Lori Vallow denied bail after refusing to reveal kids’ whereabouts & saying she lives off Tammy Daybell’s life insurance
Lori Vallow will be returning to her jail cell after a judge denied her request for a bail reduction on Friday.
The cult mom's attorney pulled out all the stops in his bid to get his client out from behind bars, except the one that prosecutors as demanded time and time again - produce her missing children Tylee and JJ.
The proceedings lasted more than two hours with one recess so the judge could catch her breath after struggling wit the requirement that face masks be worn in her courtroom.
It was a one-man show for the most part, with Lori's defense attorney Mark Means speaking for almost the entire appearance.
His arguments about phone calls being recorded fell apart however in front of the judge, who time and time again requested that Means provide fact-based support for his allegations.
At another point he spoke about Lori's financial situation, saying that it was impossible for her to raise the $1 million bail for her current bail.
Means also confirmed that Lori and Chad Daybell were living of his late wife's life insurance.
It was a difficult day for the lawyer, who is also now representing Chad Daybell.
Means at one misidentified a section of the Constitution he used as the basis of one of his arguments.
Lori meanwhile left court after looking at her lawyer and giving a shrug.
The 46-year-old newlywed was arrested back in February just a few months after she and fifth husband Chad Daybell said "I do" in Hawaii.
She has since been charged with two counts of desertion and nonsupport of her children, one misdemeanor count each of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime and contempt.
Officials are still unsure as to the whereabouts of Tylee and JJ, who have been missing since September.
Their mother appears to find the situation amusing, smiling her way through court appearances.
She is currently being held in jail until her trial because she has not posted bail, which started at $5million after her arrest in Hawaii and was reduced from to $1million once she returned to Idaho.
Vallow is now hoping to get it down to $50,000 at her hearing on Friday, an amount she and husband might struggle to come up with given their past money problems.
The defense filed paperwork earlier this week suggesting that officers had recorded Vallow speaking with her lawyer on multiple occasions.
Police then admitted that two conversations had in fact been recorded, but claimed that the situation had been immediately addressed.
Lt. Ron Ball of the Rexburg Police Department admitted in a court filing that he was recording Lori when he became "concerned that this conversation was between the defendant and her attorney."
At that point he halted the recording and stopped listening in on the conversation.
"Very soon after hearing the phone call I discussed it with Special Agent Ricky Wright of the FBI and concluded that I should call the jail," wrote Lt Ball.
"I called the jail and spoke with Lt. Jared Willmore and informed him that call between the defendant and her attorney had been recorded.
Vallow and her lawyer Mark Means made it seem like this was a far more frequent occurrence, a claim prosecutors shot down while stating that the defense "has made the following material assertions which are demonstrably false.'
Prosecutors did not hold back in their filing.
On Thursday, the prosecuting attorney for Madison County filed his Second Objection to Defendant's Declared Motion for Bond Reduction.
Attorney Rob H Wood laid out the state's case against the defendant in the eight-page filing, and closed out the brief with a perfect summary of the case.
Due to the fact that Defendant’s sworn Declaration in Support of Defendant’s Amended
Motion for Bond Reduction omits material and relevant facts, makes false assertions, fails to
articulate standard by Which relief should be granted and fails to articulate any substantial
prejudice, the State again respectfully requests that the Court deny the Defendant’s motion for bond reduction. The State again encourages the Court to require the Defendant to comply with
the court order to produce her children as condition of any further bail reduction.
The demand to produce her children comes a month after it was revealed that Vallow thought the two youngsters might be "zombies."
ANOTHER HEAD HANGS LOWLY CHILD IS SLOWLY TAKEN
That is according to court filing from Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of the cult mom's niece Melani, which also claims Vallow also believed kids Tylee and JJ "needed to die".
Those troubling claims were uncovered after Boudreaux claimed to have obtained a detailed affidavit written by his ex-wife Melani's new husband Ian Pawlowski.
In this new document, Ian details everything he claims to have learned about the religious group Lori was running and information his wife Melani had told him over the course of their relationship.
The most shocking of those revelations had to do with Lori's children.
"Melani had been told by Chad and Lori that her children had been possessed and had become zombies," reads the document, which the East Idaho news claims was written by Ian.
"She shared concerns that she’s been told Brandon needed to die and that may indicate that Tylee and JJ needed to die as well," the court filing reads.
