Closing arguments to start in Lori Vallow Daybell murder conspiracy trial

PHOENIX — Closing arguments in Lori Vallow Daybell’s murder conspiracy case started Monday afternoon in Arizona.

Vallow Daybell is on trial for conspiring with her brother to kill her former husband, Charles Vallow. She’s representing herself. 

The last she told the judge, Vallow Daybell will not be taking the stand to testify in her defense.

CLOSING ARGUMENTS: What to expect in Lori Vallow Daybell’s Closing Arguments

3:11 PM – The case goes to the jury to begin deliberations.

2:50 PM – Vallow Daybell says she, her brother and Tylee cooperated with police and answered all questions.   She encourages the jury to watch the video of her interview with Detective Ynclan.

“It’s important for you to determine for yourself my demeanor.. you can see it with your own eeys and hear it with your own ears

2:48 PM – Vallow Daybell emphasizes that self-defense is not a crime in Arizona. 

The state objects a few times when Vallow Daybell starts talking about what happened that day, saying she’s testifying. The judge sustains.

2:45 PM – Lori Vallow Daybell starts her closing argument.  She reminds the jury that defendants are presumed innocent and that the burden of proof is on the state.   She references jury instructions.

“If the state fails to carry this burden,” she says. “You mist find the defendant not guilty.’

2:29 PM – The state wraps its closing argument and the jury goes on a 15 minute recess.

2:23 PM – The judge interrupts and says he need to give the court reporter a break unless Kay will be done in the next 5 minutes.  She says she will be. 

2:15 PM – The prosecutor goes back to the social security testimony and Lori Vallow Daybell’s call with the life insurance agent, where Vallow Daybell tries to get more information after learning she is not the beneficiary.

Prosecutor has been giving her closing argument for about 90 minutes now.  Some jurors look fidgety, but all are looking forward and appear to be paying attention.

I asked 12News legal expert Hector Diaz what’s average for closing arguments.  He told me that typically you don’t want closings to go over an hour, unless there’s a lot of evidence – then 90-minutes is acceptable. 

2:00 PM – Kay plays a clip from Lori’s interview with a detective after the shooting.  She said Lori took Charles’ phone to provoke him and to get him in the house without their son JJ.

“This defendant is the person who set up Charles so her brother could shoot him,” Kay said. 

1:50 PM – “Unlike Nephi…,” Kay tells the jury, “this murder is not justified.”

She continues to talk to the jury about elements of a conspiracy. 

1:47 PM – Kay continues to move around the microphone so sometimes she’s hard to hear from the back of the courtroom. I believe she just said:

“Words, actions, motive, physical evidence all tell you what happened that morning.”

1:45 PM – The prosecutor tells the jury that Charles Vallow was on the ground, on his back when he was shot the second time.

1:29 PM – Treena Kay continues laying out all the evidence presented during the trial. She talks with the jury about circumstantial evidence, burden of proof and premeditation.

She plays the clip from when Lori’s other brother, Adam Cox, explained the story of Nephi in the Book of Mormon as a justified killing.  

Kay said Lori and her brother Alex Cox thought they would be like Nephi.

1:19 PM – The prosecutor is playing clips from witness testimony to try and prove that Lori Vallow Daybell was twisting religion to justify killing Charles.  She plays a clip from Lori’s other brother, Adam Cox, who said Lori thought she was a translated being.

She also played a clip from witness Sarena Sharp who testified that Lori thought she didn’t have to repent and that her husband Charles was possessed.

1:08 PM – The prosecutor lays out the motives, according to the state, in a power point:

• MONEY
• CHAD DAYBELL
• RELIGIOUS BELIEFS (Twisted to justify murder)

1:06 PM – Now the jury is hearing about Lori Vallow Daybell returning to the home after the shooting. The prosecutor tells them that she kept Charles’ phone for hours and went through it after he died.

1:04 PM – The prosecutor tells the jury that Alex Cox waited 47 minutes to call 911 after he shot Charles Vallow. She said he called Lori twice in that timeframe.  She’s describing this while showing a bodycam still shot of Charles Vallow’s body lying on the floor.

1:02 PM – Kay said she’s going to lay out the timeline, motives and evidence for the jury.

She walks the jury through all the evidence she presented.  Text messages between Lori and her brother Alex Cox; text messages between Lori and her (would-be) new husband Chad Daybell.

Kay tells the jury that Alex Cox went to Lori’s house the night before Charles’ death with clothing, his gun and ammunition.  

““He is ready for his mission,” Kay said.

12:46 PM – Back on the record.  The jury is brought in and the prosecutor starts her closing argument.

“Her words tell us that she’s involved in this killing,” Prosecutor Treena Kay tells the jury.

11:30 AM – The judge finishes jury instructions and jurors go to lunch. Both sides are due back in the courtroom around 12:40 PM local time, with closing arguments set to start at 1 PM.

