In the U.S., Lori Vallow Daybell, a woman from Idaho, was sentenced to life imprisonment on July 31. She was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, and conspiring to kill her fifth husband’s ex-wife, Tammy Daybell. The case included bizarre claims, such as her saying her children were zombies, and she believed herself to be a goddess bringing about the Biblical apocalypse.
The judge ruled that she will serve three life sentences consecutively. Her husband, Chad Daybell, is also awaiting trial for the same murder charges. Lori faces two additional cases in Arizona – one for conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, with the help of her brother, Alex, and another for conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles was shot and killed in 2019, while her niece’s ex survived an attempt on his life later that year.
During the sentencing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Judge Steven W. Boyce mentioned that the search for the missing children and the discovery of their bodies, along with the evidence presented in court, left law enforcement and jurors traumatized. He expressed how the images of the slain children would never leave his mind.
Before being sentenced, Lori quoted Bible verses about not judging others and said she mourned the deaths of her children and Tammy Daybell but believed they would be together in the afterlife. She claimed to have regular visits from the spirits of her deceased children and her “eternal friend” Tammy, suggesting that they were not murdered, and that accidental deaths happen.
