May 12 (UPI) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell on Friday was found guilty of murdering her two children and now faces up to life in prison without parole.
The jury deliberated for four hours Friday before deciding that Daybell was guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of her two children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, whose remains were found on an Idaho property that belonged to Lori’s husband, Chad Daybell.
Judge Steven Boyce asked those in attendance to refrain from making any “loud outbursts” while the verdict was read, according to ABC News.
The children were last seen together in 2019 at Yellowstone National Park. They were reported missing in September of 2019 by relatives who had not heard from them for months. The Rexburg Police Department, FBI, and Fremont County Sheriff’s Office found the children’s remains at Chad Daybell’s property in June 2020.
Both Lori Daybell and her husband, who is being tried separately and could face the death penalty, were members of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sect with different beliefs than LDS Church members. Daybell is the author of more than a dozen apocalyptic-themed novels, which have been described as religiously extreme.
During the trial, former friends testified that Lori Daybell said some people, including her children, were “zombies” who were possessed by evil spirits.
FBI Special Agent Doug Hart testified during the trial about numerous texts between the Daybells about “a plan to take the children.”
During closing arguments, prosecutor Rob Wood said Lori Daybell set in motion a plan for the children’s murder in October 2018 “using money, power, and sex,” and she and her husband “used religion to manipulate others.”
Lori Daybell’s defense attorney Jim Archibald had argued that she was a devoted mother who loved her children, and that she was manipulated by Daybell.
“Is Lori a leader or a follower of Chad? She so desperately wants to be a leader, but she is following Chad,” Archibald said during closing statements.
However, Wood said Lori Daybell was not a good mom because she did not report that her children were dead.
“We have the evidence in spades. You must convict her,” he told the jury.
