Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one charge of conspiracy to commit the murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband. Nate Eaton is live in the courtroom with updates. Please excuse any typos. Times listed below are in Mountain Standard Time, so they are an hour behind Idaho. (Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time.) The most recent updates are at the top.
3:38 p.m. I’m sitting next to Jacques Billeaud of the Associated Press. He’s been reporting almost 33 years and has covered hundreds of trials. He says he still gets an adrenaline rush right before a verdict.
3:34 p.m. Lori is whispering with her advisory attorney.
3:32 p.m. Kay Woodcock and other family members are not here yet. Judge says we will wait until people arrive for the verdict. Could be a few minutes.
3:31 p.m. Lori has questions about aggravating factors. Judge asks if she plans to present any testimony or evidence in the aggravation phase. Lori says no, but can she stipulate to some things. Judge says we may need to wait to see what the verdict is. Judge asks Kay if her witnesses are here. They are not.
3:29 p.m. Lori just walked in wearing a black pant suit and purple blouse. Judge says the jury has reached a verdict. He says if the verdict is not guilty, the case will be over. If it’s guilty, there will be an aggravating phase that will begin immediately.
3:26 p.m. Judge’s staff and other court personnel are in the courtroom. There are around 20 members of the public here. Judge Justin Beresky just entered.
3:21 p.m. If jury finds Lori guilty, the jury will immediately hear aggravating circumstances from the prosecutor. Lori could also speak. The sentencing will not happen today and will likely be scheduled 30-60 days from now.
3:20 p.m. Public is being brought into the courtroom. There are extra sheriff deputies here today.
3:17 p.m. Lori’s adivsory counsel just walked in. We are inside the courtroom.
3:13 p.m. Prosecutor Treena Kay and her paralegal just walked into the courtroom with Det. Nathan Duncan. Judge’s assistant tracking down the defense team. Lori will be brought over from the jail for the verdict.
3 p.m. A verdict has been reached in Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial. It will be publicly announced between 3:30-4 p.m. Arizona time. We are waiting outside the courtroom to take our seats.
ORIGINAL STORY
PHOENIX — A verdict has been reached in Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial. It will be publicly announced between 3:30-4 p.m. Arizona time.
The jury deliberated for 17 minutes Monday and spent under three hours deliberating Tuesday.
Daybell is charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay argued Daybell conspired with her brother, Alex Cox, to shoot and kill Vallow at her Chandler home in 2019 so she could collect money from his life insurance policy and marry her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, a Rexburg author who wrote several religious novels about the end of the world.
Daybell, who isn’t a lawyer but represented herself during the trial, claimed the shooting was in self-defense. She didn’t call any witnesses or put on any evidence during the trial, but did cross-examine many of the prosecution’s witnesses.
EastIdahoNews.com reporter Nate Eaton will post live updates from the courtroom in this story when proceedings begin. Video from the courtroom will be shown in the player above.
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