PHOENIX (Court TV) — Lori Vallow Daybell told an Arizona judge on Tuesday she’s determined to stand trial for murder as planned on March 31 — even if her defense isn’t ready.
Lori Daybell appears in court for a pretrial hearing Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Court TV)
Lori was sentenced to life in prison in Idaho for murdering her two youngest children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and conspiring to kill her fifth husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. Now she’s in Arizona, acting as her own attorney on charges in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and conspiring in an attempt to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux.
The two cases in Arizona are being tried separately, with Lori scheduled to stand trial for Vallow’s murder first. Jury selection begins March 31.
Lori was in court with advisory counsel and Maricopa County prosecutors to address outstanding discovery requests and trial logistics. The discussions revealed that Lori is considering testifying in her defense and wants to call East Idaho News Reporter Nate Eaton as a witness.
It also came up that with just two weeks before trial Lori wants a digital forensics expert to examine her late former husband’s phone and other pieces of evidence that she alleges she has yet to receive from prosecutors or prior attorneys who withdrew from representing her.
Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky expressed doubt that her expert would be able to complete an investigation and share his findings with prosecutors in time for trial. The judge also reminded Lori that he may decide to exclude her expert’s findings if prosecutors convince him it’s not admissible for any number of reasons, including untimeliness.
“I understand that your honor. And, I’m hoping he can do it in an expedited manner,” Lori said, adding that her request for an expert was only approved last week.
“You’re the one pressing for your speedy trial, so you kind of have to make a decision … you want to go to trial or have that work you want? Because I don’t think both are going to happen,” the judge told Lori. “This is one of the things where you have to weigh your options on whether it’s worth it to get a continuance so you can have your defense do the work that you want done.”
Lori responded that she wanted to proceed to trial at the end of the month even if it meant her expert was unable to complete his investigation and despite the possibility that his findings may be excluded from trial.
“I understand that is the rule and I understand how unfair and prejudicial that would be to me,” Lori told the judge.
Deputy County Attorney Treena Kay disputed Lori’s claim that they did not have Charles’ phone or Gilbert Police footage, which Lori had also requested. Kay said the prosecution handed over everything they had to Lori’s prior counsel, who withdrew from the case in 2024. Beresky agreed to issue an order directing Lori’s former attorneys to hand over everything they had after Lori accused them of withholding evidence and failing “to do anything” to help her current defense.
The specter of Lori’s Idaho trial for the deaths of her children came up during discussions of jury selection.
Prosecutor Kay said there was no way to avoid mentioning JJ, Tylee or Lori’s convictions to ensure potential jurors would be unaffected by pretrial publicity, including coverage of her Idaho trial.
The judge agreed and proposed adding JJ and Tylee’s names to a section of the questionnaire concerning familiarity with people connected to the case, a suggestion Lori agreed to. The parties, however, did not address how they intended to handle Lori’s convictions during the trial.
In another matter concerning defense witnesses, Kay expressed concern that the prosecution would be unable to locate and interview 21 people on Lori’s witness list, including Eaton.
Lori argued that her witnesses had already been interviewed by prosecutors except for Eaton.
The parties are due back in court on March 31 to kick off the trial by discussing the jury questionnaire responses. Before then, the prosecution is expected to update the court on their progress with witness interviews.
