Lori Vallow Daybell has told every courtroom, every camera, and every interviewer the same thing: she’s getting out. She told Keith Morrison on Dateline that Jesus showed her the future and she was not in prison. She told an Idaho sentencing judge that Jesus Christ knows no one was murdered. She told Arizona jurors their job was to protect her from the state. She offered to go on Dancing With the Stars after her exoneration.

On November 2, the Idaho Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the legal version of that belief. Her attorney Craig Durham filed five constitutional claims. The strongest: the judge removed her hired lawyer Mark Means over a conflict tied to co-defendant Chad Daybell, and if the removal was wrong, the conviction falls automatically. The state has a recorded jail call where Chad called Means “my attorney” and evidence that Chad arranged and paid for the representation while they were co-conspirators in capital murder charges.

Three juries across Idaho and Arizona have convicted her. She spent 353 days in state hospitals too incompetent to stand trial, then filed a speedy-trial claim over the delay. She represented herself in two Arizona conspiracy trials, picked up two more life sentences, and Judge Beresky told her she should never be released. Even if the Idaho Supreme Court reverses everything, those Arizona sentences don’t move. The cage is sealed. But the woman inside it is still telling everyone who’ll listen that Jesus is coming to open it.

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Lori Vallow Daybell's children were found buried on Chad Daybell's property in Rexburg, Idaho. Their mother was convicted unanimously and is serving seven life sentences across Idaho and Arizona. She told an Arizona judge she believed Jesus would free her from prison. Her appellate attorney Craig Durham has now filed five constitutional claims with the Idaho Supreme Court — and the most aggressive ask on the table is complete dismissal of every charge.

The state's 59-page response systematically dismantles each claim. On speedy trial, Lori was found incompetent twice — 353 days of delay she caused. On due process, the state argues the hearings were in Chad Daybell's case, not hers. On the attorney removal that anchors the entire appeal, the state has a recorded jail call where Chad Daybell called Lori's lawyer "my attorney" and documented evidence that Chad arranged and paid for the representation.

The oral arguments are set for November 2 in Boise. Lori won't be in the room. The hearing is a standard procedural step under Idaho law, not a signal from the court. And even if her attorney wins every argument, she's still serving two consecutive life sentences in Arizona that nothing in Idaho can touch.

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The appeal is fully briefed. The Idaho Supreme Court has the case. And every single argument Lori Vallow Daybell's team has raised collapses under the facts.

Her appellate attorney Craig Durham filed five constitutional claims — removal of her chosen attorney Mark Means, denial of counsel during a disqualification hearing, due process violations during her incompetency, improper admission of Arizona 404(b) evidence, and speedy trial violations. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye responded with fifty-nine pages that dismantle each claim methodically. Means had a documented conflict — he represented both Lori and Chad, who paid for the representation and claimed Means as his attorney in a recorded jail call. The competency evaluations consumed 353 days. The venue change she requested required massive logistical coordination. And the Arizona evidence the defense calls prejudicial has now been validated by three separate guilty verdicts.

What makes this appeal impossible to take seriously goes beyond the briefing. While the Idaho appeal was pending, Lori went to Arizona and represented herself in two conspiracy trials. She was convicted of conspiring to kill Charles Vallow and conspiring to kill Brandon Boudreaux. She compared conspiracy to Judas in her opening. She was escorted out of her own courtroom. She called no witnesses and presented no evidence in either trial. The Boudreaux jury deliberated for thirty minutes. Judge Beresky told her at sentencing that her manipulation was unparalleled and that she would fade into obscurity.

She now has seven life sentences across two states. She told the Idaho court that Jesus Christ knows no one was murdered. She told the Arizona court that if she were accountable, she'd say so. The appeal is the same pattern — every choice reframed as persecution, every consequence as injustice. The justices have everything they need.

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Lori Vallow still believes she'll be exonerated.

In a March 2025 Dateline interview, she maintained her innocence. She claimed visions from Jesus. She showed no remorse.

Her son Colby is left to figure out how to live in a world where his mother killed his siblings — and still thinks she was right.

This is Part 5 of "The Chosen Ones" — the conclusion of our psychological examination of spiritual abuse and religious trauma through the Daybell case. Today we focus on the aftermath: how survivors rebuild when the person who harmed them never acknowledges what they did.

We examine:

• Colby Ryan's prison calls with his mother
• The March 2025 Dateline interview
• How the AVOW community and conference circuit moved on
• The secondary trauma of systems that don't collapse
• The path to healing for spiritual abuse survivors

• Religious Trauma Syndrome and what recovery looks like

This episode is for anyone following the Daybell case who wants to understand the human cost beyond the headlines. And it's for anyone who has left a high control religion and is figuring out what comes next.

The apocalypse Chad Daybell predicted never came. The world kept turning. But for the families of Tammy, Charles, Tylee, and JJ — the world ended anyway.

