On Tuesday, the attorney for Lori Vallow Daybell requested that the Idaho mom accused of murdering her two children be absent from the courtroom during disturbing testimony concerning the remains of her children. The judge denied the request.
Earlier in the day, Rexburg, Idaho, police detective Ray Hermosillo provided a graphic account of how authorities discovered the remains of Lori’s children J.J. Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, who was last seen alive when she was 16.
When their remains were discovered on June 9, 2020, J.J. was wrapped in plastic and bound by duct tape; Tylee was dismembered and burned.
In requesting Lori’s absence, her attorney, Jim Archibald, said Hermosillo’s testimony was emotional, and said Lori’s mental health is fragile. But prosecutors argued the state of Idaho deserves to have her be present.
Lori is charged with murder in the deaths of her two children as well as conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell.
On Monday, during opening statments, prosecutors revealed that Tammy died by asphyxiation.
Lori has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Chad, who is Lori’s fifth husband, is also charged in connection with the deaths of J.J., Tylee and Tammy, but will have a separate trial.
During opening statements, Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake said that Lori was motivated by “money, power and sex.”
“Lori used money, power and sex or the promise of those things to get what she wanted,” Blake said.
J.J. and Tylee were reported missing after J.J.’s grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, called authorities in Rexburg, Idaho, in November of 2019 and learned that J.J. and Tylee hadn’t been seen since September of that year. In June 2020, the remains of J.J. and Tylee were found buried on a property belonging to Chad by Hermosillo and others.
“What was left of Tylee was found. Charred remains. A mass of bone and tissues. That was what was left of this beautiful young woman,” Blake said Monday during opening statements. “Her DNA was discovered on a pickaxe and shovel and later found in Daybell’s shed.”
Lori has also been indicted in Arizona on one count of conspiracy to commit first degree murder in connection with the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Charles Vallow was shot to death in 2019 by Lori’s brother Alex Cox, who later died of natural causes. Lori and Cox said the shooting was in self-defense, and Lori has pleaded not guilty.
In March, a judge ruled that Lori will not face the death penalty in her current murder trial. She faces life in prison if convicted.