BOISE, IDAHO: On Monday, July 31, 'Doomsday cult mom' Lori Vallow was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the maximum sentence, over the murders of her children 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, the former wife of her fifth husband, Chad Daybell. The latter is also facing the same murder charges and is scheduled to stand a separate trial in April 2024.
Prior to the sentencing, Vallow's attorneys asked Judge Steven Boyce for a 20-year minimum sentence and asked him to give her "hope," claiming the world would be a better place with "hope." Earlier this year, the judge agreed with the defense's request to have the death penalty taken off the table after prosecutors were accused of violating a court rule during the discovery phase of the trial. However, the judge decided to move forward with consecutive life sentences for Vallow in the latest hearing.
Can Lori Vallow be released on parole?
Vallow was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and hence she is not eligible to be released on parole. She received three consecutive life sentences on the charges of murder for the deaths of Tylee and JJ and the conspiracy to commit the murder of both children as well as the conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Tammy.
She also received a 10-year sentence for the grand theft conviction and was also ordered to pay more than $60,000 in fines, civil penalties and restitution, CBS News reported. Vallow is also involved in two other cases in Arizona, including a charge of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and another charge of conspiring to kill her niece's ex-husband, the noted.
Charles Vallow was shot dead in June 2019 by Cox but Vallow's niece's ex-husband reportedly survived an attempt later that year. Cox also died in December 2019 due to reported natural causes like blood clots and high blood pressure. The sensational case began in July 2019 after Cox killed Charles and claimed that he acted in self-defense. Meanwhile, Vallow, who was already in a relationship with Daybell at the time, moved to Idaho with her children and Cox to be closer to her partner.
Tylee was Vallow's biological daughter from the latter's marriage to her third husband Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr, while JJ was adopted by Vallow and her fourth husband, Charles. Vallow later adopted JJ while in a relationship with Daybell. Both Tylee and JJ vanished after being last seen in September 2019. Meanwhile, Vallow and Daybell got married in November 2019, two weeks after the death of the former's ex-wife, Tammy.
While authorities initially ruled that Tammy died of natural causes, an autopsy revealed that she was asphyxiated. Amid the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tylee and JJ's disappearance and a string of other suspicious deaths, the remains of both the children were located in the backyard of Daybell's Idaho home in June 2020. Both Vallow and Daybell were arrested that same year.
'You haven't shown any remorse'
Vallow's July 31 sentencing began with victim impact statements from family members affected by the deaths of JJ and Tylee. Charles' sister and JJ's biological grandmother, Kay Woodcock, cried in court during her statement. "The grief my family and I have endured is immeasurable as Lori cruelly took my big brother, Charles, my adorable grandson JJ, and my beautiful niece Tylee, and sweet Tammy — whose family I've come to know and love. Lori is undeniably a monster," she said.
Prosecutors also read a statement by Vallow's adult and surviving son, Colby Ryan, who said, "My children will never know their uncle, their aunt or grandfather, or even their grandmother. Tylee and JJ brought so much light into this world. With their lives stolen, I'd like to share this: I believe nothing could or ever will be the same." As per NBC News, ahead of the sentencing announcement, Judge Boyce said that Vallow's last mental health evaluation showed she suffered from "hyper religiosity" and "unspecified personality disorder with histrionic and narcissistic features."
However, the judge mentioned that Vallow allegedly refused to comply with the court-ordered screening that may have mitigated her sentencing. "After all of this evidence and trial, you haven't shown any remorse. You haven't said you're sorry. You haven't done anything to seek leniency from this court," Boyce said. "You had so many other options. You could have gotten divorced; you could have found someone else to take care of those kids. And as the state was able to prove at trial, you chose the most evil and destructive path possible. You justified all of this by going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly, you are still down there," he added before imposing the sentence.
