Family members say ‘Doomsday Mom’ Lori Vallow didn’t want kids, became obsessed with religion
Lori Vallow Daybell’s family testified that the “Doomsday Mom” didn’t want to raise her autistic son Joshua “JJ” Vallow and instead became obsessed with religion and her new relationship with current husband Chad Daybell.
Vallow Daybell remained quiet and quietly chatted with her attorneys inside an Idaho court on Monday as Kay Woodcock, JJ’s biological grandparent, told jurors the once-doting mother became an absent parent when her first marriage to JJ’s adoptive father, Charles Vallow, began to crumble in February 2019.
Woodcock said Charles, a financial consultant, had a $1 million insurance policy and told her that he wanted to take his estranged wife off that policy.
“He wanted to name me a beneficiary and take Lori off,” Woodcock testified, adding she committed to raising JJ because “Lori didn’t want him anymore.”
Asked why she thought Vallow Daybell didn’t want to take care of the boy, Woodcock responded, “Because when a mother leaves their child … she left her husband and her child for 58 days.”
Woodcock also said Charles Vallow told her to make sure the other half of his insurance policy went to his two adult sons.
Prosecutors said Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad, killed JJ and her other child, daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, in 2019.
They also allege the couple — who believe we are living in the end times and the world is close to ending, as well as the second coming of Christ — killed Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy.
On Monday, Woodcock testified that she had access to Charles Vallow’s emails and became alarmed when she came across what looked like an Amazon shopping history from Oct. 2, 2019.
At that point, Daybell was still married to Tammy, but prosecutors charged he was actually already in a relationship with Lori.
“I got into the browsing history of the Amazon account and I saw that there was browsing for a beach wedding dress, a bathing suit,” a white linen shirt, “and malachite wedding rings,” Woodcock testified.
She said this caught her eye because Tammy Daybell was still alive and passed away on Oct. 19, 2019, from natural causes.
About two weeks later, Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell were married on the beach in Hawaii.
Woodcock said the last time she spoke to JJ was on Aug. 10, 2019.
“That was a 35-second FaceTime … He said, ‘Hi Mama, hi Papa,'” Woodcock said.
She recalled how the boy looked up at the person holding the camera, “and then said he had to go,” Woodcock testified. “That was it.”
She added JJ wasn’t allowed to attend his father’s burial service.
Charles Vallow was fatally shot by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, in 2019 during a confrontation at her Arizona home.
Cox said he shot Charles Vallow in self-defense.
Cox, Vallow Daybell, JJ and Tylee then moved to Idaho.
Woodcock and her husband, Larry, notified police when they hadn’t been able to reach the children, kicking off a search for them that garnered nationwide headlines.
Brandon Boudreaux, who was once married to Vallow Daybell’s niece, Melanie, said they were all members of the Church of Latter-day Saints.
However, things began to change when Melanie and Lori began participating in Chad’s fireside chats.
These “chats” were informal religious meetings where the group preached their ominous beliefs.
He said Melanie began acting differently and her religious beliefs began to “focus on this idea that the world could end soon.”
Boudreaux, who held back tears in court, said Charles Vallow had sent various emails to family members detailing his estranged wife’s odd behavior once she started to follow Daybell and his teachings.
Charles Vallow also forwarded loved ones emails from Daybell himself.
The emails contained “evidence he was giving us” about Vallow Daybell’s odd behavior and the doomsday group she was hanging around with.
It was also the first time he came across Chad Daybell’s name, Boudreaux testified.
He was asked months later to identify JJ’s remains, which were found near his sister Tylee’s remains on Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Chad Daybell faces the same charges and will be tried separately later.
