Children of Darkness and Light: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell and the Story of a Murderous Faith

“a compelling story of the destruction and vileness [the protagonists] set in motion and the efforts to finally bring them to justice.”

“By the end of 2019, Chad and Lori’s swath of destruction was nearly complete, and they enjoyed their freedom, living their best island life in Kauai. The tribulation was coming soon, and once natural disasters and wars began, people would focus on survival. No one would remember to look for two missing children or question the death of one 49-year-old woman or the shooting in self-defense of one middle-aged man. Chad and Laurie set their sights on their bright future together and turned their thoughts to completing their mission for God.”

Lori Vallow, a much-married woman who mirrored three sides of her living room so she could watch herself dance for hours and hours each day, knew how to manipulate people, particularly her brother Alex, to harm others for her own gain. Alex would ultimately mysteriously die but not before killing Lori’s fourth husband Charles in what he described—and authorities first accepted—as self-defense. But though she got her freedom when Charles was murdered, she didn’t get his $1 million dollar insurance payoff. Charles, suspicious of Lori, outwitted her by changing his policy shortly before his death and leaving the money to his sister.

It was faith and absolute narcissism that cemented the relationship between Lori and Chad. The two met at a doomsday prepper event where Chad was speaking and signing copies of his books of end days. In a shared folie a deux, the two propelled by lust, greed, and self-delusion believed that the return of Jesus Christ was imminent and that they had been selected by God to lead the 144,000 (a number written in the Book of Revelations referring to those who are sealed and protected by God during a time of tribulation) into a new world. They were also able to convince themselves that their love for each other and their march toward greater glory countenanced any action.

Those actions included the murder of two of Lori’s children, two of her husbands, Chad’s wife Tammy, the attempted murder of her cousin’s husband, and possibly another one or two as well. Chad was luckier than Lori when it came to his wife’s insurance policy on his he collected almost half a million.

For a while, to the consternation of those who were relatives and friends of the murder victims, it looked like they would get away with it. But justice was coming, too slowly it seemed, but it did arrive.

Laurie Hellis, who practiced criminal and family law before retiring, documents the evil and cunning of these two convicted killers. Hellis, who worked both as a prosecutor and a public defender representing adults and juveniles in criminal matters, is an advocate for children, victims of domestic violence and veterans, having served 20 years in the Air National Guard. Upon moving to Arizona, where Lori lived with her children and fourth husband, Charles, Hellis began following the story. She, like the public and the police, wondered why Lori refused to reveal where her children were despite a billboard asking “Where Are the Children?” she became determined to follow the story to its conclusion. It was important, Hellis thought, to understand the forces in the couple’s psychological makeup that made murdering children and loved ones not only acceptable but, in their minds, necessary.

The result is a compelling story of the destruction and vileness the two set in motion and the efforts to finally bring them to justice.