Woman With ‘Doomsday Ideology’ Convicted For Her Children's Death

In a case that has earned attention due to her apocalyptic religious beliefs, Lori Vallow Daybell is finally found guilty of murdering two of her children and a conspiracy to murder her husband’s former spouse. A sentencing date isn’t set yet and before the trial began, Judge Steven Boyce of the 7th Judicial District had granted the request of Ms. Vallow’s lawyers to take the death penalty off the table.

The trial in Boise, Idaho started on April 3rd after years of delays as Ms. Lori Vallow Daybell had been declared not competent to stand trial and was required to undergo psychiatric treatment.

Woman With ‘Doomsday Ideology’ Convicted For Her Children's Death — Twitter

In opening statements, prosecutors dubbed Vallow a negligent mother who firmly believed she was on a religious mission that was way more important than caring for her children. It’s alleged that Vallow also believed her children were zombies possessed by evil spirits. As per Boise State Public Radio, she didn’t testify in her defense and her lawyers rested their case without calling one witness.

Cameras were banned from the courtroom, but Judge Boyce permitted the verdict to be streamed online. In addition to being convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Tylee Ryan, 16 and Joshua Vallow, 7, known as J.J, Vallow was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tammy Daybell, her husband’s former wife. Both Tylee and J.J. had been reported missing in November 2019 by J.J.’s grandparents.

At the time, authorities said the couple seemed unbothered by the children’s disappearance. In February 2020, Vallow had been arrested in Hawaii on a warrant issued by the authorities in Idaho, after they claimed she had not cooperated with the effort to find her children. Then in June of the same year, investigators found human remains buried on Vallow’s property, which were later identified as the missing children.

Following the verdict, Larry Woodcock, J.J’s granddad told reporters outside the courthouse that his heart badly hurt. “From the very get-go, it started with two children missing, and I stood up and said: ‘Where are the children? Where are the children? Where are the children?’” Mr. Woodcock said. He said that he planned to attend the sentencing so that he could ask Ms. Vallow Daybell directly: “Why, Lori? Why, Lori? Why?” However, former friends confirmed the couple’s purported religious beliefs, with Melanie Gibb stating Vallow called J.J. and Tylee zombies,’ The A.P reported.