Lori Vallow smiled today as she was led away in chains after appearing in an Arizona court accused of murdering her fourth husband Charles Vallow.
The 'doomsday cult mother' – who was convicted in May of murdering her two children Tylee, 16, and JJ, 7, is accused of conspiring with her brother Alex Cox to kill Charles in July 2019, and of planning to to kill her niece's husband, Brandon, Boudreaux.
Vallow was extradited from Idaho to Arizona last week to face the charges. She was charged in Vallow's death in June 2021 and Boudreaux's planned murder in February 2022.
The alleged plans to kill her relatives came when Vallow became obsessed with the twisted apocalyptic prophecies of author Chad Daybell – whom she would marry shortly after Charles' alleged murder.
Tylee and JJ's bodies were found in the yard of Daybell's property in June 2020, and he will also stand trial for their murders in April 2024.
Lori Vallow, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, grinned as she appeared in court Thursday to face two counts of conspiring to kill her fourth husband Charles Vallow and her niece's husband, Brandon Boudreaux
Vallow is accused of plotting the murders when she fell into violent religious fanaticism, believing her relatives had become possessed by zombies as the apocalypse loomed.
Chad Daybell enters the courtroom during his preliminary hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, on Monday, August 3, 2020. He will stand trial for the murders of Vallow's children in April 2024.
Vallow was convicted in May of killing her children, seven-year-old Joshua (JJ), right, and 16-year-old Tylee, left. The children went missing in September 2019, but were not found until June 2020
Vallow appeared only briefly Thursday, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison jumpsuit, giving her name and admitting to the charges against her.
She was booked into the Maricopa County Jail after her extradition last week, where she is being held without bond.
The additional charges against her come after a grand jury indicted Vallow in 2021 in connection with the murder of Charles, who was fatally shot by Cox in her Arizona home.
Cox, who died of natural causes in December 2019, insisted he shot and killed Charles in self-defense, but prosecutors allege this was planned because the brother and sister were both descending into apocalypse belief.
It is said that Vallow and Cox, both devout Mormons, were convinced that the end times were imminent, and that their relatives had become possessed by zombies and believed that they could save them by killing them.
Prosecutors allege that the religious fanaticism was an excuse used by the family to carry out the murders.
The alleged plot also allegedly involved Vallow planning to kill her niece's husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot but not hit from a moving car in October 2019, shortly after JJ and Tylee were last seen alive.
Boudreaux reportedly told investigators at the time that he believed Cox was behind the wheel.
Lori Vallow's fourth husband Charles (pictured) was fatally shot in July 2019, with prosecutors alleging he was killed as part of a violent religious plot
Charles Vallow was shot by Lori's brother Alex Cox (pictured), who claimed he killed in self-defense. He has also been linked to several other murders linked to Vallow, and died of natural causes in December 2019
Brandon Boudreaux (left), the husband of Lori Vallow's niece Melani Boudreaux (right), was shot in October 2019, allegedly in an attempted murder related to Vallow's beliefs in the apocalypse
Vallow denied murdering her children when she was convicted earlier this year, saying at her sentencing that she was not responsible for their deaths.
“Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here,” she said. 'No one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Deadly drug side effects happen.”
The two children were last seen alive in September 2019, but their remains were not discovered until police searched Daybell's backyard in June 2020.
Daybell, the author of numerous fantasy books warning of the end times, is accused of being involved in the murders linked to his wild theories – including that God would spare only 144,000 people when the apocalypse struck in July 2020.
Court documents alleged that Vallow wanted to get rid of her family to be ready for Christ's return, and “she had a more important mission to perform.”