PHOENIX—Following a determination by two court-appointed doctors in Arizona, Lori Vallow Daybell has been found competent to face additional charges for conspiring to kill her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, and a niece’s ex-spouse.
Vallow Daybell, who has already been sentenced to life in prison in Idaho for her involvement in the deaths of her two youngest children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, as well as Tammy Daybell, was deemed fit to stand trial in Arizona.
Her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was fatally shot in 2019 by Vallow Daybell’s brother, who claimed self-defense and was never charged.
Vallow Daybell later entered into a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published writer of doomsday-themed fiction inspired by Mormon teachings, and relocated from Phoenix to Idaho to be with him.
Chad Daybell became Vallow Daybell’s fifth husband and was subsequently sentenced to death for the murders of both children and his former wife, Tammy Daybell.
In the Idaho case, prosecutors presented numerous witnesses to support their allegations that Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell conspired to eliminate any obstacles to their relationship by killing the children and Tammy Daybell, in addition to benefiting from survivor benefits and life insurance.
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According to prosecutors, the couple justified the killings by espousing an apocalyptic belief system that posited the existence of evil spirits capable of possessing individuals and turning them into “zombies.” They claimed that the only way to save a possessed person’s soul was to ensure the death of the possessed body. A trial date for Vallow Daybell has been tentatively set for Feb. 24 by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.
