Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of killing her children, conspiring to kill new husband's wife

BOISE — A jury has found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty of killing her two children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and conspiring to kill her new husband's wife in the high-profile murder case that shocked the country and took three years to unfold.

The jury of seven men and five women reached its verdict unanimously on Friday afternoon, after about seven hours of deliberation and following a trial that went on for six weeks. Jurors found the 49-year-old Idaho woman guilty on all six counts against her, including:

• Conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree of Tylee Ryan and grand theft by deception
• Murder in the first degree of Tylee Ryan
• Conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree of Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow and grand theft by deception
• Murder in the first degree of JJ Vallow
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of Tamara (Tammy) Daybell
• Grand theft (of Social Security benefits owed to her children and Social Security child care benefits)

Each of the counts are first-degree felonies except grand theft, which is a felony. Under Idaho law, a conviction for first-degree murder comes with a sentence of up to life in prison, with a minimum imprisonment of 10 years with no possibility of parole during those 10 years.

Lori Daybell, who often appeared casual in court throughout the trial, laughing and chatting with her attorneys, showed little emotion when the verdict was read. However as Judge Steven Boyce confirmed the verdict with the jury, she scowled, appearing to glare at each juror.

The video of the verdict was streamed on YouTube and watched live by thousands of people. Boyce did not allow cameras in the Boise courtroom during the rest of the trial.

Family, friends and witnesses, many of them law enforcement officers, who testified throughout the weekslong trial quietly celebrated in the wake of the news, some weeping and hugging. As people filed out of the courtroom, Kay and Larry Woodcock, JJ Vallow's grandparents, locked in an intense embrace.

"I love you," Larry Woodcock told his wife.

The decision closes this chapter of the horrific crime involving allegations of obsession, infidelity, obscure end-of-days beliefs, zombies and, most tragically, the deaths of Lori Daybell's two children and Tammy Daybell, the spouse of Chad Daybell.

Boyce said the sentencing for Lori Daybell will likely be set in about three months to give time for a pre-sentence report to be completed. He ordered her back into the custody of Fremont County and said further court proceedings will be at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho.

When Lori Daybell is sentenced, Larry Woodcock said he plans to ask her, "Why, Lori? Why, Lori? Why?"

'Poetic justice'

"They say all good things come to an end. Lori, it came to you today," Larry Woodcock sang to reporters outside the courthouse in a rendition of a Willie Nelson song.

Larry and Kay Woodcocks, JJ's grandparents who have been sitting in the courtroom nearly every day for weeks, thanked the prosecutors, law enforcement, media and the jury.

"I want to personally hug every one of the jurors. what they went through, what they saw, is mind-boggling. I hope that nobody ever has to go through this. I hope nobody ever has to see or hear the details of what happened to JJ, to Tylee, and to Tammy," he said.

It was a long, emotionally taxing trial for everyone involved, especially the Woodcocks, who during several witness testimonies had to look at pictures of JJ's decomposing body. Still, Larry Woodcock directed his empathy toward law enforcement involved in the investigation.

"Those guys sacrificed (time) from their families, from their homes. We will never know the countless hours, the countless hours, that they have put in, how much sacrifice they have been going through. And most of all, what they have seen in this case. that maybe some people will never unsee," he said.

And Kay Woodcock, closing out the news conference, made note of the date.

"Since it's Mother's Day ... this is what you call poetic justice," she said.

In September 2019, Lori Daybell's two children were murdered and buried in a shallow grave behind the Salem, Idaho, home of Chad Daybell, the man she was having an affair with and the apparent source of her fringe beliefs.

Then in October 2019, Chad Daybell's wife was killed by what investigators said was asphyxiation in her sleep, though at the time her death was ruled natural. Just two weeks later, Lori Vallow married Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii.

The honeymoon didn't last long. That December, Tammy Daybell's body was exhumed, and Tylee and JJ were declared missing. A court ordered Lori Daybell to produce her children by Jan. 30, 2020. When she failed to comply, she was arrested in Hawaii about four weeks later.

Public interest in the case snowballed, and the story quickly spread nationwide. With the couple relaxing in Hawaii, the country wanted to know: Where are the kids? Video of EastIdahoNews.com reporter Nate Eaton confronting the couple at a beachside resort went viral, and when Lori Daybell was arrested, reporters swarmed the small rural Idaho airport awaiting her extradition.

Then on June 9, 2020, police executed a search warrant and found the bodies of Tylee and JJ buried in Chad Daybell's backyard. Tylee's remains were so mutilated that authorities were unable to determine a cause of death. And JJ, bound by duct tape and a plastic bag, was killed by asphyxiation.

Chad Daybell was arrested that day.

The Woodcocks' concern over their grandson, who Lori Vallow Daybell later adopted, largely started the investigation into the disappearance of Tylee and JJ after they requested a welfare check for JJ. Larry Woodcock, in an emotional moment, held up his arm to show a wristband that read "Justice for Tylee and JJ."

