Lori Vallow Daybell, known as the “Doomsday mom,” was handed two more life sentences in an Arizona court on Friday. She faced these sentences for plotting to murder her fourth spouse, Charles Vallow, and for conspiring to kill the former husband of her niece, who managed to survive the attempt.

In Idaho, Vallow Daybell is already enduring multiple life sentences for the killings of two of her children and the first wife of her current spouse, Chad Daybell. Before receiving her new sentences, she listened to two hours of powerful victim impact statements from the affected families but maintained her stance of being “wrongly convicted,” displaying little remorse.

In the courtroom, Vallow Daybell expressed, “I want everyone to understand that I grieve alongside all of you. I am truly sorry for your heartache. The loss of loved ones is indeed sorrowful, and I recognize the deep pain it causes—I empathize with you all. I feel it as well. Were I truly guilty of these offenses, I would come forward and express my profound regret.”

She continued to insist that she will “one day walk free” and referenced her religious beliefs, insisting that Jesus would turn those behind bars into his “warriors.”

Judge says Lori Vallow Daybell caused “immeasurable suffering”

Judge Justin Beresky, who handed down the sentences, described Vallow as causing “immeasurable suffering” to those around her and said she left a “wake of destruction” in her path.

“Any time a person victimizes a single individual, the ripple effects of their actions extend far beyond the immediate harm and you’ve not victimized just a single victim, but many. You’ve shattered lives, you’ve undermined trust, you’ve sewed fear in the hearts of many,” he said while handing down the consecutive sentences of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Vallow Daybell was convicted in two separate trials earlier this year of conspiring to kill Charles, who died in 2019, and her former nephew-in-law Brandon Boudreaux, who survived the 2019 attempt on his life, as part of a bizarre series of killings surrounding the religious mom.

Vallow Daybell represented herself in both trials and often sparred with prosecutors and Beresky during the proceedings.

At one point during the Boudreaux trial in June, she was even removed from the courtroom after arguing with Beresky, according to Court TV. 

The killing spree began in July of 2019 when Charles was shot to death by Vallow Daybell’s brother Alex Cox after arriving at her Chandler, Arizona, home to take the couple’s adopted son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, to school. Cox claimed that he killed his brother-in-law in self-defense. 

Vallow Daybell believed at the time that she was the beneficiary of Charles’ $1 million life insurance policy and didn’t realize he’d removed her from the policy and listed his sister instead, according to KPCL.

No charges were filed in the case at the time and Vallow Daybell moved her family, including JJ and daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Chad, a religious author who often wrote about the end times. 

Shortly after making the move, JJ and Tylee both disappeared weeks apart in September of 2019. Their bodies were found buried on Chad’s property the next year and their deaths were both declared homicides.

Then in October of 2019, prosecutors argued in court that Cox, who died of natural causes in December of 2019, drove to Arizona and shot at Boudreaux just as the father of two was arriving home in his car, according to the Arizona Republic.

Boudreaux had been estranged at the time from his wife, Vallow Daybell’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.

The shot missed, but it managed to drive Boudreaux into hiding with his children as he began to fear for his life, according to court documents obtained by KSAZ-TV. 

Just a few weeks later, Chad’s first wife Tammy died under mysterious circumstances at their Rexburg home. An autopsy would later determine she died of asphyxiation.

Vallow Daybell and Chad — who would go on to get married just weeks after Tammy’s death — were later convicted in separate trials for their roles in the deaths of Tylee, JJ, and Tammy. Daybell was sentenced to death, while Vallow received life without the possibility of parole. 

Shortly before he was killed, Charles went to Gilbert Police with concerns that his wife was getting deeper into a strange set of religious beliefs and claimed that she had told him that his spirit had gone “dark,” according to body camera footage shown on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered. 

Others close to the case reported that the couple made similar claims about Vallow Daybell’s children and Tammy before their own deaths.

The sentences on Friday finally put an end to the criminal cases against Vallow Daybell, who is expected to be extradited back to Idaho within 30 days to serve out her time behind bars, according to KSAZ.

Lori Vallow Daybell says the children she murdered are “happy and peaceful”

In her own statement to the court on Friday, Vallow Daybell said that after having her own near-death experience while giving birth to Tylee, she knows those who died are in a better place.

“Heaven is a very busy and happy place where everyone is engaged in projects that they love to do — that includes Joshua, that includes Tylee, that includes Tammy, that includes Charles,” she said. “None of these people are seeking revenge or justice, so although we miss our loved ones, and I do too, I assure that you that they are busy and happy and peaceful.”

