Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell are linked to a string of murders in 2019. Daybell and Vallow are currently in prison in Idaho. They are charged with a number of crimes, including first-degree murder of Vallow’s children, Tylee and JJ, and other crimes related to the deaths of their former partners. The two are still awaiting their trial, which will take place later this year.
The children reportedly mysteriously disappeared in September 2019, and only the two said they knew where they were.
In June 2020, evidence led police to Daybell’s backyard, which was just outside of Rexburg, Idaho. Two shallow graves with the bodies of two people were found. They belonged to JJ and Tylee.
CBS’s 48 Hours will look back at a series of murders Daybell and Vallow allegedly committed in the name of their religious beliefs. These killings involved zombies and fanatical behavior related to cults.
Tammy Daybell, Chad’s first wife, died a few weeks before he married Lori. It looked like a natural death, but police had reason to believe her husband had killed her. The cause of death was found to be asphyxiation, which confirmed their already suspected assumptions.
The things that happened in 2019 that led to the arrests of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell
Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell first met in 2018 while they were both still married to spouses Charles Vallow and Tammy Daybell. Lori’s friends said that she liked his lyrics and that she and he hit it off when they first met. They finally got married in October 2019. In the time between them both of their partners and Lori’s two children died.
Charles Vallow feared for his life and that of his children. He told police that his wife was acting strangely and was making death threats. Alex Cox, Lori Vallow’s brother, shot and killed him in July 2019. His worst fears came true. Cox said he did it in self-defense because Charles physically injured his sister. But the murder was reportedly committed on purpose while Tylee was there.
In September, after a few months, Lori moved closer to where Chad Daybell lived in Rexburg. A few days later, on September 8th, Tylee Ryan went missing. Lori’s friend Melanie Gibb reportedly said Tylee’s mom called her a “zombie.” A few weeks later, on September 22nd, JJ Vallow also disappeared and Tammy Daybell died in her bed on October 19th.
But people started wondering about Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow when they wed on November 5, five weeks after Vallow’s wife died. At the end of the month, on November 26, JJ’s grandmother and Charles’ sister, Kay Woodcock, reported that she was unable to reach her grandson. This was the first time Lori’s children had been reported missing.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow eventually run into trouble with the law.
Police soon found out that Tylee and her younger brother had been missing for some time. A search has been launched across the country to find her. Cox was the only person who could have known about the disappearance, but he died in December of that year, leaving behind his phone, which was a very important piece of evidence.
In June 2020, the dead man’s phone led police to Chad Daybell’s backyard, where the bodies of the two children were found in shallow graves. Lori, on the other hand, was arrested in February this year because she couldn’t say where her children were. In May 2021, the two were charged with first degree killings of Tylee and JJ. In the end, Chad was also accused of killing his first wife.
The next month in June, Lori was also charged with plotting to kill Charles Vallow, but Chad pleaded not guilty to all charges in court. But the judge said the first person was unfit to stand trial, so her case was stayed and she was taken to a psychiatric facility. In April 2022, she was found of sound mind and ready to stand trial. She didn’t want to say how she felt.