One of the more disturbing cases of the last several years has wrapped up in Boise, Idaho, as the so-called ‘cult mom’ Lori Vallow has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her gruesome murders of her two children and her husband’s ex-wife.
In 2019, Vallow’s two children, 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, disappeared from their home in Arizona. They were discovered in shallow graves on Vallow’s new husband, Chad Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho.
The details of the murders were heinous, as 7-year-old J.J. was found bound in duct tape after dying from asphyxiation due to a plastic bag over his head, and 16-year-old Tylee was dismembered and so badly burned that there was no actual one cause of death determined.
The grisly manner in which Vallow murdered her children has shocked and stunned the nation, and Judge Steven Boyce held nothing back during Monday’s sentencing. He said: “You removed your children from their home in Arizona, alienated them from friends and family … and you brought them here to murder them. You had so many other options. … You chose the most evil and destructive path possible. I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused.”
Vallow has already spent over 1200 days in a local jail, and it has been determined that she suffers from a “delusional disorder’ with “hyper-religiosity,” as well as a personality disorder marked with narcissistic features.
J.J.’s paternal grandmother stated in court: “J.J. and Tylee could have been [with] us, living happy lives. Instead, she took all that away, all because she is a money-hungry, power-mongering monster.”
Vallow met her co-conspirator and current husband, Chad Daybell, in 2018 at a conference called Preparing the People. The two were convinced that they were married in a past life and shared similar apocalyptic religious beliefs. Vallow and Daybell claimed to be Biblical figures and exalted beings, possibly to justify their crimes.
The sister of Daybell’s first wife, Tammy, who Vallow murdered in addition to her children, read aloud in open court: “You are not exalted beings, and your behavior makes you ineligible to be one. You tell yourself that you were high spiritual beings who would live together through time. You felt powerful. This, too, is a lie. You are a liar, an adulteress and a murderer. Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister, aunt and daughter. She is irreplaceable. She is one thousand times the woman you will ever dream of being.”
Vallow was also found guilty of grand theft after collecting the children’s Social Security benefits for four months after their murders. The couple were arrested in February and June of 2020 and were set to go on trial together, but Vallow refused to waive her right to a speedy trial.
Daybell has yet to face trial, but based on Vallow’s sentence, he likely has some idea of what his punishment will be. Whatever punishment is meted out in both of these cases isn’t sufficient, considering the heinous nature of the crimes committed. Life in prison won’t bring back any of the victims, but at least it ensures no more harm to innocent people by either of these two monsters.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video
"*" indicates required fields