Lori Vallow Daybell sentencing: Tammy Daybell’s aunt speaks ahead of expected life sentence
Jul 31, 2023, 7:59 AM | Updated: 11:47 am
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho — Dozens lined up more than 14 hours ahead of Lori Vallow Daybell’s sentencing hearing, camping out in front of the courthouse steps overnight to secure a spot in the courtroom.
The hearing, during which Judge Steven Boyce is expected to hand down multiple life sentences, will include victim impact statements that designated family members will deliver in person, directly to Vallow Daybell. It is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday. KSL TV will stream the hearing live on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and in the KSL+ app.
Click here for complete coverage of the Lori Vallow Daybell trial
A jury convicted Vallow Daybell in May on all charges she was facing, including the murders of her two children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, the late wife of Vallow Daybell’s now husband, Chad Daybell.
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This is their moment to address Vallow Daybell and the court about the murders. However, Tammy’s mother Phyllis Douglas will not get that opportunity, because she recently died.
“My sister passed away with this still hanging,” said Vicki Hoban, Douglas’ sister.
Hoban said she promised her sister she would be there.
“My sister just said, ‘The fact that anybody treated my beautiful daughter this way’… it just broke her heart,” Hoban expressed. “And I think it was more poisonous to her than her cancer.”
As Tammy’s aunt, Hoban can tell Lori directly how Tammy’s death and how the past few years have affected their family.
“There’s so many people that suffer. I cannot talk to a lot of my family members about it because it’s just too hard of a place to even go,” she said.
The murders, as well as the death of Lori’s late husband Charles Vallow in Arizona not part of this trial but for which she’s also been indicted, all took place in 2019 during an alleged affair between Lori and Chad.
“The behavior of Lori in the courtroom was such an emotional slap in the face to all the families,” Hoban said, of how Vallow Daybell acted during the several-week trial.
Vallow Daybell was often seen laughing and in good spirits in the courtroom.
Law enforcement including the main detectives on the case, who put thousands of hours into making sure #LoriVallowDaybell was found guilty on all charges, have arrived at her sentencing. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/ZNNvTEAUMF
— Lauren Steinbrecher (@LaurenSnews) July 31, 2023
Hoban said she hoped to get her point across.
She’ll be speaking before Vallow Daybell is likely handed life in prison.
Hoban said she hopes Vallow Daybell gets three life sentences with no possibility of parole.
Though ultimately, with Chad Daybell’s trial scheduled for next year, Hoban said this is a marathon, not a sprint.
And she hopes that others see the story of Lori and Chad as a cautionary tale, that an unhappy marriage doesn’t have to be a life sentence or a death sentence.
“I just want to say that Tammy’s life was worth something,” Hoban said, stopping as she got choked up. “She meant something to people, and I want people to know that things don’t have to be like this. You know? You don’t have to hurt other people.”
