An Arizona jury took just 30 minutes on Thursday to reach a verdict, finding Lori Vallow Daybell guilty of plotting to murder her niece’s ex-husband in 2019.
This marks the third occasion where the so-called “cult mom” has been convicted of grave offenses by a jury. Earlier, an Idaho jury found her guilty in connection with the deaths of her two children and her fifth husband’s first wife. Additionally, just last month, another Arizona jury convicted her of conspiring to murder her fourth husband.
For the deaths of 7-year-old JJ Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell, she received a sentence of three life terms in prison. Her sentencing for the two Arizona conspiracy convictions is scheduled for July 25.
Vallow Daybell represented herself in both Arizona trials but presented no evidence or witnesses in either case. She was accused of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, in the murder of Charles Vallow and the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux. Both cases were part of the convoluted story that began when relatives began asking about the whereabouts of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan in 2019.
The children were found dead in June 2020, buried on property owned by Chad Daybell, Vallow Daybell’s fifth husband who was also convicted in their murders and that of his first wife, Tammy Daybell. Alex Cox was also involved somehow in those cases, but he died, supposedly of natural causes, in late 2019 and was never questioned.
Alex Cox did shoot Charles Vallow to death that summer and claimed self-defense. But investigators looking into the disappearance of the children began to question that narrative after Vallow Daybell and Daybell fled to Hawaii and married in the midst of the investigation.
A bullet believed to have been fired by Cox shattered Boudreaux’s car window in October 2019 and narrowly missed his head. Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell believed Boudreaux had gotten into her computer and conspired with Cox to kill him, KTVK reported.
The trial lasted about a week, with closing arguments and jury instructions made on Wednesday. The jury returned Thursday morning for the ever so brief deliberations.
As she did in the previous Arizona case, Vallow Daybell waived her right to an aggravation hearing and stipulated that the crime of which she was convicted was a dangerous one. the Arizona Republic said.
Prosecutor Treena Kay presented cell phone data and video footage that put Cox at the scene of the the Boudreaux shooting — driving Vallow Daybell’s Jeep. Vallow Daybell, she said, even provided an alibi.
“She is responsible. She is a co-conspirator. She is assisting. She is promoting this crime,” Kay said during her closing argument.
Boudreaux spoke outside the courthouse after the verdict, alongside Charles Vallow’s sister, Kay Woodcock, and Vallow Daybell’s surviving son, Ryan Colby.
“2,078 days,” he said, noting the number of days since the shooting. “Hatred, selfishness and greed almost led to the end of my life.”
“Twelve strangers verified that Lori must be held accountable,” he said. “I did not enjoy sitting and giving someone who tried to kill me the chance to question me, but I owed it to Charles, to Tylee, to JJ, and to Tammy to speak, because I could.”