 

Vallow Daybell also seemingly shook off the multiple life sentences she’s facing, saying that the “math doesn’t matter” as long as she continued to do God’s work behind bars.

 

“So whether I’m given five life sentences or seven life sentences, I will continue to try to uplift and help and strengthen those around me,” she said. 

 

Vallow Daybell also asked the court to watch for “great miracles” and she insisted she would one day walk out of prison a free woman.

As she walked out of the courtroom, someone in galley shouted “rot in hell” and Vallow Daybell responded by winking as she made her way to the exit.

 

Before the sentences were handed down, those impacted by the crimes spent nearly two hours delivering powerful victim impact statements that condemned Vallow Daybell’s actions. 

Colby Ryan says his mom is a “family tragedy”

Daybell Vallow’s only surviving child, son Colby Ryan, spoke of the terrible anguish he said he’d felt after the murders, which forced him to “fight to stay alive after the pain.” 

 

“I’m here to tell you what I lost,” he said in his powerful testimony, according to East Idaho News. “Not only are my siblings and father gone, but my mother is too.”

Ryan told the court that he initially believed his mother when she told him in January of 2019 that Charles had been unfaithful to her and that he still regrets being estranged from his stepfather, a man he described as being very generous, at the time of his death.

“I naively believed her and thought my father betrayed our family,” he said. “Little did I know it was my mother who was having the affair all along.”

He also tearfully talked about the tremendous loss of his siblings and challenged his mother’s beliefs, pointing out all the ways that she herself had failed to live up to God’s teachings

 

“I will say this, if you want to see darkness, look at the murdering cult that claims God has commissioned their mission to kill my family and others,” Ryan said. “Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow is the family tragedy.”

Larry Woodcock condemns “murderess” Lori Vallow Daybell

JJ’s biological grandfather Larry Woodcock testified virtually, repeatedly calling Vallow Daybell a “murderess” and describing her as “nothing.” 

 

“You’re a narcissist, psychopath, delusional murderer,” he told her. “I can’t tell you the harm that you have caused to our family, but I will tell you this, I know where you are going to be till you die. You are going to be in an 8 by 6 cell.”

 

He said he hoped she’d spend that time regretting her choices for the rest of her life. 

 

“I will never call, speak your name again, murderess,” he said. “You will never get anything out of me again in your life.”

JJ’s biological father Todd Trahan offers forgiveness

JJ’s biological father, Todd Trahan, described how he had given his son to Vallow Daybell and Charles while he was in prison in the hopes that his son could have a better life. 

 

“I deal with that regret,” he said. “I’ve dealt with the torment of making that choice.” 

 

Despite the anguish, Trahan said he’d made the decision to “forgive” Vallow Daybell.

Kay Woodcock called Vallow Daybell a “monster,” read letter in JJ’s voice

Kay Woodcock, Charles’ sister and JJ’s biological grandmother, described her slain brother as the “backbone of our family” and someone who was “steady, loyal and endlessly generous.”

 

She said that Charles’ death sent a “shockwave” through their family.

 

She described Vallow Daybell as a “monster” and “sideshow freak” who craved the limelight.

 

“The audience isn’t here to adore you, they’re here to watch you fall,” she said.

 

After making her own comments, Kay read an emotional letter she believed that JJ would have written to the judge had he still been alive, noting it had been 13 years to the day that JJ was officially adopted by Charles and Vallow Daybell. She added that had Charles not been murdered, he may have been able to save his son.

Brandon Boudreaux shared lasting affect of murder attempt

Boudreaux’s parents, siblings and new wife also addressed the court, speaking about the anguish and fear the family felt after Cox attempted to shoot Boudreaux. For months after the October 2019 attack, the family took turns helping to hide Boudreaux and his children as he feared that someone might come back to finish the job. 

 

Then Boudreaux spoke about how the act, besides threatening his own life, also “threatened to destroy the sacred family unit” with his children.

“Had this heinous crime succeeded, my children would have been left to face a lifetime of grief, robbed of the love, stability and spiritual guidance I provide as their father,” he said.

 

Boudreaux said that the crime has had a lasting effect on his life and the lives of those around him.

 

“The betrayal by someone connected to my family has left me battling overwhelming emotions over the years,” he said. “I felt fear, paranoia. I lived with constant vigilance, loneliness, regret, sadness, depression, anger, heartache and embarrassment, all whilst I was striving to remain a beacon for my children. I didn’t want them to see.”

 

Despite it all, Boudreaux said he has decided to forgive Vallow Daybell, even though he’s never seen any sign of remorse from her.