Gerrard Kaonga
A woman currently serving three life sentences for murdering her two youngest children has explained why she is representing herself in her latest trial.
Lori Vallow was given her life sentences back in 2023 for the 2019 deaths of her children - Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, 7 - and the planned murder of Tammy Daybell, the first wife of her new husband, Chad Daybell.
Vallow, who is in a prison in Idaho, is now preparing for her trial in Arizona after being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Charles died after being fatally shot at Lori’s Arizona home back in 2019.
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Prosecutors have previously said that Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, called the police and reported that he had shot Charles after being struck by a baseball bat, claiming self-defense.
Cox died that same year of what authorities have said were natural causes.
Speaking to True Crime Arizona, Vallow explained her reasoning for representing herself in the upcoming trial.
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She said: "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."
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Vallow was also asked what she thought regarding the skeptics, who have taken to social media to claim the convicted murderer is only attempting to represent herself as she has nothing to lose and sees the proceedings as a 'challenge, a show, a game'.
She answered: "I never hear any of this stuff because I'm in a room 23 hours a day, and we don't have any access to any kind of news.
"Or any kind of anything, really. So I didn't know that people were saying that, but I wouldn't agree with that, obviously."
As well as this, she insisted that she knew her case better than any attorney that could learn it in two years.
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She also suggested that what had happened to her children was a family tragedy, rather than a murder.
She said: "But here's the thing, when you waive your speedy trial, then they can keep you here as long as you want. There are intelligent, strong, beautiful women in here that have been here for eight years because of family tragedies.
"It’s the same, like, my case, a family tragedy, not crime. A family tragedy, and they’re waiting, and they’re facing the death penalty for a family tragedy."
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Opening statements for her trial are scheduled to be heard on Monday, April 7.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.