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Stories here are reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.
Bellevue woman kills ex-husband's fiancé about as easily as killing some cats
Woman arrested for solicitation to murder in Coeur d'Alene
Barbara Dehl, Spirit of Idaho, indicted on kidnapping charges
Arrest reveals the true Barbara Dehl by Kevin and Erica Neuendorf
Events of case should be a lesson to media, others by Brad W. Neuendorf
Accusers as “victims” — A case study of the David Dutt trial in Ada County
Real consequences — David Dutt from Boise
Colorado Springs woman shoots her partner in Bliss after being stopped by police
North Dakota man dead after parking lot shooting at Lewiston Rosauers
Blue-eyed blonde and gravedigger friend convicted after spouses and children die
Lori Vallow Daybell background
Timeline of events in this horror story
November 12, 1998, Jerome (States News Service) — A 44-year-old Bellevue woman claims she killed another woman — in her words: “just about as easy as killing some cats.”
Andra Jonas told an Idaho judge that her mother, Sandra, killed Meta Jones last month. The 17-year- old daughter pled guilty to being an accessory to the murder by helping her mother get rid of the body. She says her mother shot Jones, decapitated the body, and dumped it into a canal.
The victim was engaged to Sandra Jonas' ex- husband.
© 2004 by Dave Turner, Coeur d'Alene Press
November 5, 2004 — A former Coeur d'Alene woman is being held in the Kootenai County jail without bail pending a court appearance later today on charges she tried to have another woman disfigured or killed.
Coeur d'Alene Police arrested Valerie Hansen Colbert, 47, of Yakima, Wash., about noon Thursday for solicitation of murder.
Police said the woman contacted a 23-year-old Coeur d'Alene man early last month and offered to pay him $2,000 to disfigure a 45-year-old woman.
“The motive appears to be jealousy over an ex-boyfriend,” said police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood.
Wood said the intended victim is an acquaintance of Ms. Colbert's.
The man said Ms. Colbert, who he only knew as “Susan,” contacted him asking if he wanted a job.
“The male said he did not know how the suspect got his number,” Wood said.
The two arranged to meet in an elementary school parking lot last Friday afternoon.
Wood said Colbert told the man she wanted the woman permanently disfigured.
“The male told her he does not do that kind of work,” Wood said.
Ms. Colbert then allegedly offered him a finder's fee if he knew anyone who did and gave the man her phone number.
Wood said the man discussed the request with his roommate. They both went to police.
Wood said an undercover detective working with the Kootenai County Joint Drug Task Force contacted Ms. Colbert by telephone and agreed to a meeting at a sports field on Ramsey Road about noon Thursday.
Wood said Colbert told the drug agent who she wanted killed and handed him an envelope with the money and instructions. Within minutes of making the deal, Ms. Colbert was arrested.
Valerie Colbert's only criminal record in Kootenai County is a ticket for illegally passing a school bus in 1999. It's unclear if she has a record in her new hometown of Yakima.
Idaho Code says solicitation carries the same maximum punishment as for an attempted crime, or half the maximum sentence for that crime. Murder is punishable by death or life imprisonment, with a minimum sentence of 10 years.
Dave Turner can be reached at 664-8176, ext. 2009 or at dturner@cdapress.com.
© 2005 KBCI News, Boise
Reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.
April 28, 2005, Boise (AP)
— The Nampa mother who worked to change Idaho law when her daughter died in a [purported] domestic violence incident has been indicted on kidnapping charges.
The indictment of Barbara Dehl eliminates the need for a preliminary hearing and sends the case directly to Fourth District Court.
Dehl, her live-in-boyfriend Larry Dwight Hanslovan and Ronald Huntsman all were indicted in the closed grand jury hearing and await arraignment.
Police say Dehl and the two men kidnapped a young couple and interrogated them at gunpoint to determine if they stole drugs and money from Dehl's home. Police say they eventually let the couple go and focused on 22-year-old John Albert Schmeichel. His body was found last March in a shallow grave in the southwestern Idaho desert.
Police say he was shot and killed in Dehl's SUV.
Huntsman is charged with first-degree murder.
© 2005 Idaho Press-Tribune
Reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.
April 6, 2005 — How is it that former Spirit of Idaho recipient Barbara Dehl is behind bars today following charges of murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking? It's a tragic turn of events for someone not so long ago portrayed as a martyr by you and the Idaho Press-Tribune. It's sad that our family has had to wait until now to tell our side of the story, with anger and hate pent up in each of us hoping that one day the truth would be made evident.
She led many to believe that her daughter, Cassie, had been in an abusive relationship with my brother, Justin Neuendorf, enlisting many, including you, to help fight her emotional cause and bring an already aching family to its knees. We read the slanderous lies you printed, we heard the damaging accusations she bellowed from the steps of the Capitol, we cringed at the sight of her on “The Montel Williams Show” and stood in disbelief as this story made its way across the nation. Daily, we wondered aloud if anyone would ever know the type of person they chose to stand behind.
Well, today, you know exactly what many people tried to tell you all along. Barbara wasn't exactly who you all made her out to be. More importantly, the truth bears little resemblance to the story you let it become. Sadly, you flouted all rules of responsible journalism when you let Dehl skew reality and shape a tragic accident into a delusional lie.
Certainly, her story made for good reading and perhaps in your effort to gain readership or scoop your competitors, you leveraged her and this fictional story to the extent that you never truly captured the real story.
There was no truth behind any of that which she led you to believe. First, there was no evidence of any domestic violence occurring during the time that Justin and Cassie were dating. Second, my brother did not leave her to die that day his truck rolled to the bottom of a ravine. She died tragically in his arms that night, a result of a crushed aorta, and he then led his friend to safety so he would not perish as well.
What you would have discovered had you exercised due diligence as journalists was that Barbara was never the role model mother she wanted you to believe.
With her child gone, Dehl tried to make good on her inadequacies as a mother and rallied the support of those she knew could cut the deepest wound and fabricate a truly gripping tale.
The only element missing was truth. I, along with the rest of our family, very much resent the negative picture that has been painted of Justin, and the utter failure of most so-called “journalists” to check out both sides of the story. The grievous assassination of this young man's character in the media was uncalled for, and the facts of the situation were blurred by accusations and conjecture hatefully spewed by those that should have been most diligent in honoring Cassie's memory.
But now the real truth about who Barbara Dehl is has finally come out for those too shallow to ever have wanted to discover it in the first place. Today, the Neuendorf family, along with the friends and loved ones who stood together with us during this time, feel vindicated and relieved that, despite the loss of someone's life and the kidnappings, the truth can be told.
This is the first response our family has been able to print since that tragic day in December 1999. For years, we have wanted to speak out and tell our story but not many would listen, but now maybe they will. Now maybe they will check a source and not be manipulated by the emotional saga which she led many to believe. We have wanted to tell our story many times, but death threats, political agendas and possible legal actions have kept us silent.
Perhaps more than anything, Dehl's arrest can help us move on from Cassie's tragic death. Not a day goes by that my brother doesn't suffer as a result of that accident. He made the difficult choice to honor her memory by going on. His wounds run deep as do the wounds suffered by our family.
Sweet justice comes in knowing that this manipulative woman is now behind bars and those that helped propagate her lies now can see the error of their ways.
© 2005 Idaho Press-Tribune
Reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.
For six years, my family has been drug through the mud by almost every politician, newspaper and TV station in Idaho along with numerous magazines and national television talk shows concerning the death of Cassie Dehl, the deceased fiancée of my brother, Justin Neuendorf.
The local and national press, along with the politicians, have spun the story so many directions without checking facts that the whole tragic accident has been skewed by speculation and accusations of domestic violence. There is absolutely no evidence other than one suspicious letter that gives any insight into alleged domestic violence between Justin and Cassie. Nonetheless, the media and politicians have used a tragic event for their personal gains.
What really happened that night rests with the three people involved in the accident. What we do know is that Cassie was never left to die. She died in a matter of minutes from a crushed aorta.
For years, my family and friends have had to suffer through the nonsense that was reported. We received numerous death threats because the media portrayed my brother as a murderer. Rather, he was one of three people involved in a horrific accident that led to the death of his future wife.
Our phone number had to be changed and unlisted. We lived with guns at every door, wondering when someone would act on a threat.
Now you know why we were so nervous. We knew exactly who we were dealing with, but you could not see through the immediate opportunity that was created for you. You took her story as gospel and neglected to check into a single fact.
In the past few articles about Barbara Dehl's arrest on felony drug trafficking and kidnapping charges, you have continued to fail to look into the depth of this case. People are hurt because they feel they have now lost a voice on domestic violence. Don't look at this as “losing a voice,” but as a lesson on whose voice we listen to.
