Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morningSign up to our free morning US email news bulletin<\/p>\n
Lori Vallow was silent when authorities demanded to know where her missing children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were.<\/p>\n
She wouldn\u2019t speak when their remains were found \u2013 Tylee hacked to pieces and burned, JJ still in his red pyjamas \u2013 in shallow graves on her new husband Chad Daybell\u2019s property.<\/p>\n
She refused to give any answers when confronted by her distraught surviving child, sister and other loved ones as they begged her to tell them the truth in heartbreaking jailhouse phone calls.<\/p>\n
She even continued to stay quiet over the next three years as she was hit with new charges for the murders of her fourth husband Charles Vallow and Mr Daybell\u2019s first wife Tammy Daybell, spent time in a psychiatric facility and had her case severed from her alleged co-conspirator.<\/p>\n
And now, even as she stares down the prospect of spending the rest of her life behind bars, she is still silent.<\/p>\n
This week, during her high-profile murder trial, the 49-year-old shocked the court when she not only declined to take the stand to testify in her own defence \u2013 but refused to entertain putting on any defence case at all.<\/p>\n
Now, as jurors retire for deliberations, the only story they have about what happened to little JJ, 7, teenager Tylee, 16, and mother-of-five Tammy, 49, is the one laid out by the state of Idaho.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s a horrifying story at that \u2013 one involving a warped plot to kill off almost everyone around the couple.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney, power, and sex \u2013 that\u2019s what this case is about,\u201d Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake said in opening statements.<\/p>\n
Lori Vallow sits in a police car after an August 2022 court hearing <\/p>\n
Over 27 days of trial, prosecutors have laid out their case alleging that Ms Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to murder JJ, Tylee and Tammy \u2013 driven by her doomsday cult beliefs, her lust to be with Mr Daybell and greed.<\/p>\n
The trio allegedly spent months orchestrating a plot whereby they justified their plans to kill by claiming that the victims were \u201cdemons\u201d or \u201cdark spirits\u201d.<\/p>\n
Then, after brutally murdering the two children and mother-of-five, Ms Vallow allegedly looked her concerned family, friends and authorities in the eye, refusing to reveal where her son and daughter were.<\/p>\n
Instead, she and Mr Daybell began a new life together, swanning off to Hawaii to get married in what appeared to be every inch the perfect fairytale romance.<\/p>\n
This photo of Tylee Ryan and her brother Joshua \u201cJJ\u201d Vallow with their uncle Alex Cox was taken days before they were killed<\/p>\n
(Handout)<\/p>\n
Doomsday cult beliefs<\/p>\n
Over a dramatic month-long trial, jurors have heard how bizarre cult beliefs lie at the centre of the case against Ms Vallow.<\/p>\n
Jurors heard how the deadly saga began when Ms Vallow \u2013 a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints \u2013 and Mr Daybell \u2013 an LDS member and self-published doomsday books author \u2013 embarked on a romance.<\/p>\n
After speaking for some time, they eventually met in person at a religious conference in October 2018 while they were both married and prosecutors say their love affair, cult beliefs \u2013 and murderous plans \u2013 all grew from there.<\/p>\n
Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell believed that they were on a religious mission to gather the 144,000 and they believed in a \u201crating system of light and dark\u201d for how they ranked the spirits of the people around them.<\/p>\n
Over time, this evolved into the belief that some people \u2013 including the children \u2013 were \u201czombies\u201d and the only way to get rid of the zombies was for the human body to be destroyed.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors allege that these beliefs were used to \u201cjustify\u201d the murders of those around them.<\/p>\n
In the weeks and months leading up to the murders, Ms Vallow told friends that her children and fourth husband Charles Vallow had become \u201cdemons\u201d or \u201cdark spirits\u201d \u2013 some of them bearing names.<\/p>\n
In February 2019, Ms Vallow allegedly told a friend that she believed Charles was possessed by demon called Ned Schneider and that he was \u201calready dead\u201d with the demon \u201cusing his body as a host\u201d.<\/p>\n
Two days before Charles was murdered, Ms Vallow texted her niece Melani Boudreaux: \u201cThey have an elaborate plan… This week will change everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later, in July 2019, Cox shot Charles dead at Ms Vallow\u2019s home in Arizona in what was claimed to be self defence at the time. (Now, Ms Vallow is facing murder charges in Arizona.)<\/p>\n
Chad Daybell is set to face his own trial for the murders <\/p>\n
(Post Register)<\/p>\n
Then, in September 2019, Ms Vallow allegedly told another friend that JJ and Tylee had been taken over by \u201cdark spirits\u201d and that JJ would say things like \u201cI love Satan\u201d. Tylee was possessed by a demon named Hillary and \u201chad to be freed,\u201d Ms Vallow told another friend.<\/p>\n
