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Cult mom Lori Vallow was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole over the murder of her two children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, on Monday, July 31.
The sentencing came two months after Vallow was found guilty of killing her two children, who were discovered dead on her husband Chad Daybell's property on June 9, 2020, months after they disappeared while in their mother’s care. Vallow was also found guilty of conspiring to kill Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy, who died in October 2019.
Shortly before Lori Vallow was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in the deaths of Tammy, JJ, and Tylee, she addressed the court, denying her guilt and claiming her children were “busy” and “happy” in heaven. She said:
"Jesus knows me and Jesus understands me. I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy. Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen."
During the sentencing, Judge Steven Boyce slammed Vallow over her lack of remorse in the deaths of her children despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to her guilt in their deaths.
Lori Vallow allegedly killed her children for financial gain and due to bizarre cult beliefs
The sentencing comes in the wake of a jury convicting Lori Vallow of the first-degree murder of her two children and conspiring in the murder of her husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, in May 2023. During the trial, prosecutors laid out evidence explaining that Lori and her husband Chad killed the children for financial gain and due to bizarre cult beliefs.
Vallow’s children, Tylee and JJ, were found dead on Chad Daybell’s property on June 9, 2020, months after they disappeared without a trace in September 2019. Authorities said that JJ was found in a pet cemetery on Chad Daybell’s property, while his sister, Tylee Ryan, was dismembered and buried in a nearby fire pit.
Authorities revealed that JJ died of asphyxiation and Tylee died by unspecified means, but her death was ruled as a homicide. During the trial, investigators stated that Vallow's children were killed around the same time they went missing in September 2019.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence on how Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell conspired with her now-deceased brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ, and Tylee as part of their outlandish cult theories.
Lori and Chad Daybell, the doomsday author who has written more than 25 books about the end of the world, reportedly shared a mutual belief that demons walked amid humans, and they alone could identify these creatures, who they dubbed “zombies.”
The couple, who believed the evil creatures had to be eradicated from the world, reportedly began referring to Vallow’s children as Zombies in the weeks leading up to their murder.
Prosecutors in the case noted that while the couple did "endorse and espouse religious beliefs for'' justifying the killings of Lori’s children and Daybell’s wife, Tammy, they also committed the crime for financial purposes.
Prosecutors, citing evidence, accused Vallow and her husband Chad of collecting Tammy’s life insurance money and the children’s social security and survivor benefits following their deaths.
While Lori Vallow's case concluded with her sentencing, her husband, who was charged with three counts of conspiracy and three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Tammy Daybell, and Lori Vallow Daybell’s two children, is set to stand trial on April 1, 2024.
