An Arizona judge ordered a new competency hearing for convicted killed Lori Vallow Daybell last week after she refused to attend a hearing on the issue the week before.
Vallow Daybell, convicted in the deaths of two of her children and her husband’s first wife, is in Arizona to stand trial on conspiracy charges in the death of her fourth husband and the attempted murder of her niece’s husband. In October, as CrimeOnline reported. In October, a judge granted her attorneys’ request for a competency hearing to determine her fitness for trial.
Ten days later, those attorneys withdrew from the case, and her new attorneys asked for more time to go through the “voluminous” amounts of evidence in the case.
The Arizona Republic, however, reported that Vallow Daybell had told the new attorneys to withdraw the motion for a competency hearing and that she wanted to represent herself.
The new attorneys agreed that she is competent to stand trial, according to KPNX, but the judge ordered a new evaluation and hearing.
A hearing had been scheduled for November 14, but she refused to attend. She finally agreed to show up in court on Wednesday, and that’s when the judge ordered a new evaluator and set hearing date for December 5.
Competency issued delayed her Idaho murder trial as well, but she was eventually convicted of killing 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, 7-year-old JJ Vallow, and Tammy Daybell and sentenced to life in prison. Her husband, Chad Daybell, was later convicted on the same charges and sentenced to death.
Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial is currently set to begin in February.
