‘Doomsday Mom’ Lori Vallow to be sent to Arizona to face murder conspiracy charges

BOISE, ID (3TV/CBS 5/AP) — Lori Vallow, the mother serving a life sentence in an Idaho prison for murdering her two youngest children, will soon return to Arizona to face similar charges. On Wednesday, an extradition warrant signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little was delivered to other state officials, allowing Arizona officials to temporarily take custody of Vallow so she can face charges of conspiring to kill her estranged husband as well as her niece’s ex-husband. Gov. Katie Hobbs made the request in August. No word on when Vallow will be sent to Maricopa County.

Vallow was indicted in two separate cases, one in Chandler and the other in Gilbert. Prosecutors say she conspired with her brother, Alex Cox, to murder her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. Lori Vallow still lived in Chandler with her children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and then-16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She was estranged from Charles Vallow at the time, and he had written in divorce filings that she claimed to be a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse. Investigators said Lori Vallow wanted her husband dead so she could marry Chad Daybell and get $1 million in life insurance money.

She’s also accused of scheming to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, in October 2019. Boudreaux had recently divorced Lori Vallow’s niece. Gilbert police say Cox was driving his Jeep when he shot at Boudreaux but missed. Boudreaux is still alive. Cox died a month later of natural causes. Lori Vallow hasn’t entered a plea on the Arizona charges.

Shortly after Charles Vallow died, Lori Vallow and her kids moved to Idaho. Prosecutors said she made the move to be closer to her then-boyfriend, Chad Daybell, and that together, the two plotted to remove any obstacle to their happiness. Chad Daybell has also been charged in the murders of the two kids and his late wife. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Over the next several weeks, Lori Vallow’s two children disappeared and Chad Daybell’s then-wife, Tammy Daybell, died of what was initially believed to be natural causes. But authorities became suspicious when Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell married just two weeks later, later determining Tammy Daybell had been asphyxiated.

Extended family members had also grown worried about the missing kids, and police launched a multi-state investigation looking for the children. Their bodies were later found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard. Lori Vallow was found guilty in May of murdering Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell. On July 31, she was sentenced to life in prison and transferred to the Idaho Department of Corrections to serve her punishment. Lori Vallow has appealed that punishment.

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