Idaho Supreme Court to Hear Lori Vallow Daybell's Challenge to Triple Life Sentence

Lori Vallow Daybell faces a new round of legal scrutiny this week as the Idaho Supreme Court hears her appeal against convictions for three killings. She is seeking to overturn her verdicts in the deaths of her two youngest children, Joshua Vallow, and Tylee Ryan, along with those of Tammy Daybell.

Vallow Daybell’s legal team argues that the lower court denied her a speedy trial and improperly restricted her choice of counsel. The trial judge ruled out her preferred attorney due to a conflict of interest because that lawyer had previously represented both Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell.

The defense also contends that jurors should not have heard evidence regarding two separate shootings in the Phoenix metro area. Those incidents involved the deaths of her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, and a near-miss shooting of his niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux.

Charles Vallow was fatally shot in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019 by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox. Cox later died from a blood clot in his lungs. Prosecutors in Idaho say Vallow Daybell conspired with Cox to kill Charles Vallow to collect life insurance money and marry Chad Daybell.

The children went missing in 2019. Their bodies were later found buried on rural Idaho property owned by Chad Daybell. He is an author of religious novels focused on prophecies and the end of the world. Vallow Daybell has maintained that people in her life were possessed by evil spirits.

Chad Daybell received a death sentence for the three Idaho killings. Vallow Daybell was sentenced to three life terms in that state. She also holds two life sentences from her separate Arizona conviction for conspiracy to murder Charles Vallow and Brandon Boudreaux, which she has also appealed.