Nearly four years after Lori Vallow killed her two children, the “doomsday cult” mom is expected to be sentenced to spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Following much delay caused by the Covid pandemic and procedural hurdles, Fremont County District Judge Steven Boyce is expected to hand down 50-year-old Vallow’s sentence at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Monday.
Vallow was found guilty in May of killing her seven-year-old son Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan sometime in late 2019 and taking their security benefits. She was also convicted of conspiring to kill her husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy that year.
The children’s bodies were found in June 2020 at a pet cemetery in Mr Daybell’s residence. Tylee’s remains were discovered burned, while JJ was strangled to death and found still in his pyjamas and with a plastic bag over his head and duct tape over his mouth.
Vallow’s sentencing may mark the end of her legal saga in Idaho but her husband will be tried later this year on the same charges that she was convicted of — Vallow is also facing charges of conspiring to kill in the death of her fourth husband Charles Vallow in Arizona.
Evidence introduced during the six-week trial included bizarre testimony from family members that she called her son and daughter zombies and said she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Vallow and Mr Daybell apparently believed in an ability to use their minds to cast out demons from people and “work on them”.
The convicted child killer is expected to be sentenced to life in prison. However, Mr Daybell is facing the death penalty in the case.
Vallow has been held at Madison County Jail ahead of sentencing but will be transferred to the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction and then expected to be relocated to the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, according to KTVB.
Mr Daybell and Vallow were slated to stand trial together before Judge Boyce ruled in March that the cases would be severed.
Four family members are expected to give victim impact statements at Vallow’s sentencing, according to previously submitted requests to the court following Idaho law. Vallow’s only surviving son 27-year-old Colby Ryan and her sister Summer Shiflet are expected to deliver their statements.
JJ’s grandmother Kay Woodcock and Tammy Daybell’s aunt Vicki Hoban are also expected to address the court during sentencing. Vallow’s defence attorneys will also have an opportunity to speak on her behalf.
Tylee Ryan and Joshua “JJ” Vallow were killed some time in late 2019— (Family handout)
Once Vallow is sentenced, Arizona prosecutors are expected to submit requests for extradition.
In Maricopa County, she has been charged with conspiracy to kill her fourth husband Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by Vallow’s brother Alex Cox, on July 11 2019.
JJ and Tylee then vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to authorities for many months.
Vallow was found guilty of killing her children— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
One month after the children were last seen alive, Tammy – Mr Daybell’s wife and an otherwise healthy 49-year-old – died suddenly and Vallow and Mr Daybell soon jetted off to Hawaii to get married on the beach.
In June 2020, the remains of JJ and Tylee were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho, and the doomsday cult couple were eventually charged with murder.
Prosecutors argued that Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their bizarre cult beliefs – but also for financial purposes so that they could collect Tammy’s life insurance money and the children’s social security and survivor benefits.
