Hidden True Crime - Sick or Strategic?! Lori Vallow Daybell Sparks Concern During Jury Selection Day 2 | Full Recap

Episode Date: May 31, 2025

Just when things were heating up in the Lori Vallow Daybell trial, boom—jury selection hits a sudden and mysterious stop. What happened behind those courtroom doors? And what is coming next in Lori Daybell's 3rd trial. Brandon Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist? About Hidden True Crime: What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at ⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You think it's going to be boring and you show up. never is. And day two of jury selection kicked off right on time, at least the first part of it. And this time, we were in the big courtroom. That's right, the main trial courtroom. That's right across the hall from Jody Aris's trial courtroom. So yesterday and Judge Breskes for going over jury questions today, the big courtroom, because we're going to have all the potential jurors there later in the day. So that main trial courtroom and right out of the gate, we processed 25 new potential jurors who walked in that morning. 23 were struck out of those 25.

Yes, two made it through to Vadir. And if you want to know why each one was released, stick around. I've got the notes, the details, the T. I've got it on. And after clearing those initial numbers, the judge confirmed that in person would year would begin after lunch when jurors are officially questioned face to face. But first, the judge checked in with both sides about the preliminary jury instructions. Prosecutor Trina Kay, no issues.

Lori Valo, well, she had questions. Of course she did. Of course she did. She wanted clarification on part of the instructions, especially a section that referenced the crime. So Lori asked, this is interesting, Lori asked whether it should say attempt, instead of a commission. Commission.

So in other words, Lori wants the preliminary jury instructions to read that she attempted a crime instead of the commission of a crime. And commission is a crime of a crime refers to the act of actually carrying out a crime or in simpler terms. If we need to make it simpler,

it's about doing something illegal, not just thinking about it or planning it. Or in extra, extra simpler terms, it means committing a, a crime and not just attempting one. There was a bit of back and forth in the judge reminded everyone that you don't have to succeed and murder to commit a crime.

Attempt counts. He gave prosecutor Trina Kay the floor and she backed the original wording commission of a crime. So Lori followed up with one last question. She asked whether or not the language was consistent with the indictment and the judge said yes. And Lori, well, she ended with, that's all we had. Like that was quotes. Well, that's all we had. So she took care of her issues.

Next up, prosecutor Trina Kay had a quick ask for the judge with some time to spare. She wondered if they would be addressing any of the pending motions. As you know, there are so many motions all the time we wake up every morning and there's motions in the docket. always motions, pending motions, here and there. Two, this was my favorite part of the day, and I love that I could be there to tell you this, because again, I know that there are no cameras in the courtroom during jury selection.

Greenie K asks if there are going to be, if Judge Breske is going to be addressing any pending motions, but Judge Boreski shut that down fast. He said, quote, given what happened yesterday, I think it would be a safer course of action to issue written rulings, and that will be my record, end quote. So translation, after yesterday's mess, we're keeping things clean and quiet. Lori, that's for you.

He added that two rulings were already done, and with a longer lunch break, he would probably finish the rest during that time. And then Trina moved on to a few logistics. First, the exhibits. She had brought them in and asked if they'd be marked before Monday. And the judge glanced over at his clerk and casually said, they're being marked right now. And then came the more delicate issue, how to refer to the murder of Charles Vallow during this upcoming trial without actually saying murder. Trina explained that she wanted to phrase it as an incident in Chandler, Arizona in July of 2019,

involving Lori Valo and Alex Cox. That's one way to say it. And or not just July 2019, but July 11th, 2019. That's another way to say it. An incident in Chandler, Arizona, July 11th, 2019, it involves Lori and Alex Cox. Why does this matter? Well, because Brandon Boudreau, who this trial is about is about justice for Brandon Boudreau. Lori attempted to kill, according to her charges.

Brandon Boudreau had talked about the shooting of Charles Valla with police. Makes sense. And that conversation is what helped investigators dig into Lori and Alex as suspects. Like Brandon's like, look, I've got a tip for you and it's a good one. Charles Valla was murdered. So take a look at that. Well, it wasn't a murder then. The charges actually had not come down.

