LORI Vallow, accused of murdering her two young children, will not face the death penalty if she is convicted.
A judge ruled on Tuesday that Vallow will not be served a death sentence if she is found guilty at the end of the trial, due to begin on April 13.
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This came as the prosecution motioned for the death penalty, claiming these murders were “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” and Vallow “exhibited utter disregard for human life”.
But the defendant’s defense team countered by filing a motion to dismiss because of the heavy media coverage the case has garnered.
They argued it could ultimately prejudice a jury’s ruling.
Vallow’s husband Chad Daybell is also accused of killing his first wife, Tammy Daybell.
Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce agreed at the hearing that the death penalty is still on the table for Daybell’s case.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges.
This comes after the bodies of Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, were then found at Chad’s Idaho home.
Who are Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell?
Lori and Chad are an Idaho couple who have been accused of murder.
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Tylee and JJ reportedly vanished in September 2019 and the 49-year-old hairdresser was then arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 after failing to produce proof of life for her missing kids to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office in January.
The couple never reported them missing and jetted off to Hawaii soon after investigators questioned them about the children.
Lori’s family members have accused her of being part of a “doomsday cult” with her husband.
She’s also been connected to the mysterious deaths of three people, including her brother.
Where are they now?
Both Lori and Chad are incarcerated awaiting trial, which will reportedly take place in April 2023.
MORE FROM THE LORI VALLOW CASE
Lori and her husband are both charged with first-degree murder of her children.
Chad is also charged with the murder of his former wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, who died under “suspicious circumstances” in 2019.
He has since pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is being held without bail while he awaits trial.
In September 2021, a judge ruled that Lori was still not competent to stand trial and will spend another 180 days in a state mental facility.
On October 8, 2022, Lori Vallow’s case was suspended. A judge ruled that it would resume once her competency could be determined.
What happened to Lori’s children Tylee and JJ?
JJ and Tylee disappeared in September 2019 but weren’t reported missing until months later.
JJ was enrolled at Kennedy Elementary School on Sept. 3, 2019, but was “unenrolled” nearly three weeks later after Vallow claimed she was homeschooling him.
Tylee was last seen in Yellowstone Park on September 8 on a family trip with her mom and uncle Alex Cox.
Lori had initially told cops her children were staying with a family friend in Arizona when police conducted a welfare check at the family home in Rexburg on November 26.
Detectives later determined she lied and discovered that Daybell and Vallow “abruptly vacated their home” when police returned to question them the next day.
The couple reportedly told people Tylee was dead and claimed she had no other younger children, despite having an older son Colby.
In February, unearthed surveillance footage appeared to show Lori dumping children’s items at a storage facility the year prior, around the time she and Daybell fled to Hawaii.
Authorities in Idaho say there’s no sign that Joshua and Tylee Ryan ever made it to Hawaii.
The “charred remains” of Lori’s children were then found wrapped in plastic bags buried in a pet cemetery on her husband Chad’s property, a court has heard.
Investigators made the grisly discovery at Chad’s home on June 9, 2020.
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How many times has Lori been married?
Lori has been married at least five times over the years.
Her first marriage to an unknown man in 1992 ended in divorce, and she later went on to marry Williams Lagioia, the biological father of Colby, in 1995.
In 2001, Vallow married her third husband Joseph Ryan, Tylee’s biological father.
The pair were together for three years before divorcing in 2004, and KSAZ reported Joseph died of an apparent heart attack in 2018.
Lori then married Charles Vallow in 2006, and the couple adopted JJ at suggestions of Charles’ sister Kay Woodcock, who had been caring for the boy at the time.
Dateline reported the family lived in Hawaii for a few years before returning to Arizona in June 2018 – within a year, Charles filed for divorce.
Vallow married her fifth and most recent husband Chad in November 2019, weeks after her kids disappeared.
Who is Alex Cox and how did he die?
Alex Cox is Lori’s brother who died from a pulmonary blood clot in December 2019, in Arizona, according to his toxicology report.
Alex fatally shot his sister’s estranged husband Charles Vallow last July in what he claimed was self-defense and even shot her third husband with a stun gun in 2007.
Lori’s brother ultimately pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault against Tylee’s dad.
