“Doomsday” believer Lori Vallow was convicted of murdering her daughter, Tylee Ryan, 16, her adopted son, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and her husband’s ex-wife. Lori’s biological daughter was Tylee, and her stepson was Joshua. Her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, is charged with murdering his first wife, Tammy. Last year, Netflix broadcast “Sins of Our Mother,” a true-crime documentary about them. Prosecutors suggested “religious beliefs” as a motivation.
Joshua’s grandparents reported Vallow’s children missing in late 2019, and the story rapidly went global. After discovering that additional people connected to Vallow and Daybell had died, Vallow was arrested in Hawaii. Vallow and Daybell never reported the children missing, but in June 2020, Daybell’s Idaho ranch yielded their corpses.
Mormon Vallow became an extreme who claimed to speak to angels. At a Utah religious gathering in 2018, she met Daybell, the leader of a hardline Mormon end-times preppers organization. Her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, said she called herself “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming.” Several faiths believe 144,000 Christians will be resurrected at the end of the world and enter heaven.
Vallow was found guilty of grand theft for taking her children’s social security payments and faces life without parole. The judge ruled that Vallow’s punishment will not include the death penalty. If found guilty, Daybell might be executed despite pleading not guilty. The prosecution also alleged a monetary motive. Daybell faces insurance fraud accusations.