Cassie's death was in no way related to domestic violence, yet Cassie's Law is all about teens in violent dating relationships. Many have expressed sorrow for Dehl, saying that she may have turned to meth because of grief. Give me a break! A pipe and a small bag of pot maybe, but 4 pounds of methamphetamines? Can any of us really see that as a method of grieving? Let's not forget to ask where Cassie's “mom” was while she was growing up.
Let this be a lesson on handing out awards to impress constituents. Sen. Mike Crapo, if you believe that Barbara Dehl represents the “Spirit of Idaho” then I am ashamed to have you representing us.
The fine policemen of the Treasure Valley deserve a big thanks. You have finally allowed the truth to come out, and although many are still blinded and in disbelief, you have allowed my family to finally have a word. This is the first response our family has been able to print since that tragic day in December 1999.
For years we have wanted to speak out and tell our story but many would not listen. Now maybe they will. Now maybe they will check a source or find another side of the story. We have wanted to tell ours for years but death threats, political agendas and possible legal action has kept us silent.
Thanks to our friends who have shown support for my family. We, too, have suffered a terrible loss and it has been a very difficult time for my family, especially my brother. Your support and encouragement have helped him to stay with us and for that I can never say enough.
Finally, please stop using a beautiful young girl's death to further your own agendas. She is missed by many, especially my family who loved her like a daughter. Can we please let her finally rest in peace?
© 2009 William N Grigg, Pro Libertate
Reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.
May 21, 2009
— It would hardly be difficult to convict any man of child sex abuse if the prosecutor were provided with the following advantages:
• The accuser would be designated a “victim,” and referred to as such in pre-trial hearings and during the trial, thereby leaving jurors predisposed to accept her allegations as fact;
• The trial judge grants a prosecution motion in limine (a request to exclude “prejudicial” evidence) forbidding the defense to call witnesses whose first-hand testimony would impeach the credibility of the accuser;
• In similar fashion, the judge prevents the defense from “prejudicing” the jury against the “victim” by referring to at least one previous occasion on which she made a false allegation of abuse;
• The accuser/ ”victim” is permitted to change critical, materially relevant details of her story without being accused of perjury or simply impeached as unreliable;
• Even as the judge carefully shields the “victim” from adversarial scrutiny, he permits the prosecution to mention that the defendant had previously been the subject of an abuse investigation, without being charged, prosecuted, or convicted of any offense;
• Most egregiously, the judge permits the prosecution to present an “expert” witness to explain how the critical piece of exculpatory evidence in a child rape trial — a gynecological examination of the accuser showing perfectly normal physical development, including an intact hymen — was actually a common finding in child sexual abuse cases.
Indeed, just as the notorious “magic bullet” of Daley Plaza managed to defy established laws of physics, changing directions several times without losing its lethal velocity, the accuser's virginal membrane possessed magical properties that permitted it to survive repeated episodes of full intercourse forced upon the girl by her step-father, which supposedly began when the accuser was 12 and the accused was in his late 20s.
It is possible, albeit monumentally improbable, that a young girl could endure multiple sexual violations, including incestuous intercourse, without enduring physical trauma of the sort revealed in a detailed gynecological examination.
In the absence of corroborating evidence, however — such as eyewitness testimony, photographs, video, or perhaps an item of intimate apparel infused, Clinton-style, with DNA from the accused — a normal examination should be enough to shut down a prosecution cold. All that would be left is the word of the accuser, which — under the tenets of Western law as old as Moses — is not enough to secure a conviction.
Yet it's likely that every week, if not every day, people (usually men, although women are hardly immune) are convicted of sex crimes and sent to prison following “trials” that follow the template described above.
The word of a single accuser is considered the self-ratifying testimony of the “victim,” exculpatory physical evidence is suppressed or explained away; the defense is forbidden to impeach the credibility of the accuser, while the prosecution is free from any similar restrictions in assailing the character of the accused; and a presumption of guilt informs the entire proceeding.
Often such trials partake of “magical thinking” of the sort that led credulous officials in 17 th Century Salem to accept “spectral evidence” — dreams and visions in which the disembodied spirits of the accused supposedly committed vile acts while their physical bodies were in another location — as a valid rebuttal to an otherwise unassailable alibi.
Once those convicted in such “trials” serve their sentences, most of them — including at least some people who are victims of grotesque injustice — can be designated “sexually dangerous persons” who will never fully regain their freedom. In fact, a law enacted in 2006 permits the open-ended “civil confinement” of paroled sex offenders within the federal prison system. This amounts to a potential life sentence inflicted on the basis of crimes yet to be committed, since “civil confinement” only begins after the detainee has served the prescribed sentence for the crimes of which he was convicted.
Some innocent people caught in the coils of this system find themselves in a uniquely painful predicament: To obtain parole and a chance to rebuild their lives, they must allocute to the offense for which they were convicted.
In some cases, this confession is coupled with a polygraph examination, which puts genuinely innocent people in an inescapable double-bind: If they assert their innocence, they will be denied parole; if they falsely confess to the charges, they'll most likely fail the polygraph examination, with the same result.
Boise resident David Shawn Dutt has lived every element of that nightmare since being accused in 2001 — along with his then-wife Terry — of sexually abusing his ex wife Terry's daughter, S., for more than two years, beginning in 1999.
At the time the abuse supposedly began, S. — Terry's child from a previous marriage — was 12 years old. David was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor, including full-fledged intercourse. Terry was arrested on charges of sexual battery, sexual solicitation of a minor, and failing to report abuse (the first charge was dropped before trial).
The prosecution presented the same evidence against David and Terry. David was convicted on all counts; Terry was acquitted. That disparity of outcome is sufficient — but hardly the only — reason to entertain misgivings about the soundness of the verdict, since the prosecution was permitted to full use of the tactics discussed above.
No diary or journal entries by S. describing abuse were entered into evidence. And S.'s testimony during the trial differed in numerous small but significant ways from the story she had previously told to the police and social workers.
Most importantly, a detailed medical examination carried out when S. was 14 and a half years old, and had supposedly endured several years of sexual molestation — including numerous episodes of full intercourse — found no anatomical evidence of abuse of any kind.
That examination (described in an official report to which the author has been given access) revealed that S.'s private anatomy was normal, the hymeneal membrane fully intact.
All of this adds up to a very compelling case for reasonable doubt — unless, of course, one is possessed of the sort of mind-set that considers “spectral evidence” to be credible. Regrettably, the Ada County Prosecutor's office has just such a person in its employ: Deputy Prosecutor Jean Fisher, who has been handling sex crime cases for that office since 1989.
The entire case against David rested on the “disclosures” — that is, allegations — made by the “victim” — which is to say, the accuser. And Fisher's opening statement was built around a trope quite common in child abuse prosecutions: The jury must honor the “courage” of the “victim” by believing her testimony.
“[I]t takes a very brave child to come forward in a case such as this to escape specific...fears,” such as the “fear of not being believed,” insisted Fisher in her address to the jury.
“But she's a brave girl and she's here to tell you what has happened to her. And, Ladies and Gentlemen, when you hear the descriptions, when you hear what comes out of her mouth as she describes these acts you will have no doubt in your mind that this defendant systematically sexually abused her over and over and over again....”
Of course, in the Anglo-Saxon system of justice, the precise duty of the jury is to doubt the word of an accuser until that burden of doubt is overcome by a suitable preponderance of evidence. That duty is the same even when the accuser is a winsome, sympathetic young girl claiming to be the victim of unspeakably vile acts.
In her opening statement, Fisher obliquely admitted, in an elliptical and artfully dishonest fashion, that there was no evidence S. had been involved in any sexual activity, whether consensual or abusive:
“[Y]ou'll hear about...the medical condition which involves the her, the estrogenization of the hymen and those sorts of things, and Miss Henbest will be able to explain for you the process of — of how that works, and that there aren't physical findings in a case such as this.”
“Miss Henbest” was the prosecution's star “expert witness,” Margaret Henbest — a nurse practitioner, not an M.D., and a former member of the Idaho Legislature. She was the medical professional who conducted the medical examination of S. immediately following the youngster's first abuse allegation.
It was Ms. Henbest — not S. — whom the prosecution chose as its lead witness, and in cross-examination she admitted that there was no evidence that abuse had occurred.
The admission is recorded on page 459 of the trial transcript, lines 3-7, in an exchange between Ms. Henbest and defense counsel Dennis Weigt:
Q. The hymen was actually normal genitalia and didn't — your physical examination didn't reveal any indication of sexual abuse; isn't that correct? [Emphasis added.]
At this point, Mr. Weigt should have asked the witness to be excused and made a motion for a summary judgment: The prosecution's star witness had just admitted that there was no evidence to corroborate the accuser's story. Whether or not that motion had been granted, it would have impressed upon the minds of the jury the utter poverty of the prosecution's case.
