Vallow–Daybell Doomsday Murders

The Vallow–Daybell doomsday murders consist of a series of killings—including child murder, filicide, and spousal murder—committed by an American couple, Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell. Chad and Lori led a Mormon religious sect described in the media as a "doomsday cult." The case was set in motion when Lori's daughter, Tylee Ryan (16), and adopted son, Joshua Jaxon "J. J." Vallow (7), disappeared on September 9 and September 23, 2019, respectively. Their remains were found in Rexburg, Idaho, on June 9, 2020. They had been buried on property owned by Chad, who was Lori's lover at the time of their deaths and had become her husband by the time their bodies were found. The case also involved the murders of Lori's previous husband, Charles Vallow, and Chad's wife, Tammy Daybell, as well as the attempted murder of Lori's nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux. Lori's brother Alex Cox, who is believed by authorities to have participated in the crimes, died before he could be brought to trial.

At the time of the murders, Chad and Lori were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). However, their beliefs had deviated significantly from mainstream Mormonism. Chad was an apocalyptic author and publisher who claimed to have visions of the future and to have lived through multiple past lives, and prophesied the world would end in July 2020. Lori had come to share his fringe beliefs; she became convinced that she was a deity destined to play a role in the coming apocalypse and that her family was getting in the way of her mission. Lori was later nicknamed "Doomsday Mom" by the media.

Tylee was last seen alive on September 8, 2019, and J.J. on September 22, 2019. In late November 2019, after police questioned Lori about J.J.'s whereabouts, she and Chad abruptly vacated their homes in Idaho and left for Hawaii. As police searched for J.J., they discovered that Tylee was also missing. The children's cases attracted media attention as Lori and Chad refused to cooperate with law enforcement. Investigations revealed that Tylee and J.J.'s disappearances had been preceded and followed by the suspicious deaths of Lori and Chad's respective spouses and by a murder attempt of Brandon Boudreaux, then-husband of Lori's niece. Lori and Chad had married two weeks after the death of Chad's first wife Tammy. After the children's disappearances became known, Tammy's body was exhumed by law enforcement officials, revealing that she had been asphyxiated.

On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested for desertion and non-support of her children. On June 9, police discovered the remains of Tylee and J. J. during a search at Chad's home and property in Idaho. Chad was arrested on charges of destruction or concealment of evidence. On May 25, 2021, Lori and Chad were charged with the first-degree murders of Tylee, J.J., and Tammy. Prosecutors said that the couple had conspired with Cox to commit the murders as part of their apocalyptic beliefs, but also to remove obstacles to their affair and to collect life insurance money and the children's Social Security benefits, using religion to justify their crimes.

Lori and Chad were tried separately. On May 12, 2023, Lori was found guilty of all charges related to the killings of Tylee, J.J., and Tammy. On July 31, she was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On May 30, 2024, Chad was also found guilty of all charges. On June 1, he was sentenced to death.

After her sentencing in Idaho, Lori was extradited to Arizona to stand trial there twice, first for the murder of Charles Vallow and then for the murder attempt on Brandon Boudreaux. Lori acted as her own attorney during both of her Arizona trials. The first trial started on March 31, 2025. On April 22, she was found guilty of conspiring to murder Charles Vallow. Lori's second Arizona trial, her third and final, began on May 29. On June 12, 2025, she was found guilty of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux.

Background

Chad Daybell

Chad Guy Daybell was born on August 11, 1968 in Provo, Utah, to a Mormon family and grew up in the neighboring city of Springville. He was accepted and enrolled at Brigham Young University (BYU) after high school. One year into college, he applied to be a missionary, for which he spent two years in New Jersey. He then resumed his studies and graduated from BYU with a B.A. in journalism. He married Tamara "Tammy" Douglas on March 9, 1990. They had five children.

Chad worked for a time as a copy editor for the ''Standard-Examiner''. At various times during and after his studies, he supported himself by working as a gravedigger, then as the cemetery sexton for Springville.

Chad's first religion-themed novel, ''An Errand for Emma'', was published in 1999 by the Springville-based publisher Cedar Fort, Inc. He eventually left his employment at the cemetery to focus on his writing. In 2001, he published ''One Foot in the Grave'', a non-fiction book that chronicled his experiences working in cemeteries. In 2004, Chad and his wife founded Spring Creek Book Company, which he used to self-publish his beliefs regarding the end times as well as other religion-themed books aimed at a Latter Day Saint audience.

By the end of the 2000s, the Daybells were facing financial problems. At that time, Chad's publishing business provided an annual income of approximately $2,000. Both spouses had to work part-time jobs to supplement that income, with Chad being employed again as a cemetery sexton. Eventually, Chad salvaged his company and found an audience among people concerned by the Second Coming of Jesus, becoming a popular author and speaker in some radical Mormon circles. He published dozens of fiction and non-fiction books, by himself or other authors.

Chad's novels often depicted apocalyptic situations and dystopian futures, and featured characters based on his own family. In a memoir called ''Living on the Edge of Heaven'', he claimed to have had two near-death experiences that allowed him to receive supernatural visions from "beyond the veil." A recurring theme in Chad's writings was a supernatural voice giving instructions and advice to him or to his characters. He commented: "I don't fictionalize any of the events portrayed n my books I'm really not that creative... My torn veil allows information to be downloaded into my brain from the other side. The scenes I am shown are real events that will happen." Chad was also a regular contributor to "Another Voice of Warning" (AVOW), a Mormon paid forum where he would discuss his near-death experiences and thoughts on the future.

Over time, Chad's religious beliefs became increasingly extreme. Jason Gwilliam, the husband of Tammy's sister, later recalled that Chad's views had started changing around 2006 and 2007, as he became "hyper-focused on preparing for end of times." In 2010 or 2011, Chad started claiming he had visions about how the end of the world would occur. In 2013, he began prophesying there would be earthquakes, war, and destruction in the Americas.