It was an accidental or a domestic dispute at that time. The charges for Charles Valas murder had not come down. But Brandon's like, look, that wasn't an accident. I'm telling you, look into Lori and Alex, the suspects. And that is what police did. So Lori's prior conviction, a couple months ago, matters in this case. And Trina was clear she wouldn't mention the murder itself, but the timeline matters for.

the jury in this upcoming trial. And the judge agreed, but asked for clarity. Was Trina planning to ask Brandon leading questions that would touch on that July 11th event? Yes, yes, she would. But again, she promised to warn witnesses not to discuss the murder, the actual murder, because let's be real telling jurors that the woman sitting across from them is a convicted murderer that would absolutely bias them. And for good reason, I mean, if I, I was a juror and I knew the defendant was a convicted serial killer. Yeah, I'd probably be biased and assume that she also attempted to kill Brandon Boudreau and the jury is just supposed to weigh the evidence in front of them not be biased because of her other convictions.

The judge told Lori she could refer to it as, quote, an incident a few months before Brandon's shooting. Or just again, the incident on July 11th either worked. And that little back and forth seemed to trigger something in Lori. She suddenly realized she might need to avoid opening the same door herself. Like, oh, how am I going to question my witnesses or cross-examine the witnesses without bringing up the murder of my then husband? So she asked, quote, when I'm questioning someone who already testified in Idaho, can I just say,

you know, that this witness testified at an earlier hearing without going into what trial that was. That's sort of how she posed this question to the judge. And Judge Voreski told her, yes, if she really needs to reference it, though, rather than call it a hearing, call it a prior proceeding, not a hearing. And then Lori, in full self-represented mode, asked, well, what if they say they don't remember or know what I'm referring to, how do I clarify without revealing too much? And that's when Judge Breske made it clear. Well, it depends. Are you trying to impeach the witness? And when Lori asked how to impeach a witness without opening the door to her past conviction, Judge Boreski simply told her, I love this. He had some good one-liners today. You know, the R-U-Dun judge had some good

one-liners. Judge Boreski simply told her, talk to your advisory counsel on how to impeach someone and we'll go from there, end quote. Translation, he is done giving Lori legal advice. The courtroom is no longer her law school. Judge Borese was always pretty patient with Lori. It taught her a lot about the law, but I can tell he is done. He is done.

So talk to your advisory council about that, not the judge. So towards the end of this legal, let's call it a chess match, this legal chess match, Judge Bereschi brought up transcripts and asked if she had them. She said yes and she wanted to know if she could hand them to the witnesses herself on the stand during the trial to help refresh their memory if needs be. And the judge explained that she could do that, but not let them read from the transcript right away. The idea is to jog their memory, not hand them a script. Only if that doesn't work can the witness then read from the transcript itself.

and with that, court recess. Not for the day, for lunch. So stay with me. Stay with me here. Then came, though, what might have been the longest lunch break ever, nearly three hours. I went live during lunch. Many of you saw that to speculate about Lori's possible strategy, how her voir dire questions might give us a glimpse into her game plan.

They usually do. Lori's pretty predictable. I'll be honest. Let's just say that it didn't go quite as expected. And it never does with Lori. Am I right? All right. Okay, here we go.

As I was saying, let's just say that, what dear, you've probably already heard, did not go quite as expected. It never does. So after this three-hour lunch, as 115 rolls around, I see Brandon Boudreau and his wife, Jenny, walk in with the victim's advocate. Brandon had actually appeared earlier today, but virtually appeared.

But now he was here in person ready for Vodir and to watch the jurors be seated. Jurors that would really decide whether or not he receives justice. Meanwhile, in the hallway, the potential jurors were lining up, each holding a numbered card. This was a really interesting moment because I was first in line to go into the courtroom. I wanted my good seat. I told you on my lunch live. I was a little nervous that there would only be 14 seats available because so many potential jurors were going to be in the gallery. So I was first in line right by the door. And so as the jurors were lining up, they were brought in one by one and seated in the courtroom right in front of us in line to enter the courtroom.

And I will say it's quite a diverse group of potential jurors. A lot of females, if you remember last time, there were not a lot of females that were chosen. There were in the potential jury selection, but in the end, I think we had one female chosen. Yes, we definitely did. I remember now. And then, but as we watched them all go, I would say it was very diverse, ethnically diverse, age diverse. You know, yeah, men and women, male and female. They were then escorted in one by one.

And again, then we were finally allowed inside the courtroom. And we found our seats. Of course, like I said, I was in front and line. So I picked my favorite seat close to Lori. Everyone settled in. And it looked like we were finally about to begin. Before I switched to wealth front, my APY was probably 0.1. like it was a joke.