In fact, Weigt should have made that motion immediately following Fisher's opening statement to the jury, in which she outlined a prosecution case that fell far short of meeting its burden of proof. At the very least, he should have focused with laser-like coherence on the fact that even before any evidence had been presented to the jury, Ms. Fisher was admitting that there was no physical evidence of abuse.
Instead of attacking the prosecution at its most vulnerable point, Weigt offered a diffuse and rambling summation of the defense's theory of the case, which was that S. was “a very mature, very knowledgeable girl” who was angry and frustrated over domestic responsibilities she was given at home, and desirous of living with her maternal grandmother. From this perspective, the abuse accusations were the product of adolescent spite, and the detailed descriptions offered by S. reflected what she had synthesized from vulgar entertainment, material presented at school, and what she had learned in candid discussions of sexuality with her parents.
Weigt did make one telling point in his opening presentation. David Dutt had a flawless alibi on the only specific date offered by S. on which sexual intercourse supposedly occurred: He was in the hospital with his wife while their son was delivered by an emergency c-section; S., on the other hand, went home with her grandmother, where she stayed for the next several days.
Once that allegation was tested in court, however, S.'s specific recollection suddenly became very approximate, at least as far as the date was concerned.
The trial judge, Fourth District Judge Thomas Neville, again proved helpful to the prosecution by instructing the jury that “the State only has to prove on or about these time frames” in which the abuse allegedly occurred.
What this meant, in practical terms, was that the jury not only was to accept S.'s unsupported word that the abuse took place, but give her generous leeway regarding self-contradiction for the specific purpose of nullifying David Dutt's otherwise invincible alibi.
“She knows that she had intercourse with the defendant, David Dutt the night of [the son's] birth,” Fisher insisted in her closing statement. “She believes in her heart it was the night [the son] was born. Now, if you think she's confused, that it maybe was the second night or the third night before [the son] came home, or that it's possible she could have been confused, but you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that it happened, it [the specific date] doesn't matter.”
Oh, yes it does matter — or it would in any trial held under legitimate rules of evidence. What Fisher was demanding of the jury — with the support of Judge Neville — was a standard of proof functionally indistinguishable from the Salem Witch Trial's notion of “spectral evidence.” In Salem the prosecutors could dispense with an alibi by insisting that the accused could be two places at once; in the trial of David Dutt, the judge and prosecutor insisted that the accuser could alter critical details of her story in order to get around an alibi.
Jean Fisher's summation to the jury was an Oprah-magnitude onslaught of unalloyed sentimentalism, a blast of unfiltered bathos worthy of a Daytime Emmy.
“Today, S. is a victim,” Fisher insisted. “The future will determine if she is a survivor.... After hearing from S., after seeing her pain, after seeing her presentation and how she suffered up here, can there be any doubt in your minds that she has been sexually abused repeatedly by her stepfather?”
The critical word omitted by Fisher is “reasonable” — that is, the product of logic. “Reasonable doubt” results from a dispassionate examination of provable facts by jurors who understand that the word of an accuser is never sufficient evidence to convict the accused. That quality of intellect called “reason” dictates that accusations are never self-validating, and that this is true even when the accuser undergoes visible distress and “pain” as she makes unsupported accusations.
Perhaps the greatest scandal in this entire affair is that there wasn't a single juror with the intellectual ballast necessary to keep from being swept away by the gale-force blasts of emotion, and the leadership ability necessary to help others recognize the pervasive grounds for acquittal on the basis of reasonable doubt.
“You are a brave girl,” gushed Judge Neville to S. as he prepared to sentence David Dutt. “You're a courageous girl.” Turning to Dutt, Neville upbraided him for having the temerity to deny S.'s accusations; the very act of doing so, Judge Neville insisted, demonstrated that Dutt's capacity for rehabilitation was unacceptably low.
“You are in denial even after these verdicts,” growled Judge Neville at Dutt.
“I believe that society does require protection from you. I believe that you are a clear and present and likely to be a future danger to society, and all of those factors militate toward a substantial prison sentence.”
In addition to being required to register as a sex offender, Dutt was given a 20-year prison term: ten years fixed, and ten years contingent on his “rehabilitation,” which — as noted above — requires that he confess to what remains, the verdict notwithstanding, unproven allegations, and pass a lie detector test certifying that he believes himself to be guilty.
This relatively brief capsule summary of David Dutt's trial doesn't even begin to address the irregularities, implausibilities, and improprieties that are deployed in dense-pack in this case. It is presently on appeal to the state supreme court, and the persistence of both David and his father Dale in seeking to overturn the conviction has produced some interesting shock waves within Idaho's criminal “justice” system — something about which I'll have more to say in future installments.
An attorney and several other qualified observers of the Ada County justice system have informed me that Jean Fisher boasts a conviction rate north of ninety percent. If the prosecution of David Dutt is typical of her approach, and the latitude she is given by trial judges, that claim is entirely believable, and a compelling illustration of the fact that there is no justice to be found in our “justice” system.
Abstracted from articles by Alison Gene Smith and Joe Cadotte , MagicValley.com
February 3, 2014 — Two people are in critical condition after a car chase ended with an officer involved shooting outside a Bliss motel about 3 AM Sunday, said Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough.
At about 2:30 AM police pulled a car over in Mountain Home for no headlights but the driver fled on eastbound Interstate-84. Two Elmore County deputies chased the car to the Y Inn Motel in Bliss where Gooding County deputies got involved.
The male passenger got out of the car with his hands in the air as ordered by deputies. Then Hollee R. Johnston, 39, of Colorado Springs, shot her male passenger, Ronald Walter Rice, 40, then pointed her firearm at deputies, whereupon one of the deputies shot her.
Ms. Johnston and Mr. Rice were then airlifted to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise where they are in critical condition under officer guard.
No law enforcement personnel were injured in the incident. The deputy who shot the driver was put on administrative leave as is standard procedure in officer involved shootings.
Hollee Johnston will be charged with aggravated assault and may face drug charges as well. Deputies haven't determined a motive for the shooting, as they have not interviewed either patient.
Rice has felony arrest warrants out of Colorado for burglary and possessing dangerous drugs.
February 5, 2021 — According to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by KLEW News. 67-year-old James Robert Brashear of Winchester confessed to Lewiston police the premeditated shooting of John Allen Mast of Williston, North Dakota.
Brashear allegedly told police he and his daughter spend most of the day together. She received a call from her attorney notifying her the court granted unsupervised visitation for their father, John Mast, to see their children starting that night.
Court Documents say Brashear then told police, there had been a four-year custody battle. Brashear alleged Mast had sexually abused the children and that the children were crying and afraid to go with their father.
It was at that time, Brashear told police he decided to go to Rosauers and wait Mast out to kill him.
Investigators say Brashear told them he intended to kill Mast and then kill himself.
Police say Mast was shot three times. When Lewiston Police arrived, several witnesses directed officers to Brashear, and they took him into custody.
Mast was taken to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center where he later died.
The Mast family issued a statement Monday (statement in full by Samuel Mast):
“On February 5th our beloved son and brother John Mast was killed in the Rosauers parking lot in Lewiston Idaho. For the past 3.5 years He faced many completely false and vile allegations of the worst sort. His children were taken from him due to these false allegations. He worked tirelessly to be back in his children's life and to clear himself and was ultimately exonerated and found completely free and clear of everything. He was finally granted weekend custody of his children and was set to pick them up at the meeting spot. Instead of meeting his beautiful children he was met by his ex father in law and shot multiple times. This was so wrong and horrific on so many levels. John's fight is over and he is at peace forever. The Mast family wishes to at this time extend forgiveness to the Brashear family. We pray they may find the peace they seek and we pray for the killers soul. We believe in a God that is bigger than this and we believe that somehow good will come of this. Rest In Peace beloved brother. “
Abstracted from story by Megan Pickett, Aubree B. Jennings, Scott Lewis, ABC4.com and other sources
Crazy blonds are not uncommon, but oft-married Lori Daybell Vallow sets a new standard after killing two of her three children, or having them killed, after she takes on a new lover, Chad Daybell, a grave digger by profession. Her existing husband is killed as well as a previous husband and she then marries Daybell. Daybell's wife is killed as well as Lori's brother in this horror story.
What would ordinarily look like a family tree more resembles a murder tree in Lori's case, but well serves to identify the principals in this case.
Lori Vallow Daybell, also referred to as Lori Ryan Daybell, was born Lori Norene Cox on June 26, 1973, in Loma Linda, California and grew up in a Mormon family. She worked for some time as a hairdresser.
In 1992, at the age of 19, Lori married her high school boyfriend Nelson Yanes, but the marriage ended in divorce shortly afterwards.
