AnIdaho mother has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival, in a bizarre case where she claimedher son and daughter were zombies andshe was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Key points:
- Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to three life sentences without parole on Monday
- The Idaho woman killed her son and daughter and husband's ex-wife
- The court heard she was influenced by her husband's religious doomsday beliefs
Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to three life sentences without parole on Monday for killing seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill her fifth husband's previous wife, Tammy Daybell.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of murder and herhusbandChad Daybellis awaiting trial on the same charges.
Judge Steven W Boyce said he would never be able to get the images of the slain children out of his head.
A parent killing their own children "is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine," Mr Boyce said.
Vallow Daybell justified the murders by "going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly, you are still down there," the judge said.
"I don't think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused," he said.
Vallow Daybell had been datingself-published writer of doomsday-focused fictionChad Daybellwhen her two children were last seen alive in September 2019.
Police discoveredthe childrenmissing in October 2019 after an extended family member became worried.
Their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell's yard the following summer.
During the trial, experts said Tylee appeared to have been stabbed and her body burned before it was buried in a pet cemetery.
JJ's head was wrapped in tape and plastic, asphyxiating him,prosecuting attorney Rob Wood said.
The court heard Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in November 2019, about two weeks after Mr Daybell's previous wife, Tammy, was killed.
Tammy Daybell initially was described as having died of natural causes, but an autopsy later showed she had been asphyxiated, authorities said.
The court heard Tammy Daybell's body was also found bruised, suggesting she fought back as she was asphyxiated in her bed.
Vallow Daybell a 'sexual goddess' who could save the world
Defence attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trialthere was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings.
He saidshe was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met MrDaybell and fell for his "weird" apocalyptic religious claims.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives.
He told Vallow Daybellshe was a "sexual goddess" who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Mr Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell's former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had beentaken over by evil spirits and turned into "zombies", including JJ and Tylee.
'I've lost the opportunity to share life with the people I love the most'
The courtheard testimony from several victims, including Vallow Daybell's only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
"Tylee will never have the opportunity to become a mother, wife or have the career she was destined to have. JJ will never be able to grow and spread his light with the world the way he did," Mr Ryan wrote in a statement read by Mr Wood.
"My siblings and father deserve so much more than this. I want them to be remembered for who they were, not just a spectacle."
The murder scheme and Tammy Daybell's death left a deep rift in her family, Tammy's sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court.
"Why? Why plan something so heinous? You are not exalted beings, and your behaviour makes you ineligible to be one," Ms Gwilliam said, referring to the unusual religious claims.
"I miss my sister every day. I will grieve her, and the loss of my mother, every single day of my life.
"As for you, I choose to forget you and as I leave the courtroom here today, I choose to never think of you again."
'Accidental deaths happen':killer
Mr Boyce also heard from Vallow Daybell before handing down hersentence.
She quoted Bible verses about how people should not judge each other.
She said she too mourned the deaths of her children and Tammy Daybell but knew they would be together in the afterlife.
She claimed she is regularly visited by the spirits of her dead children, as well as the spirit of her "eternal friend"Tammy Daybell.
"Jesus Christ knows that no-one was murdered in this case," she said.
"Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medication happen."
Vallow Daybellalsofaces two further cases in Arizona for conspiring to kill herfourth husbandCharles Vallow with her brother, and conspiring to kill her niece's ex-husband.
Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece's ex survived an attempt later that year.
Vallow Daybell was committed multiple times for treatment to make her mentally competent for the court proceedings.
AP
