Lori Vallow Daybell, the so-called ‘doomsday cult mom’ already serving life sentences for the murders of her two children, was sentenced on Friday to two additional life terms in Arizona for conspiracy to commit murder. The 52-year-old was convicted in April of conspiring with her brother, Alexander Cox, to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot in July 2019. She was also convicted in June of conspiring with Cox to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, in an October 2019 drive-by shooting that left him unharmed.
In court, Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, described his father Charles as a generous man who cared for his family. Boudreaux spoke of the overwhelming betrayal he felt. The Arizona sentences carry the possibility of parole, unlike the three life terms without parole she received in Idaho in 2023 for the murders of her children, 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and for conspiring to kill her husband’s former wife, Tammy Daybell.
Prosecutors presented text message evidence showing that Charles Vallow’s death was the first step in a wider plot by Vallow Daybell and her current husband, Chad Daybell, to eliminate ‘obstacles’ – their spouses and her children. Chad Daybell is on death row in Idaho after being convicted of murder in 2024. Vallow Daybell’s extreme religious beliefs, including claims that she was a goddess sent to usher in the apocalypse, were central to the case.
Vallow Daybell’s life unravelled in 2019 when Charles Vallow filed for divorce, citing her dangerous religious views. He had previously reported to police that she believed he was possessed and that she would have to kill him. The bodies of her children were later found buried in Chad Daybell’s backyard in Idaho, leading to her conviction in 2023.