In October 1995, Lori married William Lagioia when she was 22 years old. They had a son named Colby in 1996, before divorcing in 1998.
In 2001, Lori married Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr., who legally adopted Colby. The couple's biological daughter, Tylee, was born in 2002. They divorced in 2005. Lori and Ryan had a bitter custody battle, during which Lori accused Ryan of sexually assaulting Tylee and Colby. Ryan eventually lost equal custody.
In 2004, she was a contestant in the Miss Texas beauty pageant.
In February 2006, Lori Ryan (née Cox) married Leland Charles Vallow, who commonly went by the name Charles, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charles, who was a lifelong Catholic, converted to the LDS (Mormon) Church for Lori. Charles had two sons from a previous marriage. and their family lived in Arizona. Lori brought her son, Colby, and her daughter, Tylee, from two of her previous marriages.
In 2007, Lori's brother, Alex Cox, attacked Ryan, claiming he had been abusive to Lori and the children. Cox served 90 days in jail for the incident.
In 2018, Ryan was found dead in his apartment. The cause of death was determined to be arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Lori was notified as his next of kin.
In 2013, Lori and Charles adopted Vallow's grandnephew, Joshua Jaxon “ J.J. ” Vallow, as the boy's birth parents were unable to care for him. Because of his biological parents' substance abuse, J.J. was born with drugs in his system and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit. As a baby, he was taken care of by his grandparents Kay and Larry Woodcock for nearly a year before being adopted by Charles. He was eventually diagnosed with autism.
After Lori was arrested in 2020, and after a recording surfaced in which Lori mentioned wanting to kill Ryan “ like the scripture says. Like Nephi killed. ” Police reviewed Ryan's death. Nothing was found to suspect foul play.
In 2022, Lori's son, Colby claimed during an interview that as a child, he had been sexually assaulted by Joseph Ryan, Lori's fourth husband.
The Equal Justice Foundation often recommends people in abusive relationships do a timeline of events that succinctly relates who, what, when, and where for each incident. Pickett et al. provide such a timeline of the events in this case below.
The story begins in Utah and Arizona but eventually moved to Rexburg, Idaho. The timeline of events is largely based on information from East Idaho News , as well as court documents from both Lori's and Chad's trials, as well as other sources.
March 9, 1990: Chad and Tammy Daybell married in Manti, Sanpete County, Utah, and lived in Springville, Utah County, where they started Spring Creek Book Company. Chad published many religious and post-apocalyptic books with that company. In the next several years, Chad and Tammy had five children — Garth Daybell, Emma Murray, Seth Daybell, Leah Murphy, and Mark Daybell.
Lori Ryan (née Cox) married Charles Vallow (her fourth marriage) and their family lived in Arizona. Lori brought her son, Colby, and her daughter, Tylee, from two of the previous marriages. Colby was a few years older than Tylee.
Lori's niece, Melani Cope (now Melani Pawlowski), married Brandon Boudreaux, and over the years they had four children together. Brandon was reportedly close with Lori's family and baptized Tylee into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons.
Melani is the daughter of Lori's late sister, Stacey.
Charles and Lori adopted Caanan Todd Trahan, later renamed Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow, of Lake Charles, La. JJ is the biological grandson of Charles's sister Kay Woodcock, and her husband Larry Woodcock. JJ had autism, and Lori's attorney said his biological parents could not take care of him, leading Lori and Charles to adopt him. A condition of the adoption was that the Woodcocks remain in JJ's life. Within a month of the adoption, the Woodcocks moved to Arizona, because they had a hard time being away from him.
Sometime in 2014, the Vallows moved to Kauai, Hawaii, and operated a small business on the island, as indicated by business records. The Woodcocks said they visited JJ less frequently but maintained contact through the phone and FaceTime.
The Vallows moved back to Arizona, and Kay said she recalled Tylee “being a good sister to JJ.”
Chad and Tammy Daybell moved to Salem, Idaho, a city just outside of Rexburg, with their five kids, and Tammy worked as a school librarian.
At some point before Lori and Chad met, Lori began reading his religious books, which often focused on radical theories of spirituality surrounding the end of the world.
April 3, 2018: Tylee's father, Joseph Ryan, died, and it was ruled as a heart attack. Later in the year, she began receiving Joseph's Social Security survivor benefits. Those benefits were originally direct-deposited into a bank account Tylee and Lori shared.
Fall 2018: Lori and Melani Pawlowski began attending meetings not sponsored by the church, but their spouses did not attend. Melani Pawlowski reportedly told husband Brandon the firesides were “her thing,” and was very clear he was not welcome to come.
Melani Pawlowski also reportedly became focused on the idea that the world was going to end soon. Brandon said that Melani was not very religious when they were first married, but she began getting “really passionate” about going to church and certain ideas at church.
October 26, 2018: Lori and Chad Daybell met at a religious conference in St. George, Utah. Lori's friend Melanie Gibb reported that they were flirty, and talked about a lot of beliefs they shared. They allegedly used those beliefs later to justify killing Tammy, JJ, and Tylee, a felony indictment states.
At the conference, Chad reportedly told Lori that they had been married in a previous life, and Lori said she believed it.
October 28, 2018: Lori created a contact for Chad labeled “Bishop Shumway.” This was the first electronic evidence of their interactions.
November 2018: Chad Daybell reportedly came to Arizona for another conference, and according to her friend Melanie Gibb, Chad stayed at Lori's house, as Charles was out of town. Gibb said she believed it was that weekend Lori told Gibb that she and Chad were sealed together by Moroni and Jesus Christ in the LDS temple and that the relationship of multiple lives was reunited.
December 5, 2018: Chad Daybell and Lori made their first appearance together on the Preparing a People podcast, “Time to Warrior Up.”
December 25, 2018: Brandon Boudreaux said it was the last Christmas his family spent with Charles and Lori Vallow, and that he said everything felt different. Brandon said the relationships were “not very close,” and other people were there, including Melanie Gibb and her family.
Lori told Melanie Gibb that she had a dream Charles Vallow was in a car accident and would not be home by January 1, 2019. However, Charles was never in an accident, and when Melanie Gibb asked Lori what happened, she said, “He didn't, because Satan interfered with the plan.”
January 2019: Charles Vallow texted Brandon and told him that Lori was accusing him of infidelity.
Lori told her friend Melanie Gibb that Charles was taken over by an evil spirit, and they needed to perform “castings” to get it out of him. Throughout the next several months, Vallow would allegedly be taken over by 3-4 different evil spirits, that they would need to cast out. Lori later started referring to people who 'had spirits in them' as zombies.
January 6-10, 2019: Chad Daybell flies from Idaho Falls to Phoenix, Arizona, presumably to see Lori.
January 31, 2019: Body camera footage from an Arizona police department showed Daybell begging Lori to receive mental health help at Community Bridges. However, it was determined Lori had a normal state of mind, and she was medically cleared by Community Bridges.
Chad searched “Ned Schneider Louisiana obituary 1997.” Ned was the name Chad and Lori gave to one of the demons that she said was possessing Charles Vallow.
February 2019: Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Lori, claiming she viewed herself as a god preparing for the second coming of Christ, according to court documents. Charles claimed his wife would kill him if he got in the way of her performing her mission. He later halted the divorce proceedings and told Lori he wanted to make the marriage work.
Lori and Chad Daybell were frequently in contact, even though they were both married to different partners at the time.
February to March 2019: Charles Vallow contacted JJ's grandmother Kay Woodcock because Lori left and he didn't know where she went. Kay often took care of JJ while Lori was missing because Charles needed to work. Kay and JJ moved back and forth between Arizona and Louisiana.
Kay said she helped Charles with his business in February because he was distraught over his separation from Lori. In February 2019, Charles approached her about having her named as beneficiary on his $1 million life insurance policy. Charles named Kay Woodcock as the sole beneficiary and removed Lori from it.
Charles and his adopted son, JJ, eventually moved to Houston, Texas because it was closer to Kay's home in Louisiana.
According to Kay Woodcock, Lori left her husband and child for a total of 58 days during this period. It was later discovered that Lori was in Hawaii. “She never reached out to JJ; she never reached out to Charles,” Woodcock said.
Over this time, airline records show the Lori and Daybell traveling to meet one another several times.
March 2019: A joint bank account between Lori and her brother, Alex Cox, was used to purchase a roundtrip flight for Chad Daybell from Idaho Falls to Mesa, Arizona.
March 3, 2019: Chad searched on the Internet for, “June 26 star sign,” which is Lori's birthdate, and, “Are Cancer and Leo compatible?”
April 2019: Lori moved to Houston, Texas to live with Charles and JJ. Charles halted the divorce proceedings and told his family he wanted to make it work between him and Lori.
April 26, 2019: Chad Daybell flies round-trip from Idaho Falls to Houston, Texas. The flight is booked by and paid for by Lori, though Chad uses a business credit card to pay for extra luggage checks.
