21 March 2023 , 22:23
1127
0
A mum accused of murdering two of her own children before going on the run and being found in Hawaii with her so-called 'doomsday cult leader' husband will not be executed if found guilty.
Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Lori Vallow Daybell, describing the murders as "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" and that the mum "exhibited utter disregard for human life."
But Judge Steven Boyce ruled Tuesday she won't be executed if convicted of killing her two children.
This came after Vallow's defence team filed a counter motion to dismiss the death penalty telling the judge media coverage of the case could taint the jury's decision.
Lori Vallow Daybell has been charged with the murder of her two children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old JJ VallowThey also claimed the defendant has a mental illness, the prosecution committed multiple discovery violations and Idaho, where the trial is taking place, doesn't have the right chemicals to execute inmates.
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
The case has gripped America and was made into the Netflix series, Sins of Our Mother.
Friends and relatives of Vallow Daybell claim she allegedly killed her children because she and her husband Chad Daybell considered them "zombies" possessed by dark spirits.
Vallow will not face the death penalty if found guilty of the charges
Husband Chad Daybell also faces charges (Rexberg Police Dept/ Handout)Vallow Daybell and Daybell have pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges in connection with the deaths of adopted 7-year-old son Joshua "JJ" Vallow, and daughter Tylee Ryan, 17.
The couple is also charged in connection with the 2019 death of Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.
After JJ and Tylee were reported missing in 2019, Vallow Daybell fled with her church-leader husband to Hawaii, where she was arrested in 2020. Daybell was also arrested in June of that year.
Born Lori Norene Cox in 1973, in California, Vallow Daybell was raised under the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), along with her brothers, Alex and Adam Cox.
In 2006, she married her fourth husband Charles Vallow.
He converted to her faith, becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). In 2013, the couple adopted Vallow's grandnephew, Joshua "JJ" Vallow (born 2012), moved to Hawaii and then to Arizona.
Vallow Daybell met Chad Daybell, who was a leader and front person in the doomsday cult, in 2018, and quickly became fixated on him. Vallow filed a divorce in 2019, citing that his wife had threatened to murder him.
Vallow also expressed concerns about his wife's mental health state, and told investigators that she had told him she "was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020 and that if [Vallow] got in the way of her mission she would murder him".
Russian model killed after calling Putin a 'psychopath' was strangled by her ex
Vallow was arrested in HawaiiCharles Vallow was ultimately shot and killed in Arizona by Vallow Daybell's brother Alex Cox, who claimed self-defence. Cox alleged that he went to confront Charles about abusing his sister, whereupon Vallow struck him in the head with a bat, and in return, he shot him.
Police investigated the murder, but the case didn’t go far before Cox died of a blood clot in his lung later that year.
Vallow Daybell was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death. These legal proceedings are on hold while the children's murder case is underway.
The woman reportedly told some of her friends that her then-husband was a "zombie", according to her beliefs. After Vallow was killed, Cox reportedly told another follower that he didn’t feel bad because he killed a "zombie"
Vallow with missing daughter Tylee, 16 (Chandler Police Dept)JJ and Tylee were reported missing in 2019, by extended family members. During that period, police said Vallow Daybell and her husband lied about the children’s whereabouts.
The children's bodies were found buried on Daybell’s property in rural Idaho, wrapped in plastic and bound by duct tape, while Tylee was dismembered and burned.
Vallow Daybell was arrested in early 2020 in Hawaii where she stayed with Daybell after his wife's death.