Lori Vallow Daybell broke courtroom protocol by bringing a witness who had not been subpoenaed to the first day of her second murder trial – all while representing herself.

The ‘Doomsday cult mom,’ 51, is serving multiple life sentences with no chance of parole for murdering two of her children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, and conspiring to kill her husband Chad Daybell’s former wife, Tammy Daybell. 

After her conviction for the shocking 2019 crimes, she was extradited to Maricopa County, Arizona, in November 2023 on two indictments.

Her second trial that started on Monday is focused on the 2019 death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot by her brother Alex Cox in Chandler.

She has pleaded not guilty and decided to represent herself in court after invoking her right to a speedy trial.

Monday’s trial was immediately delayed when prosecutors noted a man in the courtroom who they knew Vallow Daybell wanted to call as a witness, but who had not been subpoenaed to appear, reported KUTV.

The man was identified as Brandon Boudreaux, her niece’s ex-husband who she is accused of conspiring to murder and will go on trial for in May.

The judge asked Vallow Daybell if she intended to call on Boudreaux, and when she said yes, the judge asked why his testimony was relevant. 

Vallow Daybell reportedly answered by claiming she did not want to ‘give away my defense’ by revealing information about Boudreaux’s testimony.

The prosecution said they had not interviewed Boudreaux and wanted to know what information Boudreaux allegedly had.

The judge informed Vallow Daybell – who is not a lawyer but chose to represent herself – that witnesses are not allowed to be called without giving the other party adequate notice and information about their relevancy, then called a sidebar that lasted nearly 45 minutes.

When the parties returned, the judge ruled Boudreaux’s testimony was not relevant to the case, and struck him from the witness list.

At a hearing last week, she lost a bid to strike three people from the prosecution´s witness list, including the grandmother of her adopted son. 

Another witness said Vallow Daybell spoke about Vallow as being ‘possessed’ in the months before his death. 

When the judge asked her to argue her point, Vallow Daybell lowered her head, sighed and paused a few seconds. 

‘Their information is not firsthand,’ Vallow Daybell said. ‘These witnesses are all coming together. They are watching everything that goes on on TV regarding this.’

If convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Vallow, she would face a life sentence.

Vallow Daybell will wear civilian clothing during her trial and will not be handcuffed or shackled when jurors are in the courtroom. 

She, however, is expected to be wearing a belt-like device under her clothes that will let a jail officer deliver an electric shock by remote control if there’s a disturbance.

Vallow Daybell previously told True Crime Arizona she decided to represent herself because, ‘I’m fighting for my life here.’ 

Explaining her decision to represent herself, Vallow Daybell said, ‘I’m not an attorney. I don’t have training to be an attorney. There’s something that I figured out when I got to this jail, you know. This experience has been five years running, OK.

‘I went through a whole trial, you know, before in my other state. And then, I was brought here to Arizona to face some more serious charges.’

Her husband, Chad Daybell, was sentenced to death in June of the previous year after being convicted of murdering Tammy, J.J. and Tylee in cult-like killings.

The two children went missing in 2019, and their bodies were discovered the following year buried in Chad Daybell’s backyard in eastern Idaho.