May 5, 2019: Chad searched “malachite,” and “eBay malachite-jewelry,” on the Internet.
May 7, 2019: Lori searched the Internet for “malachite.” Later, Lori and Chad's wedding bands appeared to be made of malachite.
May 17, 2019: JJ visited the Woodcocks in Louisiana for the weekend, and they celebrated his birthday. This was the last time the Woodcocks saw JJ in person.
May 29, 2019: Lori and Zulema Pastenes had a conversation about Charles' alleged demons.
June 1, 2019: Chad Daybell searched “hiplos” on the Internet, which was the name Chad and Lori gave to a demon that was allegedly possessing Charles Vallow.
June 2019: Lori and Charles moved to Chandler, Arizona. Lori reportedly told Melanie Gibb that her daughter Tylee was “dark” sometime between February and June 2019.
Lori's niece, Melani Pawlowski, and her husband Brandon Boudreaux decided to get a divorce. Brandon claimed Melani affiliated herself with similar beliefs as Lori and joined “a cult.” Melani also allegedly told Brandon that she received a revelation from God that she wasn't safe at the house with him, and used this argument against him in court for establishing visitation rights.
July 1, 2019: Charles' told Lori he was going to Idaho to talk to Tammy Daybell, Chad's wife, about Lori and Chad's affair, after weeks of confronting Lori about it.
July 9, 2019: Chad searched the Internet for: “when you surprise someone with accusations.”
July 11, 2019: Lori's brother, Alex Cox shot and killed Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow. Cox claimed it was in self-defense; it was later declared a homicide.
Alex Cox was designated as Lori's “protector,” by Chad in a 'patriarchal blessing.'
The crime scene was described as “odd,” by a Rexburg police detective. He said that Cox told officers he shot Charles twice in the chest while they were standing, but due to the bullet's location, the second shot was fired while Charles was already on the ground. One of the detectives said he had never responded to a shooting death with so little blood and no blood splatter.
Cox told the officers he gave Charles CPR after Cox shot him. However several detectives said if that were true, there would be more blood, as well as injuries or impressions on Charles' chest.
Charles' phone was not found at the scene, or on his body. It was later turned over to the Chandler Police Department by Lori. The GPS data on it confirmed that Lori went to Burger King, and Walgreens, and dropped JJ off at school that morning. Lori said this was after Charles died. Surveillance from Burger King showed Lori in the drive-thru at 7:54 AM, while the initial 911 call for Charles was made at 8:36 AM, more than 30 minutes after Lori left the house.
Cox's other sister, Summer Shiflet, said he had a brain injury as a teenager after an accident. She said he “kind of kept making decisions in life as a 16-year-old.”
After Charles Vallow died, his kids from a previous marriage asked Lori what happened, and she avoided answering the question. She just said his remains would be cremated. They repeatedly asked her what happened and how he died, and she left them on read.
According to Melanie Gibb, after Charles was killed, Lori and Chad seemed happy. Prior to Charles' death, Lori and Chad communicated multiple times a day, and Lori had 2-3 cellphones, with one dedicated to her communications with Chad. They would also reportedly meet at hotels, and “were intimate” while Charles and Tammy were both alive, and Lori told Gibb this was according to God's will because they had been married in multiple lives, and had a mission together.
After Charles' death, Lori begins registering her airline tickets under the name Lori Ryan for the remainder of the year.
July 12, 2019: Chad placed a call to Valley of the Sun Mortuary in Arizona following Charles' death. Chad asked about pricing for cremation, and pricing to send the remains to family in Louisiana. Charles' family is from Louisiana.
July 13-14, 2019: Approximately $3,000 was sent to Valley of the Sun Mortuary.
Chad Daybell sent Lori multiple texts in what investigators called a “romance novel.” Chad, who was still married to Tammy, told Lori she was his “best friend on earth and throughout eternity,” and that he would “see [her] in a minute,” as he was going to bed. Chad also described in detail a romantic relationship between James and Elena, which are the names he used to substitute for himself and Lori.
Chad texted Lori about his children's upcoming BYU-Idaho graduations and commencement ceremonies. Chad said in the text, “I feel like she will be gone by then, but I will still have the hoopla to deal with. So I believe that's why the Lord is making me wait.”
Chad also texted Lori, “I need so badly to just gently kiss you...for hours [...] It would likely lead to other activities.” Lori responded, “Likely or Luckily?” Chad replied, “It would likely lead to nakedness.” This is one of many romantic texts reported between the two.
July 18, 2019: Lori found out that Charles Vallow had not named her as the beneficiary of his insurance policy.
Melanie Gibb asked Lori why Alex Cox spent the night when Charles was killed. Lori told her it was because she believed Charles was going to kill her for her million-dollar life insurance policy. Lori told her Charles' didn't name her the beneficiary. She allegedly only found this out after his death.
Gibb asked why Lori didn't get a divorce from Charles, she said it wasn't in the Lord's plan, and that if Chad got a divorce from Tammy, he would be “penalized” and “lose his exaltation or standing with God.”
July 20, 2019: A purchase was made on Lori's credit card to pay for an Allegiant Airlines flight for Chad to go from Provo, Utah, to Arizona.
July 22, 2019: Chad and Lori texted each other about Kauai and “the plan.” Chad told Lori “Love you,” and she responded, “I love you.” Chad then replied, “Not as much as I love you.” Lori told Chad he will love the scenery in Kauai, as it's very similar to Hawaii. Chad responded: “Hopefully we can be there soon.”
July 2019: Lori organized a casting for Brandon Boudreaux because he was “dark” and had an “evil spirit.” Lori told her niece Melani that Brandon was part of Hitler's group, and considered a “very high dark.”
Early August, 2019: Lori files for survivor benefits from Charles Vallow with the Social Security Administration.
August 9, 2019: Alex Cox takes out a $21,000 loan through Lending Club for “medical reasons.” Prosecutors in the Chad Daybell trial say there are no records of any medical procedures being done.
August 10-October 24, 2019: According to the Rexburg (Idaho) Police Department, Cox purchased 46 guns.
August 10, 2019: Kay Woodcock said the last conversation she had with JJ was this day.
“He normally had an iPad or phone and he would walk around and talk to Larry and me,” Woodcock said. “He wouldn't hold the device to him — he'd walk around and see the ceiling in most of the places he lived.”
However, she said this incident was different, in that JJ did not have a device in his hand, it seemed like someone was holding it for him. Kay also said and it was a very short call. When she attempted to contact him over the next few months, she never got any response from Lori.
August 12, 2019: Lori removed Tylee and JJ from her $2 million dollar life insurance policy so that her oldest son, Colby Ryan, was the only beneficiary.
August 14, 2019: Lori submitted a rental application for a townhouse in on Pioneer Road in Rexburg, Idaho, and listed her income as the amount of combined Social Security benefits for herself, JJ, and Tylee. Tylee should have been receiving her own benefits, and Lori was supposed to use JJ's benefits for him.
On her application, Lori states they are moving to Rexburg so Tylee can attend BYU-Idaho. Tylee never enrolls or attends.
August 16, 2019: Lori calls the Social Security Administration and applies to have Tylee's future Social Security benefit payments moved out of her personal account held by both to one held only by Lori.
August 19, 2019: Lori opens a joint bank account for her and Tylee.
August 31-September 2019: Lori, Tylee, JJ, Alex, and Melani Pawlowski moved to Rexburg, Idaho. Alex Cox quits his job and is never known to be employed again. He has no reported income after this. Most of the group ends up at Rock Creek Townhomes on Pioneer Road in Rexburg. Lori moves into Apartment 107.
September 2019: Sometime during this month, Lori reportedly told Melanie Gibb that JJ was possessed.
Tylee's monthly auto-payment for her Jeep came back as insufficient funds, even though Tylee had never missed a payment before this.
September 3, 2019: Lori enrolled JJ at Kennedy Elementary School in Rexburg. On the same day, Lori subscribed to a local cable service at Apartment 175 at Rock Creek, showing she seemed to have changed apartments. A few days later, Alex Cox subscribed to cable from Apartment 107.
September 8, 2019: Chad Daybell signed an application with his wife Tammy to increase her life insurance to the maximum amount allowed on the policy.
Tylee, JJ, Lori, and Alex visited Yellowstone National Park. Officials say this is the last time anyone saw Tylee alive and the last in-person purchase from Tylee's bank account. The FBI later asked for help from anyone who may have photos of the family taken that day in the park.
September 9, 2019: Phone records later placed Alex Cox on Chad's property in the general area where investigators found Tylee's remains. Chad Daybell also texted his wife Tammy and told her he shot a raccoon and buried it in their pet cemetery. He said he found the raccoon when he was burning the limb debris by the fire pit.
