Lori Vallow appears in a photo from the Ada County Jail in March 2023.
A new photo of Lori Vallow Daybell, 49, the mother of two dead children and two dead ex-husbands, linked to the ‘doomsday cult’, has been uploaded by the law enforcement agency where she is being held in Idaho this week.
With just over a week to go before her trial, Ada County Jail has released the final image of the accused murderer.
In the mugshot, Vallow appears to be wearing makeup and having curled her hair, causing some online commentators scratching their heads about inmates’ access to basic health and beauty tools while in custody. Such access, however, is not uncommon.
Several snaps of Vallow have been released throughout his time in custody on various charges over the years.
Vallow and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, 54, are each charged with the murder in the 2019 deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. The children disappeared on different dates in September of the same year. Vallow was originally arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 for child abandonment. The two defendants were charged with the murder of Vallow’s children and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. The couple’s cases of alleged murderers were recently separated and will be tried separately.
Lori Vallow Daybell appears in a February 2020 Kauai Police Department photo.
The bodies that piled up around the spouses involved a dizzying cast of bizarre characters and claims.
More Law&Crime coverage: Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell appear in court as defense and prosecutors signal plans to discuss religion at triple murder trial
Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox, admitted to shooting and killing Vallow’s former husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019 and claimed self-defense. Cox also allegedly tried to kill Tammy Daybell days before her ex killed her. Vallow is also charged with conspiracy in Arizona for the death of her ex-husband.
Lori Vallow appears in a photo from the Madison County Jail in March 2020.
Idaho police allege Vallow and her husband believed her fourth husband had to die to fulfill a religious prophecy.
A court filing in a child custody case peripherally linked to allegations of alleged cult killings claims that Vallow eventually came to believe that her two children “had been possessed by a demon or some other dark entity” and then turned into “zombies”.
Daybell is the author of various novels related to end times theology. He and his wife met in 2018 after appearing on a podcast to discuss the different ways the world could end in eschatological terms.
Earlier this month, at a hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce granted a defense request to rule out death as a potential punishment if Vallow were convicted. The court granted the motion to abolish the death penalty “in order to guarantee the protection of the defendant’s rights to a fair trial”.
More Law&Crime coverage: Death penalty no longer a possibility for ‘cult mom’ defendant in upcoming triple murder trial
Lori Vallow appears in a photo from the Ada County Jail in April 2022.
Several other pre-trial rulings are expected before the triple murder proceedings begin. The defendant is being held for a series of non-dischargeable offenses, according to prison records and Idaho law.
Vallow’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 3.
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