During the 2010s, Chad became the publisher of apocalyptic author and self-proclaimed clairvoyant Julie Rowe. She and Chad made similar prophecies about the end times and claims about their own connections to the "spirit world." Both became popular among Mormon "preppers" who believed the end of the world to be imminent and considered regrouping in tent cities to await doomsday. Suzanne Freeman, another author published by Chad, later said that she had stopped working with him in the 2010s over concerns about his radicalization and his deviation from Mormon teachings, becoming convinced that his beliefs were dangerous.

In 2015, Chad claimed he heard the "voice" telling him to relocate to Rexburg, Idaho. He and Tammy moved there from Springville that June. Chad said that he had had a vision that Utah would be devastated by an earthquake in 2015.

Lori Vallow Daybell

Lori Norene Ryan Daybell, also referred to as Lori Vallow Daybell, was born Lori Norene Cox on June 26, 1973, in Loma Linda, California. She grew up in a Mormon family. Her parents were tax protesters who adhered to sovereign citizen ideology and found themselves in a conflict with the IRS for about two decades. In 1992, at the age of 19, Lori married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended in divorce shortly afterwards. In October 1995, Lori married again and had a son named Colby in 1996, before divorcing in 1998. She worked for some time as a hairdresser. In 2004, she was a contestant in the Mrs. Texas beauty pageant, and on Wheel of Fortune.

In 2001, Lori married Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr., who gave his name to Colby. The couple's daughter, Tylee, was born in 2002. Lori and Ryan divorced in 2005, subsequently engaging in a bitter custody battle during which she accused him of sexually assaulting both children. Ryan eventually lost equal custody. Lori's brother Alex Cox attacked Ryan in 2007, claiming he had been abusive to Lori and the children; Cox served ninety days in jail for the incident. In 2020, Colby claimed during an interview that as a child, he had been sexually abused by Ryan.

In 2018, Ryan was found dead in his apartment from what was determined to be arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. After Lori's arrest in 2020, and after a recording surfaced in which she mentioned wanting to kill Ryan "like Nephi killed," police reviewed Ryan's death. Nothing was found to suspect foul play.

In February 2006, Lori married Leland Charles Anthony Vallow, who commonly went by the name Charles. In 2013 the couple adopted Charles' grandnephew, Joshua Jaxon "J.J." Vallow, as the boy's birth parents were unable to care for him. Because of his biological parents' substance abuse, J.J. was born with drugs in his system and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit. As a baby, he was taken care of for nearly a year by his grandparents, Kay (Charles' sister) and Larry Woodcock, before being adopted by Charles. J.J. was eventually diagnosed with autism.

Vallow and Daybell meet

Around 2015, Lori became interested in Chad Daybell's ''Standing in Holy Places'' series of books. Over the next few years she became increasingly invested in radical religious beliefs, reading books about near-death experiences and listening to podcasts by excommunicated Mormons.

In October 2018, together with Melanie Gibb and Zulema Pastenes whom she had recently befriended, Lori attended a "Preparing a People" event where she met Chad for the first time. Gibb and Pastenes both said that Lori had behaved in a very flirtatious manner with Chad at the conference. Chad claimed to Lori that they had been married in multiple previous lifetimes. They started communicating privately afterwards.

After their initial meeting, Lori's husband went on a business trip, giving her the opportunity to hold a small overnight gathering at her home. Chad and Gibb were among the attendees, with Chad captivating Lori and the group by sharing his Mormon-influenced, but unique, beliefs. Lori developed a strong attachment to Chad and his teachings. The two eventually became lovers.

On December 5, 2018, Chad and Lori appeared together on the ''Preparing a People'' podcast episode "Time to Warrior Up." The two were featured in several other episodes.

A religious group formed around Chad and his teachings: He and Lori told their followers that they belonged to the "Church of the Firstborn," of which Chad was the leader. The group included Lori's niece, Melani Boudreaux; Gibb; Cox; and Pastenes, who eventually became Cox's girlfriend and then wife. Gibb and Lori co-hosted a podcast called "Feel the Fire".

Lori and Chad's beliefs

Reincarnation – a concept which is not accepted by the LDS Church – played a key part in Chad's religious views. He claimed to have lived thirty-one previous lives on different planets and that Lori had lived twenty-one separate lives, five of which coincided with his own experiences on Earth. Lori eventually told Gibb that she and Chad were sealed due to their previous marriages in their past lives, despite their respective spouses still being alive. When Gibb suggested that Chad and Lori should divorce their spouses, Lori told her they were "not allowed to" because of information they were receiving "from the other side of the veil."

Chad also claimed to be a reincarnation of James the Less, that Lori had been James' wife under the name "Elena" and that in other past lives Lori had been Mary French, the great-grandmother of Joseph Smith, as well as the wife of the prophet Moroni. According to Chad, past lives were "multiple probations" on Earth. This belief is shared by some Mormon fundamentalist groups who consider that such "probations" are necessary for one to reach exaltation.

Chad categorized people as "light" or "dark" based on his assigning them an affiliation with Jesus Christ or Satan. He and Lori employed a unique "scoring system" for good and evil, assigning every person a rating from "light" to "dark." According to their belief system, "dark" people were possessed by evil spirits. The group often joined in "castings," ceremonies where they would try to cast away evil spirits through prayers and scripture readings. They claimed that in some cases "possessed" people could become "zombies," and that the only way to banish a zombie was to kill the person. Seven women within the group, including Lori and Zulema Pastenes, called themselves the "seven gatherers" and would do "castings" together, sometimes via Zoom.

Chad and Lori also scored people on a "vibration" scale, and deemed those having enough "vibrations" to possess special powers, or to be translated. Their beliefs also included teleportation and "dark and light portals." Chad claimed that he could create such supernatural "portals," which he used to "interact spiritually" with Lori, receive revelations and travel to other realms.

Chad predicted that the world would come to an end on July 22, 2020. He told his followers that he was guided by angels and could see hidden truths, while Lori claimed to have direct communications with God and Jesus. Lori came to believe that she was an "exalted goddess" with visionary powers, and that she and Chad were destined to lead the 144,000 people who would survive when the world ended. Zulema Pastenes later told investigators that Lori believed that, as an exalted being, she couldn't be held responsible for her actions on Earth.

Lindsay Park, executive director of the Sunstone Education Foundation, commented that these beliefs could be categorized as Mormon fundamentalism (though without the polygamy aspects) or "Mormon fanfic," as they took the fundamental tenets of the LDS Church and rewrote them to the extreme. Journalist Leah Sottile, who wrote '' When the Moon Turns to Blood'' about the case, said that Chad and Lori had been active "at the fringes, the far right fringes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and were able to meet due to an "ecosystem of extremism" that exists in those circles.

Murder of Charles Vallow

By February 2019, Lori reportedly informed Charles that "she no longer cared about him or J.J.". She then vanished for 58 days. The same month, Charles filed for divorce, citing threats to his life, as well as the theft of his truck and US$35,000 from their joint bank accounts. According to Charles' filing, Lori had told him that he was possessed by a "dark spirit" called "Ned Schneider", that she was "a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's Second Coming" which would happen in July 2020, and that she would murder him if he got in the way of her mission.

Charles sought a protective order against Lori at the advice of his attorney. He withdrew the petition one month later, saying he wanted to "try to make the marriage work." Nevertheless, Charles had become so worried by Lori's actions that in February 2019, he changed his $1 million life insurance policy so the beneficiary would be his sister Kay rather than his wife. Lori was unaware of this until after Charles' death.

Arizona police detectives later retrieved text messages between Chad, Lori and her brother Alex Cox which referred to Charles as "Ned" or "Hiplos", the names of the "spirit" said to possess him. Lori told members of her religious group that her husband had become a "zombie". Several followers repeatedly joined to pray for Charles' demise.

Having discovered his wife's affair with Chad Daybell, Charles Vallow confronted Lori about it. Eleven days before his death, he sent an email to Tammy Daybell to inform her that their spouses were cheating. Evidence later showed that Tammy had opened and deleted the message, and blocked Charles' email address. On July 1, 2019, Charles informed Lori that he planned to meet Tammy in person. At that point, Lori and Chad were communicating constantly with burner phones.

On July 11, 2019, Charles went to pick up J.J. at Lori's home in Chandler, Arizona early in the morning. Alex Cox was present. An altercation occurred and Cox shot and killed Charles, Tylee told the police that she had grabbed a baseball bat after she heard from her room Charles, Lori and Cox arguing, that Charles had taken the bat away from her, and that she had then run away from the house with J.J. before the shooting. Cox claimed self-defense, alleging that he had retrieved his gun after Charles struck him on the head with the bat. Lori did not call 911; it was later determined that Alex Cox had called it about 45 minutes after Charles was killed. Moments after the shooting, Lori took J.J. to school and stopped on her way at Burger King, then at Walgreens to buy flip-flops.

No charges were pressed. A police detective later testified that Lori's behavior that day had been oddly "nonchalant" and that she seemed unaffected by the situation. Zulema Pastenes said that Cox had told her he did not feel bad because he had killed a "zombie". Investigations later showed that, two days before the shooting, Lori had sent her brother a text message which told him to "be like Nephi". Police interpreted that message as a command to kill a wicked man.

Lori texted Charles' sons from a previous marriage that their father had "passed away", then left them without any further information for three days. Charles' sons had to find on their own the mortuary where their father's body was. They were left to organise a memorial service, which Lori did not attend.

Before Charles' death, his attorneys stated he had been primarily concerned for J.J.'s safety and well-being, as the boy needed a consistent routine due to his special needs. Charles was also concerned for Tylee, but he was unable to include her in the filings as she was not his biological daughter, nor had he filed to legally adopt her.

Days after Charles had been killed, Chad sent Lori a love story in the form of a series of text messages. The story, which investigators called a "romance novel", told the meeting of "James" and "Elena" – the names Chad substituted for himself and Lori – and gave a detailed description of their sexual relationship.

Disappearances of Tylee and J.J.

By the end of August, Lori relocated to Rexburg, Idaho with her children. Alex Cox also moved there. Just before moving to Idaho, Lori sold J.J.'s service dog.

While Lori and her children resided in Rexburg, neighbors noticed J.J.'s erratic behavior as Lori often left him outside without adult supervision for long periods of time. When confronted about this, Lori did not mention that J.J. was autistic but told neighbors that he was "her niece's drug baby".

Tylee was last seen on September 8, 2019, at Yellowstone National Park with her brother J.J., her mother Lori, and her uncle Alex Cox. She was never enrolled at any school in Idaho, even though her mother had claimed she was attending BYU-Idaho.

J.J. last attended Rexburg's Kennedy Elementary School on September 20. On September 22, Melanie Gibb and her boyfriend, David Warwick, were staying at Lori's home. Around 10:30 p.m, Warwick saw Alex Cox take J.J., who was sleeping, upstairs to his bedroom. This was J.J.'s last confirmed sighting. On the next morning, J.J. was absent: Lori told Gibb and Warwick that J.J. had been misbehaving so his uncle Alex had picked him up.

On September 23, J.J. had an unexcused absence from school. The next day, Lori informed Rexburg Elementary School that she would now be homeschooling J.J. In the months that followed her children's disappearances, Lori kept collecting the Social Security Survivor benefits that each received after the death of their respective father.

In October 2019, two Venmo payments were made from Tylee's account to her older half-brother, Colby Ryan, with love-expressing messages attached. When Colby later expressed concern towards Tylee via text, he received responses from her cell phone indicating she was safe but too busy to talk. After repeated calls to Tylee went unanswered, Colby became more worried.

Brandon Boudreaux and Melanie Gibb later said that Lori and Chad were convinced Tylee and J.J. were "possessed" and had become "zombies". Zulema Pastenes testified that Chad had told his followers that J.J. would die soon, only to come back as Colby's son.

