'Sins Of Our Mother's Lori Vallow Could Face The Death Penalty
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Netflix just dropped its newest, three-part, true-crime docuseries, Sins of Our Mother, which details the devastating and terrifying story of a Mormon mother from Idaho, Lori Vallow Daybell, who has been accused, along with her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, of murdering two of her children.
The documentary details how Lori met Chad while attending a spiritual conference in Utah in 2018, and adopted Chad's "extreme" doomsday beliefs, per ABC. Chad believed that an apocalypse was coming, according to Cosmopolitan, and Lori also believed that Chad could see good and bad spirits, or "zombies."
In the docuseries, a host of people in Lori’s life, including her only remaining son, Colby, are interviewed about the events that led up to the death of Lori's two children.
So, where is Lori now? Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Lori Vallow Daybell, and what's her story?
Lori Vallow Daybell was born in 1973, and grew up in California, per Cosmopolitan. She has been married five times and was the mother to two biological children and one adopted son.
The Idaho mother was accused of murdering her 17-year-old daughter, Tylee, and 7-year-old son, JJ, with her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, according to the documentary. The couple has also been accused of killing Chad's former wife, Tammy.
Lori was raised as a Mormon and, as recordings in the documentary show, she thought she was a reincarnated warrior who spoke to the angel Moroni (this is the same angel that Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith said he spoke to on numerous occasions).
According to the doc, Lori eventually met Chad, a Mormon author who wrote about the apocalypse, per Insider, and said he could determine if people were on the “light” or “dark” side of a spirituality spectrum. More on that in a sec.
Lori and Chad's spouses both died right before the two got married.
Yes, it's about as strange as it sounds.
Body cam footage shown in the documentary features Lori's former husband, Charles, saying that Lori was threatening to kill him because there was a demon named “Ned” living inside of him.
Charles also detailed in his divorce papers that he was worried about the safety of his children, noting that Lori believed she was sent to be a leader for the second coming of Christ, per TODAY.
On July 11, 2019, Charles was shot by Lori’s brother in an alleged act of self-defense after Charles visited Lori’s house.
The doc then goes on to explain that Lori purchased a ring from Amazon for her October wedding to Chad, only a few weeks before Chad's wife Tammy died of “natural causes."
What did Lori and Chad do?
Lori's two younger children, Tylee and JJ, both went missing in September 2019. At the time, Lori told people that Tylee was at Brigham Young University's Idaho campus, and that young JJ was attending homeschool, per Cosmopolitan. JJ’s grandparents panicked when they couldn’t locate JJ or Tylee, the doc says. Lori and Chad went on the run and refused to answer questions.
The police were soon involved and requested Lori bring her children to authorities to prove they were safe by January 2020. But a month later, the children were still missing and Lori and Chad were located in Hawaii, per TODAY.
In June 2020, the remains of both children were found on Chad’s Idaho property, with authorities alleging that the children had been murdered by the couple in September 2019.
They were indicted with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Lori's children in 2021, per 12News.
Lori told her family about her strange beliefs.
During an appearance on the podcast “The Followers: Madness of Two,” Lori's brother Adam revealed that she spoke about death frequently and shared details about "the next life."
“[Lori] talked about the next life, how great the next life is and how it’s going to be perfect, and how her kids won’t have to suffer in the next life,” he explained, per TODAY. “If she says, ‘I’m not going to tell you where the kids are,’ that means the kids aren’t alive. And I knew right then and there that the kids are dead.”
What might have motivated Lori and Chad?
The couple believed that they were on a mission that required them to kill “zombies,” which were people who they believed had spirits that had left their bodies. A friend told authorities that Lori called her two youngest children "zombies" at one point and that they'd said Tammy had been possessed by a "dark spirit," per USA Today.
Did Lori go to prison?
Yup. Lori was arrested in early 2020 when she failed to show authorities that her children were safe, per Cosmo. The children's bodies were found a few months later.
Lori, now 49, was most recently reported to be in an Idaho jail, where she awaits trial, according to Deseret News.
What is the status of her case?
Lori and Chad are currently awaiting their January 2023 trials dealing with the alleged murders of various family members. Lori faces the following charges, according to local news site KSL.com:
First-degree murder in the death of Tylee Ryan
First-degree murder in the death of JJ Vallow
First-degree murder in the death of Tammy Daybell
Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception in the death of Tylee.
Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception in the death of JJ.
Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tammy.
Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Charles in Arizona.
The couple has pled not guilty to the charges, per TODAY.
Most recently, the prosecutors and defense on the case filed a motion to ensure that the trial is not broadcasted out of concern that "incessant media exposure" could obstruct Vallow from having a fair trial, per Fox News.
What punishment could Lori face if she is found guilty?
Lori could face the death penalty in Idaho if the prosecuting attorneys decide to seek this punishment, per KSL.com.
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