Lori Vallow Daybell, who was convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival, is on trial again Monday. This time, she’s accused in Arizona of conspiring to murder her estranged husband.
In opening statements the prosecution said that Vallow Daybell conspired with brother Alex Cox to kill Charles Vallow and cash in on a life insurance policy, while espousing the belief that Charles was possessed by an evil spirit.
The case has drawn significant public attention in part because Vallow Daybell, 51, has doomsday-focused religious beliefs. She isn’t a lawyer but has chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial.
Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty and said in her opening statement that Cox acted in self-defense after Charles attacked her daughter with a baseball bat, describing the death as a tragedy but not a crime.
Here’s what to know about the case.
What happened at the start of the trial
“Lori Vallow is why Alex was able to shoot Charles,” prosecutor Treena Kay said. “Lori Vallow is why Charles is dead.”
A jury of 16 took their seats in a Phoenix courtroom, including four alternate jurors. Kay provided a detailed timeline and argued that phone records, witness testimony and forensic evidence will show that Cox’s shooting of Charles was “not self-defense.”
The prosecution also said Monday that Vallow Daybell conspired in the killing so that she could move forward with marrying her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.
“Lori Vallow wanted to be Lori Daybell, wife of Chad Daybell, and in July 2019 Lori Vallow wanted to keep the same lifestyle that she had with Charles. And she could get all of this if Charles was dead,” Kay said. “She could marry Chad Daybell and become Lori Daybell. She would get a million-dollar life insurance policy.”
Vallow Daybell’s voice broke in her opening statement as she detailed the physical altercation with a baseball bat between her daughter Tylee Ryan and her fourth husband, Charles.
Vallow Daybell said the evidence will show that Charles wrestled a baseball bat away from Tylee, and that Cox acted in self-defense as both she and Tylee rushed from the house.
“Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy,” Vallow Daybell said.
What happened in Arizona
Vallow was fatally shot in July 2019. Vallow Daybell then moved to Idaho with two of her youngest children and married Daybell two weeks after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell. The bodies of the children — 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee — were later found buried in rural Idaho on Chad Daybell’s property.
Vallow Daybell is already serving three life sentences in Idaho for the children’s deaths and for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in the three