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These and eligibility requirements may apply to certain checking features of the cash account. But then, her fall. Judge Voreski announced that due to unforeseen issues, they would not be moving forward with Radeer today after all. Like, wait, what? I was like this moment, it was like, are you kidding me? Wait, what? After I told everyone on my lunch live,

we would have a seat of jury today and I'd bring them all the latest. What is going on? He apologized to the potential jurors sitting in the room, acknowledging their time is valuable. And he asked if any of them, absolutely would not be able to return on Monday to continue this process. Well, hands went up, a lot of hands, which was also like, wait, what? All of you are here because,

you know, you answered the questions and it seemed like you're able to, to be a part of a trial that technically is supposed to start Monday. But the hands went up. A lot of them were not available Monday. And in just a moment, I am going to walk you through, what each of those jurors said and why they couldn't make it back. But full transparency, I have removed identifying details to protect their identity. So let's get into it. So here are the hands raised in why they could not come on Monday. Juror 20 works for a small business.

And this is his busy season and they lost four employees. all within the last week. Juror 23, she has an appointment with her young child on Monday. Juror 33, she was in the ER a few days ago and has not recovered. Her questionnaire, haven't filled out before she got sick, understandably. Juror 36, she has a college class on Monday. So she was actually needing to know today whether or not if she was, she would be selected for the trial because she was actually going to drop the class.

if needs be for jury duty. But the class is Monday, so she technically has to go since she doesn't know. Made sense. Complicated. Jury, juror 40. She has two kids and one with special needs, making it hard to find child care on summer break. Jury 56. He has three 12-hour shifts per week as a nurse and is scheduled to work on Monday.

Jura 57. He starts a new assignment on the ninth of the month with a brand new company. juror 58 works part time in two different offices on Monday she is scheduled a working interview for 9 a.m. Jure 63. She is the babysitter for all of her grandkids during the summer. She is taking them on an outing on Monday that was pre-planned. Jure 64 has an important project being released at work and cannot work out a backup. Jure 70 has three children at home and cannot hire paid care to watch.

them. Juror 86 has non-refundable plane tickets for trial dates. Juror 87, main caregiver for an infant grandson. Now, aside from the jurors who could not come back Monday, there were three more who raised their hands, not to opt out necessarily, but just to clarify a few concerns. And one juror wanted to make sure they could still pick up their kids on time. And spoiler, they can trial schedule works with school pickup so that was taking care of and then another said they had gone over the 24th they would be gone on the 24th for an overseas trip but bought twist there's no trial scheduled on the 24th so they were also good to go and the third juror mentioned a trip during the week of june 16th and that week no trial either if the trial is even still happening by

that so way to go once all the concerns were a judge addressed, Judge Voreski asked a critical question. Had anyone looked up the case or researched the names involved? Well, unlike the last question, he asked this time no one raised a number. So while they didn't all accurately tell them if they had problems with their scheduling for a trial that starts Monday, they all followed the directions to not look up Lori Bellow Debelle or research the case. No one raised their number. And then Judge Verusky floated a new possibility. Would the jurors be available next Friday a day previously marked as dark? That would be next Friday a week from today. And only one juror raised their hand saying they had a camping trip planned. So it was clear to me the court was now trying to make up for today's delay by possibly using that dark Friday to stay on track. Sort of like that snow day in school they never use.

All of a sudden you get a holiday. Well, opposite here. We had a holiday plan and now you guys are going to go, make up day. Then came, though, the standard but serious reminder. No talking about the case. You are all still potential jurors, no Googling. You can tell people you're under consideration for jury duty and how long you may last. But that's it.

And with that, the jurors were dismissed to the hallway while the judge addressed the morning's scheduling chaos. Yes, they were dismissed to the hallway, but asked to stay there and hang out for a little bit longer because Judge Bereske's like, we're going to tell you who's staying and who's going, but go out into the hallway, hang out. And then again, the judge addressed this morning's scheduling chaos. Once the jurors left, Judge Boreski couldn't help himself. I thought this was great. He gave a little speech about how it never ceases to amaze him that so many jurors don't list scheduling conflicts on the questionnaire, even though they're specifically asked to.

