The Arizona trial began Monday for Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mom who was convicted nearly two years ago in the murders of two of her children and her doomsday writer fifth husband’s first wife.
Vallow Daybell is charged in Maricopa County with conspiracy to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and the attempted murder of her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Bourdeaux, and is representing herself in the trial.
Prosecutors say she conspired with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill the 62-year-old Vallow in 2019 for his $1 million insurance policy. The two were separated at the time, but she was, the prosecutors say, already seeing the doomsday book write, Chad Daybell — who was also later convicted in the deaths of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, 7-year-old JJ Vallow, and his wife, Tammy Daybell.
Vallow Daybell delivered a tearful opening statement on Monday, PEOPLE reported, saying that what took place on July 11, 2019 — when Charles Vallow was killed — was a tragedy, but not a crime.
“As the state has mentioned, they are alleging that insurance money was my motive,” she said. “Spouses having insurance policies is not a crime. Self-defense is not a crime,” she said. “A family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy.”
Read more from CrimeOnline about the Lori Vallow Daybell case.
Vallow was shot to death by Alex Cox, Vallow Daybell’s brother, when he went to pick up JJ Vallow from Vallow Daybell’s home. Cox and Vallow Daybell claimed the shooting was self-defence, and charges were never filed. Two months later, JJ and Ryan vanished, and police eventually initiated a search at the insistence of the young boy’s grandparents.
The children were found dead and buried on property owned by Chad Daybell in June 2020.
Meanwhile. in October 2019, two more incidents took place: Gunshots were fired at Boudreaux in Arizona on October 2, and two weeks later, Tammy Daybell was found dead in her Idaho home. The coroner initially said she died from natural causes, but that later changed after her body was exhumed and further tests were conducted that determined she had been asphyxiated.
Daybell and Vallow Daybell fled in the midst of the search for the children to Hawaii, where they married on November 5. And then, in mid-December, Alex Cox — who was connected with all of the crime scenes — died, supposedly from blood clots and high blood pressure.
Vallow Daybell was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to life in prison. Her husband, Chad Daybell, was convicted last year and sits on death row in Idaho.
The Arizona trial began with testimony from first responders who arrived after the shooting as well as police who had responded earlier in 2019 to Vallow’s calls about his wife’s behavior, according to CourtTV. The trial continues this week.
