Lori Vallow’s most recent trial commenced on Monday, April 7th, but encountered a delay due to a mistake she made.
Currently, Vallow is serving life sentences for the 2003 murders of her two children, Tylee Ryan, who was 16, and Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, aged 7.
In addition, she received a sentence for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, the first wife of her current spouse, Chad Daybell.
This new trial, which started on Monday, has the potential to add another life sentence to her record. She faces a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Charles was fatally shot at Lori’s residence in Arizona in 2019.
Prosecutors have previously stated that Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, contacted law enforcement, claiming that he had shot Charles in self-defense after being hit with a baseball bat.
Cox passed away the same year, with authorities stating the cause was natural.
In this current trial, Vallow has entered a plea of not guilty and has chosen to represent herself, despite lacking legal qualifications, and has invoked her right to a speedy trial.
Nevertheless, on Monday, prosecutors pointed out the presence of a man in the courtroom whom Vallow had intended to call as a witness.
Unfortunately, this individual had not been subpoenaed, prompting the judge to clarify the situation to the defendant.
The man was identified as Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. Vallow is accused of conspiring to murder him, a matter she will face trial for in May.
The judge inquired if Vallow planned to call him as a witness, and upon her confirmation, questioned the relevance of his testimony.
Reportedly, Vallow declined to disclose her defense strategy involving Boudreaux’s testimony.
The prosecution objected, emphasizing that they had not interviewed Boudreaux and were unaware of the information he might hold.
The judge subsequently informed the defendant that witnesses could not be called without providing the opposing party with prior notice and details regarding their relevance.
Following a 45-minute sidebar, the judge ruled that Boudreaux’s testimony was not pertinent, leading to his removal from the witness list.
In an interview with True Crime Arizona, Vallow discussed her decision to represent herself in the trial.
She stated: “There’s lots of reasons. I am not an attorney. I’m not an attorney. I do not have training to be an attorney. There’s something that I figured out when I got to this jail, you know, this experience has been five years running.”
“I came here with the intention of having a speedy trial. Right? These charges came first. Right? They’re like five years old. I first talked to the attorneys, and I was like, they’ve had five years, the prosecutors, to put their case together.”
“And I really want to go to trial, we need to go.”