‘Doomsday Mom’ Lori Vallow threatened to kill, bury friend where ‘nobody would ever find’ her, court hears
A friend of “Doomsday Mom” Lori Vallow Daybell said she threatened to kill and bury her where “nobody would ever find me,” after ending their friendship.
Audrey Barattiero told the jury in Vallow Daybell’s murder trial that she was initially open to her friend’s beliefs about reincarnations, and that the cult mom’s husband, Chad Daybell, was an apostle of Jesus in a past life.
But everything changed when Vallow Daybell began talking to her about “zombies” and people being possessed by evil spirits, including her own children, Joshua “JJ “and Tylee Ryan, as well as Tammy Daybell, Chad’s former wife.
After suspecting that the couple had done something to Tammy, Barattiero said she decided to end her friendship with them, and when she did so, Vallow Daybell allegedly lashed out at her.
“She said she would cut me up and wasn’t in the mental place to do it but would get herself in a place to do it,” Barrattiero told the court. “There would be blood and bleach and something about trash bags. She would bury me in a place nobody would ever find me.”
It was the latest bombshell testimony against Vallow Daybell, who stands accused of killing JJ, 7, Tylee, 16, and allegedly played a role in the death of Tammy, 49, in 2019. Chad, her alleged accomplice, faces a later court date for the murderers.
Barattiero told the court she met Vallow Daybell through Chad, who she respected as a fellow member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. She claimed Chad encouraged her to be Vallow Daybell’s friend, and the two would talk about spiritual matters.
The discussion, however, took a turn as Vallow Daybell allegedly told her friend that JJ, Tylee and Tammy were “dark,” a term the group used to refer to someone who is being possessed by an evil spirit.
Barattiero testified that she believed prayer was enough to help save someone from evil spirits, but claimed Chad and Vallow Daybell had suggested something more for Tammy.
“When I heard Chad Daybell say something to the effect of, ‘Why is the body still alive,’ or something like that, I realized that they must have taken things even further,” she said. “They didn’t intend for the person to be helped — they didn’t want the person to live.”
Barattiero claimed that she didn’t immediately call police because she wanted to believe in her friends, suggesting that they were also manipulating her beliefs by telling her that she could have been the wife of Jesus in a past life.
When she could no longer stand by the couple, fearing the worst, Barattiero said Vallow Daybell began mocking her for being so trusting.
“She started laughing,” Barattiero told the jury. “She said, ‘You’re so naive and too trusting. You’re like a little child.
“‘You think the world is all unicorns and rainbows. You go around helping people and serving them. Well I’ve got news for you. Not everyone is a good person and not everyone can be so kind,'” she added.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald condemned the damning testimony, claiming that none of what she said came up previously during the grand jury proceedings.
“Nothing of this sort was talked about. You want the jury to believe that you just didn’t make this last crap up?” he asked.
Audrey asserted that she wasn’t making anything up and that she previously stayed quiet on the matter because she was scared.
