
Lori Vallow appears in a courtroom sketch; her dead children, JJ Vallow, on the left, and Tylee Ryan, on the right, appear inset, in April 2023. (Courtroom pool sketch artist; Fremont County Sheriff’s Office)
The triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell — a “doomsday cult”-connected mother of two dead children and former wife to two dead husbands — stretched into its eleventh day of testimony in an Ada County, Idaho, courthouse on Wednesday morning.
Vallow, 49, and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, 54, stand accused of murder in the 2019 deaths of Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ashlyn Ryan, 17. The children disappeared on different dates in September of that year. Vallow was initially arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on charges of child desertion. Daybell was arrested later that year after the children’s bodies were found buried in shallow graves on his property in Salem, Idaho.
The two were indicted for the murder of Vallow’s children and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. They were initially prosecuted as husband-and-wife co-defendants, but the couple’s cases were recently severed and they now face separate trials.
The third week of the trial comes after abbreviated first and second weeks. Despite canceling over a day’s worth of testimony due to an unforeseen personal tragedy affecting the prosecution’s lead attorney, the trial is well ahead of schedule. Seventh District Court Judge Steven W. Boyce cut proceedings short by an entire additional day last week to maintain some prior scheduling.
Keeping proceedings apace is the speed at which the many witnesses in the complex case are testifying – most quite quickly for the state and with little in the way of cross-examination by the defense.
Last week, jurors heard from Lori Vallow’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan, who took the stand and discussed his faith and family. He later sat silently for jurors to watch as prosecutors played a jailhouse phone call between him and his mother in which he accuses her of murdering his siblings and calls her a liar.
On Tuesday, a similar scene played out in the Gem State’s southwestern halls of justice as Vallow’s sister, Summer Cox Shiflet, took the stand – first to smiles from the defendant. But, that smile turned to visible grief as the aunt of the deceased children sat on the stand during an emotional jailhouse phone between the two sisters.
In that phone call, Shifleft accuses Vallow of murdering her children, slightly walks the allegation back, but says that regardless of who actually killed them, the defendant threw them away like “trash” in a “pet cemetery” and then happily elope on the shores of Hawaii.
Law&Crime correspondent Gigi McKelvey will provide updates in court on Wednesday and throughout the trial.
Lori is at the defense table. The witness is taking the stand. Waiting on the judge and jury. #LoriVallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
UPDATE: 2:27 P.M. MST – Cross-Examination
Most of the cross the whole trial has been questioning the witnesses about their experience. Not refuting much regarding Lori. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Thomas asks who was responsible for collecting trace evidence off the body and the witness says he is. On the scene it would be law enforcement #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Thomas says you have no specific recollection about conversations you had about what to collect? Witness says that's right. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
the cause of death for JJ was asphyxia by plastic bag over the head and duct tape covering the mouth #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Evidence of a struggle, plastic bag over his head that was duct taped. Thomas says that could've been put over his head after death. Witness says I guess it's possible. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Thomas says he's just going off of what he has seen in movies. The witness says "That's scary, I am going off of what I know". #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Thomas says you put JJ on his belly. Did you get any trace evidence from his backside? They got swabs from a private area. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Thomas says fresh as in within days? Witness says no, that's too far out. Right around the time of death or if there was a struggle. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Break. Next witness will be another doctor #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
UPDATE: 1:54 P.M. MST – Tylee’s Gruesome, Mysterious Death
The condition of Tylee and JJ’s remains were way worse than I ever could have imagined in the over 3 years I’ve covered this case. My gosh. Those kids suffered. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
– No medical explanation from medical/social records
For Tylee – it met all the criteria. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Lori is listening to this testimony. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
In a bag the melted green bucket was given to law enforcement for testing. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Some photos will not be shown on the projector but some will. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Lori has her neck bent down – almost chin to chest. We are on Tylee's photos. I can't see if she is writing or not #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
UPDATE: 11:42 A.M. MST – Autopsy Photos and Tears
I am not going to tweet out all the descriptions of the photos. I will discuss on tonight's episode
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Mr Thomas asks if they can be shown in black and white and not in color. Judge Boyce asks for sidebar #LoriVallow@LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Judge Boyce is back on the bench. He says the photos will be demonstrated and published only to the jury monitors. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
Judge Boyce is back on the bench. He says the photos will be demonstrated and published only to the jury monitors. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
JJ had bruising on bilateral upper arms and they were symmetric. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
UPDATE: 10:01 A.M. MST – JJ Vallow's Cause of Death Revealed
Ada County has contracts with Fremont and Madison counties to perform autopsies. #LoriVallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
He did JJ's autopsy on June 11, 2020 at the Ada County morgue. It took 4 hours to complete. #LoriVallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
With JJ - the body was in a sealed body bag. He said the body was wrapped in a black "tarp" sealed with duct tape. He saw a white plastic bag over JJ's head wrapped around the face multiple times with duct tape to the neck #LoriVallow@LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
With JJ - the body was in a sealed body bag. He said the body was wrapped in a black "tarp" sealed with duct tape. He saw a white plastic bag over JJ's head wrapped around the face multiple times with duct tape to the neck #LoriVallow@LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 26, 2023
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