Lori Vallow Daybell will head to trial Monday in Idaho, where the āDoomsday momš¦ā āstands accused with her husband of murdering her two kids and his previous wife.
The 49-year-old allegedly adopted bizarre religious beliefs centered around zombies and an impending ādoomsday.”
Years after the alleged slayings, she faces up što life behind bars if convicted.
Prosecutors have said she and Chad Daybell killed Vallow Daybellās youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua āJJā Vallow and Tylee Ryan, 16, in September 2019.š They also linked the couple to the October 2019 death of Daybellās former wife, Tammy Daybell, 49.
The couple then collected social security benefits and life insurance money related to theā¤ three šdeaths, prosecutors said.
The pair had espoused doomsday-themed beliefs involving the existence of āzombiesā and contact with other realms ā and further used their relšÆigious ideologies to justą¼ify their alleged crimes, authorities said.
One of Vallow Daybells friends, Melanie Gibb, told authoritieās the coupleź¦« thought people turned to āzombiesā once they were overcome by evil spirits.
She alleged they used a scoring syšŗstem to rate how good or evil people were.
Friends also told investigators thāe two communicated through a āportalā from which Daybell could also go between other realms. Vallow Daybell allegedly boasted about being able to āteleportā between Hawaii and Arizona.
Vallow Daybell and her husband have each been charged but will be triź¦¬ed separately.
His šattorneys have said the paiš·r have āmutually antagonistic defenses.ā
Each has pleaded not guilty.
Vallow Daybell narrowly escaped the threat of the death penalty, after a judge ruled last month it would no šlonger be on the table.
A jury of eš¼ight women and 10 men was selecÜ«ted Friday, .
Loved ones first grew suspicious of Vallow Daybellās behavior, and were concerned for her chilš³drenās safety, around 2019.
Her estranged husband,šø Charles Vallow, detailed his then-wifeās newly espoused beliefs in divorce papers, writing that she thought she was a god-like figure. She felt she wšas leading 144,000 believers in preparing for the apocalypse, he wrote.
Vallow expressed his concerns about her in emš °ails and messages to loved ones.
But he died suddenly in July 2019, when Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed him in Phoenix, in what he claimed was self-defense.
Cš®ox, Vallow Daybell and the two kids then moved to Idaho, where JJ grew estranged from his grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock.
The Woodcocks notified police andš“, in turn, kickstarted a case that soon made headlines nationwide.
Investigators in Rexburg, Idaho, performed welfare checks in November 2019 and soon realized Vallow Daybell and Daybell were lying about where the childršen were.
The couple allegedly skipped town within hours.
Police ultimately determined both kids had last been seen days āapart in September 2019.
JJās and Tyleeās bodies were disź¦covered months later buried on the property ofā Daybellās Salem, Idaho, home.
Meanwhile, Tammy Daybell was initiāally thought to have died unexpectedly frošm ānatural causesā in October 2019 ā and loved ones declined not to have an autopsy performed.
Vallow Daybell was arrested in May 2021 and later spent nine months in a mental health hš§øospital before she was deāemed fit for trial in April 2022.
She has also been indicted in the Arizona death of her estranged huš½sband.
Opening ź¦statements are šslated to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time Monday in the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho ā 700 miles from the Salem area. The trial is expected to last up to three months.
Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce has prohibited cameras from inš¹side the courtroom.
With Post wires
