Lori Vallow’s brother says he had ‘no doubt’ she conspired to kill her fourth husband

The brother of “doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell testified Thursday that when he learned of Charles Vallow’s death in 2019, he had “no doubt” she conspired to kill him.

Vallow Daybell, who is representing herself, is on trial over the July 11, 2019, death of her fourth husband, who was fatally shot by her other brother, Alex Cox, at her Chandler, Arizona, home. Alex Cox died later that year from a pulmonary embolism and was never charged.

Adam Cox, who was living in Kansas at the time of the shooting, testified in Maricopa County Superior Court that he flew to Arizona in July 2019 because he and Charles Vallow wanted to stage a surprise intervention on Vallow Daybell to address what he said were her strange religious comments.

According to Cox, his sister had said, “She was in the process of translating from a mortal human being to an immortal human being. Becoming a celestial being.” He said those remarks were outside what they believed as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Vallow Daybell also believed she held more spiritual authority than a priest and did not need to repent. Cox, 56, told the court that his sister stopped talking to him after he told her that her statements were not true.

Cox testified that he was supposed to stay with his brother, Alex Cox when he arrived in Arizona for the intervention, but Alex never picked him up from the airport and did not respond to his text messages.

On the day of the shooting, Charles Vallow texted Adam Cox to let him know that Alex was at Vallow Daybell’s house. Charles Vallow was at the home to take his son, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, to school.

“Alex being at Lori’s house that morning felt like something was really off,” Adam Cox told the court.

He said he believed the pair was planning something.

It wasn’t until days after the shooting that Adam Cox learned that Charles Vallow had been killed. He said he told his family that he believed his sister and brother had conspired to kill Charles Vallow.

“Lori had told people that Charles was no longer living, that some guy named ‘Ned’ was inside of his body, that there was a zombie living inside of him. And Alex didn’t respond to any of my text messages when I was supposed to be with him, and he was at that house that morning,” he testified on Thursday. “Lori talking crazy about how she’s a translated being — all these things all added up into that moment and that morning, once I found out on Saturday that Charles was shot and killed, no doubt in my mind that they killed him. That’s a feeling that I got.”

Vallow Daybell briefly cross-examined her brother on Thursday, asking him how long it had been since they had seen each other in person.

“I don’t know the year or how many years it’s been,” he said.

Vallow Daybell, who addressed him as “Mr. Cox,” then asked him if he had seen or personally witnessed her conspire with their brother Alex to kill her husband.

“No,” he responded.

During a redirect, Cox told prosecutor Treena Kay that after the shooting, he cut off all communication with his sister.

Vallow Daybell received multiple life sentences in Idaho in 2023 over the deaths of her two children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan.

Separately, she is charged with conspiring to kill Brandon Boudreaux, her niece’s estranged husband. A trial date has not been set, and she has pleaded not guilty.