The FBI uncovered text messages in which Lori and Chad discussed Tylee and J.J.'s "possession" and mentioned "a perfectly orchestrated plan to take the children". A text exchange between Lori and Alex Cox mentioned "working on Z's", referring to zombies.

Attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux

On October 2, 2019, Brandon Boudreaux, the estranged husband of Lori's niece Melani, was shot at from a Jeep while driving home in Gilbert, Arizona. The bullet missed Boudreaux's head by inches. Boudreaux, who had been close to Charles and Lori Vallow's family, recognized the Jeep as a vehicle used by Tylee Ryan. The Jeep drove away, but Boudreaux could give its license plate number to the police who identified it as being registered to Charles Vallow.

Melani had become very involved with her aunt's religious activities during 2018 and had insisted that she and her husband buy food stockpiles for the end of the world. During the summer of 2019, she had demanded a divorce, which was not yet finalized when Boudreaux was shot at. Boudreaux said that he had been blindsided by the divorce request, which he blamed on Melani's involvement in her aunt's "cult".

Boudreaux, who suspected Lori and her brother Alex because of Charles' killing, hired a private investigator. After it became known that Tylee and J.J. were missing, Boudreaux was convinced that Charles' death, the children's disappearance and the attempt on his life were all connected to Lori's religious group. He suspected that the murder attempt against him was motivated by his life insurance policy.

In February 2020, Boudreaux filed a court document claiming that the attempt on his life was motivated by insurance money, that the gunman was probably Lori's recently deceased brother Alex Cox, and that Melani was likely aware of Tylee and J.J.'s whereabouts. Melani denied any knowledge of what had happened to the children.

By tracking Alex Cox's cell phone data, investigators later found that Cox had searched on the Internet for directions to Boudreaux's address and had been present near Boudreaux's home during the hours before the shooting. He had also searched "how to load ammunition", "ballistic trajectory calculators" and, after the shooting, "man shot in Gilbert". On the day of the shooting, Cox and Lori had communicated several times. Later on, Lori had also made Internet searches about a shooting in Gilbert, Arizona.

Murder of Tammy Daybell

In February 2019, Chad told his neighbors, Todd and Alice Gilbert, that he had had a vision that Tammy would pass away before her 50th birthday.

On October 9, 2019, Tammy reported being shot at in her driveway by a masked man with what she thought was a paintball gun. The man pulled the trigger several times, but the gun was apparently unloaded. Police believed this to be a prank and could not identify the man.

Ten days later, Tammy was found dead in her home, apparently from natural causes. Chad claimed that she had retired the previous night "with a terrible cough" and died in her sleep. He said that Tammy had been experiencing low blood pressure, seizures, and negative reactions with homeopathic medicines, though nothing in her medical records supported this.

Tammy's funeral was organized in Utah three days after her death. Alice Gilbert later said she had been surprised that the funeral came so soon, and felt like it had been "planned". The Gilberts also testified that, unlike his children, Chad did not seem devastated and had acted in a "businesslike" manner. Chad's sister-in-law, Heather Daybell, said that Chad's behavior at Tammy's funeral did not ring true and that he "just didn't seem upset". Jason Gwilliam said that he felt Chad was "not crying but trying to cry." During the service, Chad mentioned in his talk that Tammy suffered from depression, commented that she was not easy to live with and called her "lazy".

According to police reports, Chad Daybell received life insurance payouts after Tammy's death totaling .

Tammy's body was not autopsied initially due to Chad's refusal and the coroner's acceptance of his decision. However, after Tammy's body was exhumed and autopsied, it was determined that she had been asphyxiated by someone else. The autopsy results, completed by February 2021, were not publicly revealed until April 2023 during Lori's trial.

Investigators later uncovered text messages between Chad and Lori, claiming that Tammy was in "limbo" and possessed by a spirit named "Viola". At some point, Chad and Lori told their followers that Tammy had become a "zombie".

Alex Cox's phone was located near the Daybells' residence on October 9, four hours before Tammy was shot at. It pinged again in the same area ten days later, on the night Tammy died. Police found at Cox's home an AR-15 that resembled the description Tammy had made of the supposed paintball gun. Cox had made several Internet searches about the use of an AR-15 and on how a Grendel round would impact a Dodge Dakota, which was the car the Daybells owned. Prosecutors later said the "paintball gun" spotted by Tammy on October 9 was a real gun, that may have jammed or misfired, and that the shooter was probably Alex Cox. Zulema Pastenes testified that she had been with Lori and her niece Melani to do a "casting" on the night Tammy was attacked in her driveway. At some point during that night, Lori talked with someone on the phone and became very angry, calling the other person "idiot, moron, stupid". After hanging up, she commented: "idiot can't do anything by himself".

Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow’s marriage and flight

Chad introduced Lori to his children the day after Tammy's funeral. One week after Tammy's death, he also told Todd and Alice Gilbert that he had found the woman he would marry. Days later, Chad brought Lori to meet the Gilberts. Alice Gilbert described the situation as "awkward", with Chad and Lori laughing and giggling, and being very affectionate to each other, more than Gilbert had seen Chad be with Tammy. Chad also mentioned that Lori "recently had a daughter who had passed away".

Chad told Tammy's sister, Samantha Gwilliam, that Tammy's spirit had appeared to him at the cemetery and advised him to "move on". He also told Samantha that he and Lori had bonded over their recently dead spouses and that Lori had no children, so they would be "empty nesters".

Chad and Lori were married in Hawaii on November 5, 2019, two weeks after the death of Tammy, and two months after Tylee and J.J. (not yet known to be missing) were murdered. Apart from his children, Chad did not inform his family beforehand. Chad's mother discovered that he and Lori were married upon meeting Lori.

Investigators later found in Lori's internet history that she had ordered a pair of wedding rings in August 2019, several months before Tammy's death, and that she had searched for wedding dresses on the day of Tammy's burial.

