‘Cult Mom’ Lori Vallow Found Guilty Of Murdering Her 2 Children
[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
There’s a huge update on Lori Vallow’s murder trial!
According to People, the 49-year-old was found guilty of murdering her two children – 7-year-old son Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan – and conspiring to murder her fifth husband’s first wife Tammy Daybell on Friday.
For those who haven’t kept up with the shocking court case, Joshua and Tylee went missing in September 2019. Their disappearance sparked a months-long search until their bodies were finally found a year later in 2020 in the backyard of her husband’s Chad Daybell property in Idaho. Joshua was wrapped in duct and had a plastic bag over his head, while Tylee was completely dismembered and severely burned. So horrific.
Related: Aiden Fucci’s Mom Pleads No Contest To Tampering With Evidence In Cheerleader’s Murder!
Before their remains were discovered, though, Chad had reported on October 19, 2019, that his ex-wife Tammy had died. He claimed at the time that she had gone to bed with a cough and never woke up. Her manner of death was then ruled as “natural causes,” and no autopsy was complete. But amid the investigation into Joshua and Tylee’s case, her death was later considered “suspicious,” resulting in her body being exhumed for an autopsy. It was determined that Tammy was murdered, and she died of asphyxiation.
Three years after the kids were found, Joshua’s cause of death was also revealed to be asphyxiation by a plastic bag. Tylee’s manner of death was a homicide. However, her cause of death was undetermined since her remains were not found intact. Forensic pathologist Dr. Garth Warren said, per the East Idaho News:
“This autopsy was different. The vast majority of the time when I perform an autopsy, I get an entire body and there’s a process we go through. Tylee’s case was different. Her remains were received in three separate sealed bags.”
Awful. Lori repeatedly denied any involvement in Tylee and Joshua’s death, but a strand of her hair was discovered stuck to the duct tape used on her son’s body. Throughout the trial, several witnesses took the stand to talk about the “cult mom” Lori, including her son Colby Ryan. He said she “spent her whole life protecting us kids,” but everything “changed” when “she met Chad Daybell.” Prosecutors further accused Lori and Chad of stealing the kids’ social security info and life insurance policies to collect benefits after their deaths The two previously called the children “zombies,” with prosecutors claiming:
“Remember, the defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants, and she wanted Chad Daybell. The defendant used money, power, and sex to get what she wanted. The common theme was the body has to be destroyed. The defendant and Chad used their self-proclaimed religious teachings to justify their actions to others — their actions from affair to murder.”
Now, Lori is facing life in prison when she is sentenced at a later time. Her husband is charged in connection with the deaths of Tylee, Joshua, and Tammy – but will be tried in a different trial. He’s pleaded not guilty. Following the verdict, prosecutors Rob Wood and Lindsey Blake said in a statement they were “very pleased with the jury’s” decision, adding:
“We want to thank them, as well as the alternates, for their service over last six weeks during this trial. Given the pending case against the co-defendant [Chad Daybell], we are unable to conduct any additional interviews or discuss further details of this matter. We want to assure each of you that we remain committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell. We also want to express sincere appreciation to the many members of law enforcement and the community who tirelessly worked together to hold Lori Vallow Daybell accountable.”
Reactions to the verdict, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Ada County Sheriff’s Office]
The post ‘Cult Mom’ Lori Vallow Found Guilty Of Murdering Her 2 Children appeared first on Perez Hilton.