Warning: This post features explicit details of child abuse and death that could be triggering for some readers.
The latest true-crime documentary series gripping the world tells a very dark tale, that of a mother accused of murdering two of her children.
The confusing case of Lori Vallow is yet to come to its conclusion, with her trial - alongside husband Chad Daybell - scheduled for January, 2023.
However, the open-ended nature of the story hasn’t stopped director Skye Borgman from wanting to share the story, with her documentary, Sins of Our Mother, dropping on Netflix just this week.
Borgman is well-versed in telling true crime stories through her documentaries, but this year her three separate series have all taken a focus on parents who bring harm to their children.
We watched the story of Sharon Marshall in abject horror in The Girl in the Picture, and followed the strange unfolding of Anthony Templet’s history after he murdered his father in self-defence in the series I Just Killed My Father.
Borgman has now shone a light on Vallow and Daybell. The documentary has shot up the Netflix charts; the story being unravelled with the help of Colby Ryan, Vallow’s oldest and only surviving child.
Watch the trailer for The Sins of Our Mother. Post continues below.
Lori Vallow’s children.
Vallow seemed to be the vision of a doting mother to her three children for most of their lives.
Her eldest son, Colby, was born to Vallow and her second-husband, William Lagioia, but after that marriage came to an end, she took up with Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr, who adopted Colby as his son.
Her daughter Tylee was born to Vallow and Ryan in 2002, but when they split in 2005, she would go on to meet Charles Vallow, her fourth husband. Together, they adopted Joshua Jaxon ‘J.J.’ Vallow, who was actually Charles’ great-nephew. Together, the Ryan children and the Vallows lived as a blended family from 2006 up until 2019, when changes in Vallow’s behaviour led Charles to seek a divorce.
Vallow’s growing interest in ‘end times’.
More and more, Lori began turning to religion. Although she had grown up as part of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, she came back to the religion in the 2010s with renewed vigour, reading the literature published by Chad Daybell, which focused a lot on ‘end times’.
Daybell believed the apocalypse was imminent, and that all humans could be categorised as ‘light’ and ‘dark’. While ‘dark’ individuals were possessed by the devil, he identified ‘light’ individuals as the followers of Jesus Christ.
In 2018, Lori met Chad for the first time at an event, where he told her he believed they’d been married in seven previous lifetimes. The two remained in contact, and Lori’s behaviour at home began to get stranger. She told Charles that she no longer cared for him or J.J., and that she believed she was the reincarnated wife of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saints.
In February 2019, Lori vanished for 58 days, prompting Charles to file for divorce, stating that Lori had threatened to murder him. This also resulted in a filing for an order of protection against her.
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The death of Vallow and Daybell’s partners.
Just a few months later, Charles Vallow was killed by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox.
He was shot during an altercation, with Cox claiming it was an act of self-defence. His story was corroborated by both Tylee and J.J., who saw the pair beginning to argue.
Charles had two sons from a previous marriage, who were notified of his death by a text from Vallow. Just days later, she attempted to claim his $1 million life insurance policy, only to find she was no longer the beneficiary. In 2021, a grand jury would indict Vallow on conspiracy to murder Charles.
A few months after his death, in October 2019, Chad’s wife, Tammy, also died - with the incident being attributed to natural causes. However, her body was later exhumed for autopsy, but the results have not been made publicly available.
Chad and Lori will stand trial for the murder of Tammy, as well as Tylee and J.J., in 2023, so it’s likely the results will be discussed in the January trial.
Lori Vallow’s marriage to Chad Daybell.
Just two weeks after the death of Tammy, Vallow and Daybell got married in Hawaii, with a ring that had been purchased on Amazon using the account of the deceased Charles Vallow.
Her children were not present at this time, and concerns about their whereabouts were growing. J.J. had been pulled out of school in September 2019, with Vallow telling his school that he would be homeschooled from then on.
Tylee had last been seen publicly that same month, having been photographed at Yellowstone National Park with J.J., her mother, and her uncle. Two Venmo payments were made from Tylee’s account to her older brother Colby in October, but the pair did not speak.
The disappearance of Tylee and J.J.
Three weeks later, police visited Lori’s home in Rexburg, Idaho, in search of the children.
J.J.’s grandmother has asked them to conduct a welfare check on J.J., even though Lori had insisted to police that the young boy was with family in Arizona.
The home was abandoned by the time the police arrived to look around, and a neighbour has said they saw Lori and her brother packing a truck out the front just the night before.
As the search began for the two children, authorities would eventually find a storage locker hired by Lori in October 2019, which was filled with items belonging to her two children.
However, it wasn’t until June of 2020 that a search of the Daybell home resulted in the discovery of human remains buried in the backyard, later confirmed to be Tylee and J.J.
The charges against Vallow and Daybell.
While the pair have been charged with multiple offences, they will stand trial for the murders of J.J. Tylee, and Daybell’s wife Tammy in January 2023.
Daybell stands charged on three counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of conspiracy. Vallow will be tried on the same charges, although one less count of first-degree murder than her husband. They have both pleaded not-guilty.
While this true crime story is particularly dark, and will likely leave viewers unsettled as they remember this is someone’s real life, Borgman has said she wanted to create the film to show that intervention could have changed everything.
“I would hope that what people take away from this film is that they can really see how many times Lori could have been stopped or could have been helped," she told E! News.
"There could have been some kind of intervention I think, from many of the family members, from law enforcement, from friends.
“These things can be stopped… and if something's wrong, if you feel like they're red flags, keep being loud about it."
You can stream Sins of Our Mother on Netflix.
If this post brings up any issues for you, you can contact Bravehearts (an organisation providing support to victims of child abuse) here.If you are concerned about the welfare of a child you can get advice from the Child Abuse Protection Hotline by calling 1800 688 009, or visiting their website. You can also call the 24- hour Child Abuse Report Line (131 478).
Feature image: Netflix.