Lori Vallow Daybell is serving life sentences after convictions in two states. In Idaho, a jury found her guilty in May 2023 of first-degree murder in the deaths of her two youngest children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, and of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tammy Daybell, the first wife of her husband Chad Daybell. In Arizona, juries found her guilty in 2025 of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her former husband, Charles Vallow, and of a separate conspiracy to commit murder concerning Brandon Boudreaux, the former husband of her niece.
In Idaho she was convicted of murdering her two children. The deaths of Tammy Daybell and Charles Vallow rest on conspiracy convictions only: she was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in each, and not of the murder itself. The Boudreaux count concerns a conspiracy to murder a man who survived. Chad Daybell was tried separately, and Alex Cox, her brother, died before any charge was brought in Charles Vallow's death.
Charles Vallow was her fourth husband, and they married in 2006. He died in July 2019 in Chandler, Arizona. Her brother, Alex Cox, was present. Before his death he had filed for divorce and stated in the filing that his wife had threatened to kill him. Cox died about five months later, before any charges were brought. Prosecutors later alleged that Lori Vallow Daybell conspired with Cox in her husband's death and wanted him dead so that she could collect a life insurance policy and marry Chad Daybell. She denied the charge, and her defense described the death as a tragedy and not a crime.
Prosecutors argued that she and Chad Daybell used religious beliefs to justify the killings of her children and of Tammy Daybell. The defense argued that she was with other people when the children died. The indictment, filed in May 2021, listed first-degree murder of Tylee Ryan and of JJ Vallow, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of each child, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of Tammy Daybell, and grand theft connected with Social Security benefits paid for the children. The trial began on April 10, 2023, in Boise before Judge Steven Boyce, with prosecutors from Madison County leading the case.
The jury deliberated about seven hours over two days and returned its verdict on May 12, 2023: guilty on every count, which was first-degree murder of Tylee Ryan, conspiracy to commit murder of Tylee Ryan, first-degree murder of JJ Vallow, conspiracy to commit murder of JJ Vallow, conspiracy to commit murder of Tammy Daybell, and grand theft.
On July 31, 2023, at the Fremont County courthouse in St. Anthony, Judge Boyce sentenced her to life without parole on the murder and conspiracy counts. Three of the life sentences run consecutively, and she received 10 years for grand theft. The sentence also carried fines, civil penalties and restitution of more than $60,000.
She was extradited to Maricopa County, Arizona, after the Idaho sentencing. In December 2024 two court-appointed doctors found her competent to face the Arizona charges. She represented herself at both trials, which were held in Phoenix before Judge Justin Beresky of the Maricopa County Superior Court, with the Maricopa County Attorney prosecuting.
The first trial concerned Charles Vallow. On April 22, 2025, after about three hours of deliberation over two days, a jury of ten men and two women found her guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. A second jury, on June 12, 2025, found her guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit murder concerning Brandon Boudreaux, who survived an attempt on his life in Gilbert, Arizona, nearly three months after Charles Vallow died. Boudreaux had testified against her at her Idaho trial.
On July 25, 2025, Judge Beresky sentenced her to life in prison on the two conspiracy convictions. "You should never be released from prison," he told her. She had argued that she did not receive a fair trial, and the judge rejected that claim at sentencing. Prosecutors asked that the two Arizona terms run concurrently with each other; the order the court made on this point and the relation of the Arizona terms to the Idaho sentence are not on record.
Chad Daybell, her husband, was tried in Idaho in 2024. A jury found him guilty on May 30, 2024, of murder in the deaths of Tammy Daybell, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and the jury returned a sentence of death.
Her trial lawyer filed a notice of appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court in the first week of September 2023, listing 16 issues, among them her competence to stand trial and the speedy-trial right. At the hearing before the Idaho Supreme Court on November 2, 2026, her lawyer argued that she was denied a speedy trial, that she was not allowed to keep the attorney of her choice because the judge found a conflict of interest with that lawyer's representation of her husband, and that jurors should not have heard evidence about the Arizona incidents involving Charles Vallow and Brandon Boudreaux. No ruling is on record. An appeal of the Arizona convictions is not on record.
Alex Cox died before any charge. The allegation that Lori Vallow Daybell conspired with him in Charles Vallow's death was tried and the jury convicted her of conspiracy; no court tried Cox. The dates of the deaths of Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell are not on record.
2006: marries Charles Vallow.
July 2019: Charles Vallow dies in Chandler, Arizona.
About December 2019: Alex Cox dies, before any charge.
May 2021: Idaho indictment.
April 10, 2023: Idaho trial begins in Boise.
May 12, 2023: Idaho verdict, guilty on all counts.
July 31, 2023: sentenced to life without parole; 10 years for grand theft.
September 2023: appeal filed with the Idaho Supreme Court.
May 30, 2024: Chad Daybell found guilty of murder; the jury returns a sentence of death.
December 2024: found competent to stand trial in Arizona.
April 22, 2025: guilty of conspiracy to commit murder (Charles Vallow).
June 12, 2025: guilty of conspiracy to commit murder (Brandon Boudreaux).
July 25, 2025: life sentence on the two Arizona convictions.
November 2, 2026: Idaho Supreme Court hears her appeal.