Lori Vallow Daybell has been found guilty again, this time for conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband, marking the last of her criminal proceedings in a series of deaths that prosecutors have said were driven by apocalyptic delusions, power, and greed.
A Maricopa County jury deliberated for fewer than 30 minutes on Thursday before convicting Vallow Daybell on charges of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux outside his home in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert.
It marks the conclusion of a tangled timeline of violence that includes the murders of Vallow’s two youngest children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old JJ Vallow, her former husband Charles Vallow, and Tammy Daybell, the former wife of her current husband, Chad Daybell—a series of crimes prosecutors say were plotted under the belief some victims were “possessed” and needed to die.
Vallow Daybell, known as the “doomsday cult mom” for her religious beliefs, has already been sentenced to life in prison for their murders.
In April, she was convicted of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019 at her home in Chandler, Arizona.
This week’s conviction centered on an October 2019 attempt on Brandon Boudreaux’s life, when someone fired a rifle at him outside his Gilbert, Arizona home. The bullet shattered his car window but missed him. Boudreaux immediately suspected Daybell and her brother, Alex Cox—who died in December 2019 and was never charged.
Prosecutors said Cox was the gunman, driving a Jeep registered to Vallow Daybell’s daughter, Tylee, who was already dead by the time of the shooting.
Cell phone data, receipts, and surveillance video placed Cox at the scene, while prosecutors argued Vallow Daybell helped facilitate the attack by providing cover, arranging phone use, and laying the groundwork for the conspiracy.
“She is responsible,” prosecutor Ashley Kay told jurors. “She is a co-conspirator. She is assisting. She is promoting this crime.”
Vallow Daybell, who did not take the stand, spent her defense trying to poke holes in the evidence, question data accuracy, and suggested that her niece, Melani Pawlowski, may have had motive to harm Boudreaux.
“He decided that I was responsible for his family tragedy,” Vallow Daybell said during closing arguments. “And I’m really sorry he feels that.”
On Thursday, she appeared unfazed as the verdict was read and urged the judge to move up her sentencing.
Vallow Daybell waived her right to an aggravation phase and admitted to the crime being a dangerous one, making the conviction aggravated, or elevated.
She also tried to waive a pre-sentence report, but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky explained that she could not, and one would be prepared. He also declined to move up her sentencing. She is scheduled to be sentenced in both Arizona cases on July 25. Each conviction carries a life sentence.
After the verdict was handed down on Thursday, Boudreaux thanked investigators for uncovering what he called “the truth,” and the jury that turned that truth into a conviction.
“2,078 days,” he said, referencing the number of days since the shooting. “Hatred, selfishness and greed almost led to the end of my life.”
“Twelve strangers verified that Lori must be held accountable,” he added. “I did not enjoy sitting and giving someone who tried to kill me the chance to question me,” he said. “But I owed it to Charles, to Tylee, to J.J., and to Tammy to speak—because I could.”
