Okay. So we moved into this house three weeks ago because he offered to get me a house here where all my family is in Houston. We had decided to separate or whatever. So he's like, well, I'll pay for a house for you and for JJ and whatever because he's all about JJ. He's never about Tyler, but he's all about JJ. Because we adopted him together. He says, great, and he has a few.

We adopted him as a baby. He came when we first moved in and brought me stuff from Houston, like a U-Haul, and then he hasn't been back. But it's all these threats on my phone all the time. you know like whatever all these things and then he told me he's always mad at me right here and he doesn't want a divorce but i don't like him and don't want to tell him so that's just how it is so we married for 14 years or dealt with him being horrible to her like he gets in huge threats with her he yeah a lot of things but anyway immediately lorry describes charles as a man with violent tendencies who had a history of aggression against the women he had married. If she can convince

detectives that Charles had a temper, it would make their version of events even more plausible. So he went back to the Houston House, and he's like, I'm coming on Wednesday night, and I'm going to come pick up, JJ, and take him to school Thursday, pick him up Thursday, take him Friday, whatever. And I said, Casey wanted to come to the house. And I said, you can't come stay at this house because you can't get along with title. She's a minor, she has to live here. Yeah. So, Casey gets in huge fights up there. And she hates him. And so. And so, are like, you can't stay at the house, so I would book you a hotel

because he stays in hotels all the time because he travels for business and the business pays for it. What does he do? He works with teachers and their retirement plans, but he goes to them, but they're still there. He mostly works in California.

He has, like, books of business in the right areas, and so he just goes wherever. It kind of just gives him freedom that he doesn't have to stay home every day and take care of social needs. Yeah. It's like an excuse.

Right? We came over in the morning and he's like banging on the door, And I'm like, oh, great, there's a little, you know. And then Didi was like, oh, dad. And then he was like, Mommy, like, ran to me. He was like, holding me. He's like, you got to take you me to school.

And I was like, it's okay, dad can just drag you to school. So I don't make you. You know, just trying to make it whatever. Yeah, calm. And then he's just being real smirky and real, like, jerky, you know, to me. And I was like, like, ignoring him, whatever. And so he was like, I'm like your brother of those services. No. He had stayed with me last night because I was worried he was going to come over and cause trouble with me.

Okay. Just wanted someone else there, like my brother are there because I trust my brother. They would claim self-defense as the reason Charles was killed. And as the cops continue to question, Lori, they start to believe this even more. He goes nuts. He's gone nuts on us a lot of times. I have had to leave with JJ over the years probably five times and just stay in the hotel for two days because you don't know what's going to set him off. Like, she's mad at me for always, like, going back.

But we had JJ and he's special needs, and it's really hard. Like, it's even higher to take her advice. So you thought, and not, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but you thought it was possible that he was going to hurt you? Absolutely. He was going to hurt me and highly. Okay. Not JJ.

You've never heard JJ. Okay. And he hurt my brother. Yeah. He was going, like, ballistic about it was bad. Okay. An angry husband losing his temper during. a divorce is not uncommon, and feuding couples often come to blows, making her story more and

more convincing. But according to Charles' ex-wife, Cheryl, this was not the man she knew. She says they were married and divorced, and not one time, not one second, was he ever physically threatening to me, directly contradicting what Lori is saying. When you say he goes nuts, that can mean a lot of different things. So, like, physical violence. he's never really besides like grabbing us and pushing us but not like punching us or something but with Tiley he has gotten physical

he went like he was going to hit her but then I got in between them so this morning he comes back in he comes back in I went giving this phone he was screaming at me to give him this phone he was very worried about whatever was on his text that he did not want me to see and so I was just holding it there

and he was screaming at me and so Tiley came out of her room upset and she had bat and she told him to leave her mother alone, like, right? So she was really, whatever, and he's screaming at her, don't you hit me with that bad, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then my brother heard all the commotion because he was in there and so he came out into the main room and he's yelling at Tiley, don't she set me with that bad and blah, blah, well, and so

Tiley, I guess, I don't know, she swung at him or what, but he, like, grabbed the bat from Tiley and then went to him hit Tiley with the bat. It was, and I was right there, they were right there. And my brother ground him from behind, like just to stop him from it entirely. They got into the thing. He's hitting him with the bat, and they're on the ground, like, grappling around or whatever. And then, um... And he met your brother with the bat while they were grappling and stuff?

Yes. But there are lingering questions left by the investigation. One such example being that the autopsy ruled one of the gunshots impacted while Charles was on the ground. Imagine being in a situation where you... have no choice but to shoot someone. You'd probably freeze up and you'd do anything you could to avoid anything but incapacitating them instead of finishing the job. So it seems strange that Alex decided to shoot Charles a second time when he was already flat on the ground. Furthermore, it also seems strange that it would take almost 45 minutes for anyone to call 911. Although

she claims it was down to shock, this is conveniently just enough time to concoct an alternative version of events and a solid story to give to the police. Okay, so you hear the argument, you step up, what's the first thing that you see? Charles choosing up to Lori. Okay. Had Tyler already gotten the bat, did he already have the bat? Okay. So Charles is coming towards Lori.

