Witness testimony began Monday in Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial over the death of her estranged husband, Charles Vallow.
Vallow Daybell, who was convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder the wife of her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, is accused in Arizona of conspiring to murder Vallow.
Vallow was fatally shot by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, in July 2019. Cox claimed self-defense and was not charged. He died of natural causes months later.
Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty, and she is representing herself at the trial.
The case has drawn significant public attention in part because Vallow Daybell, 51, has doomsday-focused religious beliefs. At the time of Vallow’s death, Vallow Daybell was espousing the belief that he was possessed by an evil spirit, the prosecution said.
In opening statements Monday, prosecutor Treena Kay said that Vallow Daybell conspired with Cox to kill Vallow and cash in on a life insurance policy and move forward with marrying Daybell, her then-boyfriend who was an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.
“Lori Vallow wanted to be Lori Daybell, wife of Chad Daybell, and in July 2019 Lori Vallow wanted to keep the same lifestyle that she had with Charles. And she could get all of this if Charles was dead,” Kay said. “She could marry Chad Daybell and become Lori Daybell. She would get a million-dollar life insurance policy.”
Vallow Daybell maintained in her opening statement that Cox acted in self-defense, describing the death as a tragedy but not a crime.
“Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy,” she said.
After opening statements, the jury of 16, including four alternate jurors, heard from three witnesses: two police officers and a firefighter. The officers testified that, after the shooting, Vallow Daybell and Cox both displayed calm demeanors.
Vallow Daybell was argumentative with the second officer after he described her as being calm at the scene. The officer said Vallow Daybell never asked if Cox, who had a head injury allegedly from the altercation with Vallow, was OK and that Cox refused medical attention.
Testimony is set to continue Tuesday at the Phoenix courthouse.
If convicted in Arizona, Vallow Daybell would face a life sentence. She has already received three life sentences in Idaho for the murders of her children Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow and for conspiring to kill Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell.
Daybell was sentenced to death in the three killings.
The children had disappeared within weeks of each other in September 2019, and their bodies were later found buried on Daybell’s rural Idaho property. Tammy Daybell’s death was initially reported to be due to natural causes, but her body was later exhumed, and an autopsy determined she died of asphyxiation.
A witness in her Idaho trial said Vallow Daybell believes evil spirits have taken over people in her life and turned them into “zombies.”
In late May, Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial again in Arizona on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux. She has pleaded not guilty.
