Lori Vallow Daybell's Jailhouse Interview: An Exclusive with Dateline
Okay, so you know the "Doomsday Mom," Lori Vallow Daybell? The one convicted of murdering her kids? She gave her first ever interview, to Keith Morrison on Dateline, from her Maricopa County jail cell. It aired on NBC, and it's…intense. It's a peek into her mind, her perspective on everything that happened, even though what she says and the evidence presented at her trial are like two completely different universes.
From Pageants to Prophecies: A Life Unraveling
The Dateline special shows her life, you know, the whole picture. First, there's Lori, a Miss Texas contestant, even appearing on Wheel of Fortune. Then… everything changes. She gets caught up in this world of doomsday prophecies and extreme religious beliefs. It’s a pretty shocking shift. She met Chad Daybell, this doomsday author, and she claims this instant, profound spiritual connection – saying they "recognized each other spiritually...that we had known each other for eternities." Romantic, right? Except... things started getting seriously dark.
The Deaths of Charles Vallow and Tammy Daybell: A Trail of Suspicion
The interview goes into the months before her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, died. There's bodycam footage where Charles chillingly describes Lori's belief that he was possessed. Yeesh. Then we find out about her affair with Chad Daybell, and how she deleted an email Charles sent to Tammy Daybell (Chad's wife at the time). The tension is practically dripping from the screen. Charles was later shot and killed, with Lori's brother, Alex Cox, claiming self-defense. Then Tammy Daybell dies, initially ruled as natural causes but later determined to be asphyxiation. It all just seems so… suspicious. Investigators think Cox was involved in both deaths, along with the kids' murders. And then there are the text messages… Lori referring to Charles as "Ned" and hinting about getting rid of him before he changed his life insurance policy. It’s all incredibly disturbing.
Tylee and JJ: The Unthinkable Loss
After Charles' death, Lori moved with Tylee and JJ to Rexburg, Idaho, near Chad's property. The last known photos of Tylee and JJ are shown, then… the unimaginable happens. Their bodies were found in June 2020: Tylee's remains in a fire pit, JJ's in a pet cemetery on Chad's property. Lori claims she wasn’t there when they died, but, well, the evidence paints a very different picture. Honestly, who could even begin to imagine the pain of that discovery?
Defiance, and What Comes Next
Even with a life sentence, Lori still insists she's innocent in this Dateline interview. She even jokes about being on Dancing with the Stars after her exoneration. It's... unsettling. And her decision to represent herself in her upcoming Arizona trial for Charles Vallow's murder? That just adds another layer to this whole incredibly complex and sad story. It leaves you with so many unanswered questions and a heavy heart. The whole thing is deeply disturbing, the lack of remorse is chilling, and it just underscores how terribly wrong things went.
Watch the full interview if you can stomach it. It's a tough watch, but it's a story that needs to be heard.