On the same day, Lori contacted accountant Michael Edson, who had handled her's and Charles' taxes. She notifies Edson that Charles has died, and since she has moved, she inquires about how she can get her tax return check canceled and directly deposited instead. Edson gives her a link to the IRS's address change site. Prosecutors state they do not believe Tylee was alive at this time.
September 10-16, 2019: Lori reportedly deposited money into Tylee's account, but it was immediately Venmoed to Colby Ryan, Lori's son. Authorities said there were 29 deposits into Tylee's account from Lori's account, where the money was immediately turned around and sent to Ryan.
Sept. 10-12, 2019: Lori and Melani Gibb fly to Kansas City, Missouri. While there, IP addresses show Lori used Tylee's phone. There is no record of Tylee or JJ traveling with them, however, Melani pays for the hotel room.
Mid-September, 2019: Alex Cox's girlfriend at the time, Zulema, said she visited Lori but never saw Tylee. She asked Lori where Tylee was, and Lori allegedly responded, “She had to be freed.” Zulema asked what she meant by that, and Lori lifted her hand to Zulema's face and said, “Don't ask.”
September 18, 2019: The first payment for JJ and Lori's Social Security benefits was deposited. Both payments were $1,951 each.
A woman met Lori to interview as a babysitter for JJ. Lori reportedly told the woman that JJ's dad had a heart attack and died. Lori also said she had a teenage daughter at school in Rexburg, but that her daughter did not like babysitting without pay, so Lori needed to hire a babysitter.
September 19, 2019: The babysitter said she went back to Lori's house after her classes and watched JJ while Lori went to the airport to pick up a friend. She said that day she saw Lori, Alex Cox, and a friend of Lori's. When she left, Lori reportedly paid her in cash.
The babysitter said she attempted to reach out to Lori about babysitting, but Lori informed her that JJ had gone to his grandparents and would be gone for a month. The babysitter said she tried texting her after that, but Lori never responded.
September 20, 2019: Lori moved the final $10.04 from Tylee's personal bank account into her own, emptying it. This was the last day that JJ attended Kennedy Elementary School. Lori searched the Internet for “Kennedy Elementary Rexburg Idaho phone number,” and “define possess.”
September 22, 2019: Melanie Gibb and her boyfriend, David Warwick, visited Lori in Idaho. Lori told Gibb that Tylee was “at BYU-Idaho with her roommates.” It was later revealed that Tylee was never enrolled at BYU-Idaho or any school in Idaho. When Gibb asked Lori where Tylee's belongings were, Lori said they were put in storage.
During the weekend, Gibb and Warwick said they interacted with Chad Daybell several times. Chad and Lori were reportedly romantic. Chad also allegedly told Warwick that Tammy was a good wife, but “her time was coming up.” Chad said he had a dream that Tammy was going to die by the time she was 50.
Lori told Gibb that JJ had an evil spirit in him, which she had reportedly learned from Chad. Lori said JJ's behavior was more difficult, and he would say things like, “I love Satan.” Gibb said during the visit, she did not notice any changes in JJ. Lori told Gibb she was going to ask Kay Woodcock to take care of JJ going forward.
10:30 P M: Melanie Gibb saw Alex Cox taking JJ upstairs but did not see the boy after that.
The last “proof of life” for JJ, is based on a photo of JJ sitting on a couch in Lori's front room.
September 23, 2019: The Rexburg Police Department said, based on their investigation, this is likely the day when JJ was killed.
Gibb stayed in Tylee's room, and Warwick stayed in JJ's room during their visit. According to Gibb, Warwick woke up, sometime after midnight, “very troubled.” Warwick said he had the worst nightmare of his life that night. Melanie went to Lori's room and attempted to go in, but the door was locked, and neither Lori nor Chad responded to her texts.
That morning, Lori allegedly told Warwick that JJ had “an episode” climbing on the cabinets, and fridge, and knocking over a picture of Jesus Christ. Warwick asked if he could give JJ a blessing, but Lori told him that Cox already came to take care of him. Gibb and Warwick left for home. From this point forward, Lori never told Melanie where JJ was.
September 24, 2019: Lori emailed Kennedy Elementary that said JJ was being removed from Kennedy and was going to move to Louisiana to be with his grandparents. The principal reportedly called Lori and informed her that once JJ was enrolled in Louisiana, his records could be sent there. Lori then said they weren't moving him to Louisiana but were actually going to be homeschooling him.
September 30, 2019: Lori searched the Internet for, “How to get the back seat out of my jeep wrangler?” Tylee drove a Jeep Wrangler before she was murdered.
October 1, 2019: Lori rented a 10×10 storage unit from Self Storage Plus in Rexburg, Idaho. Surveillance video obtained by East Idaho News showed Lori and a man visit the unit nine times in October, and once in November. The man, who appeared to be Alex Cox, often visited alone, though he was once seen with a man who appeared to be Chad Daybell. On another visit, Chad and Lori reportedly visited the storage facility together.
October 2, 2019: Brandon Boudreaux, Melani's ex-husband, was returning to his home in Arizona one day when he was shot at by someone, he said. The person was holding a gun with a silencer and shot at him in his car. At that point, Brandon said that only approximately five people knew where he lived, as it was a newer home, and Melani was one of them. Arizona Central reported the shooter was driving a Jeep registered to Charles Vallow, who was dead.
A detective with the Rexburg Police Dept., Ray Hermosillo, contacted Gilbert police about the incident and they asked RPD to conduct surveillance on Lori Daybell's apartment. They observed Chad and Lori but never saw a teenage girl or young boy.
Lori purchased a wedding ring on Amazon, which would later be seen on her finger at her marriage to Chad in Hawaii.
October 9, 2019: Tammy Daybell called 911 and said a masked man shot at her in her driveway with what she believed was a paintball gun. It was later indicated by court documents that Alex Cox attempted to shoot and kill Tammy that day.
October 10, 2019: Joseph Ryan received a payment from his daughter Tylee's Venmo with the message, “We love you.” The RPD reported that the transaction was made using Tylee's phone. And according to authorities the IP address for the transaction was registered to an address in Kansas City, Missouri, where Lori and her niece Melani Pawlowski were at the time.
October 19, 2019: Chad Daybell called 911 around 6 AM to report that he found his wife, Tammy, had died in her sleep. He told them Tammy had been experiencing health problems previous to this.
Detectives visit the Salem home and determined that she died between 12:30 AM and 2 AM
When detectives arrived at the home, they noted pink foam at her mouth. Chief medical examiner, Erik Christensen, said it was a manifestation of pulmonary edema. At the time, they believed this was due to a heart attack, and said her cause of death was natural.
Officials did not perform an autopsy, as they concluded that nothing seemed suspicious, and said they believed Chad's story about her death.
When Melanie Gibb asked Lori about Tammy's death, Lori said, “She had a dark entity in her, and [we] had to do what [we] could to get that spirit out of her.” Lori also told Gibb that Tammy was getting suspicious that Chad was having an affair. Gibb said that was also when Tammy allegedly “turned dark.”
Chad reportedly told several people months before Tammy's death that she would die before her 50 th birthday. When Tammy passed away, Gibb said Lori was very happy to get married to Chad, and never expressed any sadness or sorrow, the same as after her husband Charles Vallow died.
October 22-23, 2019: Tammy Daybell was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Springville, Utah. The family held a memorial service in Rexburg, Idaho, the next day.
Lori searched the Internet for “wedding dresses in Kauai,” and told Zulema that her boyfriend, Alex Chad, was going to move into her apartment. When Zulema told Lori that seemed fast, and that shouldn't there be time for grieving, Lori didn't respond.
October 26, 2019: Chad Daybell visited a couple in his LDS ward, the Gilberts. He told them he met the woman he was going to marry and said she was very beautiful. A few days later Chad brought Lori over to meet them. Alice Gilbert said Chad was very affectionate with her.
“It was abnormal for us to see Chad that way. His arm was around her; he had his arm over her legs. She was giggling and laughing,” Gilbert said. “For my husband and I, we were embarrassed just because we hadn't seen Chad that way. They looked like teenagers.”
Lori told Gilbert that her husband died of a heart attack. Chad told Gilbert that Lori had recently lost a daughter. “I had the impression that Lori had no other children, that she was an empty nester,” Gilbert said. “I thought the daughter who had died was like an older daughter who died of cancer or illness or something.”
November 4, 2019: Tylee's Jeep was seized by the Rexburg Police Department, and was never reported missing.
November 5, 2019: Chad Daybell and Lori got married in Hawaii, before returning to live in Rexburg, Idaho. Police said Chad told witnesses that Lori had no children under 18, and Lori told people Tylee died years earlier.
