THE DEFENSE RESTS: Lori Vallow's attorneys make surprising decision not to call any witnesses
BOISE, IDAHO: Lori Vallow was caught grinning from the defense table at the Boise, Idaho, courthouse Tuesday, May 9, while her attorneys did not call a single witness in defense of her triple murder charges. "We don't believe the state has proved its case, so the defense will rest," defense attorney Jim Archibald said after meeting with Vallow. After four weeks of harrowing testimony that revealed the vulgar texts between the 'Doomsday mom' and her cult leader husband Chad Daybell, the prosecution also rested its case Wednesday, May 10.
During Vallow's murder trial, other details came to light, including the couple's sick plan to kill their children, whom prosecutors alleged the duo possessed with 'dark' spirits and referred to as 'zombies' Attorneys have a little time to formulate jury instructions as closing arguments will be held Thursday. The trial's verdict could also come later this week.
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The verdict will be streamed live
The court will stream the verdict live to give Vallow a fair trial, said Judge Steven Boyce on Wednesday morning. This announcement comes after months of a ban on cameras in the courtroom.
BREAKING: Court will stream the verdict in the Lori Vallow trial via YouTube when the time comes. pic.twitter.com/JjVd1mxsYx
— Justin Lum | 林俊豪 (@jlumfox10) May 9, 2023
In September 2019, Vallow, 49, and Daybell, 54, allegedly murdered her two children JJ, 7, and Tylee, 16, and Daybell's then-wife Tammy the same month. A couple of weeks later they married in Hawaii. The State rested its case on Tuesday after they asked for an amendment to the charges against Vallow, mentioning a clerical error in the indictment, which remained like that for the past two years. Judge Boyce approved the change from grand theft with intent to deprive to grand theft by deception but said that the request is "sort of unbelievable" based on the number of prosecutors that have worked on the case.
"It's disappointing that the court has to consider this at this point in the proceedings," he said, according to Daily Mail. Nicole Heideman, a tactical specialist with the FBI, testified the text message that details a love story between between 'James and Elena' which the State claims are Daybell and Vallow. The messages were recovered on the cult mom's iCloud account.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow exchanged salacious texts
Daybell gushed about their sex life in one of the text messages. "Elena's magic hand has gripped the storm. Barely able to breathe as intense waves wash over them," he wrote. The prosecution is trying to prove that the growing relationship between Daybell and Vallow served as the main motive behind the tragic killings of the two young children. After missing for a year, the bodies of the children were found in Daybell's backyard in 2020.
"There appeared to be some planning of missions and planning of their life together as a couple," Heideman said. The State stated that the couple killed the children and Daybell's previous wife because they stood in the way of the couple's growing relationship. The couple allegedly planned to use life insurance money from Tammy's death, prosecutors said and Vallow kept on collecting and spending the children's social security and benefits after they were killed.
FBI Agent Doug Hart testified last week that the pair had sexted about showering together and 'naked activities' during the affair. The lead investigator for the Idaho Attorney General's Office, Nicholas Edwards was the final witness to testify for the State. He said that Daybell texted Vallow on October 3, 2019, "Good night angel Lilii. So excited to go on our date (with a fire emoji)." He sent her a text saying the next day, "Dreaming of caressing you in your bed. I adore you."
The State says Vallow wanted "money, power, sex" and that she also used "those things to get what she wanted." If convicted, she faces life in prison and Daybell is being tried separately.
'She is absolutely guilty!'
The Internet reacted to the defense resting the case without calling witnesses. One Facebook user wrote, "Unbelievable what kind of attorney is he dont make any sense at all i think the state has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt." Another wrote, "Knowing there is absolutely no way the judge would acquit this and the state did an amazing job with evidence, this way they don't have to defend her and keep their dignity. Not an entirely bad move." One commented, "When you don't have a defense, you can make one up or just rest... Seems a whole lot easier to just plead guilty" while another said, "Are they freaking high? The prosecution absolutely made their case and she is absolutely guilty!" "Acquittal? Seriously! Life with no possibility of parole. Make her sit there the rest of her life!" commented one.
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