Oct. 29, 2024

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: Inside the Doomsday Cult That Shocked the World

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: Inside the Doomsday Cult That Shocked the World

The story today is getting really apocalyptic. We're diving into the mind-boggling, brain-bending saga of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, a duo that started with doomsday...

Show Notes
Transcript

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: Inside the Doomsday Cult That Shocked the World

The story today is getting really apocalyptic. We're diving into the mind-boggling, brain-bending saga of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, a duo that started with doomsday prophecies and ended in tragic deaths. Lori, a devout mother who would’ve been more at home leading a PTA bake sale, suddenly found herself elbow-deep in cultish chaos after discovering Chad’s post-apocalyptic fanfiction—er, “prophecies.” With kids missing, spouses suspiciously dropping like flies, and a trail of deception more twisted than a backwoods road, this is a true crime story that makes you wonder if the end times aren’t so far off after all. Spoiler alert: The bad guys aren’t great at hiding bodies.

Thanks for sticking around for another 10 Minute Murder episode! I'm seriously grateful. If you haven’t already, hit subscribe so you’re always in the loop for our next quick dive into true crime. Know someone who’s just as into this stuff? Share the podcast and let the bingeing begin. Want more? Follow on social media for behind-the-scenes looks, sneak peeks, and some extra content. Got a case suggestion, or just want to say hi? Shoot me an email—I'd love to hear from you!

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Welcome to ten Minute Murder, where today's story is proof

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that the apocalypse seems to be a great excuse for

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the worst decisions. Meet Laurie Valo, former beauty queen, devoted mom,

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and someone who really took the phrase the End is

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near a little too seriously. Laurie had a pretty standard

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hobby collecting husbands, but things took a sharp left turn

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when she met Chad Dabell, a guy who looked at

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the Book of Revelation and thought, what if I made

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this weirder? Chad fancied himself not the fun kind with

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the crystal ball, but the kind. They claimed to have

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seen the end of the world in a vision, and

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he also claimed to have been married to Laurie in

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several past lives. Kind of like a Hallmark movie right together.

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They weren't just preparing for doomsday. They were also gathering followers,

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making wild spiritual claims, and turning the people around them

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into collateral damage. This is a story where missing kids,

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exhumed bodies, and a lot of unexplained deaths start piling

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up faster than Laurie's divorce papers, and it all happens

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under the warm glow of a woman who claims she

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could talk to angels, though not necessarily the ones you'd

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want to meet strap in because by the time we're done,

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you'll wonder if the end of the world isn't such

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a bad option. After all, this is ten minute murder.

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In nineteen seventy three, Laurie Cox was born to Mormon

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parents in San Bernardino County, California. She got married for

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the first time at nineteen years old, but swiftly divorced

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her new husband, marrying another man three years later. The

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next marriage resulted in a son, who the couple named Colby,

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but three years later Lurie was divorced for the second time.

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Laurie married again in two thousand and one and had

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another child, a daughter they named ty Lee. This time.

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During her next divorce, she and her third husband had

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a vicious custody battle over Colby and ty Lee, and

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Laurie claimed that her husband Ryan had molested both children. Finally,

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in two thousand and six, Laurie met her fourth husband,

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Charles Vallow, and they adopted a third child, Jj. This

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marriage seemed more stable than any of Lourie's previous relationships,

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and in twenty fifteen, she and Charles were still together.

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It was during this time that Laurie became increasingly interested

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in a particular book series, a series called Standing in

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Holy Places by an author named Chad day Bell. Chad's

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novels followed a religious theme, which made sense. Like Laurie,

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he also had a Mormon upbringing and had spent two

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years as a missionary. His first novels were more mainstream,

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but after a while he found a real niche with

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radical Mormons who were interested in reading about the second

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Coming of Jesus Christ. According to Chad, his books weren't

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actually non fiction. Instead, he gave credit to near death experiences,

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which caused him to be able to quote see Beyond

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the Veil. He stated that the plot of his books,

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depicting dystopian post apocalyptic events, accurately predicted the future. By

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twenty fourteen, Chad claimed to be receiving prophetic visions about

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how the world would soon end because of war and

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massive earthquakes, and in his personal life he became less

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focused on his wife and his five kids and more

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focused on preparing himself for the end of days. At

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the end of twenty eighteen, Laurie went to an event

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where she was able to meet her favorite author in person,