November 7, 2019: Zulema and Alex Cox got engaged during a trip to Rexburg. JJ and Tylee were not in Rexburg during this trip. Zulema said she originally didn't know where they were but got photos from them in Hawaii.
During a layover in Phoenix on Lori and Chad's way back to Idaho, Lori told Zulema that JJ was with Kay Woodcock.
November 8, 2019: Chad sends an email to Julie Black at Kauai Dreams Realty inquiring about a property for lease. In the email, he notes that he and Lori are a “clean couple” with “no pets and no children.”
Mid-November, 2019: Chad and Lori visited the Gilberts after they got married. Gilbert said she knew Lori's kids were missing at this point. She confronted Chad about the fact that he said Lori's daughter had died, and he denied that he ever said that. Gilbert asked Chad, “Didn't Tylee deserve a life? A car? A boyfriend?” Chad then reportedly responded, “She didn't like people, and she didn't like me.”
November 18, 2019: At 4:30 AM Kay Woodcock said she got a feeling that she should check her computer; she saw Charles' Gmail account and since he gave her the password before he died, she logged in. Kay said she noticed a confirmation email of an Amazon order sent to an address in Rexburg. She contacted a private investigator, and searched the browsing history of the Amazon account and saw searches for a beach wedding dress, a bathing suit, a men's large white linen top and pants, and malachite wedding rings; the order was placed on October 2 nd , prior to Tammy's death on October 19 th .
November 24, 2019: Alex Cox was given a “patriarchal blessing” by Chad Daybell, given by the power of the “Church of the Firstborn.” In the blessing, Chad said Cox is to be a missionary and is going to open the portals of time. Chad said in previous creations, Cox was a valiant warrior fighting for truth and righteousness always seeking to do what was right. Chad said Cox was chosen and was right by his sister (Lori) always.
November 26, 2019: The Rexburg Police Department conducted a welfare check on JJ after the Woodcocks requested it, stating they had not spoken to him in months. When they arrived, JJ was not at home, they observed Chad Daybell and Alex Cox unloading a pickup.
Detective Hermosillo asked Cox if Lori was home, and he said no. Hermosillo said he was there to do a welfare check on JJ, and that Cox looked “scared,” and turned to Chad. Chad did not say anything. Hermosillo asked Cox where JJ was, and he said he was in Louisiana, which Hermosillo said was impossible.
Hermosillo asked for Lori's phone number, and Cox said he did not have it. He and another detective knocked on Lori's door, but nobody answered. Hermosillo said he saw Chad leaving in his car and stopped him. He asked Chad when the last time he saw JJ was. Chad said he last saw JJ in October in apartment 107 with Lori Vallow.
Hermosillo asked how Chad Daybell knew Lori, and he said he hardly knew her, and that they had only met a couple of times. After several requests for Lori's phone number from Chad, he was finally able to obtain it. Chad said he didn't originally provide it because he thought Hermosillo was accusing him of something. Hermosillo called in an additional detective and went to get a warrant.
Police did not get a warrant because Lori finally returned their call, and agreed to open the door to the two detectives. Lori then allegedly told them JJ was with her friend Melanie Gibb in Arizona watching Frozen 2. Gibb said she originally did not answer the police because she didn't know what to do. But she later told officers that JJ was never with her and that Lori told her to lie about his whereabouts and take photos of random children at the movie theater to show them.
November 27, 2019: The Rexburg Police Department served a search warrant, but when they arrived Chad and Lori were gone. They searched their apartment and found that almost everything had been taken, and it was nearly empty.
In her garage, there was a ghillie (camouflage) suit, lots of ammunition, a rifle, a handgun, rope and duct tape, and several silencers. They also discovered emails from Chad Daybell and books written by Chad. They also searched Alex Cox's apartment and Melani's apartment and found “Hazmat-looking white suits,” and a rental agreement for a storage unit in Rexburg.
Officers with the RPD said they tried to get a hold of Lori and Chad, but their phones were shut off.
November 29, 2019: Alex Cox and Zulema Pastenas got married in Las Vegas, Nevada.
December 1, 2019: Chad and Lori flew to Lihue, Hawaii, the children were not with them.
December 6, 2019: Melanie Gibb contacted the Rexburg Police Department and told them Chad and Lori called her on November 26 and asked her to lie about JJ's location.
December 11: Tammy Daybell's death is “suspicious,” the Fremont County Sheriff's Office determined, so her body was exhumed an autopsy was performed. According to a Utah medical examiner, Tammy Daybell died “at the hands of another and died of asphyxiation.”
They also said there were bruises on Tammy's arms that happened in the hours around the time of her death, a coroner said. “They are consistent with someone being restrained and would be consistent with asphyxia being cause of death as well,” a coroner said.
Alex Cox was on the phone with Chad and Lori, when they told Cox that Tammy's body was being exhumed. Zulema said she was confused, as she died of natural causes.
He told Zulema where to find money if he died. Cox also allegedly told Zulema, “I think I'm being their fall guy,” and when questioned about it, Cox wouldn't say much.
December 12, 2019: Alex Cox passed away, reportedly from “natural causes.”
December 20, 2019: The Rexburg Police Department announced that JJ and Tylee are missing. They said their disappearance was possibly linked to the suspicious death of Tammy Daybell.
December 21, 2019: The Rexburg Police Department stated that Chad and Lori were “persons of interest.”
December 30, 2019: Melanie Gibb told officers of a conversation she had with Lori after the kids were reported missing. When Gibb asked Lori where JJ was, Lori responded, “I know exactly where he is.” Later a statement was released by the Rexburg Police Department stating they have information indicating Lori either knows the location of the children or knows what happened to them. They said the parents' lack of cooperation was “astounding.”
January 3, 2020: A search warrant was served on Chad's home in Salem, Idaho. Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said investigators recovered 43 items, including cell phones, journals, computers, and medications. They were sent to an FBI lab for further analysis.
January 7, 2020: The Woodcocks traveled to Rexburg from Louisiana, and announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the Tylee and JJ.
January 10, 2020: Matt Daybell, Chad's brother, pleaded for him to cooperate with the investigation. He said his immediate family had little association with Chad due to concerns relating to his religious claims and books.
January 25, 2020: The Kauai (Hawaii) Police Department served Lori with a notice stating she must produce JJ and Tylee to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, or the Rexburg Police Department within five days.
January 26, 2020: Nate Eaton, with the East Idaho News, confronted Chad and Lori in Hawaii. When asked where their children were, and what happened to them, they refused to answer.
January 30, 2020: Lori missed the 5 PM deadline to produce JJ and Tylee. Kay Woodcock held a news conference expressing her disappointment.
February 20, 2020: Police in Kauai arrested Lori on a $5 million dollar warrant from Madison County, Idaho. She was charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She was also charged with resisting officers, criminal solicitation, and contempt of court.
February 26, 2020: Lori waived her extradition to Idaho after six days in jail in Hawaii. This means Lori wanted to go back to Idaho where she was charged. This came after multiple failed attempts to reduce bail.
March 5, 2020: Lori was extradited from Hawaii to Rexburg, Idaho.
March 6, 2020: Lori made her first court appearance in Rexburg. Judge Faren Eddins reduced her bail to $1 million, but she was still unable to post bond and remained in jail.
April 9, 2020: Idaho Attorney General's Office told East Idaho News that Chad and Lori were under investigation for conspiracy, attempted murder, and/or murder.
May 8, 2020: Alex Cox's autopsy results were released. It said he died of natural causes; blood clots in the lungs.
June 9, 2020: At 7 AM, a search warrant was served at Chad's home by the Rexburg Police Department, FBI, and Fremont County Sheriff's Office. Within hours, the remains of JJ and Tylee were discovered buried on the property.
Tylee's remains were found at the pet cemetery near the firepit. JJ's remains were found near the pond on Chad's property.
Chad Daybell called Lori and told her officers were searching the property. Lori asked if they seized anything, to which Chad replied, “No, they're searching.” They soon after ended the call, and Chad told Lori to call her attorney at the time, Mark Means.
9:50 AM – 10 AM: Chad transferred $24,000 from his Mountain America bank account to three of his kids in $8,000 deposits. Approximately $4,400 was left in the account.
11:30 AM : At this point, officers were told Chad was leaving his daughter's house across the street “at a high rate of speed” despite being told he needed to remain or leave accompanied due to safety concerns.
Chad was taken into custody and booked into Fremont County Jail on charges of concealment, distribution, or alteration of evidence.
June 10, 2020: Chad made his first court appearance via video from the jail. His bail was set at $1 million.
June 29, 2020: Prosecutors filed charges against Lori, including two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.
July 2, 2020: Prosecutors dismissed charges of desertion and nonsupport of children against Lori.
July 15, 2020: Lori pled not guilty to misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court.
