Who is Lori Vallow Daybell?

Lori Vallow Daybell was 49 when she was found guilty of the murder of her children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan on May 12, 2023. She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Tammy Daybell,  her current husband, Chad Daybell‘s late wife.

She was also found guilty of the same conspiracy charges for her daughter Tylee and adopted son JJ.

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Click here for complete coverage of the Lori Vallow Daybell trial

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Vallow Daybell was indicted in Arizona for conspiracy to commit murder for the killing of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, though it was not part of her trial in Idaho.

#BREAKING: Lori & Chad Daybell now facing murder charges for deaths of #TyleeRyan & #JJVallow. #ChadDaybell also charged w/ murder of his wife #TammyDaybell. Couple also faces a “conspiracy to commit murder” charge in Tammy’s death. Death penalty is on the table. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/2Cv9mxuVim

— Garna Mejia (@GarnaMejiaKSL) May 25, 2021

She was indicted for an additional charge in Arizona, just five days after her guilty verdict was given for the charges in Idaho. Vallow Daybell is accused of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, in October 2019.

Vallow Daybell was born in San Bernardino, California, on June 26, 1973 and was married at age 19 in 1992, then married again in 1996, 2001, and in 2006 to her fourth husband Charles Vallow. She entered that marriage with two children, Colby and Tylee. Tylee’s father and her third husband, Joseph Ryan, died on April 3, 2018, officially of a heart attack. He was cremated.

In 2015 Lori Vallow Daybell reportedly read a series of books by Chad Daybell and met him in 2018 at a St. George conference called “Preparing A People,” where he was a featured speaker. Both were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and both pursued religious beliefs beyond the teachings of their Church membership.

In 2019 Vallow Daybell’s marriage to her fourth husband was troubled. She left the family for a time and went to Hawaii with Charles Vallow, filing for divorce in February of that year, later stopping proceedings to work on saving the marriage. Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles Vallow on July 11, 2019, claiming self-defense. Later, but not initially, the death was ruled a homicide.

By August 2019 Vallow Daybell, Tylee, JJ and Cox moved to Rexburg, Idaho. On Sept. 8, 2019, Tylee was last seen alive in Yellowstone National Park on a trip with her brother JJ, Vallow Daybell and Cox. Phone records place Cox on Chad Daybell’s property, where the children’s remains were later found. Cox later died, officially, of blood clots in his lungs.

The Daybells

After Charles Vallow’s death, she married Chad Daybell in 2019, shortly after the death of Daybell’s wife, and while her own children’s well-being and whereabouts were unknown.

The Daybells were married and were living in Hawaii in December of 2019. She was arrested there on Feb. 20, 2020, on a warrant from Madison County in Idaho on suspicion and nonsupport of dependent children. Police said she was in violation of willful disobedience of court process or order. She was extradited to Idaho.

Chad Daybell was eventually charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder but has a separate trial that started in Boise on April 1, 2024.

 

Lori Vallow Daybell was initially ruled by a judge as incompetent to stand trial, but in 2022 that competency was restored. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against her.

She was found guilty of:

• First-degree murder for the death of Tylee Ryan.
• First-degree murder for the death of JJ Vallow.
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the death of Tylee Ryan.
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the death of JJ Vallow.
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the death of Tammy Daybell.
• Grand theft, related to Social Security survivor benefits for JJ and Tylee

In Arizona, she is charged with:

• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the death of Charles Vallow.
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the attempted murder of Brandon Beaudreaux