Text messages between Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell also reveal her complaining about being \u201ctired of taking care of demons\u201d while referring to her children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe r both so tired of taking care of demons,\u201d she wrote in a bombshell text in August. \u201cWe are weary. Please ask the Lord to take them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurors also heard how the couple discussed inflicting pain on the children, giving them \u201ca reason to scream\u201d and also spoke about the so-called \u201cdeath percentages\u201d of Tylee and JJ.<\/p>\n
Conspiracy and greed<\/p>\n
Prosecutors allege that \u2013 as well as the cult beliefs \u2013 greed also drove the three alleged accomplices to conspire to kill the victims.<\/p>\n
And based on text messages, internet searches, financial records and witness testimony presented in court, the murders were months in the making.<\/p>\n
Internet searches revealed that Ms Vallow shopped for life insurance policies for her children in July 2019 \u2013 two months before they were murdered.<\/p>\n
That same month, her Gmail account also searched for how to sell a service dog \u2013 like the one JJ, who had autism, was using at the time.<\/p>\n
In the months leading up to the murders, jurors heard that Ms Vallow also made several suspicious changes to Social Security payments meant for Tylee and JJ.<\/p>\n
It was a pattern where Ms Vallow altered the payments to go directly to her and then the respective child wound up dead days later.<\/p>\n
Even after the deaths of JJ and Tylee, prosecutors say Ms Vallow continued to collect the Social Security payments.<\/p>\n
Mr Daybell, meanwhile, also made a life insurance claim for Tammy just days after she died.<\/p>\n
The doomsday couple was also planning for their new \u2013 spouse-less and child-less \u2013 life together in other ways, jurors heard.<\/p>\n
In August 2019 \u2013 while Tammy was still alive \u2013 Ms Vallow searched for \u201cmalachite wedding rings\u201d. She then bought a pair on 2 October 2019 \u2013 days before Tammy was killed \u2013 and wedding photos show her and Mr Daybell wearing matching rings.<\/p>\n
Chad and Tammy Daybell before her death in October 2019<\/p>\n
(Facebook)<\/p>\n
Brutal murders<\/p>\n
The most harrowing and disturbing part of the trial came as jurors learned harrowing details of the children\u2019s murders and saw graphic photos of the state of their remains.<\/p>\n
Tylee was last seen alive on 8 September 2019 when she, JJ, Cox and Ms Vallow went on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. A photo of the teenager at the park marks her last proof of life.<\/p>\n
The next day, Mr Daybell sent a chilling text message to Tammy claiming he had shot a raccoon and buried it in the pet cemetery on the grounds of their property in Rexburg \u2013 the same location where Tylee\u2019s remains would be found months later.<\/p>\n
Days later on 22 September, JJ was last seen alive at his mother\u2019s apartment. A photo taken that night showed the little boy sitting on a sofa dressed in a matching set of red pyjamas.<\/p>\n
Ms Vallow\u2019s former friend David Warwick testified that he saw JJ that night when he and his wife Melanie Gibb were staying with her for the weekend. The next morning, JJ was gone.<\/p>\n
When he asked about the boy\u2019s whereabouts, Ms Vallow allegedly told him that JJ had \u201can episode and knocked over a picture of Christ\u201d.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until 9 June 2020 that the children\u2019s remains were discovered on Mr Daybell\u2019s property \u2013 JJ\u2019s body buried in a shallow grave close to a tree and Tylee\u2019s remains close to a fire pit in the pet cemetery.<\/p>\n
Graphic photos revealed that JJ was still wearing his red pyjamas and a pull-up nighttime diaper. <\/p>\n
His arms were wrapped in duct tape and his head was wrapped in plastic bags with thick layers of duct tape over his mouth.<\/p>\n
Autopsy findings showed that the little boy had the date rape drug GHB in his system when he was smothered to death with the plastic bags. He also had scratch marks on his neck suggesting he was awake and fought for his life to get the bag off his head.<\/p>\n
Jurors heard that Cox\u2019s fingerprints were found on the plastic bag.<\/p>\n
Tylee\u2019s body meanwhile was so badly burned that an autopsy to determine her cause of death was impossible with jurors hearing gruesome testimony of how search teams found \u201cpieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh\u201d belonging to the 16-year-old.<\/p>\n
Investigators are seen digging up the bodies of JJ and Tylee in June 2020 <\/p>\n
(Post Register no sales no mags)<\/p>\n
Before her remains were dispersed on the grounds, the killer or killers had brutally attempted to dismember her body with a pickaxe which was found at the Daybell home, with Tylee\u2019s DNA found on both the pickaxe and on a shovel.<\/p>\n
Despite the efforts to hack at the teenager\u2019s body, the killer did not appear to manage to dismember her and her burned body parts were scattered in the grounds.<\/p>\n