So he sort of voiced his frustration after they all went into the hallway. Like, what the heck was that? Why are so many not available Monday or for this trial when that's why we send out a jury questionnaire? And then after he aired his frustration, then at Trina K's recommendation, all 13 jurors with scheduling issues were officially released. like let's just move forward without them and now here's where the pace starts to pick up judge voreski

laid out a fast timeline for monday he thinks that he will finish his own questioning by noon like wow and if lorry and the prosecution can wrap up by around three then opening statements by monday afternoon still that was the plan for monday beginning of of trial, but holy cow, something's happened, unforeseen circumstances. But Judge Bereski is saying, look, I can be done with questioning the jurors by noon. We can have a seat of jury. Boom, we jump right into trial Monday afternoon opening statements. But something was, of course, I know what you guys are all wondering, and this is what we're

all wondering. This is what we're all going to talk about. Something still wasn't adding up because why didn't Voidier happened today? Well, okay, just when we thought we were not going to get an answer. answer about what was happening. Judge Boreski did make a cryptic little comment to Lori. And that's where things got really interesting. Let's listen in to this.

Please, I know you have restrictions on what you're able to do, but if you have issues where I know in the jail people get quarantined or something, if you don't think you're going to make it the court on Monday, please let your team know sooner rather than later, okay? So was Lori sick? Because in that clip, it did sound like Judge Breskes was implying she was sick, referring to quarantine. Or, you know, like many of us are wondering,

was this all just strategic? So here's what I saw and what I know. Court adjourned, but I stuck around. I moved in closer, just a bit. observing. Lori left quickly, much faster than usual. And I'll be honest, she didn't look great, although she never does look great. I know that sounds a little mean, but it's not like she ever has a glow about her. She's an aging serial killer. Sure, her hair was curled. She was in a suit today. Um, but today she looked rough, extra rough. And after she was escorted out, I kept eavesdropping

eavesdropping because, of course, I did. And that's when I caught a revealing little exchange. Trina Kay was talking to Lori's advisory council, but she was keeping her distance, which actually worked in my favor because I could hear everything pretty clearly. I heard Trina say, I hope I don't get sick. And then she added, I hope you don't get sick, referring that was directed at Lori's advisory team. So I think we can safely summarize. that Lori's under the weather. But I didn't just want to speculate, so I did reach out to the media contact

for the Maricopa County Courthouse to see if he would confirm this. And I texted, can you confirm that Lori is sick? And what did he send me? Just the clip we all saw. No words. Just that. So interpret that however you want.

I followed up again asking if he could confirm whether opening statements are still on for Monday, and he replied definitely afternoon, possibly 3 p.m., ending with a question mark. So I love how he starts with definitely and ends with a question mark because let's face it, if Lori's sick, she's sick. So the question mark is definitely in play. Now, as promised, let's get to the T on why the potential jurors who walked in this morning were released or moved forward.

here's the breakdown on who got excused and why. This is all happening before lunch with the walk and jurors. All right, A303, difficulty with English. 304, difficulty with English. 305, difficulty with English. 306, family hardship. 307 has prior knowledge of the defendant. 308.

Out of town trip during trial. 309 expresses a bias in favor of law enforcement. 310 out of state next week. 311. Judge says no issues. Trina K brings up that they wrote pay as an issue, defense and state agree to strike. 312, no issues. 313 has prior knowledge. 314. We need some follow up regarding how her father was treated by the system. 315. Leaving town Monday for a week for 10 days. 316 vision issues but also has difficulty with English. 317 would be afraid of losing their job if not working during the trial. 318 has prior knowledge of the defendant.

319 mandatory out-of-state business travel next week. 320, family hardship, transportation issue, child care. 321, family care hardship has prior knowledge of the defendant. 322 has an issue with the schedule because they are the owner of a group home has a bias against police, has memory issues. Yeah. 323 has medical appointments and prior knowledge about the defendant. 324 issue with vision, but judge says they can be followed up. The state would move to strike because there are a lot of exhibits and there is a concern

about judging the credibility of witnesses. Lori agrees with the state, juror excused. 325, summer break child care issues. 326, seems to think they heard something about her on the news. 327 has prior knowledge of the defendant type of work that would be different. for the county to reimburse. So to crunch these numbers, they were a lot easier than yesterday because they were only 25, but 23 out of 25 were let go. Only two moved forward this morning. Six out of 25 knew her, a little over 25%. So fewer knew her today than yesterday, which is

sort of interesting. All right, everyone, I know it's just jury selection, but you never know what each day is going to bring. And I have a feeling, as I've said, it's going to be a very long journey. We're taken together. So buckle up. May justice be served. Before I switched to Wealthfront, my APY was probably 0.1.

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