American woman of Idaho Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of murdering her own  children

Lori Vallow Daybell, Dubbed as 'Doomsday Mom', Convicted for Killing Children and Plotting to Murder Husband's Ex-Spouse

By Edward Era Barbacena 

An Idaho jury on Friday found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty of murdering her children.

After a weeks-long trial and deliberations stretching over two days, the jury of 12 people returned the verdict early Friday afternoon.

Lori was also found guilty of plotting to kill her husband’s late wife. She was found guilty on a charge of grand theft. The death penalty was taken off the table during pretrial proceedings.

The 49-year-old mother was charged with six counts in the high-profile case that captured worldwide attention. Her trial was closely-watched and attracted media coverage from around the country.

During the trial, prosecutors said the defendant was motivated by money, power, and sex to kill her children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua “JJ” Vallow. They also said she plotted to kill Tammy Daybell, longtime wife of Chad Daybell. Lori and Chad married in Hawaii shortly after Tammy’s death.

Chad Daybell is also charged in the case but is being tried separately. Prosecutors said extreme religious beliefs fueled the couple’s plan to kill as part of a scheme to steal social security and life insurance money.

On his way into court Friday morning, Larry Woodcock, JJ’s grandfather, said he hoped for a “just” and “righteous” verdict.

He was wearing a shirt that said “World’s Greatest Papa,” which he said someone gave him the night before.

"I’m not the world’s greatest Papa, but I’ll tell you what,” he said, becoming emotional, “I hope I was the world’s best Papa to JJ and Tylee.”

Defense attorneys argued Lori was a good mother who loved her children and never had a plan to kill anyone. They said she only lied about her children’s whereabouts to protect Chad Daybell.

Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019, and their remains were found buried on Chad Daybell’s Idaho property in June 2020. During the trial, it was revealed that JJ died of asphyxiation, while Tylee’s exact manner of death could not be determined because her body had been burned beyond recognition.

Tammy’s death at her home in October 2019 was originally attributed to natural causes, but her body was later exhumed, and prosecutors revealed during the trial that she had died of asphyxiation at the hands of another person.

Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, was also implicated in the indictment, but he died in December 2019 of natural causes.

Judge Steven Boyce banned cameras during the trial, but he allowed the verdict to be live-streamed on YouTube.