BOISE, Idaho — Less than two weeks before the trial of Lori Vallow Daybell is scheduled to begin, prosecutors in the murder, conspiracy and theft case have outlined issues they have with her notice of alibi.
Vallow's defense team filed her notice of alibi in January -- nine months after she was expected to file it.
In the notice, Vallow states she was in her apartment with three other people when two of her children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, were killed in September 2019. The notice also states that Lori Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, killed the children in his apartment nearby. The children's remains were found in June 2020 on property belonging to Vallow's current husband, Chad Daybell. Cox died months after the children were reported missing and before their remains were found.
In the response filed Wednesday, attorneys with the Office of the Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney's Office argue that Vallow's defense had 10 days from the day she was arraigned in district court to file an alibi notice. Her arraignment was on April 19, 2022.
Prosecutors also argue that Vallow's alibi doesn't apply to charges of conspiracy to commit murder or grand theft.
"An alibi is similarly misplaced in charges where the defendant is charged with murder as a principal," prosecutors state in their filing.
Prosecutors wrote that they plan to call several witnesses and present business records to refute Vallow's alibi.
Lori Vallow Daybell's trial is scheduled to begin April 3 at the Ada County Courthouse. Although the case originated in Fremont County, Judge Steven Boyce in 2021 granted a change of venue, moving the trial out of eastern Idaho.
The trial will begin with jury selection, starting April 3 and expected to take about a week. The entire trial may take two months or more. If convicted, Vallow faces a possible sentence of life in prison.
In other new developments, the court considered and denied a request to make the trial available virtually via livestream. Judge Boyce noted that the in-person proceeding at the Ada County Courthouse also will be viewable in an overflow room there and in a designated courtroom at the Madison County Courthouse.
Under an order Boyce issued in September 2022, live or recorded video or still photographs are not allowed at the trial or at pretrial hearings in this case. The court order was in response to a motion filed by Vallow's attorneys.
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