An ex-friend of Lori Vallow Daybell, who is the mother accused of murdering her two children and conspiring to kill her husband’s ex-wife, described how her religious views drastically changed over the years.
Vallow Daybell was once a traditional Mormon, but after meeting her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, who faces trial later this year for the same murders, the Idaho mother’s religious views became dark and disturbing, according to Melanie Gibb, a former friend of Vallow Daybell. She testified on Thursday that Lori believed people fell within a scale ranging from “light” to “dark,” who either “signed contracts” with Jesus Christ or Satan.
Vallow Daybell, who is currently on trial for murdering her daughter Tylee and her adopted son J.J., told Gibb in September 2019 that her son had become “dark,” Gibb testified, according to People Magazine. Vallow Daybell reportedly told Gibb that Tylee had become “dark” earlier in the year.
“She let me know that J.J. now had an evil spirit in him,” Gibb testified on Thursday. “She learned it the day before.”
Just two months after Vallow Daybell said J.J. had gone “dark,” the children disappeared and were never seen alive again.
Gibb also testified that Vallow Daybell told her J.J., who was autistic, had become more “difficult” and had allegedly said “I love Satan.”
Vallow Daybell allegedly also told Gibb at that time that Tylee was attending Brigham Young University, but she never attended, People reported.
Gibb had previously told Dateline NBC that she believed Chad Daybell was “the hand” and Lori was “the puppet on that hand.”
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“They were both like gasoline and fire — equally destructive to each other,” Gibb said at the time.
Gibb also previously said that Vallow Daybell described her children as zombies and that her and Chad’s mission was to remove zombies from the world.
Jurors on Thursday also heard a phone call between Vallow Daybell and Gibb, recorded in December 2019 – after the children had gone missing.
“I’m not telling anybody where he is, so I can keep him as safe as possible,” Vallow Daybell said during the call, referring to J.J.
“He is safe and happy,” she added.
On Tuesday, Rexburg, Idaho, police detective Ray Hermosillo provided graphic details about the day authorities discovered the bodies of Vallow Daybell’s children. Vallow Daybell’s defense team then asked if she could be dismissed from the courtroom, but the request was denied.
Tylee’s body was found to be burned, while J.J.’s was wrapped in plastic and placed in a shallow grave, The Daily Beast reported.
Lori and Chad are both charged with murdering Vallow Daybell’s children as well as Chad’s ex-wife Tammy.
The pair was charged on May 25, 2021, but the trial is just getting started, 12 News reported. Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake opened the state’s case by saying it was all about “money, power, and sex” for Vallow.
“Lori used money, power and sex or the promise of those things to get what she wanted,” Blake said, according to People Magazine.