Lori Vallow Daybell trial over death of 4th husband gets underway. How the case got here

Show Caption

Opening statements are set to begin Monday in the murder conspiracy trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mother who has already been convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to kill her husband's first wife.

Vallow Daybell, also known as the "Doomsday Mom," is facing trial in Arizona on a charge stemming from the shooting death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow. Vallow Daybell once lived in Chandler, Arizona, with Vallow and her children. After he was killed, she moved to Idaho and married Chad Daybell, who was also found guilty of the murders of his late wife and his two stepchildren in May.

Vallow Daybell and Daybell believed in an imminent apocalypse and that people around them were evil "zombies," according to court records. Their trials centered around the theme of "money, power, and sex." Prosecutors argued Vallow Daybell wanted the victims' money and used sex and power to manipulate both her brother and her husband into carrying out the crimes.

As Vallow Daybell's latest trial begins and another attempted murder trial looms, here's an overview of what's led to this moment.

Two shootings and 'doomsday' religious beliefs

Lori Vallow Daybell married her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in 2006. She lived with him, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, and Tylee Ryan in Chandler. Tylee Ryan was Vallow Daybell's daughter from a previous marriage. The couple adopted Joshua Vallow from Vallow's sister.

Vallow Daybell met Chad Daybell in 2018 at a religious conference in Utah. The two began communicating about religious beliefs, including a doomsday they said would soon happen.

Vallow Daybell's fourth marriage fell apart soon after. In January 2019, Vallow filed for divorce, claiming his wife had threatened to kill him and that she believed she was a god-like figure preparing for the second coming of Christ, according to court documents.

Vallow Daybell then disappeared to Hawaii for weeks, where she met with friends and continued to study doomsday materials.

Vallow moved out of the home he shared with Vallow Daybell while she was away. Upon her return, she influenced relatives and friends, including her brother, Alex Cox, and niece, Melani Pawlowski, into believing in Daybell's apocalyptic ideology, Pawlowski testified in an Idaho courtroom.

During a July 2019 visit to Vallow Daybell's rental home in Chandler, Arizona, Vallow was shot and killed. Cox claimed he shot Vallow in self-defense.

In October 2019, Pawlowski's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, was shot at by someone in a Jeep Grand Cherokee while driving in Gilbert, Arizona, a few days after his divorce.

The vehicle was later tied to Cox, who died in December 2019. Cox told his wife a few days before his death that if anything happened, there was money in a bag for her, according to court records.

The murders of Joshua Vallow, Tylee Ryan and Tammy Daybell

Vallow Daybell moved with her two children in September 2019 to a small town in Idaho in the same county where Daybell lived with his then-wife, Tammy Daybell. About a month later, Tammy Daybell was found dead.

Daybell reported the death to police, saying he found her lifeless in bed. At first, her death was determined to be from natural causes. But an autopsy later revealed that she died of asphyxiation, and her death was ruled a homicide.

In November 2019, family and friends of Vallow Daybell began contacting authorities because they had not seen her children. An investigation was launched while Vallow Daybell and Daybell were on a trip in Hawaii, where they were married.

The couple moved in together upon their return from Hawaii, and they were questioned about the missing children. While law enforcement investigated the disappearances, the two returned to Hawaii.

Vallow Daybell was arrested in February 2020 in Hawaii on child abandonment counts. She was extradited to Idaho, and in early June, authorities found the bodies of Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, buried on Daybell’s property. Daybell was arrested shortly after. He was later tried for the three killings and sentenced to death. Daybell remains on death row.

Lori Vallow Daybell convicted of murder

Vallow Daybell was charged in May 2021 with the murders of her children and conspiracy to commit the murder of Tammy Daybell. After almost a year of being declared incompetent, her trial began in April 2023.

Her attorney contended that there was no physical evidence tying her to the deaths and that the children died while at her brother's apartment.

Prosecutors argued that Vallow Daybell wanted the children dead to collect the Social Security money they received from her previous husband’s death. Vallow Daybell continued collecting these payments after their murders.

She was found guilty of her children's murders and of conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell in 2023. She was sentenced to life in prison.

Why is Lori Vallow Daybell facing trial in Arizona?

Vallow Daybell was charged in August 2021 with conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Vallow and in February 2022 with attempted murder in the shooting of Boudreaux.

She was extradited to Arizona in November 2023. A judge ordered her cases to be tried separately. She was authorized to represent herself.

Sixteen people were selected to act as jurors last week in Vallow Daybell’s trial over Vallow's death after a day of questioning in Maricopa County Superior Court. The charge requires proof that Vallow Daybell intended to encourage or aid in first-degree murder and that either she or her brother planned to carry it out, Judge Justin Beresky said.

Her attempted murder trial in the shooting of Boudreaux was scheduled to start on May 30.

Contributing: N'Dea Yancey-Bragg, Terry Collins, Paste BN