An Idaho jury found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty on Friday of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but another murder conspiracy case in Arizona remains in limbo.
Vallow Daybell was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children: 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua Vallow. She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her husband’s ex-wife, Tamara Daybell.
In Arizona, Vallow Daybell faces another charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow. He was fatally shot by her brother in 2019.
In an email to The Arizona Republic, a member of the USA TODAY Network, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it has reviewed Vallow Daybell’s charges, which stemmed from Charles Vallow’s death in Chandler, Arizona, and a shooting of one of Vallow Daybell’s relatives, Brandon Boudreaux, in Gilbert, Arizona.
The County Attorney’s Office intends to prosecute Vallow Daybell after she is sentenced in Idaho. Officials would not say more about charges in the case since it was still pending.
A ‘God-complex,’ a divorce, and a dead body
Chandler police submitted their findings to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in June 2021. Later that month, the County Attorney’s Office announced an indictment against Vallow Daybell on one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Chandler police found Charles Vallow with multiple gunshot wounds in July 2019. Vallow Daybell was accused of working with her brother, Alex Cox, who said he shot Charles Vallow in self defense. Cox died before the investigation was finished.
According to Chandler police, detectives found one bullet in the floor next to Charles Vallow’s body, indicating the possibility of something other than self-defense.
Charles Vallow had filed for divorce in February 2019. In the divorce paperwork, he wrote that Vallow Daybell had a “God-complex” and believed she would bring about the end of days. Later, a friend of Vallow Daybell would say that she believed her kids were zombies, a term she picked up from Chad Daybell to describe anyone controlled by evil.
Verdict in:‘Doomsday mom’ Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of killing her kids
In September 2021, Vallow Daybell was declared unfit to stand trial by an Idaho judge. The court ultimately decided that she was mentally competent for trial in 2022.
The 49-year-old Vallow Daybell will be sentenced in Idaho and faces a possibility of life without parole. Then, the focus will shift to Arizona.