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both of them being married with children. Laurie flirted with

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Chad and he reciprocated, telling her that they had definitely

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been married in past lives. Before long, Chad had created

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a religious group, which he called the Church of the Firstborn,

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and Laurie was one of his loyal followers. In early

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twenty nineteen, Laurie disappeared for almost two months after telling

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her husband Charles that she believed he was possessed by

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a dark spirit named Ned Schneider. It's not funny, but

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it's kind of funny. Laurie also told Charles that she'd

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kill him if he interfered with her spiritual mission. In response,

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he filed for divorce and applied for a protective order,

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but only a month later, he changed his mind and

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decided that he wanted to give their marriage another shot.

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When Charles discovered that Laurie was cheating on him with Chad,

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he emailed Chad's wife, Tammy, hoping to expose the affair. However,

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Tammy never responded. Instead, she blocked Charles and deleted his email.

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A few days later, Charles went to Laurie's house to

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pick up their adopted son JYJ. Laurie's brother, Alex Cox,

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was there. The two men got into an argument, resulting

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in Alex fatally shooting Charles. Alex later claimed that Charles

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had started hitting him with a baseball bat, so he'd

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pulled out his gun in self defense. Ultimately, Alex never

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faced charges for Charles's death. In August twenty nineteen, Laurie

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moved herself and her children to Rexburg, Idaho. During this time,

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her neglect of her youngest son, seven year old j J,

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began to show. JJ required a service dog for autism,

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and Laurie sold the dog. During the move, she would

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leave him unsupervised for hours at a time, and when

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others tried to confront her about it, she was dismissive. Meanwhile,

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sixteen year old ty Lee was never enrolled in any

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schools after the move to Idaho. The last time anyone

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saw Tylee was the eighth of September when she visited

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Yellowstone National Park with her family. JJ was last seen

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on the twentieth of September, and the following day he

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was absent from school. Three days later, Laurie contacted the

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school and told him that she was going to start

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homeschooling JJ. Although Tylee's half brother Colby received several VENMO

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payments and texts from her, she never answered any of

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his calls, and Colby became worried about his youngest sister's

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well being. Several other members of the family also became

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concerned about the children, but never received a convincing answer

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about where they were. Throughout twenty eighteen, Lourie's niece Melanie

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had fallen for her aunt's preachings about the end of

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the world, and she started trying to prepare for the apocas.

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Her husband, Brandon Bordeaux, wasn't so convinced. In fact, he

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believed that Laurie was a cult leader, and he thought

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that Tylee and JJ's disappearance may be due to foul play.

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In October twenty nineteen, Brandon was driving his car home

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when someone shot him from inside a jeep. Luckily, the

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bullet missed and Brandon was able to identify the vehicle.

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It was Tylee's car. He believed that the driver was

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Laurie's brother, Alex Cox. That same month, Chad's wife, Tammy Dabell,

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passed away. According to Chad, his wife had tragically suffered

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from seizures and issues with her blood pressure, causing her

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to die in her sleep, but none of this was

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documented in Tammy's medical records. Chad didn't seem surprised at

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all by his wife's death. In fact, earlier that year,

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he'd spoken openly about a prophetic vision that Tammy would

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soon die. Chad's neighbors noticed his unusual behavior about Tammy's

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sudden death. Her funeral was so quick and so well

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organized that they got the impression that it had been

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thoroughly planned. Chad's friends and relatives reported that at the funeral,

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it seemed like Chad wasn't sad, but that he was

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trying to convince everyone that he was. Less than twenty

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four hours after Tammy's perfectly planned funeral, CHADDA Bell took

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Laurie to meet his five grieving kids and told his

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neighbors quote, I've met the woman I'm going to marry.

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He didn't waste any time following through. They got married

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two weeks later. Chad justified his decision by explaining that

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while he'd been at the cemetery where Tammy had been buried,

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he had a vision of his dead wife's spirit urging

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him to move on. In December twenty nineteen, Laurie's niece

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Melanie reported that her aunt and Chad had both asked

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her to lie to the cops and say that she

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had been taking care of Jaj. While police in Idaho

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and Arizona started searching for the missing boy, they discovered

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that he wasn't alone. His sister, ty Lee had also vanned.

