'Doomsday mom' Lori Daybell delivers closing argument in murder conspiracy trial

Lori Daybell, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, delivered her closing argument Monday during her latest trial in Arizona, where she is charged with conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband.

Dubbed the "doomsday mom," Daybell has maintained that her brother shot her then-husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019. Her brother, Alex Cox, died from natural causes months after the shooting.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the shooting was a ploy for Daybell to get rid of her estranged husband so that she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with her current husband, Chad Daybell, whom she married four months after the shooting. Prosecutors further said she invoked their religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother "religious authority" to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as "Ned."

Lori Daybell, 51, represented herself in the Phoenix trial. She has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

During her nearly 20-minute closing argument, she told jurors the shooting was not a premeditated murder but a "tragic family event."

"This event was not planned or expected. It was shocking," she said.

She argued that officers neglected to conduct a thorough investigation, though she also said the Chandler Police Department "did treat this event just like it was: self-defense."

"This is an attempt by the state to try to retrofit a crime that doesn't exist," she said.

Daybell also urged the jurors to watch her entire police interview conducted after the shooting, part of which was shown during the trial.

The judge sustained several objections during her closing argument after she referred to testimony that had not been entered into evidence during the trial.

During her nearly two-hour closing argument on Monday, Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay said the evidence at the scene shows that Charles Vallow was not shot in self-defense, but was "executed" and the scene "staged."

She began by recounting text messages sent from Lori Daybell to her husband, Chad, seven days after Vallow was killed, discussing her now-deceased husband's life insurance policy. Kay said that, upon learning she was no longer the beneficiary of the plan, the defendant messaged Chad that "Ned" probably changed it "before we got rid of him."

"Her words tell us that she was involved in this killing, her actions and her words of texting Chad Daybell tell us the motives behind this murder -- Chad and money," Kay told jurors.

The prosecutor also revisited witness testimony that she said spoke to what she called Lori Daybell and Alex Cox's "twisted religious beliefs" and a text message the defendant sent her brother days before the deadly shooting that mentioned Nephi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon who God commanded to kill Laban.

"Lori Vallow wanted the million dollars, and she wanted Chad Daybell, and she and Alex used that twisted religious beliefs they had so that they could kill the evil, possessed Charles and 'be like Nephi,'" Kay said.

Kay said Alex Cox showed up at his sister's home with a loaded gun, "ready for his mission," and shot Vallow twice. She argued that the evidence shows the second shot was fired while Vallow was lying on the ground.

"That is premeditated first-degree murder, no matter what you believe before that," Kay said.

Daybell countered in her closing that Nephi "signifies strong faith, perseverance and courage."

"The state's attempt to misconstrue the positive text message about a wonderful religious figure, Nephi, and try to turn it into an order to kill someone is absurd," she said.

Kay advised jurors that even if you don't hear someone explicitly talk about conspiring, "a conspiracy may be inferred from circumstances showing a common criminal objective."

In this case, the conduct inferred a "conspiracy of Alex coming over with his gun to shoot and kill Charles," she said.

The jury is now deliberating the verdict.

Over two weeks, the state called more than a dozen witnesses, including Daybell's other brother, Adam Cox, who testified that he had "no doubt" his two siblings conspired to kill Vallow upon learning that his brother had fatally shot him.

Daybell did not call any witnesses in the trial and did not take the stand in her own defense.

In her cross-examination, Daybell tried to question the thoroughness of the police investigation into the shooting. She asked several witnesses, including her brother Adam Cox, if they personally saw her conspire with her brother Alex Cox to murder her husband, to which they responded no.

Throughout the trial, the judge often sustained frequent objections from the prosecution over Daybell's questions for testifying, hearsay, relevance and speculation.

After the state rested its case on April 16, Daybell presented a motion for acquittal due to insufficient evidence. The judge denied it, saying the court finds there is sufficient evidence that a reasonable juror could find her guilty.

Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children, Joshua "J.J." Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, who went missing months after Vallow was killed. In two separate trials in 2023 and 2024, prosecutors argued that the couple thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them so that they could be together. The children's remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search.

Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole for the murders of her two children. She has denied killing them.

Chad Daybell was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering the two children, as well as his first wife, Tamara Daybell, and now awaits execution on Idaho's death row.