While all horrifying, perhaps the most damning evidence tying Ms Vallow alone to the murders was the discovery of a hair.<\/p>\n
DNA analyst Keeley Coleman testified that a single hair had been found on the duct tape used to wrap the plastic bag around little JJ\u2019s head. That hair belonged to Ms Vallow.<\/p>\n
Jurors heard that the chances of finding a match were one in 71 billion.<\/p>\n
A search of Ms Vallow\u2019s home in November 2019 \u2013 when the children were reported missing \u2013 also uncovered a trove of concerning items including several guns, ammunition, empty magazines, silencers, Army-grade knives and Hazmat-style suits. Meanwhile, JJ\u2019s toys and prescription medication were found in black trash bags and Tylee\u2019s in a storage unit.<\/p>\n
Just one month after the children were last seen alive, Tammy was also murdered.<\/p>\n
Jurors heard how the healthy 49-year-old died suddenly on 19 October 2019, with a chilling 911 call revealing Mr Daybell bluntly saying she\u2019s \u201cclearly\u201d dead. At the time, Mr Daybell declined an autopsy and her death was ruled natural causes.<\/p>\n
Tammy\u2019s sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court that she sensed things didn\u2019t add up as her sister was perfectly healthy when she saw her two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
Jurors also heard how 10 days before her death, Tammy had been shot at by a masked man on the driveway of her home.<\/p>\n
Two separate witnesses had testified that Mr Daybell had a dream or \u201cvision\u201d that his wife would die before she turned 50.<\/p>\n
When Tammy\u2019s death was tied to the disappearance of the children, her body was exhumed and an autopsy revealed she died of asphyxiation.<\/p>\n
Cox allegedly raised concerns about being made the \u201cfall guy\u201d for her death by the doomsday couple.<\/p>\n
One day after he made that comment \u2013 on 11 December 2019 \u2013 Cox also died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, however the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.<\/p>\n
Silence and secrecy<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the murders, Ms Vallow showed no concern for her children and refused to reveal what had happened to them.<\/p>\n
Despite repeatedly being confronted by family members and authorities, she made a series of lies about where they were.<\/p>\n
In one instance, she allegedly told police that JJ had gone to see Frozen 2 with Ms Gibb and had asked her to take photos of random children to show to authorities.<\/p>\n
In another instance, she allegedly threatened to kill another friend, \u201ccut her up\u201d and then bury her remains \u201cin a place nobody would ever find\u201d when she questioned her about the missing children.<\/p>\n
Following the June 2020 discovery of the bodies, Ms Vallow showed no signs of her surprise at their deaths.<\/p>\n
Video shows the moment Lori Vallow was served with court documents over her missing kids <\/p>\n
(FOX 10\/ screenshot)<\/p>\n
Instead, in one jailhouse phone call with her sister, she appeared to confess that she was aware the children were dead all along.<\/p>\n
In the 24 June 2020 call, a distraught Summer Shiflet accuses her sibling of throwing her murdered children \u201caway like garbage\u201d and questions how she could have gone to Hawaii and married Mr Daybell in a fairytale wedding on the beach knowing that her children were dead and buried in a pet cemetery.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were dancing on a beach with a smile on your face taking wedding photos,\u201d she shouts.<\/p>\n
At this point of the call \u2013 where she repeatedly dodges questions about what she knew \u2013 Ms Vallow appears to unwittingly slip up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, months later,\u201d she says of the gap between the deaths and her wedding.<\/p>\n
In both this call and a distressing call with her eldest son Colby Ryan, Ms Vallow continues to give no account as to what happened even in the face of confrontation from some of her closest family members.<\/p>\n
While the remains of her children lay buried on Mr Daybell\u2019s property, the couple headed to Hawaii where they got married on the beach on 5 November 2019.<\/p>\n
They were still there two months later relaxing by a pool when Ms Vallow was served with court papers demanding that she present her children to authorities.<\/p>\n
Shocking video, taken in January 2020, captured the bikini-clad mother-of-three sunbathing by a pool with Mr Daybell in Hawaii when she was confronted about JJ and Tylee\u2019s whereabouts.<\/p>\n
There was no effort to argue against the official. No explanation for where the children might actually be. No concern for their safety. <\/p>\n
Instead \u2013 true to form \u2013 Ms Vallow simply asked: \u201cDo you need something from me?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morningSign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Lori Vallow was silent when authorities demanded to know where her missing children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were. She wouldn\u2019t speak when their remains were found \u2013 Tylee hacked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n