He's coming to your way and I shoved him back. Okay. And I said, what are you doing? Because he's coming out of aggressively. Okay. He's a big news. I wasn't going out. So he's coming out of her?

Yeah. And you shoved him back. Yeah. What happened right after that? So I went into the bedroom where he was saying he ran my down and I came back. I said, put that that bat down. He's like, what are you going to do? So you're going to threaten me?

I was like, no, I'm just going to defend myself. So you put that bat down. And he goes, no, you're going to go it like that. And he came at me. Okay. And he'd already hit me in the head. So you gave him, how many times would you say he told him to, like, put the back down? Once.

Once. Okay. And then he started advancing towards. Yes. So how much shots did you fired? I don't fell with the couple. One of Lori's friends later reported that Lori had said Alex believed her theories about Charles being possessed by evil. And the reason he was at the house at the time of death is simple.

He believed Charles was going to try and kill Lori and moved in with her to help keep her safe. I didn't see the shot. I heard and then I came back around and I saw that he was on the ground and was freaking out. And so I was just freaking out and I just went into mama and like, I've got to go to the kitchen. She said, go back to the kids. I just went like, I got to get to the kids. And so I just went outside and to see if they were in there, okay, I didn't want them coming back in the house when all that was going on.

And Tyler was, like, looking at me. He was like the crazy eyes, like, what just happened? And I told her to get in the car and we're going to take the day to school. And I just left. When you came back in and you saw him on the ground, where was your brother? Did you see him where he was at? Yeah, he was right in front of him. Did your brother say anything to you at all?

do you remember no we were both just in shock okay like it was just a I mean I didn't anything I went out with the kids just to check on them first and I was going to come back in maybe but I didn't I was like I just have to get him to school okay and call the please come back you know did you either your brother saying anything at some point about calling the police or calling 911 do you remember yeah he called me okay and he said are you taking jiji to school and I said yeah we need to call the police and he said, okay. Okay. So when you, he called you when you didn't come back inside, basically? Right. Because I was like in the car for a minute and then I was like, what do I do? It looks on the surface that an enraged Charles stormed the house and started shouting at Lori.

Alex decided to intervene, fearing for his sister's life, but what started as a disagreement quickly turned into a fight, one that would end with Charles lying cold on the ground. And Ty Lee seems to back up what Lori and Alex said when she tells her. her version of events. I opened the door, and it was my stepdad, and he was just screaming at both of them. And so I just kind of stuck the big of that out there, and then he, like, he just grabbed it. And so I fell to the ground, and then my uncle kind of, like, I saw him take a step back, so my uncle, I think, grabbed him and kind of took him back so we couldn't, like, do anything.

And so my mom said to go with JJ, and so I ran up to the same. door and then I kind of just stood there and then eventually my mom came out and then I heard a noise which I know what it was now but it sounded like someone like took it and hit it really hard against the floor okay so I just wanted to make sure that like my stepdad didn't do anything to my uncle and stuff and so she was like no like I was fine like we're just going to take to school and I was like okay despite Charles's lack of a violent history and how many times Alex nearly slipped up on scene, Lori's story coupled with Ty Lee's perspective was enough for detectives to officially rule this as self-defense. But the death of Charles Valo was just the tip of the

iceberg. And investigators quickly discovered that Lori had become entangled in the world of a seedy cult that would turn this seemingly perfect mom into a stone cold killer. Lori Nate Eaton with East Idaho News. Can you tell me where your kids are? Where are your kids? No comment? They've been missing for four months. You have nothing. to say? Listen, just tell people what's happening. There's people around the country praying for your children, praying for you guys. Why don't you give us answers? That's great. Just days after Charles's death, Lori decided it was time for a change and moved the entire family across the country to Rexburg, Idaho. A strange choice at first, until you realized that this was the hometown of Chad

Daybell. And Lori was now living minutes away from a man who had not only convinced her that her husband was evil, but was now beginning to spin the same evil stories for her kids as well. But this is when detectives met Melanie, Lori's best friend, and another member of her cult. She was there to spell all the sordid details on their ideology and the beliefs that could soon lead to the death of Lori's kids. Chad had just said that it's some childhood friend that Charles had and that he died and then he came back as an un-heeded, he didn't ever leave. He was an unclean spirit that got trapped on earth.

And he was now attached to him for years, and he'd been studying him, right? And said, behaviors and stuff like that. And so then he pushed his spirit out and took over. That's what he said. Pushed him, that Charles's spirit. Yeah, so his spirit now moved on. So she believed that he was, that Charles is gone. He was already gone.