On November 26, police visited Lori's townhouse in Rexburg for a welfare check on J.J. at the request of his grandmother, Kay Woodcock. A police detective initially found Chad and Alex Cox at Lori's home. Both men acted suspiciously, with Alex Cox (not knowing that it was Kay who had requested the welfare check) claiming that J.J. was with his grandmother and Chad (whom the detective knew was married to Lori) saying that he was a friend of Alex and that he "hardly knew" Lori. Police later reached Lori, who claimed that J.J. was in Arizona with her friend Melanie Gibb. However, when contacted by police, Gibb stated that J.J. had not been with her for several months. That night, a neighbor observed Lori and Alex Cox packing a truck outside her home. The following day, when the police and FBI arrived to search the house, it was abandoned. Chad's home was also searched by investigators.

Lori and Chad returned to Hawaii, where they resided in a gated community in Princeville on the island of Kauai, living off the money Chad had received from Tammy's life insurance. While searching for a home in Hawaii, Chad had written in an application that the couple had no children.

Investigations and media coverage

Prosecutors in Idaho became involved in the case when police requested a warrant for locating the Jeep from which Brandon Boudreaux had been shot at in Arizona. On December 6, 2019, Melanie Gibb contacted the police, revealing that both Lori and Chad had called her separately on November 26 and had asked her to tell police that J.J. was with her. Police efforts to locate J.J. led to the discovery that Tylee was also missing. A connection was made between the investigations in Idaho and those in Arizona. Law enforcement agencies intensified their inquiries about the children's whereabouts, as well as Chad and Lori's departure from Idaho. It was also decided to further investigate Tammy's death: her body was exhumed for an autopsy on December 11.

On December 20, the Rexburg Police Department announced that the children were officially missing and asked the public's assistance in locating them. Investigators expressed concern for the children's safety, asserting that they were not with Chad and Lori and that Lori had refused to cooperate with the investigation, opting to leave the state with Chad instead. Police also announced that the children's disappearance could be linked to Tammy Daybell's "suspicious death". The next day, police said Lori and Chad were "persons of interest".

The case soon received national coverage, with family and friends describing Chad and Lori's "cult-like" beliefs in interviews and on social media posts. On December 23, 2019, the Daybells released statements through a Rexburg attorney, who said that "Chad Daybell was a loving husband and he has the support of his children in this matter", adding that Lori was a "devoted mother" who "resents assertions to the contrary" and that the "allegations" would be addressed "once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor".

Colby Ryan, J.J.'s grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock, and Chad's brother, Matt Daybell, issued messages asking Lori and Chad to return the children. On January 7, 2020, the Woodcocks held a press conference in Rexburg offering a $20,000 reward for the children's return or for any information leading to them.

On January 25, 2020, after Lori and Chad were located in Kauai, law enforcement agents served them with a court order requiring Lori to "physically produce" within five days Tylee and J.J. to the Idaho Department of Welfare or to the Rexburg Police Department. The next day, police seized the couple's rental car and searched their rental townhome in Princeville, where they found Tylee's debit card and J.J.'s iPad. Also on January 26, the Daybells were confronted over the children's disappearance by East Idaho News reporter Nate Eaton: they refused to answer questions.

In February 2020, authorities focused on a storage locker in Rexburg that had been rented by Lori in October 2019. They discovered belongings linked to Tylee and J.J., including clothing, bikes, and photographs. These items had been left behind when Lori abruptly left Rexburg in late November 2019. Video footage captured Lori and Alex Cox moving items to and from the locker before her departure.

Death of Alex Cox

On November 24, 2019, Chad Daybell gave Alex Cox a "patriarchal blessing", which he had no standing to give in the LDS Church, saying that Alex had assisted him and Lori "in ways that can never be repaid". Chad called Alex a prophet and a hero and predicted he would have a future as a "messenger of the Lord". The recording of this "blessing" was later found by investigators on Lori's iCloud account.

Alex Cox died on December 12, 2019. His death was attributed to blood clots and high blood pressure.

The day before his death, Cox had been informed by Lori and Chad that Tammy Daybell's body was going to be exhumed. Zulema Pastenes later testified that Cox had told her he was worried about being Lori and Chad's "fall guy".

Arrests and criminal charges

Lori's arrest

On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested in Hawaii by the Kauai Police Department. On March 5, she was extradited back to Idaho.

Lori faced charges in Madison County, Idaho, including two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, as well as three misdemeanors. Her bail was initially set at $5 million, but was later lowered to $1 million after her extradition to Idaho. In May, Lori appeared in court in Rexburg to request a further reduction of her bail, which was denied. Multiple local bond companies were reportedly unwilling to work with her.

After Lori's arrest, Chad returned to Idaho. He tried to convince the Gilberts to put their home up for bond to get Lori out of prison, claiming that Jesus had given him this idea. When Alice Gilbert asked him about the children and confronted him on what he had said about Lori's daughter being dead, Chad answered that it was a custody issue. He added at some point that Tylee "didn't like people" and did not like him, using the past tense.

Discovery of the children's remains and Chad's arrest

On June 9, police found human remains buried in unmarked graves in the backyard of Chad's home during a search of the premises. Tylee's remains were located in an area the Daybell family called the pet cemetery, as it had been used to bury their cats and dogs. J.J.'s remains were located in a separate area of the property near a pond. As the property was being searched, Chad phoned Lori in jail to warn her about the situation. After police found and began to unearth the bodies, he tried to drive off from the scene, but was chased down and apprehended. He was arrested for obstruction or concealment of evidence. The next day, his bail was set at $1 million.

Authorities had decided to search Daybell's property after tracking Alex Cox's cell phone. On September 9, 2019, the day after Tylee's last verifiable sighting, Cox's phone had pinged in the middle of the night at Lori's home, then in the morning at Daybell's home. In the morning of September 23, the day after J.J. was last seen, Cox's phone had again pinged at Daybell's property. The FBI also intercepted a September 9 text conversation between Chad Daybell and his wife: Chad told Tammy he had shot a large raccoon after finding it in their backyard that morning, and buried it in their "pet cemetery". Investigators found that suspicious, as raccoons are normally nocturnal animals.

