OAN’s Noah Herring
11:43 AM – Monday, July 31, 2023
Lori Vallow Daybell, an Idaho Mother who was convicted earlier this year of killing her two children and conspiring in the murder of her husband’s first wife, was given life in prison with no opportunity for parole in her sentencing on Monday.
In a trial that lasted from April to mid-May, Daybell was found guilty of conspiracy in the murders of her children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and the first wife of her husband Chad, Tammy Daybell.
Daybell, 50, faced ten years to life in prison on first-degree murder charges prior to her sentencing.
Judge Steven Boyce ruled that family members of the victims could offer impact statements at the sentencing hearing, including Daybell’s son Colby Ryan, Tammy’s sister Samantha Gwilliam, Tammy’s aunt Vicki Hoban, and JJ Vallow’s grandmother Kay Woodcock.
“She had been murdered by those who saw her as an obstacle to a plan — you planned her murder just as much as you planned the murders of your own children and your previous husband. Why? Why plan something so heinous?” Gwilliam said in her statement.
“Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister, aunt and daughter. She is irreplaceable; she is 1,000 times the woman you will ever dream of being … because of you and your desire to get what you want at any cost, my family has been ripped apart,” she continued.
Ryan also testified against Vallow Daybell during the trial, and the courtroom heard an emotional jailhouse call of him confronting her about the heinous murders.
The defense did not call any witnesses to the trial and Vallow Daybell did not take the stand in her own defense after pleading not guilty.
Some of the testimonies described Daybells extreme “cult-like” beliefs, including in “zombies” and casting out “evil spirits.” The indictment in May 2021 revealed that the couple “did endorse and espouse religious beliefs for the purposes of” justifying or encouraging the murder of Tammy and the children.
The children were last seen in September 2019 and Tammy Daybell was found dead the following month.
Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell were reportedly married just weeks later. In June 2020, law enforcement discovered the remains of the children buried in Daybell’s backyard in Fremont County.
Authorities say that JJ had died from asphyxiation and Tylee died by “unspecified” means. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Vallow Daybell also faces separate accomplice charges for the July 2019 death of her husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot by her brother Alex Cox.
However, Cox claimed that he acted out of self-defense and was not charged in the shooting.
Additionally, Vallow Daybell has been charged in Arizona for conspiracy of the 2019 attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux, who was married to Vallow Daybell’s niece. Boudreaux testified in her Idaho trial.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s office said that it would begin extradition proceedings following her sentencing in Idaho, according to CBS News.
Chad Daybell faces first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in Idaho, but waived his right to a speedy trial and is scheduled to be tried on April 1st, 2024.
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