Estimated read time: 12-13 minutes
BOISE — "Lori knew exactly what was going on. ... She was 100% involved in this, and all the evidence tells us that," Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors in the murder trial for Lori Vallow Daybell on Thursday afternoon right before the case was handed over to them to deliberate.
Seven men and five women are now considering whether Daybell is guilty of killing her two children, conspiring to kill her children and conspiring to kill her new husband's former wife.
"Lori's behavior shows that she is a killer. Lori's behavior is not one of a mom who is concerned over the safety and well-being of her children. Justice for these victims requires a conviction," Wood said.
He reminded jurors that Chad Daybell texted Lori Daybell about JJ "going into the light" and said everyone in the courtroom knows what that meant. But Lori Daybell didn't respond, "Let's not go kill kids," he said. Instead she replied, "That is so sweet."
"When Lori wants something, she finds a way to make it happen," the prosecutor said.
Jurors received the case about 2:15 p.m. Thursday. They deliberated about four and a half hours before recessing for the night. They will resume deliberations Friday morning.
Prosecution's closing arguments
Wood focused Thursday on the same theme he mentioned to the jury weeks ago when the murder trial began against Daybell: "Money, power and sex." He said Lori and Chad Daybell set in motion events that led to three Idaho murders as part of a larger plan.
But defense attorney James Archibald disputed the prosecution's theory, arguing that Daybell had money in her previous marriage, never sought or obtained power and said sex is not a crime. He said it was Lori Daybell who was manipulated by Chad Daybell with fringe "religious babble" and said, "Lori sees Chad as if Chad is Jesus."
"Why can't people escape religious cult figures? Why can't they break out? Why can't they break away from that mind control? Promises are hopeful to some people," Archibald told the jury.
The prosecutor said 16-year-old Tylee Ryan had her whole life ahead of her when she was murdered and her body "dismembered in such a grotesque and extreme manner" that the cause of death was homicide by unspecified means.
"Lori never reported that Tylee was missing for a day. Not only did she not report it, she lied to multiple people about Tylee's condition and whereabouts," Wood said.
He said she lied in order to keep collecting Social Security money while her daughter's body was buried inside a green bucket.
He reminded jurors they heard evidence that 7-year-old JJ Vallow struggled before he was killed, and just like Tylee, the boy was never reported missing or dead while his mom lied about where he was to keep Social Security benefits coming to her.
"JJ Vallow's voice was silenced forever by a strip of duct tape placed across his mouth," Wood said. "It was a brutal, horrific murder of a 7-year-old boy with special needs."
Wood said Tammy Daybell, a healthy 49-year-old mother of five children, was murdered in her home by asphyxiation. He said her death occurred just over a week after a masked man shot at her, and when that plan to kill her didn't work, they created a new plan. Wood said Lori Daybell's trip to Hawaii at that time was intentional so she could "conveniently" be out of state.
"These are not coincidences and there is one common thread throughout these murders — Lori Vallow. She is the one person who ties this all together," Wood said.
He told the jury that if it finds Lori Daybell intended for the murders to occur and someone she associated with followed out the plan, she is guilty of conspiring. Wood said Lori Daybell is guilty of murder if the jury finds she aided, counseled or encouraged a murder.
"Aiding and abetting is just the same as pulling the trigger," he said.
Wood explained Lori Daybell is charged with endorsing religious beliefs with a purpose to commit murder. He said when Lori told her friend Melanie Gibb that JJ was "a zombie" and talked about her children "not being themselves," she was using fringe religious beliefs to justify their murder.
"It does not matter what they believed. It matters what they did. They can believe whatever they want, but when they use that to justify homicide, that changes. They used religion to manipulate others," Wood said.
He said the family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to get away from friends and family in Arizona, so they could better hide JJ and Tylee's disappearance.
"Moving to Rexburg was the catalyst for these murders," he told the jurors. "This was all a plan, like I said in the beginning, to be together without obstacles."
He said she sent a text to Chad Daybell, without hesitation, saying: "'We are surrounded by telestial relatives that are simply obstacles. I'm so sick of it."
He reminded jurors of specific evidence presented in the trial — a text from Chad Daybell to Tammy Daybell about burying a raccoon that led them to the place the children's bodies were buried; Lori Daybell's son Colby Ryan talking about his mom often running out of money; phone location data from Lori Daybell's brother Alex Cox showing him near the Daybell home when Tammy was shot at, when she died and when Tylee disappeared.
"Tylee, JJ and Tammy can't tell us what happened, but their bodies do," Wood said as he talked about the gravesite for the two children and the bodies of all three victims.
He said Daybell was motivated by money, and Social Security benefits were the "benefits of murder."
He also claimed Lori Daybell used sex to manipulate Chad Daybell, and the two led the plan together, working to get rid of "the obstacles." He said she texted Chad Daybell, at least as early as July, asking what the "percentages" were for JJ and Tammy — meaning what percentage of them was good. In August, she asked if JJ was "at zero yet."
"She wants her children gone. There is no doubt, she wants these children gone. She is encouraging their murder," Wood said.
Not long after Tammy Daybell's death, which investigators say was a homicide by asphyxiation, Chad and Lori Daybell were "dancing on a beach in Hawaii," Wood said, "free from the obstacles that were Tylee, JJ, and Tammy. But living with the money that was gained from each of their deaths."
Wood said there is no question JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell were murdered — and Lori Vallow is the common thread for each of them. He encouraged the jury to find her guilty on every count.
Defense's final arguments
The attorney for Lori Daybell said it has not been proven who killed Tylee or JJ, but Cox and Chad Daybell were at the gravesite near when each child disappeared. He told the jury there are no texts showing that Lori Daybell conspired to kill Tylee or JJ.
"Of the 15,000 texts you have as evidence, show me one that shows Lori is a part of that conspiracy. ... There is no such text," Archibald said during the defense's closing arguments.
Lori Daybell's life changed drastically in October 2018 when she met Chad Daybell, Archibald said. He said the man convinced her they had been married in previous lives, they had other names, and they were selected to lead 144,000 people and prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
He said she underwent "quite a remarkable change for the people who knew Lori."
Archibald said his client worked hard as a single mother. When she married Charles Vallow, her fourth marriage, they had five children, including JJ whom they adopted.
"Charles and Lori were a good fit for him, and they loved him and cared for him," the defense attorney said.
He said Colby Ryan testified that she was a great mom who taught her children to do good before she met Chad Daybell. But Archibald said right after she met the man, four people ended up dead. He referred to Chad Daybell as a religious cult leader whom Lori Daybell could not escape from.
Archibald contested the prosecution's theory that she was acting out of a desire for money, power and sex. He said if Lori were focused on money she would have stayed with Charles Vallow, who told the bank he made $400,000 and $500,000 a year, which is much more than she made on Social Security or with Chad Daybell.
"With my math, that just doesn't add up," he said.
She didn't commit the crimes for power either, Archibald said, explaining that Chad Daybell had about six religious followers and Lori Daybell didn't have any. He said the math for that argument is "ridiculous."
"She so wants to be a leader, but she's not leading anyone. She's following Chad. She thinks Chad is following Jesus," Archibald said.
Archibald said sex, the final reason cited by Wood, is not a crime and happens everyday outside of marriage.
He said Chad Daybell's pickup line about being married in a previous life and being friends with Jesus came at a vulnerable time in Lori Daybell's life.
"It's pretty scary that that pickup line would work," Archibald said.
He said there were 60 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits presented during the trial. While those show Lori Daybell's children are dead, he questioned whether they show that she killed anyone.
The attorney said Lori's hair found on duct tape wrapped around JJ's body is not a smoking gun. He asked moms on the jury whether their hair is on their children's clothing or blankets.
