‘Cult Mom’ Lori Vallow trial: DNA analysis shows match of Lori Vallow’s hair on adhesive found on son’s body
Rachel Schilke
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DNA analysis of a hair recovered on an adhesive found with one of Lori Vallow Daybell’s children’s bodies is a match to the “Cult Mom,” who is suspected of murdering her children in a doomsday-related plot.
Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and grand theft in connection to the deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and Tylee Ryan. The two are also facing charges in connection to the death of Tammy Daybell, the ex-wife of Chad Daybell. Vallow Daybell’s trial, separate from her husband’s, began on April 11 in Boise, Idaho.
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J.J. Vallow was 7 years old and Ryan was almost 17 when they were last seen alive in September 2019. Their bodies were discovered in June 2020 on Chad Daybell’s property.
Monday marked the fourth week of Vallow Daybell’s trial. Keeley Coleman, DNA analyst for Bode Technologies, said she received evidence from the Rexburg, Idaho, police in May 2022. Coleman had three DNA profiles, including Vallow Daybell and Ryan.
Coleman said on Monday that a piece of hair from an “adhesive” was sent to her to test. The hair sample matched Vallow Daybell, Coleman said.
Last week, an Idaho State Police forensic analyst said she had sent a strand of hair found on the duct tape around J.J. Vallow’s body to another lab for testing. Coleman said the sample she received had missing alleles, or matching genes, but the probability of randomly selecting a random person in relation to the DNA profile “is one in 71 billion.” In simple terms, it means the odds of it not belonging to Vallow Daybell are incredibly slim.
During the third week of the murder trial, witnesses revealed J.J Vallow’s cause of death was asphyxiation. Ryan’s death was “homicide by unspecified means,” with investigators stating that Ryan’s remains were charred and one believing she was dismembered.
Investigators believe Vallow Daybell’s views on the afterlife are a motive for the murders and have been a consistent topic in her trial. So have her beliefs in “zombie children.”
Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell allegedly believed the children were possessed by evil spirits and that if they prayed, a possessed person would physically die, freeing their trapped souls from “limbo.”
The “Cult Mom” is also separately charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona after her brother, Alex Cox, shot Charles Vallow, Vallow Daybell’s first husband, to death in July 2019 in Chandler, Arizona. Those charges are on hold while the Idaho case plays out.
Cox claimed self-defense, but a medical examiner in Maricopa County ruled his death a homicide. Cox died in December 2019, with his death listed as being the result of heart failure. Investigators also suspect that Cox may have been involved in J.J. Vallow and Ryan’s deaths to some unknown extent.
Rick Wright, contract investigator with the FBI, told the jury on Monday that Cox’s phone was tracked to Vallow Daybell’s apartment on Sept. 9, 2019. The last confirmed sighting of Ryan was on Sept. 8, 2019. She is suspected to have been killed on either the 8th or 9th.
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After going to Vallow Daybell’s apartment, cellphone evidence places Cox behind Chad Daybell’s residence. The bodies of Ryan and J.J. Vallow were both later found in the area.
A few weeks later, on Sept. 23, 2019, Cox’s phone shows he again went back and forth between his apartment and Vallow Daybell’s apartment. This is the day investigators believe J.J. Vallow was killed. Cox later went to Chad Daybell’s home, with the device’s tracking data showing that he was in the pond area, where J.J. Vallow was discovered buried.