The talk then allegedly got far darker according to the document.
"She told me she was worried that [Lori's brother Alex] may have had to 'take care' of the kids. She explained that [her brother] had great faith and never wavered in his trust in the Lord. No task would be too difficult or great for him."
Ian shared most of this with police but still maintained his relationship with Melani, whom he believes played no role in any sinister plots based on conversations the two had over the past year.
HOLY WRIT
It was alleged in court documents filed back in 2019 that Lori referred to her fourth husband Charles as "Nick Schneider" and said "Nick had killed Father and taken his identity."
Charles Vallow submitted a Motion For Order to Appear in February of last year, shortly after filing for divorce from Lori and receiving an order of protection against his then-estranged wife.
He said in the filing that Lori "kept referring to Father as ‘Nick Schneider’ instead of Father’s name" during one business trip.
When Charles asked who that was, Lori allegedly "told him that Nick was Father’s real name because Nick had killed Father and taken his identity."
Lori then threatened Charles' life he said in his 2018 motion.
"Mother proceeded to warn Father that she would kill him upon his return home and had an angel there to help her dispose of the body," .
"She also mentioned that she could not trust Father and that she would not only kill him but would destroy him financially. Since that conversation Mother’s communications with Father have been rare and intermittent."
Lori followed through with that according to Charles.
RECKONING
He came home to find his truck had been taken from the airport parking lot, which resulted in him having to get a ride to his home he claimed in his court filing.
Once at the home he found his "desktop computer ... clothes and underwear, JJ's clothes, the service dog's collar, JJ's medication" and the boy's iPad were all gone from the home.
Charles' attempts to recover these things, and his $35,000, all proved to be fruitless, which is why he filed the motion he said in court documents.
At the same time, Charles was working to get Lori help despite her pushing back on the notion.
He even requested a voluntary 72 hour hold at a local clinic but Lori refused to appear because he claimed "they would discover that she is a translated being."
He filed the motion after discovering that Lori transferred $35,000 out of his business account while refusing to return the computer, clothing, car and other possessions she stole from his home in Arizona.
Charles never did get the money or his possessions back, and that Order of Protection did not stop Lori's brother Alex Cox from shooting him dead this past July in what the gunman later claimed was an act of self-defense.
The court filings also reveal that Charles had petitioned the court for sole legal custody of the couple's minor son Joshua, and asked that Lori only be able to see the boy if those visits were supervised by a court-designated official.
VANISHED
JJ was reported missing just a few months after his father's death.
He was last seen in September, and Charles's sister Kay was the first person to report the boy missing.
Kay had reason to be concerned for the boy's well being based on what her brother claimed in his motion, especially the conversation regarding his new identity.
It was not until Idaho police were contacted by JJ's aunt Kay that authorities were alerted to their disappearance.
Although JJ has been reported missing, Tylee has never been officially declared a missing person.
ON THE RUN
Police say the couple told one individual that Tylee had died a year before her father, while Chad said she had no minor children.
Vallow failed to comply with a January court order to produce her kids in five days and has had little to say about where they are.
After being questioned by Idaho cops, she bolted to Hawaii with religious author Daybell, who is a member of the Latter Day Saints Church.
Vallow and Daybell were married just a few weeks after the children were last seen - and both of their spouses have died in mysterious circumstances.
She reportedly became obsessed with his work heralding the end of the world while still living with her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Charles was shot dead by Vallow's brother Alex Cox, who then died in December, while Daybell's wife - and the mother of his five kids - Tammy also died.
When a judge questioned her last month, Lori looked smug, disinterested and aloof despite facing a sentence that could put her behind bars for her natural born life.
'LIES'
Cops now believe Lori and her fifth husband "repeatedly lied" about the children's whereabouts after searching their rented car and condo.
They had been living in Hawaii since mid-December, leaving less than 24 hours after Idaho police questioned them about the whereabouts of Tylee and JJ.
Lori claimed her son was with other family members in Arizona, and then took off before cops could investigate further.
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They issued a statement though their lawyer denying the allegations against them, and dismissing the claims as nothing more than "speculation and rumor."
The two were staying in a million-dollar home in Princeville prior to their arrest.
Photos taken by people on the island showed them shopping, at the liquor store and island hopping during this time without a care in the world.