Month: August 2023

Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering her two children, as well as conspiring to murder her husband’s first wife in a plot that stemmed from the ‘doomsday’ prophesies she believed. Daybell was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, whose remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to her husband, Chad Daybell, following a months-long search. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her children and her husband’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died on Oct. 19, 2019, less than a month before Lori and Chad married in Hawaii.

Judge Steven Boyce gave the 50-year-old Vallow consecutive sentences of life without parole months after the Idaho mom’s May conviction for the deaths other children, as well as 49-year-old Tammy Daybell. The judge had previously granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the death penalty in the case. Vallow was also convicted of grand theft by deception in the case for collecting government payments after the murders of her children, receiving a 10-year sentence for that conviction.

Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are members of an offshoot sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chad Daybell is the author of more than a dozen apocalyptic-themed novels, which have been described as religiously extreme. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the two belonged to a Christian fundamentalist “doomsday cult” in which they expressed beliefs that dark spirits can possess bodies and should be cast out and that Vallow believed she would help bring about “the end of days.” Chad Daybell, 54, is charged in connection with the deaths of Tylee, J.J. and Tammy, but will be tried separately. He has pleaded not guilty.

Vallow Daybell also faces separate charges in the July 2019 death of her husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot by her brother Alex Cox. Cox claimed he shot Vallow in self-defense and was not charged in the shooting; he died in December 2019. Vallow Daybell has been charged in Arizona with conspiracy to commit murder in his death. She has also been charged in Arizona for conspiracy for the 2019 attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux, who was married to Vallow Daybell’s niece.

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A Georgia judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to quash an investigation by a special grand jury into his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, and to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from further involvement in the case.

In a nine-page order on Monday, Judge Robert McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court turned aside a request by Trump’s lawyers to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from any further involvement in the case. Trump’s motion was joined by Cathleen Latham, one of the “alternate” electors in Georgia who claimed Trump won the state in 2020.

The former president’s attorneys had argued that Willis’ actions are politically motivated and that a report produced by a special grand jury she impaneled is unconstitutional.  McBurney, however, disagreed in his ruling: “Having reviewed the pleadings, the court now finds that neither Trump nor Latham enjoys standing to mount a challenge — at this pre-indictment phase of the proceedings — to the continued investigation into and potential prosecution of possible criminal interference in the 2020 general election in Georgia. [W]hile being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.”  McBurney also said Willis has done nothing to warrant her recusal from the case: “[T]he District Attorney’s Office has been doing a fairly routine — and legally unobjectionable — job of public relations in case that is anything but routine. None of what movants cite rises to the level of justifying disqualification.”

The special grand jury was convened in May 2022 to investigate alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in the state, which Joe Biden won. Willis has spent months probing claims that Trump meddled in the state’s voting process during the 2020 presidential election.  A new grand jury was convened in July to consider potential charges in the case. Willis, the district attorney, said over the weekend that a decision on charges would come soon.

Editoria credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com