On June 10, the Woodcock and Ryan families confirmed that the human remains found on Chad's property were those of Tylee and J.J. This finding was officially confirmed by Rexburg police three days later. Tylee's body was burned; her hands had been cut off and her bones were fractured in several places, from which forensic examiners deduced that someone had attempted to dismember her. J.J.'s body was wrapped in plastic; unlike Tylee, he had been buried with great care, under rocks and wooden planks.

It was determined that J.J. had been asphyxiated with a plastic bag and duct tape over his mouth. Due to the state of her remains, Tylee's cause of death could not be determined and was ruled a "homicide by unspecified means". Tylee's DNA was found on a pickaxe and a shovel seized at Chad's home. Alex Cox's fingerprints and Lori's hair were found on the plastic and duct tape on J.J.'s remains.

In August, Chad Daybell was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the basis of his religious teachings, which the media has later described as a "doomsday cult".

Charges

On July 2, 2020, prosecutors dropped two charges against Lori related to desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, and instead charged her with obstruction or concealment of evidence regarding her children's remains.

On July 17, in light of the two felony counts against Lori having been dropped, her bond was lowered by Madison County judge Michelle Mallard. The bond was set at $50,000 for each charge, totaling $150,000. It was further noted that Chad would still need to post $1 million in Fremont County to be released from jail.

On May 25, 2021, Chad and Lori were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the deaths of Tylee, J.J. and Tammy, as well as grand theft by deception regarding the children. Lori was also charged with grand theft related to her children's Social Security Survivor benefits. Chad faced an insurance fraud charge related to Tammy's life insurance policy.

In June 2021, Lori was indicted by a grand jury in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the death of Charles Vallow. Police documents read:

the evidence shows that Charles' death was a planned event and necessary to prevent Charles and others from confronting Lori about her extreme religious beliefs when he came to town... The death of Charles Vallow was also necessary in order for Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow to marry and fulfill their religious prophecy.

In July 2021, prosecutors in Maricopa County decided not to prosecute Chad Daybell in connection with the death of Charles Vallow, citing "no reasonable likelihood of conviction".

In September 2021, Chad Daybell's children issued a statement defending their father's innocence and claiming he had been "fooled in the worst, most deadly way possible" by Lori Vallow.

In 2022, Lori was indicted by a grand jury on one count of first-degree premeditated murder related to claims that she conspired with her brother to kill Brandon Boudreaux. Prosecutors said that Lori hoped to access Boudreaux's money through her niece.

Trials

Lori and Chad's trials in Idaho

A jury trial for the Madison County charges against Lori was initially set for January 25–29, 2021. On May 27, 2021, Lori was found incompetent and unfit to stand trial, and her case was stayed. In December 2021, Lori's attorney Mark Means was disqualified from the case because his representation of both Lori and Chad created a conflict. On April 11, 2022, Lori was deemed competent to stand trial after mental health treatment. On October 6, 2022, after Lori's new defense team filed several motions, Judge Steven W. Boyce issued an order indicating the case was suspended until her competency to stand trial could be determined. On November 16, she was once again found competent.

Lori and Chad both pleaded not guilty to all charges in Idaho. Their cases were split in March 2023, at Chad's request. The reasons were that Chad had waived his right to a speedy trial and his attorneys said they needed more time to review DNA evidence. Chad's attorneys also cited the "mutually antagonistic nature of the defendants' positions". Since Lori had not waived her right to a swift trial, the court ruled that her case would proceed as planned.

Lori (2023)

On March 21, 2023, the judge removed the death penalty from Lori due to newly uncovered DNA evidence, discovered too close to the trial to be tested and admitted into court.

Lori's trial began on April 3, 2023, in the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. She did not testify in her own defense. Her lawyers did not call any witnesses, while the prosecution called about 60 people to testify. On April 15, pictures of the children's corpses were shown to jurors and audience. Lori asked to be excused from court that day; this was denied, as the defendant in a felony case must be present at all significant proceedings.

Melanie Gibb, Audrey Barattiero (another former friend of Lori who had also participated in her religious group) and Ian Pawlowski (the husband of Lori's niece Melani) testified about Lori's beliefs and her claims that she could cast out Satan and other evil spirits. Barattiero said that when she grew uncomfortable about Lori's beliefs and decided to dissolve their friendship, Lori threatened to murder her and dispose of her body in trash bags.

In the light of the evidence that pointed to Alex Cox's direct involvement in the murders, prosecutors stated that Lori Vallow Daybell had "groomed" and "manipulated" her brother to participate in her crimes. Lori's sister Summer Shiflet testified that Alex had suffered brain damage in a car accident and that his decision-making was "stuck at a teenage level". Zulema Pastenes said that Alex was entirely under the influence of Chad and Lori, who had convinced him that he was a reincarnated warrior of God and that "the only reason he had come to Earth was to protect Lori".

During the closing arguments, Lori's attorney Jim Archibald depicted her as being under Chad Daybell's psychological control. Prosecutor Rob Wood summed up the evidence that showed Lori had participated to the conspiracy to commit all three murders and reminded how Lori had never reported that her children were missing and had lied to multiple people about their whereabouts.

On May 12, 2023, Lori was found guilty of all criminal charges. On July 31, 2023, she received three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for, respectively, the murder of Tylee, the murder of J.J., and the conspiracy to commit murder charge of Tammy, in addition to fines and restitution for the grand theft charges.

Judge Boyce said that Lori had murdered her children to "remove them as obstacles and to profit financially", by choosing "the most evil and destructive path possible" and going down "a bizarre, religious rabbit hole" to justify their killings.

Before her sentencing, Lori made her first public statement since her arrest. She said that she had been speaking to Jesus, as well as to her children and to Tammy, and that Tylee, J.J. and Tammy were "happy and extremely busy" in heaven. She also stated: "Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen, suicides happen, fatal side effects from medications happen."