August 21, 2020: Chad appeared for his District Court arraignment before District Judge Steven Boyce and pled not guilty to his charges.
August 27, 2020: Chad's attorney, John Prior, asked Boyce to dismiss the case against Chad. It was denied.
September 1, 2020: Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood filed a motion to combine the cases of Chad and Lori. It was decided in March 2023 that they would have separate cases as Lori did not waive her right to a speedy trial.
September 10, 2020: Lori appeared for her District Court arraignment, and pled not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.
May 24, 2021: A grand jury indicted Chad and Lori on several new felony charges including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
June 8, 2021: Lori was committed to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare where a psychologist deemed her not fit for trial.
June 9, 2021: Chad pleaded not guilty to all charges in the indictment. His children attended this meeting.
June 24, 2021: A grand jury in Arizona indicted Lori for conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. The Arizona proceedings are on hold while she faces her charges in Idaho.
July 29, 2021: Prosecutors dropped the destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence charges against Chad and Lori.
August 5, 2021: Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Chad stating, “the nature and magnitude of these crimes warrant the possibility of the highest possible punishment.”
October 5, 2021: The Daybell trial was moved from Fremont County to Ada County, Idaho.
December 28, 2021: Judge Boyce ordered that Mark Means, Lori's attorney, can no longer represent her. He cited a conflict of interest in representing both Daybells as well as concerns about his legal competency.
March 21, 2022: John Prior, Chad's attorney, requested to sever Chad's case from Lori's, but it was denied. However, it was later separated due to Lori not waiving her right to a speedy trial.
April 11, 2022: Judge Boyce issued a written order that Lori was now competent for trial, and so they proceeded. She was ordered to be released from the Health and Welfare facility, and her arraignment was set for April 19.
April 19, 2022: Lori attended her arraignment, she did not speak, and her attorney Jim Archibald pled not guilty on her behalf.
May 2, 2022: Prosecutors announced they would pursue the death penalty against Lori. It was later ruled off the table by Judge Boyce.
May 26, 2022: Judge Boyce announced the trials would be held together in January 2023, this was later decided against due to new evidence, and Lori did not waive her right to a speedy trial.
August, 2022: Lori appeared in court, and photos were taken of her smiling and wearing a band on her ring finger. A few weeks later, Lori's attorneys filed a motion asking that cameras be banned from the courtroom. Judge Boyce granted the motion, and cameras were banned from future court hearings and the trial.
October 6, 2022: Lori's case was put on hold due to competency issues. A month later Lori was found competent for trial, but it was postponed to April 3, 2023.
March 2: District Judge Steven Boyce ruled that Lori and Chad's cases would be separated after new evidence was submitted. Lori would appear at trial on April 3. Judge Boyce granted a motion to take the death penalty off the table. The Judge said the main reason was due to a large amount of evidence that her team does not have time to go through before trial.
April 3-7: Jury selection for Lori Vallow's murder trial. Her jury was finalized. To read about the jury selection and the questions prosecutors and defenders asked potential jurors, click here.
April 10: Opening arguments in Lori's murder trial were given. Prosecutors said Lori Vallow used money, power, and sex to get what she wanted. Whereas Lori's attorneys painted a picture of her as a caring mother with strong religious beliefs.
April 11: A Rexburg police detective took the stand. Jurors were shown graphic photos of the dead children, to the point that Vallow's attorney requested she leaves for her own mental health. Boyce rejected the request, saying her presence in the courtroom was needed to ensure a fair trial for all involved.
April 12: Day 8 of Lori Vallow's murder trial ended abruptly due to a death in the prosecution's family. Before it ended, the Rexburg police detective was cross-examined by John Thomas, and a phone call between Lori and Chad was played for the jurors.
April 13: On day 9 of Lori Vallow's murder trial, Lori's best friend Melanie Gibb took the stand. She talked of possession and castings, and the first time Lori met Chad. A detective played the court a patriarchal blessing given to Alex Cox by Chad, and a phone call Chad made to a mortuary right after Charles's death. They also talked about Charles' confronting Lori about her affair.
April 14: Day 10 of Lori Vallow's murder trial included information that Lori found out after Charles' death that she was not his beneficiary, and testimony from Cox's wife, Lori's sister-in-law, Charles's 'possession.'
April 18: Lori's murder trial continued with day 11 after a brief break for events for the death in the prosecution's family. On day 11, Lori's sister-in-law testified that Cox wouldn't make decisions without Lori and Chad, and a heartbreaking conversation between Lori and her son Colby Ryan is played for the court. Several witnesses reviewed Lori's use of money, including suspicious activity.
April 19: Officials continue their review of Lori, Chad, and Cox's money usage, as well as more information on the Social Security benefits of Tylee and JJ. The court also interviewed several detectives involved in reviewing Charles' death, including some testimony on discrepancies in information given to them about Charles' death.
April 20: The court reviewed the day Charles died, how Lori allegedly stopped responding to JJ's babysitter, and that Tylee and JJ were not in school, as well as jarring new details of the weekend JJ allegedly died.
April 24: Audio is released of the first time Lori lied to officers about JJ's location during a wellness check.
April 25: Lori's sister Summer Shiflet testified, and a phone call is played between Lori and Shiflet after JJ and Tylee's remains were discovered. “You threw them away like garbage,” Shiflet said in the call.
April 26: JJ and Tylee's cause of death is revealed by a forensic pathologist.
April 27: It was revealed that Lori's DNA, and Cox's prints were found at the crime scene.
April 28: The court discussed pink foam found in Tammy's mouth when she died.
May 1: More discussion on Tammy's cause of death, all included in this timeline.
May 2: A podcast that Lori is a guest in is discussed. The podcast reportedly shows that Tammy was a good mother, as it discussed her taking care of the children and taking them away from an abusive father.
May 3: The court discussed the day that someone tried to shoot Tammy, including the search history of Cox. He reportedly searched several AR-15-related searches leading up to it.
May 4: It would have been Tammy's 53 birthday if she was still alive. More on Tammy's insurance being changed before she died.
May 5: The court reviewed several text messages between Chad and Lori, as well as Lori and others relating to the case. More of the same romantic messages between Chad and Lori.
May 6: More romantic text messages between Lori and Chad are revealed.
May 8: Additional text messages from Lori, Alex, and Chad are revealed, including text messages about eliminating zombies, and romantic texts between Lori and Chad.
May 9: The prosecution announced that they have concluded their arguments and the defense followed suit. Concluding arguments started May 11.
May 12: A 12-member jury unanimously finds Lori Vallow Daybell guilty on all charges. The jury deliberated for seven hours. Lori was found guilty of murdering and conspiring to murder her son 7-year-old Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and her daughter 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell. Tammy, 49, was married to Lori's fifth husband Chad Daybell for nearly 30 years before her death. Additionally, Lori was found guilty of grand theft.
July 31: Lori Vallow Daybell is sentenced to five life sentences in prison, only three of which will run consecutively. Judge Steven Boyce denied her any chance of parole. Victims spoke at the sentencing that you can read about here. Lori also gave her own statement, in which she quoted scripture and spoke about her dead children as if they approved of her.
October 6: Lori Vallow Daybell filed an appeal, citing, in part, statements by defense experts claiming she was not competent to stand trial and should return to the mental hospital where she had previously spent 10 months before the trial.
December 7: Lori Vallow Daybell made an initial court appearance in Arizona and pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The charges in Arizona are in connection to the deaths of her estranged husband and her niece's ex-husband. The charges had been on hold until the conclusion of the Idaho trial.
April 1: The jury was selected for Chad Daybell's trial. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection to the deaths of his wife Tammy, and Lori's children JJ and Tylee, according to the Associated Press.
May 29: Jury deliberations began in the triple murder trial of Chad Daybell, a case Idaho prosecutors claim was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.
June 1: Chad Daybell was sentenced to death upon the recommendation of the jury that convicted him of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.
Daybell was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and two of his second wife's children — 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow — in a case that was fueled by power, sex, money and apocalyptic spiritual beliefs.
District Judge Steven Boyce formally imposed the death sentence after a jury, in a lengthy verdict form read in court earlier, said it found that penalty was appropriate under the law. The judge also imposed a 15-year prison sentence for insurance fraud charges.
Daybell had a blank expression as Boyce sentenced him to death. The judge said jurors had “found beyond a reasonable doubt...that the aggravating circumstances when weighed against the mitigating circumstances do not make the imposition of the death penalty unjust.”
The sequestered jury began deliberating his fate Friday afternoon and mulled the case for six hours before ending for the night. Jurors continued deliberations Saturday about 8:30 AM MT, and at 10:45 AM the Ada County courts announced the verdict had been reached.
June 5: Chad Daybell's attorney filed an appeal asking the Idaho Supreme Court to examine his case, verdict and death sentence.
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