This blog post contains all case information from July 1, 2020. For all background information prior to May 2020, please visit our first blog post here.
For information from May 2020 to June 30, 2020, please visit Part Two of our blog series here.
On July 1, the Vallow-Woodcock, Boudreaux and Ryan families released another statement:
On July 2, desertion charges against Lori were dropped. This was expected as you can’t desert a dead child :/ You can read more at the East Idaho Times article here.
On July 9, the Court decided that both Lori and Chad and their attorneys had the right to be present in the courtroom during their respective preliminary hearings. The courtroom is big enough for social distancing and measures will be taken to make it safe during the pandemic.
Chad’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8/3-8/4. Lori’s hearing is scheduled for 8/10-8/11.
On July 11, an Order to Seal motion was filed. The Court said some records may be sealed temporarily or permanently in the Lori Vallow case, if sealing them would “preserve a right to a fair trial.” According to Justin Lum:
On #3 of page 1, the Court finds the Defendant’s right to a fair trial to outweigh “public interest of disclosure in the matter of whether an attorney conflict of interest exists.”
Before the remains of JJ Vallow & Tylee Ryan were found on Chad Daybell’s property, Lori Vallow’s attorney Mark Means also represented her husband before charges were brought.
July 12, 2020 marked one year since Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Alex Cox. Colby made a post about the day:
Documents have been released that outline Tylee Ryan’s interaction with a treatment team in 2008-2009.
We found this tweet interesting. Apparently the son of the lead investigator on the case is married to Chad’s niece. Wow.
You can listen to this strange voicemail left by Julie Rowe:
On July 18, Judge Michelle Mallard made changes to Lori’s bail:
As we all know by now, Lori and Chad predicted that the world would end on July 22, 2020. Spoiler – we all survived!
On July 21, Special Prosecutor Rob Woods filed documents, asking that Lori’s preliminary hearing not be made public.
We learned more about how Lori and Chad spent the day of July 22, waiting for the world to end.
There was also more debate about allowing Chad’s preliminary hearing to be made public:
Luckily for us, a judge ruled that both hearings must be made public:
On July 28, the court also weighed in regarding a possible conflict of interest in the case. Judge Eddins ruled that Chad could proceed with his current counsel:
Chad’s preliminary hearing started on August 3. You can view Part One here:
Another link to the preliminary hearing:
During the hearing, audio from body cam footage was made public. According to KSLTV.com:
It showed officers the day they arrived at Lori Vallow’s townhouse in November 2019 to conduct a welfare check on JJ Vallow.
Lori Vallow can be heard telling detectives she and her brother, Alex Cox, moved to Rexburg in September.
“My older brother was in it with my husband, who was trying to kill me for my $2 million insurance policy,” Lori Vallow said.
“We got nothing,” Lori Vallow says in the recording. “For me, raising JJ and all the kids, got nothing. And everybody got nothing. She (Woodcock) got $1 million.”
Chad’s burden of proof was met at the preliminary hearing. His case will now go to trial.
We learned that on July 17, Lori’s legal team applied for a waiver for her preliminary hearing:
Sgt. Jason A. McClimans with the Chandler Police Department confirmed to 2News on Thursday that “if and when they go over to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, one [charge] will be conspiracy to commit murder.”
On August 8, Colby Ryan went to visit the memorial for Tylee and JJ that was outside Chad’s property in Rexburg. He found is had been removed by the Daybell family. Chad’s attorney paid to have the items removed.
Chad celebrated his 52nd birthday in jail:
Neighbors have set up a new memorial for Tylee and JJ, across the street from the Daybell property:
You can read more details about Lori’s arraignment here:
Mark Means issued a five-page response after church leaders Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring released a letter Aug. 4 with the subject ‘Involvement in Legal Proceedings.’
“We remind leaders and members of a long-standing policy that Church leaders should not involve themselves in civil or criminal cases regarding members in their units, quorums or organizations without first consulting with Church legal counsel,” part of the letter says. “However well intentioned, Church leaders sharing information in legal proceedings can sometimes be misinterpreted and even damaging.”
The First Presidency says if local leaders believe they should testify or communicate in a legal matter, they should first contact church attorneys in Salt Lake City.
On August 18, Justin Lum released more documents regarding the death of Joseph Ryan. We also saw a new photo of Tylee and her dad.
UPDATE: Lori Vallow’s arraignment in district court has been vacated and rescheduled for 9/10/20 at 10AM. She will appear in front of Judge Dane Watkins to face two counts of conspiracy to conceal, destroy or alter evidence. #fox10phoenix pic.twitter.com/lgRVobTs9Y
— Justin Lum (@jlumfox10) August 19, 2020
Great job including all the detail. WTG!