Lori Vallow trial resumes Tuesday after first week of testimony
BOISE, Idaho - The trial of the so-called "doomsday mom" and former Mrs. Hays County, Lori Vallow Daybell, resumes Tuesday in Boise, Idaho.
Daybell is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of her two kids. She’s also accused to conspiring with her husband in the murder of his first wife.
The trial has already lasted nine days with the selection of the jury and now testimonies from a former sister-in-law, ex-best friend, and different law enforcement agencies.
Opening arguments began last week in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell.
"We're glad it's finally here. I'm impressed with the prosecution there. They seem they've got it together. It's a very difficult, complicated case," Charles Vallow’s ex-wife, Cheryl Wheeler, said.
Disturbing testimony in the trial of Lori Vallow, a former Central Texas mom accused of killing her kids
Vallow requested to be excused from the rest of the evidence portion of her trial citing her fragile mental health and an emotional day, but the judge denied her request. Warning: much of the evidence shows was graphic.
The prosecution claimed Vallow was motivated by money, power, and sex and would remove any obstacle in the way to get what she wanted, and what she wanted was doomsday author Chad Daybell.
"That’s what this case is about. The defendant Lori Vallow Daybell used money power and sex or the promise of those things to get what she wanted. What she wanted was money, power and sex," Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said.
The defense said Vallow has alibis on the dates of the murders of her two children, JJ and Tylee.
A detective took the stand and described how law enforcement discovered their bodies on Daybell’s property near Rexburg, Idaho in 2020.
"Burnt flesh, bone. All kind of what appeared to be put in a green bucket. The bucket had melted," a detective said.
Vallow’s ex-best friend, Melanie Gibb, took the stand and talked about Vallow’s relationship with Daybell, accusing her of having an affair. Vallow was married to former Austin resident Charles Vallow. One of Vallow’s sons has been at the trial with his ex-wife.
"I haven't seen her in years. I have probably spent more time with her in that courtroom than I ever have in my life," Wheeler said. "I don't like her demeanor. I don't like the smiling, the laughing, the chit-chatting. This is very serious. And she's not taking it seriously, it doesn't appear to me."
Vallow is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of her two kids. She’s also accused of conspiring in the murder of Tammy Daybell, Chad’s first wife, and plotting with her brother in the deadly shooting of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow.
"I feel he was discriminated against because he was male, healthy, in good shape. Obviously, you know, bigger than Lori. And they just thought it was it just wasn't serious. She's going to kill you. Oh, come on. You know, it just that really, really troubled me because I could tell he was truly scared," Wheeler said.
On the stand, Gibb also described how Vallow believed Charles and her children had become possessed by zombies. All three would end up dead.
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Vallow’s defense described Lori as a good mom and wife who is deeply religious.
"She believes in life after death, and she believes she will see her deceased family including her children again," Vallow’s defense attorney Jim Archibald said.
The trial is expected to take up to 10 weeks. Vallow Daybell has pled not guilty. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.