So she was treating him like he was sent spider. This is all extremely confusing, but simultaneously eye-opening, as it gives us a direct window into what Laurie believed about her own family. Apparently, she thought Charles was possessed by a dark spirit, and by that point, he was already gone. The problem is, she thought the same for her children. Charles had corrupted them, and they'd turn into zombies. So you mentioned zombies.

Yeah. Was that ever a term that you were exposed to by them? Okay. Tell me more about the zombie. She said she had a dream once. A birth earthquake happened in a new town. People that fell on the earth, if they were able to get rid of all the zombies in the world, then those zombies wouldn't get into those dead.

bodies and come back. Number one, she took them out, but she's like, okay, here's the United States. We're going to do a prayer. Let's find out how many zombies are in Arizona. Okay, there's 20,000. I don't even write the numbers. It was sought there. And then she'd say a little prayer, whatever words she'd come up with us, she thought were powerful. And then he would check, oh, somebody died. Look, you can't get to come find out. So then that was her way. In my opinion, you know, what I saw, this was just through a prayer that these people would pass away. Laurie believed that if the earth was to truly be pure, all the zombies had to be killed. Chad also began to feed Lori more and more fantastical lies about how the world worked,

including ascension, translation, and the ability to meet with God himself. Then they had a skill of zero and 100% how much you could trust people. I was supposed to be like 97%. They were always building me up. Anyway, she would sometimes share like, oh, this person without hers, that's not transferred to this person. if that was their book. I'm a little bit about maybe you know or don't know,

vibrations. So vibrations, yes, I'm aware of that too. So according to how he would check, I can use that little penulum thing on. I didn't know that the beginning, but anyway, 1,000 was just to mean, if you got to 1,000, that means you're translated or you're beginning, your translation. And then as you get higher in your vibration, you could portal at some point, maybe to remember what she would say, 2,500, maybe here, something like that.

the more you went to the temple, your vibration would increase. So it's like, this is like your light would increase. Sure. I agree with that kind of idea. Okay. If that makes sense. Lori had become convinced she could speak to Jesus and appeared to be consumed by Chad's work. Not long after, their relationship began to heat up, and they even started a religious

podcast together that showed, frankly, just how insane she had become. I too have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ, and he has told me my mission. And he has sent me to help people and lift them in their missions. Over time, Lori had become more outspoken with her beliefs of zombies and began to tell her friends about how many people had been consumed by evil spirits and demons. Lori then started telling her friends that her son J.G.'s behavior had changed and that he had started telling her he loved Satan, as well as becoming more disruptive in the home.

Had police listened to Charles Vallow when he feared for J.J. and Tiley's lives, then they could have prevented the series of tragic events that followed. Only days after moving to Rexburg, Lori, Alex, JJ, and Ty Lee visited Yellowstone Park. This was the last time anyone saw Tyley alive. Things became even stranger on September 17, 2019, when JJ was spotted running into his Idaho home on a neighbor's door cam, never to be seen again. Months later, people started to realize that they hadn't heard from JJ in a long time, and Charles' parents called 911 to alert the police of his disappearance.

Laurie was caught lying to officers on November 26th after they had made a welfare check on JJ. According to Lori, her son was with her friend Melanie back in Arizona. But Melanie not only denied having him, but she also told police Lori had asked her to lie and pretend to officers JJ was staying with her. Then in December, Alex died suddenly. His death was ruled as natural causes, but the amount of death and strange occurrence, involving Lori was reaching impossible levels of coincidence. By this time, police were also extremely concerned for the welfare of JJ and Tai Lee,

so Lori was served an order in January 2020 forcing her to prove that they are safe and well. However, the deadline came and went, and Lori was arrested three weeks later and placed on a bail of $5 million. But even after the arrest, both Lori and Chad remained silent and refused to give up any information on the kids. But finally, a further five months later, the police would get their answers when detectives initiated a search of Chad Daybell's property. There, they found the bodies of JJ and Tai Lee. JJ's body was found wrapped in duct tape and placed in a plastic bag, while Tai Lee had been dismembered and burned in a fire pit before being buried. Police arrested Chad immediately, and Laurie's trial began not long after. It took another three years, but eventually she was found guilty of first-degree murder.

conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of her children. Laurie was far from remorseful in a bizarre statement she made to the court after she was sentenced. My beautiful children, Tiley Ashland and Joshua Jackson, rest safely this day in the arms of Jesus. 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. Thankfully, this evil mother, if you can even call her that anymore, won't be getting out anytime soon, as she was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences. She's not finished in the courtroom yet, though, as her trial for murdering Charles is set to start in April 24. As of March, 24, Chad Daybell is yet to go to trial,

but he could be facing a similar conviction and a lifetime behind bars.