'Doomsday Mom' Lori Vallow seeks new murder conspiracy trial, claiming juror misconduct
So-called "Doomsday Mom" Lori Vallow Daybell is seeking a new trial less than two weeks after a jury found her guilty of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
In the newly released court documents, Vallow Daybell is claiming Juror 15 shared in a local television interview that they were aware of her prior murder convictions in Idaho despite them not being brought up at trial.
During the juror interview after the trial, Vallow Daybell, who represented herself, said Juror 15 reacted to learning about her prior convictions with the response, "You know, I feel sorry for her. Driving home yesterday, I was like, 'God she's spending the next three lives in prison in a cell …'" court documents said.
Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell were convicted of the 2019 murders of two of Vallow's children, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. The couple, who believed some people had dark spirits and shared apocalyptic religious beliefs, were also convicted of murdering Chad Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell. They were sentenced to life in prison.
During last month's trial in Phoenix, jurors were not supposed to know anything about her Idaho convictions.
The 13-page motion, filed on May 1 in Maricopa County Superior Court, also claimed there were "discovery violations, prosecutorial misconduct and a lack of impartiality."
The court documents also said Vallow Daybell claimed she should have been allowed to present full statements from Alex Cox, her late brother, with whom she conspired to shoot and kill her late husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019 to benefit from a $1 million life insurance policy and marry another man, Chad Daybell, in 2019.
Vallow Daybell argued she wasn't allowed to talk about Cox's walk-through with police after the shooting or what he told Chandler police before his death.
Vallow Daybell argued that it was her brother who shot Charles Daybell. Vallow Daybell said her late brother and Charles Vallow got into a physical fight at the same time that she and her daughter, Tylee, were both at home.
"Both of these people were present during the shooting of Charles Vallow and thus some of their statements were not hearsay as they show effect on listener pursuant to Arizona Rules of Evidence 803(3)," the documents state.
The filing further claimed that prosecutors presented "irrelevant, prejudicial, and improper character evidence" and gave false statements to jurors over various details that included Vallow Daybell's demeanor.
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"Lastly, commenting on this defendant's demeanor, specifically stating this defendant did not cry during her police interview was improper comment as she had cut this portion out of the exhibit admitted that she called a 'full interview'," the documents read.
"All of these comments add up to prosecutorial misconduct."
Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial in Phoenix in May for an alleged plot to kill her niece's ex-husband after a judge denied her motion to dismiss the case.
She previously explained to True Crime Arizona that she had been "working on her case for five years" and knows it "better than an attorney can learn it in two years" after making the decision to represent herself.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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