Lori Vallow Daybell, already convicted of murdering her two youngest children and conspiring to kill a romantic rival, returned to court Monday—this time facing charges in Arizona for allegedly plotting the murder of her estranged husband.
Prosecutors opened by claiming Vallow Daybell conspired with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill Charles Vallow and claim his life insurance money, all while believing he was possessed by an evil spirit.
Vallow Daybell, 51, is not a licensed attorney, yet she’s chosen to represent herself during the six-week trial. The case has drawn wide attention due to her extreme doomsday religious beliefs.
She pleaded not guilty and told jurors that Cox acted in self-defense after Charles attacked her daughter with a baseball bat. She described the incident as a tragic event, not a criminal act.
“Lori Vallow is why Alex was able to shoot Charles,” prosecutor Treena Kay told jurors. “Lori Vallow is why Charles is dead.”
A jury of 16, including four alternates, listened as Kay outlined a timeline backed by phone records, witness testimony, and forensic evidence, all aimed at proving the shooting wasn’t self-defense.
The prosecution also argued that Vallow Daybell plotted the killing to pave the way for her future with Chad Daybell—an Idaho author known for apocalyptic religious novels.
“Lori Vallow wanted to be Lori Daybell,” Kay said. “She wanted to marry Chad Daybell and keep the lifestyle she had with Charles. She could have it all—if Charles was dead. And she’d get a million-dollar life insurance policy.”
During her opening statement, Vallow Daybell’s voice shook as she described the struggle involving the baseball bat, saying Charles took it from Tylee and that Cox intervened to protect them.
“Self-defense is not a crime,” she told jurors. “A family tragedy is not a crime—it’s a tragedy.”
Charles Vallow was shot and killed in July 2019. Soon after, Lori moved to Idaho with her children and married Chad Daybell just two weeks after his wife Tammy’s death. The remains of her children—7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan—were later found buried on Chad Daybell’s Idaho property.
Lori Vallow Daybell is currently serving three life sentences for the killings of her children and the conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell sentenced to death for his role in the three deaths.
Four months before his death, Charles Vallow filed for divorce, claiming Lori had become obsessed with near-death experiences and believed she had lived past lives on other planets. He said she threatened to destroy him financially and even kill him. He requested a mental health evaluation for her.
According to police, Charles Vallow was shot by Alex Cox at a Phoenix-area home. Tylee told investigators she awoke to yelling and grabbed a baseball bat to protect her mom. She claimed Charles took the bat away, and then Cox shot him.
Cox told police he fired in self-defense. Lori and the children had already left the house before the shooting occurred.
Cox was never arrested and died five months later from a blood clot in his lungs. Investigators later questioned the credibility of his account.
Vallow Daybell was a beautician, a mother of three, and had been married five times. She wed Charles Vallow in 2006 and adopted JJ with him. By 2019, their relationship had deteriorated, and they were separated but still legally married when Cox shot Charles.
The case grabbed headlines around the world as the investigation into the missing children revealed increasingly bizarre twists—from claims of zombie possession to apocalyptic beliefs.
Lori Vallow once appeared on Wheel of Fortune, and her story has since inspired a Netflix documentary and a Lifetime film.
If convicted of conspiring to kill Charles Vallow, Lori faces a life sentence in Arizona.
She wore civilian clothes during her Arizona trial and won’t be handcuffed in front of the jury. However, she’s required to wear a hidden device under her clothing that allows officers to administer an electric shock remotely if necessary.
Authorities began investigating in late 2019 after JJ’s grandmother raised concerns. When questioned, Lori was evasive about the children’s whereabouts.
In October 2019, Chad Daybell called 911 to report that his wife Tammy died in her sleep from illness. After her body was exhumed, an autopsy revealed she died from asphyxiation.
A welfare check in November 2019 confirmed that JJ and Tylee were missing and hadn’t been seen since September. Lori and Chad fled to Hawaii, where she was arrested in February 2020.
Lori Vallow Daybell is also set to stand trial in late May on a separate charge: conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. She has also pleaded not guilty in that case.