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The investigation into Lauri and Chad started to heat up,

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resulting in Tammy's body being exhumed and an autopsy finally

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being performed. Chad had been lying when he said that

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his wife died of natural causes. In fact, the autopsy

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found that she'd been asphyxiated. The authorities made an official

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announcement Tylee and jj were missing, and a public plea

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was issued for anyone who knew information about the case

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to come forward. Laurie and Chad continued their bizarre behavior,

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not showing any concern for the missing children, and making

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things incredibly difficult for the authorities. The day after the

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initial announcement, there was a follow up. Laurie Valo and

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Chad Daybell were named as persons of interest, and the

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police believed that the disappearances may be connected to Tammy

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Day Bell's death. Before long, Laurie and Chad's friends and

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family were coming forward to the media with stories about

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the couple's strange religious beliefs. In early twenty twenty, Laurie

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was arrested and charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors

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relating to Tyley and Jay Jay's disappearance. Chad meanwhile traveled

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back to Idaho. People who talk to him about the

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missing children noticed that he always referred to ty Lee

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using past tense, as if he knew that she was

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no longer alive. Investigators searched Chad da Bell's property, finding

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human remains buried in the garden, in an area nicknamed

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the Pet Cemetery, where Chad would bury deceased dogs and cats,

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as well as the skeletal remains of family pets. Two

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human bodies were found, a teenage girl and a young boy.

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While the search was being carried out, Chad tried to

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call Laurie in prison to give her a warning, and

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then he attempted to flee the scene, but was caught

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and arrested for attempting to conceal evidence Tylee had been

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burned and somebody had tried to dismember her, fracturing her

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bones and removing her hands. Although Tilee's cause of death

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could not be determined, her brother Jay jay I'd been

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asphyxiated and then carefully wrapped in plastic. After being found

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guilty of the deaths of her children, Laurie gave a

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public statement saying, quote Jesus Christ knows that no one

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was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen, suicides happen,

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fatal effects from medication happen. She also claimed to have

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spoken to her dead children, informing the courts that JJ

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and Tylee were happy and extremely busy in heaven. That

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is ten Minute Murder for today brief and bingeable true crime.

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I'm Joe. I'm the host, and thank you for taking

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the time to listen to the podcast. If you're a

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new listener, As always, I encourage you to subscribe wherever

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you'd like to listen to podcasts, follow on social media,

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and check out ten Minute Murder dot com for all

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things related to the podcast. Quick email from someone that

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wants to remain anonymous, Joe, what do you think are

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the big miscarriages of justice? And that is a big question.

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You got an hour because I could probably talk about

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this for an hour, but I will give you two.

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First of all, there's no P in hamster. Say that

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word out loud and tell me there's not a P

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in that word, and then try to spell it. No P,

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where's the P? But to be serious, I think the

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biggest miscarriage of justice is anytime someone is put to

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death in this country when we don't know one hundred percent,

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without a doubt, that they are guilty. There are too

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many cases, There are too many times where years later

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you find out, oh, maybe they weren't guilty after all.

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If there's even a shadow of a doubt and they're

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on death row, stop it. I mean you can stop it.

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You can always restart it again. Do that as many

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times as it takes, because why would you kill someone

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that's not guilty. I've said this before. I am not

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a proponent of the death penalty. I understand the people

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that are proponents of it, and I get it, I

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totally get it, but I personally am not a proponent

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of the death so I don't think it should ever happen. However,

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if you're going to do it, you gotta be sure

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and not just but you know, by the normal standards

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of being sure about something, you have to know without

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a doubt. For example, I've done a story on this

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case George Stenny Junior. He was a fourteen year old

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African American boy convicted of the murders of two white

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girls in Alkalou, South Carolina in nineteen forty four. The

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trial lasted a few hours. It was an all white jury.

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They deliberated for ten minutes and sentenced him to death

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at fourteen years old. Seventy years after his execution, in

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twenty fourteen, his conviction was vacated because he had not

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received a fair trial, had no credible evidence linking him

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to the crime, and his defense there wasn't one. If

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you don't know about this case, please go back and

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search the archives to find this story about George Stenny Junior.

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It's deeply troubling, and I don't think that our justice

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system has evolved much since that time. So what is

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the biggest miscarriage of justice I can think of? It's

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that case. That's the first one that comes to my mind.

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All right, that's gonna do it. That is your episode

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for today. Thank you for listening to ten minute murder

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: Inside the Doomsday Cult That Shocked the World

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