Lori Vallow Daybell, often referred to as the “cult mom,” received two additional life sentences in an Arizona court on Friday. These sentences were for her role in plotting the deaths of her fourth husband and her niece’s former spouse.
Judge Justin Beresky delivered a stern message, stating, “You’ve shattered lives, you’ve undermined trust, you’ve sowed fear in the hearts of many.” He ordered these new sentences to be served consecutively, along with the three life sentences already imposed in Idaho for the killings of two of her children and her fifth husband’s first wife, as reported by NBC News.
Earlier this year, Vallow Daybell, who chose to represent herself in Arizona, was found guilty in two trials of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, in the murders of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, and an unsuccessful attempt on Brandon Boudreaux’s life. Boudreaux survived the 2019 attack, while Charles Vallow did not.
Cox is also believed to have been involved in the deaths of 7-year-old JJ Vallow — the son of Vallow’s nephew, adopted by the Vallows because his parents could not take care of him — and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — the daughter of Vallow Daybell and her third husband. But Cox died months after those deaths, supposedly of natural causes.
JJ and Tylee vanished around September 2019, two months after Cox gunned down Charles Vallow, claiming it was self defense. As a search for the children began, Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s wife, died mysteriously. Then Chad and Lori disappeared, later found to be in Hawaii, where they married.
The children’s bodies were found nearly a year later on property owned by Daybell, and the doomsday couple were charged.
Vallow Daybell and Daybell, her fifth husband, were convicted in separate trials in the children’s deaths and that of Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s first wife. While Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison, her fifth husband received the death penalty.
Multiple family members delivered emotional victim impact statements during Friday’s sentencing hearing. Kay Woodcock, Charles Vallow’s sister and JJ Vallow’s biological grandmother, told the convicted killer that she is “a manipulator, a parasite and a coward,” while Woodcock’s husband, Larry Woodcock, yelled at Vallow Daybell, the BBC reported.
“You murdered Charles, the best thing that’s ever happened in your life, for your delusional, narcissistic ways,” he said. “I will never speak your name again, murderess. You are nothing.”
Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s only surviving child, also spoke, according to NBC.
“Not only are my father, sister, and brother gone, but so is my mother,” said Ryan, the son of Vallow Daybell’s second husband who considered Charles Vallow his father.
Boudreaux, the only survivor of the murderous saga, cried as he spoke, explaining how he had battled depression and paranoia since the attempt on his life.
“Had this heinous crime succeeded, my children would have been left to face a lifetime of grief,” he said, adding that he forgives Vallow Daybell “so I can be a better father … better husband … better son and brother.”