An alternate juror during Lori's trial described Lori as "a monster" after seeing graphic photos of Tylee and J.J. as well as Lori and Chad's Hawaii wedding photos after them murdering the children.

Chad (2024)

On November 9, 2023, Chad's legal team filed three motions to remove the death penalty in his murder trial. The final motion stated that Lori had "manipulated" Chad "through emotional and sexual control" and that Chad had "lesser culpability than his co-defendant, who did not face the death penalty". The motions were denied in December.

Chad Daybell's trial opened on April 10, 2024. In his opening statement, prosecutor Wood depicted him as a man motivated by "sex, money and power" and craving for significance, who saw his spouse and Lori's children as obstacles to his rightful destiny. Chad's attorney John Prior painted him as a religious man who had been "lured" into adultery by Lori Vallow: his statement also focused on Alex Cox's history of violence and his role as "Lori's protector".

On May 16, Chad's defense team filed a motion for acquittal after it appeared that an amended indictment had incorrectly listed J.J. Vallow's death as having occurred between September 8–9, 2019, instead of September 22–23. Judge Boyce ruled that this clerical error was not ground for acquittal.

Two of Chad's children, Emma and Garth, testified in their father's defense and said their mother had been experiencing health problems and "was getting tired extremely easily". On the contrary, three former colleagues of Tammy Daybell said that she seemed healthy and energetic up until the day before her death. Tammy's sister also testified that Tammy had seemed fine when she visited her on October 14, 2019.

Chad did not take the stand. During the closing arguments, prosecutor Lindsey Blake summarized the evidence that pointed to Chad's crucial role in coordinating and giving a religious justification to the murders. Prior painted Lori and Alex Cox as the true culprits, stating that Lori had been motivated by greed, that she had manipulated Chad all along and that Chad would likely have been her next victim.

On May 30, 2024, the jury found Chad Daybell guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of Tammy, Tylee and J.J. He was also found guilty of grand theft by deception related to the children's killing and of insurance fraud related to Tammy's. It was confirmed that the prosecution would seek the death penalty for Chad.

At his sentencing hearing, Chad chose not to present any mitigation evidence. On June 1, 2024, he was sentenced to death. For the insurance fraud charges, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, each to run concurrent to death and to the restitution of $130,000 plus $300,000. Since Chad had been deemed indigent, no fines were added to the insurance fraud sentence.

Tammy Daybell's extended family, Matt and Heather Daybell, as well as the Boudreaux, Cox and Shiflet families issued statements expressing their relief at the end of the Idaho trials and their thoughts for the victims. Chad was put on death row at Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

On June 5, 2024, Chad's attorneys filed notice of appeal to Idaho Supreme Court asking them to review verdict and death penalty sentence.

Lori's trials in Arizona (2025)

In November 2023, Lori was extradited to Arizona to face her two conspiracy charges there. She pleaded not guilty to both. In February 2024, her trial was scheduled to begin on August 1 of the same year, though the judge mentioned that it might be moved at a later date due to the amount of evidence to process. In June, Lori's defense team in Arizona filed a motion requesting a delay for the trial. Lori objected and continued to assert her right to a speedy trial. On July 2, the lawyers' request was granted and the trial date was moved to February 24, 2025.

In October 2024, Colby Ryan posted on his YouTube channel the recording of a telephone conversation he had had with his mother from her prison. During their exchange, Lori claimed that she received "higher knowledge" directly from Jesus and was on a "divine mission", said that Tylee and J.J. had visited her in spirit, and suggested that Tylee had accidentally killed J.J. and then taken her own life in remorse. Colby commented that his mother was "beyond deceived".

Also in October 2024, Lori's attorneys made a request for a competency hearing. One week later, she requested to waive her right to counsel and act as her own attorney. At a December 5, 2024 hearing, Lori was deemed by a doctor to be mentally fit and competent to stand trial. Judge Justin Beresky also granted Lori's request to represent herself. Lori said at the hearing that she had "real trial experience" and had been studying case law since her incarceration.

The court decided that the Charles Vallow case and the Brandon Boudreaux case would be tried separately. The judge moved again the trial date for the Charles Vallow conspiracy case, this time to March 31, 2025. Her trial over the murder attempt on Brandon Boudreaux was eventually scheduled to begin in late May.

On March 7, 2025, ''Dateline NBC'' aired Lori's first-ever media interview. During a "combative" exchange with Keith Morrison, she maintained her innocence, tried again to pin J.J.'s death on Tylee and claimed that Jesus had shown her that she and Chad would be "exonerated" and released from prison in the future. She told Morrison that she might go on ''Dancing with the Stars'' after her release.

In both Arizona trials, members of the jury had to be unaware of Lori and her previous convictions.

Charles Vallow case

Lori's trial over Charles' death began on March 31 with jury selection. Lori told jurors that their role was to "protect" her from the state.

On April 7, during her opening statement, Lori maintained that Alex Cox had shot Charles in self-defense and announced that she would provide proof of this. She used the phrase "The evidence will show..." over 70 times during her statement. The prosecution said that Lori had conspired to murder Charles so she could access his life insurance policy and marry Chad, that Cox had staged the home to make it look like Charles had attacked him and Lori, and that there was no evidence Cox had been hit with a baseball bat like he claimed.

Lori subpoenaed several witnesses, but two were stricken by the court and others couldn't be located or served. At one point, Lori "agressively" cross-examined a witness who had gone on a date with Charles the day before he was killed: Lori asked the woman if she went on dates with married men. Adam Cox, Lori's surviving brother, testified for the prosecution, saying that he had "no doubt" Lori had conspired with Alex to murder Charles. When Charles was killed, he and Adam had been planning to confront Lori together about her beliefs. Kay Woodcock testified on how her brother Charles had been concerned for his safety. Charles had been hit by two bullets: evidence showed that he was lying on the floor when he was shot the second time.

