Lori Vallow Daybell trial update: Jury selection crippled by overwhelming notoriety of the case

More than three years after her children were last seen alive, ‘doomsday cult mom’ Lori Vallow is set to finally stand trial for their murders.

Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 8, disappeared without a trace in September 2019, sparking a search across several states while their mother appeared carefree – marrying her new husband Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii .

The children’s bodies were eventually discovered nine months later buried in a pet cemetery on Mr Daybell’s property in Idaho.

The IndependentRachel Sharp has more:

JJ and Tylee were last seen in September 2019, weeks after the family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, following the shooting death of Ms Vallow’s husband, Charles Vallow, by his brother during an alleged domestic dispute – for which she also faces conspiracy to murder charges in Arizona.

Ms Vallow is believed to have grown close to Mr Daybell, an alleged cult leader whom she married in November that year.

Although the children were never reported missing by their mother, police began investigating their whereabouts in late November 2019 after a family member raised concerns.

JJ and Tylee were eventually found buried on Mr. Daybell’s property in Salem, Idaho in June 2020. They are believed to have been killed within days of their disappearance.

‘Cult mum’ Lori Vallow is trying to get her slain son’s grandparents banned from his murder trial, in a move that family members say has left them ‘blindsided and heartbroken’.

Ms. Vallow’s trial is set to begin Monday in an Idaho court, where she faces life in prison for the murders of her two children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven.

Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019 and their remains were found buried on the grounds of her new husband, doomsday cult author Chad Daybell’s estate in Rexburg, Idaho in June 2020.

Mrs. Vallow is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy and grand larceny in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee and is also charged with conspiracy to murder Mr. Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.

Now – after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Ms Vallow’s admission to a mental institution for almost a year – jury selection is due to begin on Monday at her trial.

However, JJ’s grandparents Kay and Larry Woodcock may no longer be able to attend the approximately 12-week trial due to a motion by Ms Vallow’s defense attorneys to bar them from the courtroom.

The IndependentRachel Sharp has the full story:

The Netflix Documentary Our mother’s sins dives deep into the bizarre series of murders surrounding the couple and their extreme religious beliefs at the end of the world.

In the three-part series, people close to the case recount how Mrs Vallow met her doomsday preacher husband and how they allegedly planned to kill the children after they were convinced the miners were zombies whose “dark spirits” were to be set free by death.

So far, 39 jurors have been selected. Three panels of jurors were questioned during a voir dire on Wednesday.

Forty-two jurors will be selected. The number will then be reduced to 18 – 12 who will make up the jury and 6 alternates.

Jury selection is expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. MDT.

Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell were charged with the murders of Tylee and JJ in May 2021 – almost a year after their bodies were discovered.

They are each charged with first degree murder, conspiracy and grand larceny in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee, and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in Tammy’s death.

Mr. Daybell is also charged with the first degree murder of Tammy.

The couple are also charged with related financial crimes, with Ms Vallow facing grand theft and account insurance fraud for applying for Social Security benefits for Tylee and JJ after their deaths.

Prosecutors say the couple conspired with Cox to kill Mr Daybell’s children and wife both as part of their doomsday beliefs – but also to collect life insurance money and security benefits social and child survivorship.

“All of these overt acts were done so that Lori could eventually be with Chad Daybell and complete their mission here on earth,” according to an investigative report.

“This belief system, lust and greed would also lead to the deaths of Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell.”

In Arizona, Ms Vallow is also charged with conspiracy to murder her ex-husband Charles Vallow along with Cox.

The Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office said it was also not charging Mr Daybell with Charles’ murder – only because there was ‘no reasonable prospect of conviction’.

Chad Daybell, the husband of self-styled ‘cult mom’ Lori Vallow asked last year to face his own trial for the murder of his two children, rather than with his wife.

In a filing with Idaho Judge Steven Boyce in September, Mr. Daybell’s defense asked that his trial be held separately from Ms. Vallow’s and be moved to October 2023, Eastern Idaho News reported.

Mr Daybell, 54, and Ms Vallow, 49, are charged with conspiring to kill his two youngest children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven, and his first wife Tammy .

Who will take the stand to testify in the high-profile case remains unclear after the witness list was sealed by the judge last month.

Judge Steven Boyce issued the ruling “in order to preserve the right to a fair trial,” the court order reads.

JJ’s grandparents are expected to be called as witnesses – hence the legal wrangling between them and Lori Vallow’s team over whether or not they can attend the trial.

Ms Vallow has been behind bars since January 2020, when she was arrested in Hawaii and extradited to Idaho for failing to comply with a court order to present her children to authorities.

Mr Daybell has been in jail since the children’s remains were discovered in June 2020.

The case was largely put on hold when Ms Vallow was found mentally incapable to stand trial. She then spent nearly a year in a mental health facility before being found competent in May 2022 and the case went to court.

So far, the pair have yet to return and plead not guilty.

However, all of that could be about to change.

In March, an Idaho judge ruled that Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell would stand trial separately for the murders – prompting Mr Daybell’s case to be pushed back to an unconfirmed date as jury selection begins on April 3 in connection with Ms Vallow’s trial.

The death penalty has now been taken off the table for Ms Vallow but not for Mr Daybell.

If found guilty, Ms. Vallow faces life in prison.

The juror reportedly said he ‘couldn’t get away from her’, prompting laughter in the courtroom, including Ms Vallow, according to FOX10.