Latest news with #LoriDaybell
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
'Doomsday mom' Lori Daybell found guilty in murder conspiracy trial
Lori Daybell, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, has now been found guilty of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband. The jury in Maricopa County, Arizona, was handed the case Monday afternoon before reaching a verdict Tuesday afternoon. Lori Daybell, 51, represented herself in the Phoenix trial. She did not take the stand or call any witnesses. Dubbed the "doomsday mom," Lori Daybell has maintained that her brother shot her then-husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019. Her brother, Alex Cox, died from natural causes months after the shooting. She had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. MORE: 'Doomsday mom' Lori Daybell delivers closing argument in murder conspiracy trial Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the shooting was a ploy for Daybell to get rid of her estranged husband so she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with her current husband, Chad Daybell, whom she married four months after the shooting. Prosecutors further said she invoked their "twisted" religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother "religious authority" to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as "Ned." Over two weeks, the state called more than a dozen witnesses, including Daybell's other brother, Adam Cox, who testified that he had "no doubt" his two siblings conspired to kill Vallow upon learning that his brother had fatally shot him. In her closing argument, Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay said the evidence at the scene showed that Vallow was not shot in self-defense, but was "executed" and the scene "staged." She recounted text messages sent from Lori Daybell to her husband, Chad, seven days after Vallow was killed, discussing her now-deceased husband's life insurance policy. Kay said that, upon learning she was no longer the beneficiary of the plan, the defendant messaged Chad that "Ned" probably changed it "before we got rid of him." The prosecutor also discussed a text message the defendant sent Alex Cox days before the deadly shooting in which she said they could "be like Nephi," a prophet in the Book of Mormon who God commanded to kill Laban. "Lori Vallow wanted the million dollars, and she wanted Chad Daybell, and she and Alex used that twisted religious beliefs they had so that they could kill the evil, possessed Charles and 'be like Nephi,'" Kay said. Three jurors who spoke to reporters following the verdict said the text message evidence in the case had stood out while they were deliberating. The jurors said they had no knowledge of Lori Daybell's prior convictions, which were not discussed during the Phoenix trial. Members of Vallow's family expressed relief at the guilty verdict. "I'm ready to move on," Vallow's sister, Kay Woodcock, told reporters outside the courthouse. "This was thrust upon us, and our lives just went into, like a tornado, for a long time," she said. Following the guilty verdict, Lori Daybell agreed to several aggravating factors in the case, instead of having a jury make a finding on them. Among them, she agreed that this was a dangerous offense and that it involved the presence of an accomplice. When asked if she agreed that as a result of her conduct, the victim or the victim's family "suffered emotional or financial harm," she said, "Absolutely." She will be sentenced following another upcoming trial in Maricopa County, where she is further accused of scheming with her brother Alex Cox to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. Three months after the shooting of Vallow, Boudreaux called 911 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot at his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona. She has pleaded not guilty in that case. MORE: Brother of 'doomsday mom' Lori Daybell testifies against her in latest murder trial Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children, Joshua "J.J." Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, who went missing months after Charles Vallow was killed. In separate trials in 2023 and 2024, prosecutors argued the couple thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them so that they could be together. The children's remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search. Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole for the murders of her two children. She has denied killing them. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering the two children, as well as his first wife, Tamara Daybell, and now awaits execution on Idaho's death row. 'Doomsday mom' Lori Daybell found guilty in murder conspiracy trial originally appeared on
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
At Boston Marathon, authorities will be watching 'broad set' of potential targets
At this year's Boston Marathon, 12 years after the deadly marathon bombing, law enforcement will be watching "a broad set of potential soft targets for an attack," according to a bulletin obtained by ABC News. About 30,000 runners are participating in the April 21 race and another half-million spectators are expected along the route. According to the bulletin, congested areas where the largest amount of people gather -- particularly designated viewing areas -- are likely the most vulnerable spots for a mass casualty attack, along with nearby publicly accessible areas, tunnels, pre-event gatherings and post-event celebrations. MORE: 'Horrific scene' as police take down man allegedly attacking 4 young girls in NYC A policy change may provide a motivation for an attack, the bulletin said, pointing to marathon organizers allowing runners to select "non-binary" regarding gender. "Following this announcement, individuals posting content consistent with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism posted online calling for an attack on the 2023 Boston Marathon, according to an organization that tracks violent extremist activity online," the bulletin said. "Some of these individuals called for an attack similar to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings." Three people were killed and hundreds were injured by the powerful explosives detonated near the finish line during the 2013 marathon. MORE: Lori Daybell trial: Opening statements set to begin in latest murder case of 'doomsday mom' There are also symbolic anniversaries that coincide with the timing of the Boston Marathon, including the holidays of Easter, Ramadan and Passover, as well as anniversaries of prior attacks that occurred in the third week of April: the Columbine High School shooting massacre on April 20, 1999; the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995; the Branch Davidians' compound fire in Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993; and Adolf Hitler's birthday on April 20. "The significance of these holidays and key dates may be viewed as an opportune time for acts of violence for many threat actors," the bulletin said, "and it may serve as motivation to disrupt or attack the Boston Marathon or the surrounding areas along the route." The bulletin said law enforcement officials are unaware of any specific or credible threats to high-profile attendees of the Boston Marathon but are highlighting the threat environment for these officials' awareness. "Absent a specific, actionable threat to the 129th Boston Marathon, the FBI and [the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis] are providing indicators to aid law enforcement and first responders in identifying and mitigating threats," the bulletin said. At Boston Marathon, authorities will be watching 'broad set' of potential targets originally appeared on
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Lori Daybell's trial for conspiring to kill her husband begins with jury selection in Arizona
Maricopa County prosecutors and Lori Vallow Daybell will begin the process of picking 16 jurors on Monday — including four alternates — who will be tasked with determining whether she had a role in her previous husband's death. She will be tried for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of Charles Vallow, who was shot in Daybell's Chandler, Arizona, home on July 11, 2019, when he came to pick up his son, JJ Vallow. Daybell will be representing herself in the trial, but she has attorneys and an investigator available. Judge Justin Beresky, who is overseeing the trial, said if she chooses to testify, she will need to write questions beforehand and have someone else ask them — warning she would not be able to tell a story to the jury. Prosecutors claim Daybell conspired with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill Charles Vallow to get life insurance and Social Security money and then marry Chad Daybell. In a pre-trial statement, prosecutors said they had not offered her any plea deal and were not willing to discuss a settlement. They said the trial is expected to last five weeks. Some witnesses on the prosecutors' witness list traveled to Idaho for Lori Daybell's and her husband Chad Daybell's previous trials — where both were found guilty of conspiring to murder Lori Daybell's children and Chad Daybell's wife — including Nathan Duncan, Nathan Moffat, Ariel Werther and Cassandra Ynclan. Moffat testified in the Idaho trials that Vallow was shot twice, once while he was lying on the ground, which he said did not match the statement Cox provided immediately after the shooting saying he acted in self-defense. He said Cox claimed Vallow hit him on the head with a baseball bat, but his injury was not consistent with a forceful hit from a bat. Moffat also said Lori Daybell and her daughter Tylee Ryan's conversation on a ride after they had been interviewed about what happened was very lighthearted. Kay Woodcock, Charles Vallow's sister and biological grandmother to JJ, was also listed among the witnesses prosecutors plan to call in Arizona. Multiple witnesses who were not involved in the earlier trial and whose perspectives have not yet been shared publicly are on the prosecution's and Lori Daybell's witness lists. Lori Daybell is also charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at by someone in a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Gilbert, Arizona, in October 2019. The vehicle was tied to Cox, and officers testified at the Idaho trials that the vehicle was owned by Tylee, who they believe died in September 2019, before the shooting. Because Daybell declined to waive her right to a speedy trial in either case, her second jury trial in Arizona will begin just weeks after this trial ends on May 30. That trial is set to last through June. Cox died on Dec. 12, 2019, and was never charged with the death of Charles Vallow or the shooting of Boudreaux — although officers have said they believe he was the one who fired the gun in both instances. Investigators said Cox died of natural causes after he was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor, his death occurred the day after the body of Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell's previous wife, was exhumed. Lori Daybell is already serving five life sentences, without the possibility of parole, in an Idaho prison after Judge Steven Boyce sentenced her for the murder of her two children — 16-year-old Tylee and 7-year-old JJ — and conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death following his trial in early 2024. He does not face any charges in Arizona.
