April 22, 2025:
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona jury found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty Tuesday (April 22, 2025) of conspiring to murder her estranged husband. That means the mother with doomsday religious beliefs faces another life sentence. She’s already serving three life sentences in Idaho in the killings of her two youngest children and a romantic rival. Prosecutors in Arizona say she conspired with her brother to kill Charles Vallow at her home in metropolitan Phoenix in 2019 so she could collect money from Vallow’s insurance policy and marry her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell. Vallow Daybell had claimed her brother acted in self-defense and that Vallow’s death was a tragedy.
MAY 31, 2024:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho jury has convicted Chad Daybell of murder in the 2019 deaths of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children. Thursday’s (May 30, 2024) verdict marks the end of a yearslong investigation that included bizarre claims of zombie children, apocalyptic prophesies and illicit affairs. Now the jury will be tasked with deciding if Daybell should be sentenced to death for the crimes. Prosecutors claimed that Daybell and his girlfriend, Lori Vallow Daybell, conspired to kill Tammy Daybell and the children because they wanted to obtain money from survivor benefits and life insurance. Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted in the killings last year and received a life sentence.
JULY 31, 2023, UPDATE:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday (July 31, 2023) in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival. The case has included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse. Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, ages 7 and 16, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, who was previously married to Vallow Daybell’s fifth husband. The judge heard testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son. The judge says Vallow Daybell will serve three life sentences one after the other.
JULY 31, 2023:
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison without parole when she is expected to be sentenced Monday (July 31, 2023) in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival. The case has included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse. Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, ages 7 and 16, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, who was previously married to Vallow Daybell’s fifth husband. The judge is expected to hear testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son.
MAY 11, 2023:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho prosecutors have spent the last four weeks presenting their case against a woman accused of killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a bizarre doomsday-focused plot. On Thursday (May 11, 2023), they are expected to present their final arguments to the jury in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. The defense team, meanwhile, will likely attempt to persuade jurors that there simply isn’t enough evidence to convict. Vallow Daybell and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, are both charged with conspiracy, murder and grand theft in the deaths of the two children. Prosecutors also have charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell will be tried separately.
APRIL 19, 2023:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The only surviving child of a woman charged with murdering her two youngest children and a romantic rival confronted his mother about his siblings’ deaths in an emotional phone call played for jurors Tuesday (April 19, 2023) in a trial that has touched on claims of evil spirits, zombie children and an additional murder charge in Arizona. Idaho prosecutors played the call during the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell during testimony from her son, Colby Ryan. Ryan started crying after seeing pictures of his slain siblings, JJ and Tylee. The childrens’ bodies were found buried in an eastern Idaho yard in 2020.
APRIL 10, 2023, UPDATE:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho prosecutor says a mother charged in the murders of her two kids and her new husband’s late wife used money, power and sex to get what she wanted. Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake presented opening arguments Monday morning (April 10, 2023) in the case against Lori Vallow Daybell. Prosecutors charged Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two children: Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Prosecutors also have charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell. She has pleaded not guilty.
APRIL 10, 2023:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The investigation started roughly 29 months ago with two missing children. It soon grew to encompass five states, four suspected murders and claims of an unusual, doomsday-focused religious beliefs. On Monday morning (April 10, 2023), an Idaho jury will begin the difficult task of deciding the veracity of those claims and others in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. Prosecutors charged Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two children: Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Prosecutors also have charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.
APRIL 20, 2022:
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — A mother charged with conspiring to kill her children, her estranged husband and a lover’s wife refused to enter a plea to murder and other charges on Tuesday (April 19, 2022), prompting an Idaho judge to enter a not guilty plea on her behalf. Lori Vallow Daybell and her new husband, Chad Daybell, were both at the courthouse in the eastern Idaho town of St. Anthony for separate court proceedings. The couple face numerous charges in the bizarre case, including conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Lori Daybell’s children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021:
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — A judge has decided an Idaho woman charged with conspiring with her new husband to kill her two children is still not fit to participate in her own court proceedings. District Judge Steven Boyce made the decision Wednesday to extend Lori Vallow Daybell’s time in a state mental hospital by at least 180 days. The East Idaho News reports Daybell was committed on June 8 after a mental health professional said she was not competent to stand trial. Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder, among other crimes. She was arrested in Hawaii last year. Lori Daybell is also charged in Arizona in the death of her previous husband. She has not yet entered a plea in either state.
AUGUST 6, 2021:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors in Idaho say they will seek the death penalty against a man in the killings of his wife’s two youngest children and the husband’s previous wife in a convoluted case involving doomsday religious beliefs and another suspicious death in Arizona. The prosecutors made the announcement in court filings on Thursday. They argued that all three murders were especially heinous and cruel. In Idaho, Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell are charged with conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. Chad Daybell will face the death penalty in Idaho; prosecutors have not declared any intent to seek the death penalty for Lori Daybell.
AUGUST 2021:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors in Idaho say they will seek the death penalty against a couple in the killings of the wife’s two youngest children and the husband’s previous wife in a convoluted case involving doomsday religious beliefs and another suspicious death in Arizona. The prosecutors made the announcement in court filings on Thursday. They argued that all three murders were especially heinous and cruel, that they were done for financial gain and that Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell are likely to be a continuing threat to society. Chad Daybell has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lori Daybell has not yet entered a plea and is undergoing mental health treatment.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021:
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — A judge has decided an Idaho woman charged with conspiring with her new husband to kill her two children is still not fit to participate in her own court proceedings. District Judge Steven Boyce made the decision Wednesday to extend Lori Vallow Daybell’s time in a state mental hospital by at least 180 days. The East Idaho News reports Daybell was committed on June 8, 2021, after a mental health professional said she was not competent to stand trial. Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder, among other crimes. She was arrested in Hawaii last year. Lori Daybell is also charged in Arizona in the death of her previous husband. She has not yet entered a plea in either state.
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