Jury begins deliberating in Lori Vallow Daybell's trial on charge she conspired to kill her husband
Share this @internewscast.com


PHOENIX (AP) Jurors have begun deliberating in the Arizona trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho woman with doomsday religious beliefs charged with conspiring to murder her estranged husband in suburban Phoenix.

The jury convened for a short time Monday afternoon and will resume deliberations Tuesday.

Throughout the trial that began two weeks ago, jurors heard vastly different versions of Charles Vallow’s death at Vallow Daybell’s home in 2019.

Prosecutors argued that Vallow Daybell and her brother, Alex Cox, had planned to kill Vallow so she could collect money from his life insurance policy and marry her then-boyfriend, Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.

“What we see is a very planned out, premeditated murder,” prosecutor Treena Kay told the jury Monday in her closing argument.

Vallow Daybell isn’t a lawyer but chose to defend herself. She didn’t call any witnesses or put on any evidence in her defense, but said in her opening statement and again Monday in her closing argument that her estranged husband’s death wasn’t a crime.

“This was a tragedy,” she said Monday. “Don’t let them turn my family tragedy into a crime.”

Vallow Daybell is already serving three consecutive life sentences without parole for killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival in Idaho.

In the Arizona case, she has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she could face another life sentence.

Cox had said he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Vallow. Cox died five months later from what medical examiners said was a blood clot in his lungs, and his account was later called into question.

Vallow Daybell said at the start of the trial that Vallow had chased her with a bat during the encounter and her brother shot him in self-defense after she left the house.

Cox waited 47 minutes before calling 911 “to stage the scene” and leave a bat near Vallow’s head, Kay said.

Before the jury began deliberating, prosecutors played a recorded conversation between Vallow Daybell and the life insurance company. Vallow Daybell believed she was the beneficiary of her husband’s $1 million policy, Kay said.

In the recording, she is heard saying that Vallow had been shot and that “it was an accident.”

Vallow Daybell kept glancing at the jury during the prosecution’s closing argument.

Last week, Adam Cox, another brother of Vallow Daybell, testified on behalf of the prosecution, telling jurors that he had no doubt his siblings were behind Vallow’s death.

Adam Cox said Vallow’s killing occurred just before he and Vallow were planning an intervention to bring Vallow Daybell back into the mainstream of their shared faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He testified that before Vallow’s death, his sister had told people her husband was no longer living and that a zombie was living inside his body.

Four months before he died, Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Vallow Daybell, saying she had become infatuated with near-death experiences and had claimed to have lived numerous lives on other planets. He alleged she threatened to ruin him financially and kill him. He sought a voluntary mental health evaluation of his wife.

The trial over Vallow’s death marks the first of two criminal trials in Arizona for Vallow Daybell. She’s scheduled to go on trial again in early June on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Israel Recovers Bodies of Three Hostages from Gaza

TEL AVIV – The Israeli Defense Forces have retrieved the bodies of…

Is $15 an Hour Sufficient? Data Shows It’s Enough for DINKs in These States

(NEXSTAR) — The federal minimum wage in the U.S. has remained at…

Changing College Basketball Landscape Alters High School Players’ Journeys

In Savannah, Georgia, prominent high school basketball players are exploring new paths…

The US Launches Strikes on Three Iranian Nuclear Facilities, Engages in Conflict

On Saturday, President Trump revealed that the United States had conducted bombings…

Help Restore Nolichucky: Join the Effort to Support Our National Forest

ERWIN, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Nolichucky Restoration Project was hard at work…

Residents of Brandon Wilde Celebrate the Summer Solstice

EVANS, Ga. – Families at Brandon Wilde Senior Living observed the summer…

Legislators Worry About Possible Funding Reductions for Rural Hospitals in New Budget Proposal

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties express…

Weather Update: Intense Heat Persists Throughout the Week

The forecast indicates yet another sweltering and muggy day, with temperatures soaring…

Possible Israeli Responses to U.S. Attacks on Iran

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site…

Parrot Known for “Samuel L. Jackson” Style Language Available for Adoption

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — A “loud and explicit” parrot has been…

Historic Georgia Girl Scouts Welcome Troops Nationwide for a Special Bridging Ceremony

SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Girl Scouts from all over the United States…

Virginia Woman Arrested in Connection with Hit-and-Run Death of Netflix Star

A Virginia woman was brought before the court on Saturday due to…