Lori Vallow’s Attorneys Want Judge Removed From Her Case As Two Sides Seek To Delay Preliminary Hearing

Attorneys for doomsday mom Lori Vallow have requested the judge be removed from her case.

The court documents, obtained by East Idaho News, did not give a reason why they wanted Judge Faren Eddins to be disqualified from the case. Eddins recently ruled to lower Lori’s $5 million bond to $1 million, but even with the reduction, Lori has been unable to post bond.

Bond companies in Idaho have been unwilling to help the mom of missing children Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, secure the bond.

“It’s not about the money,” Danielle Kingston, who owns A+ Idaho Bail Bonds told the East Idaho News. “I told her I don’t want to write the bond. I’d rather just have this go away if she would provide where the kids are located. If she could provide that assurance and proof of life, this goes away.”

Vallow would need to be able to provide cash, collateral or gain the help of a bail bonds company to secure her release from jail, but so far companies have been hesitant to help her.

“If we posted her bond and she didn’t show up for court, our company could potentially lose the million dollars if we did not find Lori and bring her back within 180 days to Rexburg,” Jackie Hamilton, co-owner of Double Trouble Bail Bonds told the news outlet.

Vallow, sometimes referred to as Lori Vallow Daybell, is being held on two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of her children after she refused to present the children to authorities by a January deadline.

Tylee Ryan has not been seen since a Sept. 8, 2019 family outing to Yellowstone National Park. Her younger brother, who is said to be autistic, was last seen at his elementary school on Sept. 23, according to affidavit of probable cause.

While Vallow remains in the Madison County Jail, Phoenix police have confirmed that the FBI is looking into the death of Lori’s third husband, Joseph Ryan, according to local station KTVK. Ryan, Tylee's father, died in 2018 from what appeared to be a heart attack.

His body was later cremated.

Vallow and Ryan divorced in 2004 and had a heated custody battle over Tylee. In one incident, Vallow’s brother Alex Cox reportedly threatened to kill Ryan and attacked him with a stun gun.

After Ryan died in 2018, Vallow reportedly told one family member that “God took care of him,” according to the local news station.

Ryan’s death is just one of a series of deaths surrounding Vallow and her new husband Chad Daybell. Lori’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot to death in July by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox, who later died himself in December, told authorities at the time that the shooting had been in self-defense.

Chad Daybell’s wife Tammy also died in October of this year from what officials initially believed was natural causes. Authorities have since exhumed her body and are re-examining the circumstances around her death.

Vallow and Daybell, who both share a fascination with the end of days, got married two weeks after Tammy’s death, the affidavit reports.

In addition to filing paperwork to remove Judge Eddins from the case, both prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case have requested the preliminary hearing be delayed until May.

“The state might need additional time to gather and prepare witnesses, to gather evidence and there could potentially be charges from other jurisdictions that they might know about and they’re trying to consolidate them all together,” defense attorney Joshua Garner, who is not affiliated with the case, told the East Idaho News about the possible reasons for a delay.