Lori Vallow files notice of appeal against murder conviction

The ‘Doomsday mom’ was found guilty in May of killing 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her husband’s former wife Tammy Daybell

Lori Vallow’s defence attorneys have filed a notice of appeal a month after she was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of her two children and her husband’s former wife.

After a grueling weeks-long trial, the so-called “Doomsday Mom” was found guilty in May of killing 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. Their bodies were found buried in the backyard of her husband Chad Daybell in Rexburg, Idaho.

She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her husband’s former wife Tammy Daybell.

Vallow married Daybell in November 2019 less than two weeks after his wife Tammy died of what was believed to be natural causes. Her body was later exhumed and it was determined she died of asphyxiation.

Lori Vallow is seen in a mug shot taken after her sentencing in Idaho (Idaho Department of Corrections)

This photo of Tylee Ryan and her brother Joshua “JJ” Vallow with their uncle Alex Cox was taken days before they were killed (Handout)

The case drew nationwide attention when Vallow’s children went missing in September 2019. Nine months later, their bodies were found buried in Mr Daybell’s backyard in June 2020.

They were both charged with murder and conspiracy in the death of her children and conspiracy to kill Tammy, and after three years of delays and weeks of harrowing testimony, Vallow stood trial in May.

JJ, who had autism, had been smothered with a plastic bag taped over his face, his little body still dressed in a pair of red pyjamas. Tylee’s cause of death meanwhile has been impossible to establish as the teenager’s dismembered, charred bones and body parts were found scattered in the ground on Mr Daybell’s pet cemetery.

This bizarre spate of disappearances and deaths came just months after Vallow’s fourth husband Charles Vallow was shot dead by Vallow’s brother Alex Cox in Arizona in July 2019.

Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs signed an extradition request for Vallow to be brought back to Maricopa County to face charges in connection to the death of Charles Vallow.

She could also face charges in the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux, who was the husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece.

Chad Daybell appears during a court hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, in August 2020 (Post Register)

Prosecutors in Idaho accused Vallow, Mr Daybell and Cox of conspiring to kill people who were “obstacles” to Mr Daybell and Vallow’s relationship. Two months later, she was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.

Mr Daybell is expected to stand trial in April 2024. He is not facing any charges in Arizona.