Lori Daybell (identified as Lori Norene Vallow in court papers), 47, and her husband Chad Daybell, 52, are scheduled for arraignments on Wednesday in the alleged murders of her children Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, and his late wife Tammy Daybell, 49. Court is scheduled for 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET. You can watch in the player above.
JJ would have turned nine on Tuesday.
Both are charged with murdering him between September 22 and 23 in 2019, and Tylee between the 8th and 9th. Chad allegedly murdered his wife Tammy on or about October 18 to 19. All three are charged with conspiracy in each of the deaths, accused of plotting with Lori’s now-dead brother Alex Cox.
They are also accused of financial crimes, with Lori collecting social security benefits on her deceased children, and Chad collecting insurance benefits from the death of Tammy.
According to the indictment, the couple presented religious beliefs for the purpose of killing the victims. They allegedly texted each other about Tammy’s soul being in Limbo, and her possessed by a spirit named Viola. Cox allegedly tried to shoot her on October 9, 2019, the day he got a burner phone.
For many, the new indictment announced Tuesday is the culmination of a long wait and rampant speculation. The disappearances of the children, who turned up on gravesites in Chad Daybell’s property last year, caught national attention because of their mother stonewalling authorities and media about their whereabouts. Cox had killed his sister’s previous husband Charles Vallow in July 2019 in Arizona but claimed self-defense. No charges were filed against him by the time he died in December 2019 of what medical examiners called a blood clot. Charles Vallow had previously told cops his wife threatened to kill him.
“She’s lost her mind,” he said in body cam footage dated January 31, 2019. “I don’t know how else to say it. We’re LDS [Latter-day Saints]. She thinks she’s a resurrected being and a god, and member of the 144,000.” She asserted that Jesus was “coming next year,” according to his account.
[Screengrab of the defendants in January 2020 via East Idaho News]