11:05 AM – The judge tells the jury that they must assume the defendant is innocent. It’s up to the prosecutor to prove Vallow Daybell is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The jury is following along on jury instruction packets.  I see at least one using a highlighter to go over the instructions.

11:00 AM – The jury is brought into the courtroom.  The judge tells them that the state rested last week and turned it over to the defense.  

“The defense also rests, Your Honor,” Vallow Daybell tells the court.

The judge is reading jury instructions now.  Our understanding is that judge will finish reading the instructions, the court will break for an early lunch, and then court will resume around 1PM with closing statements.

10:54 AM – We’re waiting for the jury to come in.  The courtroom is full today.  The court staff have added a chair at the end of each row to make more room for people.  Up front, I see Kay Woodcock (Charles’ sister and JJ Vallow’s grandmother) as well as Brandon Boudreaux (the alleged victim in Vallow Daybell’s second murder conspiracy case in Arizona).

10:42 AM – Lori Vallow Daybell continues to press whether the jury will get her full interview with Detective Ynclan. The judge said the interview had a lot of hearsay and that the full version was not introduced in court. He said that either side could have clarified that when a witness was on the stand.

When asked if she has anything else to say, Vallow Daybell just said “That’s it,” in an exasperated voice. 

10:36 AM – Vallow Daybell tells the judge it is still her intention to rest.  She asks how the court will choose which jurors are alternates.  

Vallow Daybell also has a question about whether her full interview with Chandler Detective Ynclan is in evidence or just the snippets played in court.  The judge said just the snippets, the full interview was never admitted into evidence. 

10:31 AM – The judge is here and we are on the record. Both sides are reviewing changes to jury instructions. We’re expecting the jury to come in at 11 AM. 

10:29 AM – Media and the public are let inside the courtroom.  Lori Vallow Daybell is also in here now with a blue blazer. 

8:13 AM – Media and the public are lined up outside the courtroom. It seems like it’s going to be a full house today.  If Lori Vallow Daybell moves forward with resting her case, the jury will hearing jury instructions this morning.  Then, the court will break for lunch. Closing arguments are expected to start Monday afternoon.

For the past five years, there have been so many twists and turns in this case, from dead spouses to missing children to doomsday prophecies.  

Vallow Daybell has already been convicted in Idaho for murdering her children, Tylee and JJ. She was also convicted for her role in the death of Tammy Daybell, the first wife of her current husband, Chad Daybell.

Chad Daybell was also convicted in Idaho for murdering Lori’s children and his first wife, Tammy.  He was sentenced to death in that state.

RELATED: Week 1 recap: Lori Vallow Daybell trial focuses on dark beliefs, deadly motives

Now, Vallow Daybell is facing two conspiracy to commit murder charges in Arizona. The first is a case out of Chandler, where Vallow Daybell and her brother, Alex Cox, are accused of conspiring to kill Lori’s estranged former husband, Charles Vallow.

Vallow died in July 2019 after Vallow Daybell’s brother shot and killed him at her rental home in Chandler.

Testimony in this trial started in early April and appeared to wrap up late Wednesday last week.

The state resting its case in week two of the trial was not a surprise. But Lori Vallow Daybell, who had been fighting tooth and nail to get an expert and certain witnesses on her list, gave all indications she would put on a case.  

After the state rested, the jury left the courtroom. The judge asked Vallow Daybell, who is representing herself, what she wanted to do. She took a few moments to confer with her advisory team.  

She then put forth a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the state didn’t present enough evidence to convict her of the crime. The judge denied that motion. Then she told the judge she wanted to rest her case without calling witnesses or taking the stand herself.

But because the jury wasn’t in the room when she said it, she can technically change her mind before closing statements.

Vallow Daybell, disclosing she wanted to rest her case, came after seven days of evidence presented against her by the state.

Last week, the prosecutor revealed text messages between Lori and her brother discussing Charles being possessed by an evil spirit named “Ned.”

The state also showed the jury messages between Vallow Daybell and her new husband, Chad Daybell, including romantic messages after Vallow’s death and messages talking about how Vallow Daybell did not get life insurance money from her husband’s death because he changed the policy.

In the first week of testimony, the jury heard from key witnesses like Vallow Daybell’s other brother, Adam Cox, Vallow’s sister Kay Woodcock and a woman who went on a date with Vallow the night before he was killed.

Throughout the trial, Vallow Daybell cross-examined a number of witnesses. At times, she was argumentative, and the judge often had to stop her from giving her own testimony while asking questions.  She maintained throughout the trial that she and her brother were acting in self-defense.

Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, can’t be charged in this case because he died in December 2019 before charges were brought in court.

On Thursday last week, both sides met without the jury to go over what jury instructions for deliberation will look like.

Closing arguments are scheduled to start Monday, starting with jury instructions in the morning and statements in the afternoon.

Vallow Daybell is also facing a murder conspiracy charge out of Gilbert for a shooting attempt at her niece’s ex-husband, who ultimately wasn’t injured. That trial is expected to start in the weeks after this trial concludes.