Lori ultimately did not call any witnesses or present evidence, nor did she testify in her own defense. She made a verbal motion for a Rule 20 Judgment of Acquittal, arguing that no evidence had been presented that would allow a jury to find her guilty. The judge denied her motion. In her closing argument, Lori reiterated that Charles had been killed in self-defense and told the jurors: "Don’t let them turn my family tragedy into a crime."

On April 22, 2025, Lori was found guilty of conspiring to murder Charles. After the verdict, she agreed to several aggravating factors. One of the jurors told reporters that Lori hadn't done herself any favors by choosing to represent herself in court: "Many days she was just smiling and laughing and didn’t seem to take anything very seriously". When asked by reporters if she had a message for Lori, Kay Woodcock said: "We gotcha, and you're not the smartest person in the room. Everybody's going to forget about you."

On May 1, Lori filed a motion demanding a new trial for the Charles Vallow murder case, claiming that a juror had been aware of her prior murder convictions. She also claimed there had been discovery violations, prosecutorial misconduct and a lack of impartiality by the court, and that her rights had been violated under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Her motion was denied on May 23.

Brandon Boudreaux case

After Lori was found guilty of conspiring to murder Charles Vallow, Maricopa County attorney Rachel Mitchell confirmed that despite Lori's multiples convictions, she fully intended to prosecute her for the murder attempt on Brandon Boudreaux, as it was important for Boudreaux "to be able to have his story vindicated".

Lori filed a motion to cancel her trial in the Brandon Boudreaux case, claiming that her constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. The judge rejected that motion on May 9. During the hearing, Lori argued with Judge Beresky over jury selection and witnesses and, after her motion was denied, demanded that the judge recuse himself, claiming that he demonstrated bias against her by rejecting all her motions. The judge answered that he would grant a motion by Lori if she filed one that had legal merit. On May 28, Lori filed a motion for the judge to recuse himself, alleging "personal bias or prejudice" and religious discrimination against her. Her motion was denied the next day. She filed three motions for recusal against Judge Beresky during the proceedings.

The trial began on May 29 with jury selection. On May 30, jury selection had to be halted after Lori said she was feeling sick. On June 2, Lori appeared in court in a wheelchair, saying she was suffering from nausea, chills and headache, and crying loudly. The trial was postponed for two days. On June 4, Lori appeared again in court, not using a wheelchair but insisting that she was still sick. The judge said that based on an examination that showed Lori had no medical condition preventing her from appearing, the trial would proceed.

During her opening statement, on June 5, Lori claimed her innocence, disputing that the event was not a crime at all or that a shooting had actually occurred. She discussed the meaning of the word 'conspiracy' by comparing her own case to Judas conspiring against Jesus and Cain against Abel, also saying that she had no malice towards anyone and was "all about spreading love".

Brandon Boudreaux took the stand, telling how he felt Lori had contributed to the breakup of his marriage, and recounting the moment he was shot. Prosecutor Treena Kay showed the evidence, including cellphone location data, that pointed to Lori's involvement in the preparations for the murder. On June 6, Lori cross-examined Boudreaux and the private investigator he had hired after being shot. She cast suspicion on her niece Melani by asking if she had a financial gain at Boudreaux's death. The prosecutor mentioned that Melani was under investigation. Of the few people who knew Boudreaux's new address in Gilbert, only his estranged then-wife had connections with Lori and Alex Cox.

Also on June 6, Lori was briefly removed from the courtroom after failing to comply with the court's instructions and disregarding sustained objections. The judge threatened to revoke her self-representation. On June 9, Lori filed a motion to recuse Chief Judge Jennifer Green, who had denied her multiple motions to recuse Judge Beresky. She also filed a motion to "dismiss abuse of discretion". Both were denied.

The Jeep's rear tire had been removed to allow the shootist to aim at Boudreaux. The prosecution showed video footage of Lori, Alex and Chad putting a tire into the storage locker that Lori rented in Rexburg.

Once again, Lori did not testity in her defense or call witnesses. She instead tried to cast doubt on nearly every piece of evidence, also suggesting that data could have been tampered with. In a tearful closing argument, she said that there was no evidence against her, that she was the victim of a vendetta by Boudreaux who blamed her for the failure of his marriage and had been working for six years with law enforcement to get to her, and that it was time for healing. The prosecution summed up the evidence of a conspiracy between Lori, Chad, Alex and Melani. Lori again asked to be acquitted outside the presence of the jury, claiming that the presented evidence was insufficient to prove her guilt. The judge ruled against her, considering that the prosecution had presented a compelling case.

On June 12, Lori was found guilty of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, after the jury had deliberated for less than 30 minutes. Brandon Boudreaux, standing with Kay Woodcock and Colby Ryan, stated that though facing Lori at the trial had been difficult for him, he had owed it to Charles, Tylee, J.J. and Tammy to speak, "because ecould".

Lori is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25 in both Arizona cases.

Depictions in the media

In 2020, Investigation Discovery released the three-episode documentary series entitled ''Doomsday: The Missing Children'', which contained first-hand accounts of J.J.'s grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock, Lori's brother Adam Cox, and former KPHO-TV reporter Kim Powell.

In 2021, Lifetime Movie Network released a dramatization of the Lori Vallow story as a made-for-TV movie titled ''Doomsday Mom'', also marketed as ''Doomsday Mom: The Lori Vallow Story'', starring Lauren Lee Smith as Lori Vallow, Marc Blucas as Chad Daybell, Linda Purl as Kay Woodcock, and Patrick Duffy as Larry Woodcock.

In 2022, Netflix released the three-episode documentary series entitled ''Sins of Our Mother'', mostly centered from the perspective of her surviving child and Tylee's older brother, Colby Ryan.

The story of the case was the subject of the 2022 book '' When the Moon Turns to Blood'' by investigative journalist Leah Sottile.

See also

* Apocalyptic beliefs among Latter-day Saints
* Predictions and claims for the Second Coming
* List of murdered American children
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
* List of serial killers in the United States
* Capital punishment in Idaho

Notes

References

External links

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