"I appreciate it, it's very supportive to say the least," he told Insider.Īs he spoke, two women who sat with him in court - providing him snacks, water, and company - walked over. On an afternoon break in the trial's second week, JJ Vallow's grandfather Larry Woodcock, a gregarious pony-tailed man in a denim suit who greets regular spectators with hugs, said he is grateful for the in-person interest. Nate Schweber/for Insider Some spectators surround Kay and Larry Woodcock, the kids' grandparents "There is a proprietary air to it," she said.Ī photo of a spectator's dog, which she named after JJ Vallow. Hellis told Insider that some of her fellow spectators are sharp-elbowed and competitive. She has since attempted to start a hashtag campaign: #freethegoodlori. Outside the Ada County Courthouse, Hellis denied taking photos, as well as a report online that she had protested her expulsion by asking: "Do you know who I am?" That spectator was Lori Hellis, of Meridian, Idaho, who is writing a book about the case, vlogs it on her YouTube channel, and owns the domain. "We do have a participant who has caused a disruption," Judge Steven Boyce said from the bench, as bailiffs escorted a woman in turquoise jewelry carrying a lime green handbag out of the courtroom. One morning in April, illicit photography delayed the start of testimony. Court officers have to routinely remind murder-mavens not to secretly take cellphone photos of Vallow, or of what one bailiff called the case's "very nervous jurors." Spectators have swiped courtroom seats from reporters away on bathroom breaks. Public fascination with the case, which is already the subject of a book,"When the Moon Turns to Blood," and Netflix series, has strained court employees and journalists. Cheney via AP True-crime lovers have snapped illicit photos in the Lori Vallow trial, disrupting testimony This courtroom sketch, from left, depicts Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood, Lori Vallow Daybell and defense attorney Jim Archibald during opening statements of Vallow Daybell's murder trial in Boise, Idaho. buried under Daybell's Salem, Idaho, back pasture. Two weeks later, Vallow and Daybell wed on a Hawaiian beach, and in June 2020 police found the mutilated remains of Tylee and J.J. In October 2019, Daybell's wife of 28 years was found dead. Cox died in 2019 of natural causes.īy the fall of 2019, after she moved to Idaho, police began their more than six month search for the missing children. She is charged there for conspiring with her brother to carry out the killing. In July 2019, prosecutors say, Vallow's brother Alex Cox shot and killed her estranged husband Charles Vallow in Chandler, Arizona. They say Daybell, whom Vallow eventually married, convinced her that her family could be possessed by dark spirits and turned into "zombies" - which only death could cure. Prosecutors say that Vallow met Daybell - a one-time gravedigger who promoted his cultish doomsday beliefs in novels and on podcasts - in 2018. East Idaho News/Tony Blakesleeĭetails revealed in the trial have brought tears, gasps, and visible emotional distress to those in the courtroom. Lori Vallow smiles at a camera after appearing in court on murder charges. Some say the case has disrupted their lives and caused them to question their faith. The opportunity to see the trial was enough to lure some court viewers out of bed before dawn so they could drive hours before the start of testimony each day. She and Daybell are also charged in the killing of Daybell's wife, Tammy. Tylee went missing days before her 17th birthday. Vallow has pleaded not guilty to conspiring with her fifth husband and her brother to kill her 7-year-old adopted son JJ Vallow and teenage daughter Tylee Ryan. Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are accused by prosecutors in Idaho and Arizona of perpetrating a killing spree and collecting the life insurance of the victims. "Women don't usually kill their children," Ronett Thomas, 54, told Insider about why she went to watch a trial in-person for the first time in her life. Many of those trial pilgrims told Insider they were drawn to the Vallow case because it has something that many true crime stories, including most of those featured on hit podcasts like "Serial" and "My Favorite Murder," do not - a mother defendant. The seats tend to be filled in minutes.Ī majority of these spectators - more than 40 on a slow day - have been women. Competition for those spots among spectators and journalists is fierce. There are around 60 seats inside the wood-paneled courtroom, which features views of the state capital, snowy mountains, and the "cult mom" herself.
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