Lori Vallow trial: 'Cult mom's brother Alex Cox's fingerprints found on garbage bag containing son JJ's body
MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO: According to evidence presented at Lori Vallow's murder trial, her brother's fingerprints were found on the black plastic bag her son was buried in. Forensic scientist Tara Martinez from the Idaho State Police testified that she found a match to Alex Cox's right little finger and palm on the plastic that was discovered almost a year after the child went missing.
Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, are currently on trial for charges related to the disappearance and death of her two children, daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and 7-year-old son Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow. The two are accused of murdering the two children in September 2019 in Rexburg, Idaho. Prosecutors allege that the couple were members of a doomsday cult and believed that the children were possessed by satanic "zombies."
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Alex Cox's fingerprints were found in the bag containing JJ's remains
Cox, who reportedly killed Vallow's former husband shortly before she relocated to Idaho, was allegedly involved in the same cult and is accused by the State of helping to kill the children. JJ, who was adopted by Vallow, was suffocated with a duct-taped white plastic bag and then buried in Daybell's yard in a garbage bag, while Tylee's remains were dismembered, charred, and buried in a nearby pet cemetery.
The forensic scientist, Martinez, discovered fingerprints on the black plastic bag that JJ was wrapped in. She compared them to fingerprints from Vallow, Daybell, JJ, and Cox, and they matched those of Vallow's brother, according to Daily Mail. Cox died of natural causes at the age of 51 in December 2019.
Chad Daybell gives bizarre 'blessing'
Earlier in the trial, it was revealed that Daybell had given a strange "blessing" to express gratitude to Cox in November 2019, two months after the disappearance of the children and a month after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell, whom he and Vallow are also accused of killing. In a recording heard at the court, Daybell falsely claimed to be a member of the priesthood and praised Cox as a "great warrior" who was "selected to help protect [his] sister." "You have already assisted us in ways that can never be repaid, but you will continue to do so as you move forward in this life," Daybell had told Cox.
In the recording, Daybell claimed that Cox had learned lessons that were not taught in a typical LDS (Latter-day Saints) household. "You had to go to great depths to achieve tremendous heights, and the fruits of those trials are beginning to be demonstrated," Daybell says as per Daily Mail. "Now you will begin your terrestrial phase of existence. You will be a powerful servant…You will travel all over the world through portals and you will begin to gather the souls that come unto Christ." In addition, the blessing referred to Cox as a "prophet" who would be regarded as an "angel on earth." Daybell also claimed that Cox was "part of a very special team of people."
The children were missing for almost a year before their corpses were found buried in Daybell's yard on June 9, 2020. The court proceedings began on April 10, and the prosecution is anticipated to conclude its presentation of evidence later this week. Daybell's trial is being conducted separately.