John Glatt is one of my favorite authors in my guilty secret genre of true crime. His book The Perfect Father (the horrifying story of Chris Watts, who murdered his wife and two little girls), published in 2020, got five stars from me and Golden Boy (the story of member of the Manhattan elite Tommy Gilbert, who sent his mother out to buy food while he shot his father in the head), published in 2021, was a solid four stars. So I was happy to receive a copy of The Doomsday Mother from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.
Not surprisingly, this very thorough and detailed account of the truly sad case of Lori Vallow and her fifth(!) husband, Chad Daybell, is just over the top as it follows Lori from her childhood through all her marriages, including stories about her family (including her “hit man” brother Alex and her two murdered children. If it were fiction, no one would believe it. How did Lori go from a bright, beautiful, loving wife and mother to a totally delusional cult member who would stop at nothing to be with Chad Daybell? Lori believed every word he said, as ”...he revealed to her the secret spiritual powers she possessed that he alone could unleash.”
The basic story is that while married to her fourth husband Charles Vallow, Lori (who was a lifelong Mormon) met a man she idolized: Chad Daybell. At the time, both were married but when they met it was “...as if a lightning bolt hit both of them.” Lori’s initially mainstream LDS beliefs “evolved” and soon she was “…going to the Mormon temple for hours every day to pray and hear the spirit voices from beyond the veil that were now guiding her.” Chad, whose whole existence revolved around preparing for the end times and Second Coming of Jesus, developed a reputation as an LDS author and speaker. His “…followers were mesmerized as he spoke about his thirty-one previous lives on different planets…he’d been, among others, Martin Luther and Methusela.”
And people BELIEVED him. He and Lori seemd to truly believe they were “...chosen by God to lead a select group of 144,000 suls who would usher in the end-times and the Second Coming Of Jesus Christ…Jesus knew it was their mission to be the head of the 144,000”…and that a
“…vital part of their mission was to rid the world of evil spirits, or zombies…”
Chad really seemed like a doofus who was “...fired from his job…because of his increasingly radical ideology.” His wife, Tammy, stuck with him, even as he “...decided to move…to Rexburg, Idaho, convinced that it was one of the sacred places…he did not bother to tell Tammy.” His life wasn’t going great before he met Lori, but “…he saw a way out of his stagnant life–but first he had to get rid of the (two spouses and Lori’s two kids) Charles Vallow, Tylee, J.J., and Tammy…”. At the same time, “Lori decided that she wanted nothing further to do with Charles or the kids, as she has “a more important mission to carry out…”
Lori had two brothers, Adam and Alex. Adam worried about her, particularly when “She told Adam that she…no longer needed to eat or go to the bathroom…she was now a god, busy gathering the 144,000…” Meanwhile, Alex, who was VERY close to Lori, wasn’t ever doing well on his own: Alex was “…living in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, where he’d found a job emptying Porta Potties.” After acting as Lori’s hit man to get rid of Charles, Alex also moved to Idaho and was definitely involved in the murders of Tylee and J.J. whose bodies were found buried on Chad’s property, while Tammy died in her sleep (yeah, right).
I’m not a believer, but I don’t think that’s why I hated these people. I was disgusted with them, and hope that both Chad and Lori get what’s coming to them. Although she is undergoing psychiatric treatment after being unfit to stand trial, I hope she comes around long enough to stand trial. In the meantime, podcasts have covered the story, and surely a miniseries or movie will come along. Some people, including Lori’s sister Summer, are more generous than I. Summer feels bad for Lori, saying that “…this person’s been good her whole life, and then made this error in judgment and got sucked into the vortex of this man.” I call B.S. on that! Lori Vallow is a monster. The truly puzzling thing is that no one stood up and said “ARE YOU F-ING CRAZY?” There were SO many signs that pointed to trouble for Tylee and J.J.
True crime fans, along with anyone who wants to know about this specific case will appreciate the thorough work that went into this book. Five stars.