Jury Selection Begins In Trial Of Lori Vallow, ‘Doomsday Mom’ Accused Of Killing Children

Jury selection began Monday for the trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mom charged with killing two of her children.

Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, are charged with murdering Vallow’s daughter Tylee from a previous marriage and her adopted son J.J., as well as murdering Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy. The pair was charged on May 25, 2021, but the trial is just getting started, 12 News reported.

The trial will take place in Boise after being moved from eastern Idaho, where the murders allegedly took place, in order for Vallow to get a fair trial.

Late last month, during a hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, District Judge Steven Boyce heard a motion to dismiss the death penalty, which Boyce granted “to ensure the rights of the defendant to a fair trial are protected,” East Idaho News reported.

Lori’s husband, Chad Daybell, also faces trial for the children’s murders, and at a hearing last month, Boyce ruled that prosecutors must turn over all written and recorded statements made by Chad since he’s been in custody. Chad still faces the death penalty.

Lori was once a loving mother, a guest on “Wheel of Fortune,” and a beauty pageant contestant.

At some point, however, her religious views became more extreme, to the point where she allegedly referred to people who didn’t share her views as “zombies” who needed to be dealt with. As her views veered into the absurd, the people around her began dying, including her children and ex-husband, Charles Vallow.

On February 8, 2018, Vallow filed for divorce from Lori, saying she threatened to kill him if he stood in the way of her preparations for Jesus Christ’s second coming, which she and Daybell said would happen in July 2020. Vallow called the cops on Lori, citing the murder threat and asking her to be placed in a mental institution to receive treatment. Police spoke to Lori and seemed to believe it was Vallow, not Lori, who was the one with mental health issues.

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Then, on July 11, 2019, police in Chandler, Arizona, received a phone call from Alex Cox, Lori’s brother, who said he shot and killed Charles Vallow in self-defense. Lori began telling friends and family different versions of how Vallow died, from saying he had a heart attack, to suicide, to self-defense. She texted Vallow’s children from a previous marriage about his death but stopped answering them when they asked her what had happened. Alex Cox was never charged in the death.

In September 2019, Lori, along with Tylee and J.J., moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Daybell, who said a voice told him to move there for the second coming of Christ. On September 8, 2019, Lori and her brother Alex, took Tylee and J.J. to Yellowstone National Park. Tylee was never seen alive again.

Two weeks later, on September 23, J.J., who is autistic, was last seen at his school in Idaho. The next day, Lori informed the school that he would be homeschooled instead.

Shortly after this, Chad’s wife Tammy was found dead in her home. Her death was initially ruled to be natural, but police have since opened an investigation into the matter.

Less than a month after Tammy died, Lori married Chad Daybell in Hawaii.

Three weeks later, after Lori and Daybell returned to Idaho, police conducted a welfare check on J.J. at the request of his grandmother. At the time, Lori told police that J.J. was with relatives in Arizona and that Tylee had gone to Brigham Young University-Idaho. People then began to question where J.J. and Tylee had gone, and suddenly, Lori and Daybell packed up and abandoned their home in Idaho on the same day police began searching for the children.

Not long after, on December 12, Lori’s brother Alex died in Gilbert, Arizona, due to a reported blood clot. His death was not investigated further, as the condition ran in the family.

On December 20, police in Rexburg, Idaho, officially announced an investigation into the disappearance of J.J. and Tylee. A month later, Lori was served a court order to produce the children within five days. She and Daybell headed back to Kauai.

When the deadline to produce the children passed, police began laying the groundwork to arrest Lori. They did so on February 20, 2020, arresting Lori in Kauai and charging her with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.

It wasn’t until June 9, 2020, when police searched Chad Daybell’s property in Idaho, that the bodies of Tylee and J.J. were found. Daybell tried to flee the scene but was caught and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.

In early March, Lori and Daybell had their trials separated by a judge, with Lori’s trial set to begin on April 3, with Daybell’s to occur later. The separation came after Lori tried to have the charges against her dismissed for lack of a speedy trial since she was arrested nearly three years ago.

He ‘Hates Me’: What You Should Know About The New York Judge Assigned To Trump Case

Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will preside over the hush money prosecution of former President Donald Trump despite his history of rulings against the businessman-turned-politician’s associates.

The former commander-in-chief will surrender in New York City for an arraignment on Tuesday afternoon amid legal proceedings over alleged hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle. Many critics have characterized the case as politically motivated since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has garnered a reputation for being soft on crime with respect to violent offenses.

Trump contended last week that Merchan was “hand picked” by Bragg to preside over the case and said that Merchan “hates” him in a post to his social media platform Truth Social. Another all-caps post to Truth Social on Tuesday morning asserted that Merchan is “highly partisan” and contended that his family is composed of “well known Trump haters.”

Merchan, a Colombian-born immigrant who moved to the United States as a 6-year-old, earned a law degree from Hofstra University in 1994, according to a report from the Associated Press. He served in the state attorney general’s office before his 2006 appointment by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a family court judge. Merchan has worked as an acting justice on the New York Supreme Court since 2009.

Merchan ruled against the Trump Organization earlier this year, finding the real estate conglomerate guilty of 17 charges related to a years-long tax evasion scheme under which the firm distributed various gifts and perks to executives. He imposed a $1.6 million fine, the legal maximum, against the company.

The former chief financial officer of the company, Allen Weisselberg, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and testified against the company during the trial. Merchan sentenced the 75-year-old to five months in prison, a sentence he is currently serving, after he pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges at the end of last year. “I believe that a stiffer sentence would be appropriate, having heard the evidence,” Merchan remarked, according to a report from POLITICO.

Trump himself will reportedly be charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, all of which are the lowest-level felonies in the state but each of which carries as many as four years in prison per charge. Merchan issued a ruling that denied a request by a coalition of news outlets for video coverage, but he will allow photographers to take still photos of the 76-year-old Trump before the Tuesday arraignment begins.

Merchan could also impose a gag order on Trump, which would limit the former commander-in-chief and current 2024 presidential contender from discussing the details of the controversial case. Trump plans to deliver a speech about the arraignment on Tuesday night.

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Trump has likewise accused Bragg of “prosecutorial misconduct” and called him an “animal.” He also called attention to the funds leftist billionaire George Soros donated to multiple advocacy groups that supported Bragg’s candidacy. Soros, who has previously boasted about his efforts to bankroll the campaigns of progressive district attorneys, denied last week that he has any connection with Bragg.

Trump faces additional legal jeopardy in three other criminal proceedings, including a federal investigation into his efforts to stay in power after the 2020 election, an investigation in Georgia related to alleged meddling in the 2020 election, and another federal investigation into his handling of government records after leaving office.

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