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Everyone around Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow saw something. The question is why they didn't act.

This is Part 4 of "The Chosen Ones" — our deep dive into the psychology of spiritual abuse and religious trauma through the Daybell case. Today we examine the inner circle: the people who participated, enabled, or stayed silent while four people died.

We cover:

ALEX COX — Lori's brother, who shot Charles Vallow, and who investigators believe killed Tylee and JJ. According to testimony, Alex "100% believed" what Chad Daybell taught. He told his wife to shoot him if he ever became a zombie.

MELANIE GIBB — Lori's best friend, the last person to see JJ alive. She participated in castings and heard Chad Daybell's zombie doctrine — but didn't realize she was being used as an alibi until police called.

ZULEMA PASTENES — Who married Alex two weeks before he died. She testified about castings, the failed attempt on Tammy, and Lori's rage when it didn't work.

CHAD DAYBELL'S CHILDREN — Who testified at their father's murder trial. For the defense.

THE WIDER COMMUNITY — The conference circuit, the AVOW network, the families who watched transformations and didn't intervene.

This episode is essential context for understanding how Chad Daybell's belief system sustained itself — and why it took so long to collapse.

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September 8, 2019. Yellowstone National Park. The last known photo of Tylee Ryan.

According to investigators, she was dead within twenty-four hours. Her remains were found nine months later in Chad Daybell's backyard.

This is Part 3 of "The Chosen Ones" — our deep dive into the psychology of spiritual abuse and religious trauma through the Daybell case. Today we examine Chad Daybell's "zombie" doctrine in detail: how it worked, who it targeted, and how it justified the murders of Tylee, JJ, Tammy, and Charles.

According to trial testimony:

• Chad Daybell taught that demons could possess people after death
• Once possessed, the original person was gone — only a "zombie" remained
• Zombies couldn't be saved or cast out — they could only be destroyed
• Chad Daybell assigned "light and dark ratings" to categorize who was possessed
• Everyone rated "dark" ended up dead

We trace how each victim was labeled:

• Charles Vallow: renamed "Ned," killed by Alex Cox
• Tammy Daybell: declared possessed, asphyxiated in her sleep
• Tylee Ryan: called "dark" after questioning her mother, dismembered and burned
• JJ Vallow: declared a "zombie," wrapped in plastic and buried

This episode provides essential context for understanding how Chad Daybell's belief system enabled the murders — and why dehumanization is central to spiritual abuse in high control religion.

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During Chad Daybell's murder trial, prosecutors introduced some of the most chilling evidence in true crime history: spreadsheets.

Documents recovered from Chad Daybell's computer showing lists of names — Tammy Daybell, Charles Vallow, Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow, and many others — each assigned a "light and dark rating" on a spiritual scale Chad Daybell invented.

Everyone rated "dark" ended up dead.

This is Part 2 of "The Chosen Ones," our deep dive into the psychology of spiritual abuse and religious trauma through the Daybell case. Today we examine how Chad Daybell built his belief system, where it came from, and how it evolved from eccentric theology into a framework that justified murder.

We cover:

• Chad Daybell's background as a gravedigger and cemetery sexton
• His self-published apocalyptic novels and claims they were visions from God
• The fringe LDS conference circuit and AVOW community
• How religious narcissism operates in high control religion
• Testimony about "light and dark ratings" and their escalation
• The "zombie" doctrine — how Chad Daybell taught that possessed people could only be destroyed
• The failed casting on Tammy Daybell and what happened next

• How the spreadsheets became evidence of premeditation

If you're following the Daybell case closely, this episode provides essential psychological context for understanding how the murders were justified within Chad Daybell's belief system.

Chad Daybell was convicted of first-degree murder in May 2024 and sentenced to death in June 2024.

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October 2018. A "Preparing a People" conference in Utah. Chad Daybell walks up to Lori Vallow and tells her they were married in a past life.

This is the moment everything changed.

Part 1 of "The Chosen Ones" examines how Chad Daybell used spiritual love bombing to transform Lori from a devoted LDS mother into someone who believed she was "a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000."

We break down the mechanics of spiritual abuse:

First, he made her feel seen. Chad Daybell told her she was special, chosen, set apart. He said he could recognize her spiritual significance when no one else could.

Then, he made her feel exempt. According to testimony, Lori would say "It doesn't count for me" when doing things that would normally require repentance. Chad Daybell had convinced her the rules didn't apply to someone at her level.

Then came the labels. Charles wasn't her husband anymore — he was a demon named "Ned." The children weren't her children — they were "zombies" possessed by dark spirits.

This episode traces the path from that first conference to Charles Vallow's death in July 2019. We examine the AVOW community, the fringe LDS conference circuit, and the belief system Chad Daybell built that would eventually justify murder.

If you're following the Daybell case — or if you've experienced religious trauma yourself — this episode provides essential psychological context.

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