‘Doomsday mom’ Lori Vallow to be sentenced for murders of her children she thought were zombies
Evil spirits, zombies and the end of the world. Lori Vallow’s murder trial had it all, and ended with her being found guilty of killing two of her children.
The so-called “doomsday mom” from Idaho became obsessed with a coming religious apocalypse, prosecutors say, and believed her kids had to be destroyed so they could go to heaven.
Vallow and her fifth husband Chad Daybell went from being followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to something altogether darker and cult-like, it is claimed.
Whatever happened after they met, not long later two of her children – Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his big sister Tylee Ryan – were dead, and so was Daybell’s ex-wife Tammy.
What happened at Lori Vallow’s trial?
Her long trial captivated the nation and gained attention across the globe.
“It didn’t matter what it was,” Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake told jurors at the beginning of the trial.
She said that Tylee, Joshua and Tammy Daybell were all killed because they got in the way of Vallow and Daybell’s relationship.
“Remember, the defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants, and she wanted Chad Daybell,” Ms Blake said.
Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Pic: Fremont County Sheriff’s Office
Vallow’s defence team, however, argued that she was a “kind and loving mother to her children” who happened to take an interest in religion and biblical prophecies about the end of the world.
“Some people care less about biblical prophecies, some people care a lot about it. Thankfully in this country, we get to worship as we choose,” defence attorney Jim Archibald said.
After weeks of evidence setting out the dark, cult-like, reality Vallow had become absorbed in, she was found guilty of murdering Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his big sister Tylee Ryan, and conspiring to murder Daybell’s ex-wife Tammy.
What happened to JJ and Tylee?
Rexburg, Idaho, used to be best known as a haven for Mormons – some 95% of people living there are Latter-day Saints (LDS) members.
But in September 2019 it was thrust into the spotlight for a different reason: the disappearance and search for two children.
Vallow and Daybell told police that JJ was in Arizona with a family friend and that Tylee had died a year before and had been attending a university.
It wasn’t until June 2020 that police found the mutilated remains of JJ and Tylee at a property in rural Idaho that belonged to Daybell.
JJ’s body was wrapped in rubbish bags, his arms bound in front of him with duct tape. Tylee’s remains were charred.
Investigators search for human remains at Chad Daybell’s residence in Salem, Idaho, in June 2020. Pic: AP
What about Vallow’s ex-husband and Daybell’s ex-wife?
Strangers from around the world became transfixed by the search for the children, rumours of doomsday beliefs… and the mysterious deaths of Vallow’s fourth husband Charles Vallow and Daybell’s ex-wife Tammy.
Charles Vallow had been shot and killed by Lori Vallow’s brother in July 2019, a few months after he filed for divorce. He claimed his wife threatened to kill him and that she believed she was a god.
Tammy was found dead in October 2019 of what doctors at the time thought was natural causes. Vallow and Daybell were married just two weeks after Tammy’s funeral.
Lori Vallow faces life in prison. Pic: AP
What will happen to Lori Vallow?
Vallow is expected to be sentenced later on Monday, at Fremont County Courthouse in St Anthony, Idaho.
She faces up to life in prison but will not receive the death penalty after a judge took it off the table at a hearing in August last year.
Daybell is set to face court in a separate trial at a later date.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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US and Russia hold talks in Saudi Arabia
Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Has Musk taken a chainsaw to US politics?
Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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