Lori Vallow’s bail reduced to $1 million

The latest on the case from our sister station, KIFI, in Idaho Falls

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) – A judge on Friday reduced Lori Vallow's bail during her first court appearance since returning to Idaho from Hawaii.

For the third time, Vallow requested her bail be lowered. Her attorney requested it be lowered to $10,000 and contended the amount had been set too high because of media attention.

“Lori is presumed innocent as she stands before the court today. The fact that she is presumed innocent is not a loose guideline. It’s a foundational principle of the American Criminal Justice System,” Vallow’s defense attorney Edwina Elcox said.

Wearing faded orange-and-white striped jail garb and bright pink lipstick, Lori Vallow Daybell spoke little but nodded emphatically whenever her attorneys mentioned her desire to vigorously defend herself against the child abandonment charges.

She told the judge she preferred to use her new last name “Daybell” rather than Vallow, as she has been listed in some court documents. Her new husband Chad Daybell sat behind her in the small, packed courtroom.

On the other side of the room were Kay and Larry Woodcock, the grandparents of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow. He and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, were last seen in September and police in eastern Idaho say both Lori Daybell and her husband have lied about the children’s whereabouts.

The couple left Idaho the day after police came to question them about the children in late November, and Lori Daybell was arrested in Hawaii last month on an Idaho warrant. She waived extradition and made her first appearance in Idaho before Magistrate Judge Faren Eddins.

Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood told the judge Lori Daybell had already defied one court order when she refused to take her children to Idaho authorities in February. He also noted that she’s continued to collect Social Security payments meant for both children, even though they haven’t been seen for months.

“This case didn’t start as a criminal case. It started as a report of two missing children, who are still missing,” Wood said, detailing three mysterious deaths, Daybell’s sudden move to Hawaii and her alleged efforts to convince a friend to lie to police about the whereabouts of the children.

“Since this last summer there has been an alarming pattern in the defendant’s life,” Wood said.

“Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. She has already disobeyed this court’s order, and so we have no reason to believe that if she were to be released, she would continue in unlawful behavior,” Wood said.

Daybell’s attorney Edwina Elcox told the judge the $5 million bond initially set by a Hawaii judge before her extradition was excessively high. A recent murder case in the same area of Idaho only had bond set at $1 million, Elcox said.

“A bond set this high denies Lori due process,” Elcox told the judge, suggesting the high amount was a reaction to the large amount of news coverage the case has generated. Child desertion charges are so rare in Idaho that she’s never seen a case in a decade of practicing law, Elcox said.

“It is abundantly clear the prosecutor just needed to find a charge to fit this case because of all the media attention in this matter,” she said.

Magistrate Judge Faren Eddins agreed that the bond should be reduced but also said he wanted Daybell closely monitored.

“One specific thing that the court notes in setting such a high bail amount is that there is a pending court order, and to my knowledge, there has been nothing set for regarding obedience to that court order pertaining to lining out where the two children are at the Department of Health and Wealthfare or the Rexburg Police Department,” Judge Eddins said.

If bail is posted, the following conditions are ordered:

• There will need to be a waiver of extradition signed from any and all jurisdictions to be brought back to the court.
• Vallow may not leave Bonneville, Jefferson, Madison and Fremont counties.
• An ankle monitor must be placed on Vallow to be monitored 24/7.
• Vallow must appear to all court appearances, maintain contact with counsel and abide by all the laws of the state, country county and city.

Vallow’s preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 18 and 19.

The courtroom could only hold 72 people and seating was first come first serve.

Below is a photo of the overflow media room.

The missing children, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, were last seen in September. Vallow and her husband fled Idaho when investigators started looking into their disappearance, police have said.

Investigations have said the tangled case stretches across the Western U.S. and includes probes into three mysterious deaths. Lori Daybell’s estranged late husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by Lori’s brother Alex Cox in Phoenix last July. Cox, who said the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes several months later.

Lori Daybell’s new husband, meanwhile, became a widower just two weeks before he married Lori Daybell. Chad Daybell’s late wife Tammy died in October, and though her obituary said the death was from natural causes, law enforcement became suspicious when Daybell quickly remarried. Tammy Daybell’s remains have been exhumed but the autopsy report has not yet been released.

The FBI and the Rexburg Police Department are asking that visitors who were at Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 8, 2019, submit any photos and video that may assist in the investigation.

The FBI has established a website for the public to upload photos and video:  FBI.gov/Rexburg.

You are asked to continue reporting tips in this case to the Rexburg Police Department at (208) 359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-8435678 (1-800-THE-LOST).