Iconic mom Lori Vallow found guilty of killing two of her children

Lori Vallow appears in court in Idaho over the death of her 16-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan, and adopts seven-year-old eldest son Joshua ' JJ' Vallow Credit: AFP

An Idaho mother with doomsday religious beliefs has been found guilty of murdering her two children and conspiring to kill her husband's ex-wife.

Lori Vallow's conviction is limited to a three-year investigation that included bizarre claims that her 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan and adopted seven-year-old son Joshua «JJ» Vallow were «zombies».

Vallow, who reportedly claimed she was a goddess, sent to herald the biblical apocalypse faces life imprisonment without parole.

Her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, a self-published author of several apocalyptic novels, will soon stand trial separately on similar charges, including the murder of his first wife, Tammy. was the subject of the Netflix crime series Sins of Our Mother last year.

The case first gained nationwide attention in late 2019, after officials were alerted to the disappearance of the Vallow children.

Several people they knew died

The police investigation quickly took a macabre turn when it turned out that several people had links to Vallow. and Daybell have died in recent years. A few months later, Vallow was arrested in Hawaii.

Her third husband, Joseph Ryan, Tylee's father, died in 2018 of a heart attack.

Vallow was in the process of divorcing her fourth husband, Charles Vallow when he was shot and killed in July 2019 by her now-deceased brother.

In October 2019, Daybell's wife, Tammy, appeared before dying of natural causes.

Suspicions arose when Vallow and Daybell moved to Hawaii and got married a few weeks later.

Vallow and Daybell did not report their children missing. Their bodies were found in June 2020 on Daybell's property in Idaho.

Daybell pleaded not guilty to all charges and could face the death penalty if proven guilty.

Increasingly radical beliefs

Vallow, who grew up in a Mormon family, became more radical in her religious beliefs over time, becoming convinced that she could communicate with angels.

In 2018, she met Daybell, the leader of a radical Mormon sect that was preparing to the day of judgment, at a religious conference in Utah.

Vallow claimed that one husband was «the god who was commissioned to do the work of 144,000 at the Second Coming of Christ.»

Prosecutors also claimed about the financial motive behind the crimes, portraying her as a power-hungry manipulator.

“Money, power and sex,” Attorney Rob Wood told the jury.

Vallow’s defense objected that there was no evidence linking her to the murders of her children, but there was a lot of evidence that that she was a loving mother whose life changed dramatically when she met Daybell.

She was also convicted of grand larceny while receiving Social Security benefits meant for her dead children.

Daybell was accused of insurance fraud.