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Topics: True Crime, US News, Crime
The ‘Doomsday cult’ mum gave a chilling statement to a court as she is currently facing trial for conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Lori Vallow Daybell is representing herself, having already been convicted of murdering two of her children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, seven, and the planned murder of her husband’s (Chad Daybell) ex-wife, Tammy.
Charles died after he was fatally shot at Lori’s Arizona home in July 2019, the same year he filed for divorce, citing that Lori had threatened to kill him.
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In 2018, Lori had met Daybell, the leader of a doomsday cult and she soon became fixated on him and his message.
Charles had also reportedly shared concerns about his wife’s mental state as she believed she ‘was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020’.
Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, shot Charles in the chest at her Arizona home. He claimed he was acting in self-defence as he went to confront his brother-in-law about abusive behaviour.
It’s claimed Charles struck Alex in the head with a bat and he shot him in return.
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The murder was investigated but he was never charged, having died of natural causes in December 2019.
In her opening statement yesterday (7 April), Lori delivered a chilling message as she told the jury: “A family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy.”
She is arguing that she did not conspire to kill Charles for his $1 million (£783k) life insurance, as alleged by prosecutors.
“Spouses having insurance policies is not a crime,” she told the court before adding: “Self defence is not a crime.”
Speaking to True Crime Arizona, Lori previously explained why she had chosen to represent herself in the trial.
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“There’s lots of reasons. I am not an attorney. I'm not an attorney. I do not have training to be an attorney. There's something that I figured out when I got to this jail, you know, this experience has been five years running,” she said,.
"I came here with the intention of having a speedy trial. Right? These charges came first. Right? They're like five years old. I first talked to the attorneys, and I was like, they've had five years, the prosecutors, to put their case together.
"And I really want to go to trial, we need to go."
She added that she knows her case better than any attorney could’ve learned it.
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Lori is currently serving life in prison without parole after she was found guilty of the 2019 murders of Tylee and JJ. The children’s bodies were found buries on Chad’s property, with him later convicted of killing them also.