'Cult mum' Lori Vallow guilty of killing 'zombie kids' buried in pet cemetery

12 May 2023 , 19:06

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The jury has returned with their verdict for Lori Vallow Daybell (left) with regards to the murder of her children JJ Vallow, seven, middle, and Tylee Ryan, 16, right (Image: FBI)

Idaho 'cult mum' of three Lori Vallow Daybell has been found guilty of murder by a jury after a 28-day long trial. It took jurors around seven hours to come to a unanimous decision in the case which shocked a nation.

Vallow Daybell, 49, was charged with the murder of her two children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, along with conspiracy to commit murder of her husband Chad Daybell's first wife, Tammy, 49 and grand theft.

On the charge of conspiracy to commit first degree murder relating to the death of Tylee, Vallow Daybell was found guilty, for first degree murder of Tylee the jury said she was guilty.

For the conspiracy to commit first degree murder of JJ Vallow the jury found her guilty, and guilty for the first degree murder of JJ.

On the charge of conspiracy to commit first degree murder of Tammy Daybell, the jury found her guilty. The jury also found her guilty on the charge of grand theft.

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JJ Vallow, left, Tylee Ryan, middle, and Alex Cox, right, pictured outside Yellowstone National Park (FBI)

Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019, at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park with Lori and her brother, Alex Cox. Their bodies were found on June 9, 2020 after police executed a search warrant at Chad's Salem, Idaho, home.

JJ was found wearing red pyjamas and socks, with duct tape covering his mouth and a plastic bag around his head with his arms and legs bound together. Tylee's remains were destroyed and burned, packed into a melted green bucket and buried - with one witness saying there was only "a mass of bone and tissue" left behind.

Lori Vallow Daybell grew up in California, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). In 2018, while still married to her fourth husband Charles Vallow, she met doomsday cult author Chad Daybell.

The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of 'cult mum' Lori Vallow Daybell (AP)

She soon became infatuated with his doomsday teachings, believing they were part of the 144,000 and following a rating system of dark and light in order to rank the spirits of those around them. One of the beliefs was that certain people, including Tylee and JJ, were "zombies" - and that evil spirits had possessed people who had died and their bodies.

In order to free the person's soul from "limbo", their physical form had to die according to the teachings of the group.

After her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, died on July 11, 2019, Vallow Daybell was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona, though those charges are on hold while the children's murder case is underway. Vallow Daybell reportedly told friends that Charles was a "zombie" according to her beliefs.

Investigators searching Chad Daybell's Salem, Idaho, property for human remains (AP)

She moved to Idaho to continue what had become a romantic affair with Chad Daybell. His first wife Tammy died on October 19,2019 - a month after the children were last seen alive.

Less than a month later, Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell married. Daybell had told Vallow Daybell they had been married in multiple previous lifetimes, and referred to her as a "Goddess" sent to bring the second coming of Christ.

Vallow Daybell's defence attorney, Jim Archibald, said she bought into her new husband's religious beliefs and claims. "She's reading his books during a hard time in her life," he told the jury, "and this guy is telling her she's a goddess... 'And by the way, we've already been married in previous life so it's not really cheating. And we were best friends with Jesus and Jesus approves so everything is okay.'

"That's quite the pickup line by Chad to Lori and it worked. Pretty scary that the pickup line from Chad to Lori worked."

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Lori Vallow Daybell, appears in court in Lihue, Hawaii, (Dennis Fujimoto/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

However, while the defence painted Vallow Daybell as being "under the control" of the author and under the spell of the "craziness" of his cult belief teachings, the prosecution painted her as the "common thread" linking the murders and suspects.

Prosecuting attorney Rob Wood told the jury in his closing argument that Vallow Daybell was driven by "money, power and sex". He said she used those tools to manipulate people to do her bidding.

"They used religion as a tool to manipulate others," he said. "Lori manipulated Alex Cox through religion. She manipulated Chad through emotional and sexual control. They manipulated their friends."

He went on to hammer the point home, saying: "The evidence in this case points to one common thread and that thread is Lori Vallow."

Vallow Daybell faces life in prison without parole. It comes after attorneys for Vallow Daybell filed a motion seeking the dismissal of the state's notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

Fremont County District Judge Steven Boyce ruled in favour of the motion to dismiss. The case was initially due to be heard in Rexburg, Idaho, where the murders of Tylee and JJ took place - however due to media saturation and widespread knowledge and awareness of the case, it was moved to Boise in an effort to find a jury who did not have preconceived notions of Vallow Daybell.

Fiona Leishman