Prosecutors seeking the death penalty for so-called “cult mother” Lori Vallow Daybell have filed motions opposing “strategy sessions” between her and her husband, Charles Daybell, who will go on trial in April for allegedly murdering the two. children of Lori and Charles. ‘ ex wife.
Vallow Daybell’s attorney filed a motion last week asking the judge to allow meetings between the defendants, saying the conversations will not be recorded and not admitted into evidence.
“With proposed settlements, mediation, motions and trial fast approaching, Lori and Chad would like to be able to speak together in person and over the phone about their options,” their attorneys wrote.
Lori Vallow Daybell, front, second right, and her defense team wait to leave the courtroom during their hearing in Rexburg, Idaho.
(John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool)
Prosecutors wrote in a motion opposing the strategy sessions that they have “serious reservations” about the two defendants communicating directly with each other.
“While the State recognizes that defendants may communicate through their attorneys, and may also strategize together through their attorneys, to which the State would not be a party or participate, there is no inherent right or privilege for those accused of having direct access to communication,” prosecutors wrote.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges in connection with the deaths of Lori’s children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, who were seen by Last time in September 2019.
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They also face charges in connection with the death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell, who died in October 2019.
A stock photo provided by the Rexburg, Idaho Police Department shows Chad Daybell, who was arrested Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
(Rexburg Police Department via AP)
Vallow Daybell also faces charges related to the July 2019 death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, in Arizona.
The two defendants are at the center of a case that spans multiple states and includes bizarre doomsday religious beliefs.
Vallow Daybell reportedly believed she was “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at the second coming of Christ in July 2020,” according to court documents her late ex-husband filed in divorce court. Chad Daybell is the author of multiple apocalyptic novels related to Mormon theology.
Lori Vallow Daybell smiled in and out of an Idaho courthouse on August 16.
(Tony Blakeslee/Eastern Idaho News)
Vallow Daybell’s lawyers filed a motion earlier this month offering an alibi, writing that she was in her own apartment when her children died in her brother’s apartment.
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Prosecutors argued that the death penalty is justified because “the facts of this case are egregious and egregious.”
“The evidence that the state will present at trial, some of which has already been reviewed by a grand jury, will establish that the defendant intended for her children and her boyfriend’s wife to die, and that she acted affirmatively so that those deaths occurred,” prosecutors wrote. in a presentation last Thursday.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
