Lori Daybell Shackled with Two More Life Sentences as Arizona Closes Final Chapter on ‘Doomsday Mom’
PHOENIX — “Eventually the camera that you seek out will lessen, and you will fade into obscurity.” With those damning words, Arizona Judge Justin Beresky extinguished Lori Daybell’s last flicker of freedom on Friday, condemning her to die behind bars for orchestrating two murder plots that fed her apocalyptic fantasies and financial greed.
The so-called “Doomsday Mom,” already imprisoned for life in Idaho for slaughtering her two youngest children, received two consecutive life sentences for conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux. The sentences ensure the 52-year-old will never walk free again.
⚖️ Crimes and Conspiracies: The Arizona Murders
Charles Vallow’s Execution (July 2019)
Charles was shot point-blank by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, while picking up his son at Lori’s Phoenix-area home. Cox claimed self-defense, alleging Charles threatened him with a baseball bat. Yet investigators proved Lori and Cox waited 43 minutes to call 911, during which Lori drove Charles’ rental car across town.
Motive: Lori sought Charles’ $1 million life insurance policy to fund a new life with Chad Daybell, her apocalyptic novelist boyfriend. Texts revealed her chilling instruction to Cox days earlier: “It’s all coming to a head this week. I will be like Nephi!” — a biblical reference to justified killing
Brandon Boudreaux’s Near-Death (October 2019)
Three months later, a sniper shot at Boudreaux from a Jeep as he parked at his Gilbert, Arizona, home. The bullet missed his head by inches. Prosecutors tied the Jeep to Lori, who loaned it to Cox. The pair bought a burner phone to coordinate the hit and faked an alibi placing Cox in Idaho.
Motive: Boudreaux suspected Lori killed Charles. “He feared Cox would return to finish the job,” said prosecutor Treena Kay. “He hid with his children for months”
Courtroom Confrontations: Families Face Their Tormentor
At sentencing, Lori Daybell sat stone-faced in an orange jail uniform as victims’ families flooded the courtroom with grief:
Colby Ryan, Lori’s only surviving child, testified remotely: “I had to fight to stay alive after losing my father and siblings. Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy.” He revealed Lori lied to him about Charles having an affair, manipulating him into cutting off contact before the murder.
Brandon Boudreaux, voice breaking: “Had this succeeded, my children would face lifelong grief. I forgive you to be a better father—but I’d never feel safe if you were free”.
Larry Woodcock, JJ Vallow’s grandfather, screamed: “Lori, rot in prison! You murdered Charles for your narcissistic delusions!”.
Lori, who represented herself at trial despite no legal training, dismissed the proceedings as a “family tragedy” and complained about jail conditions. She declared, “If I were accountable, I would… say how sorry I was” — a non-apocalypse Judge Beresky called “blatant disregard for humanity”
Doomsday to Life Sentence : Lori Daybell’s Path to Obscurity
Lori’s crimes spanned two states and five victims, fueled by a warped ideology she shared with husband Chad Daybell
They deemed victims “zombies possessed by evil spirits,” justifying murder. Lori told relatives Charles was a “zombie” months before his death.
Chad, an author of religious doomsday novels, prophesied global catastrophe by July 2020. The couple stockpiled supplies and recruited followers, including Lori’s niece Melani Pawlowski, who urged preparing for “the end of the world”.
After Charles’ murder, Lori fled to Idaho with her children. Within months, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old JJ Vallow vanished. Their remains were later found buried on Chad’s property—Tylee dismembered and burned, JJ wrapped in duct tape
The Final Judgment
Lori Daybell’s legal saga ended with Judge Beresky’s decree: her Arizona sentences will run consecutively to her Idaho punishments—three life terms for murdering Tylee, JJ, and conspiring to kill Chad’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. Chad himself sits on death row for those crimes.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell underscored the reckoning: “She returns to Idaho knowing she didn’t get away with her Arizona crimes.” Lori will be extradited within 30 days, barred forever from contacting victims like Boudreaux.
As deputies led her away, a voice pierced the silence: “Lori, rot in prison!” For the Doomsday Mom who craved attention as a “goddess preparing for the end times,” her prophecy now rings tragically true—not in fire, but in fading obscurity behind concrete walls.