Archibald also sought to cast doubt on a surprising testimony from a friend, Audrey Barattiero, who told jurors Lori Daybell threatened to kill her when she ended their friendship. He told jurors to sift through her testimony to see what is real and what is imaginary.
"What did we learn about Audrey? Well she's married to Jesus so that's pretty cool. ... I'll follow you to five different states, but I'm really not a follower. I don't like it when my good friend Lori tells me for no good reason that she's going to kill me. And I'm not going to testify that under oath because I'm scared," Archibald said of the woman.
He said Tammy Daybell could have died from a seizure. It was first determined she died from natural causes, but then later asphyxia after her body was exhumed and an autopsy was performed.
"That death is up in the air. Was she even murdered? Or was it a natural death?" Archibald asked.
He said the jury is being asked to convict his client for Tammy Daybell's death even though Lori Daybell was in Hawaii when it happened.
Archibald encouraged the jury to listen to the phone call between Chad Daybell and Lori Daybell while she was in jail and police were searching the property where they would soon find the children's bodies.
"Lori does not know what's in Chad's backyard. She knows her kids are missing. She knows the kids aren't with her. She knows that they're safe and happy, whatever that means. People are dead, people are safe and happy if they're in heaven. But does she know that Chad and Alex stuffed her kids in Chad's backyard?" Archibald said.
He said GPS data did not place Lori Daybell in Chad Daybell's backyard that day, and knowing that she was calling and texting Chad Daybell and Cox that day does not prove anything.
"We don't have any texts that say, 'Today is the day we're going to go kill some people,'" he said.
Archibald said a lack of evidence has to be held against the prosecution. He questioned why she would list her children on a rental application and enroll them in school.
"The only thing that makes sense to me was she didn't have a plan. ... There was no plan by Lori to kill her kids," Archibald said.
He said she lied about the missing children afterward to protect Chad Daybell, her lover and eternal companion. He said sometimes common sense and reason "go out the window."
"The religious aspects of this group are so intense that common sense has vanished," he told the jury.
Archibald said until she met Chad Daybell, Lori Daybell taught her children about Jesus and believed in Jesus. He said the case is not about multiple lives, zombies, or being a leader of the 144,000. He said Lori spent her whole life protecting her children.
"No one here thinks Lori actually killed anyone," he said.
Archibald said neither a guilty verdict or a not guilty verdict would bring the children back, and encouraged the jury to focus on following the law, and the lack of evidence against Lori Daybell.
Final words
In response to Archibald's arguments, Wood said it makes no sense to talk about Lori Daybell being a good mom when she never reported her children as missing or dead. Wood said Lori knew where her children were, according to a phone call from jail with her sister.
"That might be the one thing you've heard from Lori that is true, because she knew exactly where JJ was," Wood said. "The innocent don't need to lie. The guilty lie."
He encouraged the jury to listen to Lori Daybell's voice for fear and guilt in a phone call from jail and look at her words in texts, and hold her own words against her.
"She knew her children were dead because she helped plan it. She knew her children were dead because she encouraged it," he said.
The prosecutor said she was tired of the obstacles in her way, which is why she went to get a nanny for JJ.
"She didn't want to deal with him, so she found someone else who could until they buried him in the ground," Wood said.
He also pushed back on Archibald's claim that the hair found on JJ's body was not a "smoking gun."
"It wasn't on JJ's socks. It wasn't on his pajamas. ... It was on the duct tape that secured that bag that was placed over his head," he said.
Lori Daybell is charged with conspiracy to commit the murders of Tylee and JJ, murdering Tylee and JJ, and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, all first-degree felonies. She is also charged with grand theft, a felony. On Thursday morning before the jury was brought in, the judge ruled there was enough evidence presented during the trial on each count against her to send the charges to the jury.
Lori Daybell's husband, Chad Daybell, is charged with each of the same first-degree felonies, along with two felony counts of insurance fraud and murdering Tammy Daybell. Judge Steven Boyce is considering setting a trial for him in June of 2024.
Contributing: Kyle Dunphey, Deseret News
Tuesday testimony