"JJ, I love you," he said, pausing as his voice wavered. "Paw-paw wishes you were here in other circumstances. Tylee, Paw-paw loves you. Tammy, I never met you; Tammy you are a part of our life; Tammy, I am sorry for what happened to you. My heart hurts. My heart hurts for these three."

Kay Woodcock said she was praying for the verdict to be guilty on all counts.

"I can't explain the knot that my stomach was in … I barely could breathe," she said.

But Kay Woodcock said she knew it was going to be OK. The outcome is bittersweet, she added, full of sadness accompanied by a liberating relief.

"(God has) taken care of those kids, and Tammy too, with those verdicts today," she said.

The neighborhood where Daybell lived still sees visitors who followed the crime, sometimes stopping by the nearby memorial to take selfies.

NBC's "Dateline" is planning a two-hour special about the case Friday night.

'They used religion to manipulate others'

In a statement following the verdict, the prosecution said they were unable to conduct additional interviews because of Chad Daybell's pending trial.

"We are very pleased with the jury's verdict, and we want to thank them, as well as the alternates, for their service over last six weeks during this trial," the statement reads.

The indictment against Chad and Lori Daybell claims the couple "did endorse and teach religious beliefs for the purpose of justifying the homicide" of JJ, using similar language in the counts accusing them of conspiracy in Tylee's and Tammy Daybell's murder.

And throughout the last few weeks, prosecutors, through their opening and closing arguments and questions to the dozens of witnesses, showed how the couple used a skewed and extreme interpretation of teachings from the Book of Mormon to manipulate their friends, justify their crimes and pursue "money, power and sex."

"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," Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors Thursday during closing arguments.

Deliberations underway: '100% involved' or no proof Lori Daybell killed her children?

Jurors in the Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial deliberated about four and a half hours Thursday whether there is no proof she killed her two children, or whether she was "100% involved."

Witnesses in the high-profile trial included numerous law enforcement officers, ranging from FBI agents to rural Idaho sheriff's deputies, former friends and family, who painted a detailed and damning picture of the couple. Fixated on the belief that a second coming of Jesus Christ was imminent, Daybell would speak of past lives, telling Lori Daybell that she had once been married to prominent religious figures, and that together they would lead a chosen group through the end times.

Also woven into their beliefs was the idea that people could be possessed by demons — these people were called "zombies," according to texts shown as evidence, and the level of their possession was often "rated" by Chad Daybell.

Their beliefs attracted a small group of friends, who would travel the West to religious conferences and participate in "castings"— an attempt to rid someone of demonic possession. Many of those friends testified against Lori Daybell, describing how the teachings went from obscure but benign, to sinister. And when the couple moved to Hawaii, despite telling friends to relocate to Rexburg to prepare for end times, the sincerity of Lori Daybell's beliefs began to appear dubious.

"I realized that they must have taken things even further. They didn't intend for the person to be helped — they didn't want the person to live," former friend Audrey Barattiero told jurors on May 3, speaking about the people the couple claimed had been possessed and were now zombies.

Among those thought to be possessed were Tylee and JJ, as evidenced from texts recovered from Lori Daybell's iCloud account, which prosecutors said show both her and Daybell eagerly awaiting their death.

"Do you think there is a perfectly orchestrated plan to take the children? And we just have to wait for it to be carried out?" she asked Chad Daybell on Aug. 10, 2019, roughly a month before the children were murdered. "I feel lost. Like I should be doing something to help."

"There is a plan being orchestrated for the children," Chad Daybell responded.

Lori Daybell's attorneys didn't call any witnesses after the prosecution rested Tuesday. Defense attorney James Archibald told jurors that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to warrant a conviction.

"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," he said.

Archibald said Lori Daybell was a good mother until she met Chad Daybell and went through a significant change because she was manipulated by his fringe religious beliefs.

He said there were 60 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits presented during the trial. While those show Lori Daybell's children are dead, he said, they don't show that she is guilty of murder.

"No one here thinks Lori actually killed anyone," he said.

Wood, during his rebuttal, took issue with Archibald's argument, laying out the pieces of evidence he believes are "overt acts" that show Lori Daybell anticipating and encouraging the murder of her children and Tammy Daybell.

He referenced the texts between Lori Daybell, but also pointed to the fact that it was her and not her husband who would often ask to calculate the "death percentages" for the kids, her decision to place JJ in Alex Cox's custody, and her lack of concern when the kids were deemed missing.

He also listed the overt acts that implicate Cox, Lori Daybell's brother, including Google searches, cellphone GPS data and suspicious purchases — including a mask and gloves — before Tammy Daybell was shot at.

While Cox was a suspected accomplice in the killings, he died from blood clots the day after Tammy Daybell's body was exhumed.

Chad Daybell, is charged with each of the same first-degree felony charges as his wife, along with two felony counts of insurance fraud and the murder of Tammy Daybell. No trial date has been set for him, but Judge Steven Boyce said he is considering June 2024.

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