Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of murder in deaths of two kids, husband’s first wife

As reported by the New York Post, the verdict was read in the Idaho courtroom after the jury deliberated for just seven hours.

She was also found guilty of multiple counts of grand theft by deception and grand theft.

Before her fate was handed down, Vallow Daybell smiled while chatting with her lawyer.

As the verdict was read, she appeared expressionless while her lawyers hung their heads.

During the emotional six-week trial, prosecutors painted the 49-year-old as a wannabe cultist driven by “money, power and sex” to kill her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and son Joshua “JJ” Vallow in September 2019.

The children’s remains were unearthed in the backyard of Vallow Daybell’s fifth husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell, in June 2020.

Vallow Daybell was also accused of plotting with Chad to kill his first wife, Tammy Daybell, who died at their Salem home on October 19, 2019.

Within days of Tammy’s funeral, the couple decamped to Hawaii, where they were married and lived for several weeks before authorities tracked them down in January.

Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors that Vallow Daybell repeatedly lied about her children’s whereabouts even after she missed a court-appointed deadline to produce them safely.

The court was also forced to endure graphic images of the children’s remains.

Vallow Daybell, Wood argued, killed the children so that she and Chad could start a new, unrestricted life together.

Text messages read in court revealed how the couple planned to “cause pain” to Tylee and JJ, as well as Vallow Daybell’s older son.

Her defence lawyer Jim Archibald, however, countered that Chad manipulated Vallow Daybell with his apocalyptic teachings.

“She wanted to be with Chad. They were obviously having an affair … But there was no plan by Lori to kill her kids,” Mr Archibald told the court.

Because of new evidence that was discovered too late to be presented at trial, Vallow Daybell is not facing the death penalty in the case.

Daybell will be tried on similar charges at a later date.

The defence requested the judge poll the jury individually, and all 12 individuals reaffirmed the convictions.

Following the verdict reading, the judge explained that Vallow Daybell would be remanded to custody as she awaits sentencing, though no date has been set for the hearing.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission