My Creepy Connection to Arizona’s Horrific “Doomsday Mom”

"Hey, you guys," my friend Maggie announced on a group call with my high school friends, "you know we went to school with that Doomsday Mom, right?"

We gasped. "What. Really?"

"Really, really," Maggie replied. "She graduated the year after me. She was a cheerleader, and my sister was friends with her."

Back then, the woman who became known as the "Doomsday Mom" was Lori Cox. Maggie explained that Lori had been dating someone from our high school. "Yeah," Maggie continued. "I think they got married, but it didn't last long."

We were speechless as we searched through our mental Rolodexes, trying to put a face with the name.

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Lori (Cox) Vallow-Daybell: Arizona's Doomsday Mom

When I was a kid, I moved around so much that it was hard to keep track of people who weren't in my close-knit group. Sure, I'd heard a little about Lori Vallow recently, but knowing I might have passed her in the hallway at my high school or sat next to her in class created a strange new picture in my head.

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I went down the rabbit hole, diving into the wild and tragic story of Lori Vallow, known in the media as the "Doomsday Mom." This case has been splashed through the headlines, and for good reason—it's like something straight out of a crime novel.

It's hard to wrap my head around the disturbing crimes Vallow committed. Any one of these is enough to keep me awake at night, but there's a whole tangled web.

Crimes of Lori Vallow Daybell, "Arizona's Doomsday Mom"

In 2019, Vallow was accused of conspiring to murder her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and attempting to kill her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux. Both incidents are mind-boggling, but they're just the tip of the iceberg.

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The "chapter two" of the story is an even darker nightmare. Vallow was convicted of the murders of her two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Plus, the death of her husband Chad Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell.

The whole twisted tale is tied to some bizarre apocalyptic beliefs. Vallow had some twisted combination of Mormonism, New Age ideas, and a disturbing good vs. evil scoring system that Vallow and her husband apparently made up to classify people. Throw in some financial motives, and you're left with a freakish, twisted, convoluted true-crime plot.

Representing Lori Vallow

The saga continues to unfold.

What's the old saying? "He who represents himself has a fool for a client." In the latest twisted chapter, Vallow has set out to prove the veracity of this statement.

Lori Cox Vallow-Daybell is currently serving a life sentence without parole after she was convicted of murdering her children and her current husband's ex-wife, Tammy Daybell.

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At this point, I guess she doesn't have much left to lose. She's going on trial in Arizona for the alleged murder of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and for the attempted murder of her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, according to Newsweek.

And the lawyer she plans to hire?

Herself. Yep, you read that correctly. She's going to be her own lawyer. She passed a mental competency evaluation recently, so she's apparently good to go.

Vallow told the court she's been studying case law and criminal procedures incarcerated over the last five years. She's even got two advisory lawyers on standby in case she changes her mind. Lori has been in prison since 2020. Her trial for the Arizona conspiracy charges is set to begin next March.

It's a wild story, and while it's hard to believe it's real life, it's even harder to believe we went to high school together.

Sources: Wikipedia | Wealthy Spy: Lori Vallow | Newsweek

Photos: Mugshot: Vallow–Daybell doomsday murders. (2024, December 7). In Wikipedia.