Lori Vallow appears in court for opening statements on April 10, 2023; JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan appear inset, on the right, and Lori Vallow appears inset, on the left. (Pool courtroom sketch artist; screengrab via CBS This Morning; FBI Wanted poster)
Opening statements began late Monday morning in the triple murder trial of accused "doomsday cult" mom Lori Vallow Daybell.
"Money, power, and sex – that's what this case is about," lead prosecutor Lindsey Blake told jurors in Ada County, Idaho. "The defendant used money, power, and sex to get what she wanted. It didn't matter what it was. It didn't matter what obstacles she had to move – a person or thing. If a person, it didn't matter who."
And on the road to that avaricious trinity, the prosecutor argued, Vallow got what she wanted by orchestrating a series of murders – by conspiring to kill at least three people who got in her way.
Vallow and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, 54, stand accused of murder over 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 at his property. The two defendants were indicted for the murder of Vallow's children and Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. Initially being prosecuted as husband-and-wife co-defendants, the couple's cases were recently severed and will be tried separately.
The defendant is also indicted in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one charge of conspiracy to commit murder over the death of her previous husband, Charles Vallow, who was admittedly shot and killed by Vallow's since-deceased brother, Alex Cox, in July 2019.
"Tylee had money, Lori wanted it, Tylee's gone," Blake told jurors. "JJ took time and he also lost his father. When he lost his father, he became much more difficult to care for. He was entitled to social security benefits. The defendant didn't want to have to take care of JJ anymore, he had money, JJ's gone."
Tammy Daybell was also a would-be source of funding for Vallow, the prosecutor argued. She died in October 2019.
"Tammy had a life insurance policy," Blake said. "Lori wanted Chad all to herself. Tammy's gone."
Gruesome and lurid details of the homicides charged by Gem State authorities were revealed publicly for the first time on Monday.
According to the prosecution, Tylee Ryan's charred remains were found buried in a shallow grave on Chad Daybell's property.
The teenager's hands had been cut off.
As Blake spoke, jurors were shown pictures of the crime scene.
They are showing the crime scene photos. Terrible #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 10, 2023
"You will hear it described as a mass of bone and tissue," the prosecutor told the courtroom. "The defendant's daughter. Her DNA was discovered on a pickaxe and shovel on Chad's property."
The young boy, who had autism, was last seen alive sleeping on his uncle's shoulder, the prosecutor went on to say. The next time he was seen, he was found in a similar shallow grave – wrapped in garbage bags that were taped around his head and his arms. His hands were still intact but bound and duct-taped together.
Jurors were also shown autopsy photographs of the victims.
Tammy Daybell was strangled or smothered to death, a medical examiner in Utah determined.
Blake says Tammy Daybell died "at the hands of another and died of asphyxiation," according to Utah medical examiner. After Tammy died, Alex Cox said, "I hope I'm not their fall guy" (referring to Chad and Lori). Alex died the day after he said that.
— Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 10, 2023
At first, Tammy Daybell's death was attributed to natural causes. But as more information came to light, law enforcement reassessed and reopened the investigation.
Cox, who is believed to have acted as Vallow's hitman by killing her then-husband, would cryptically suggest he might later be framed for Tammy Daybell's death. He died from a blood clot in his brain the very next day.
At the time of Tammy's exhumation, Alex said "I hope I am not their fall guy" We may never know what he meant or knew because he died the next day after Tammy was exhumed. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork
— Pretty Lies & Alibis🎙 (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 10, 2023
