‘Zombie’ Claims at Trial: Friend of Slain Kids’ Mom Testifies in Court

In Boise, Idaho, a mom is accused of murdering her two youngest children and another woman who was romantically involved with the same person. This mom’s former friend testified that the mom would sometimes talk about certain people as if they were zombies or possessed by something. Surprisingly, these same people ended up being shot or killed later on.

Melanie Gibb said in court on Thursday that she and Lori Vallow Daybell became friends at a religious event in 2018. However, her beliefs didn’t match up with what they were taught at their LDS church.

Prosecutors said that Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, they used religion to try and justify the deaths of people who were a problem in their relationship. Both of them are accused of committing murder, planning it out in advance, and stealing stuff related to the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan (Tylee was close to turning 17 when she disappeared). They face the same charges for the death of Chad’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell.

Chad and Vallow Daybell have both said that they did not do anything wrong. A court will decide what happened in a few months with Chad, but the prosecutors are already showing why they think Vallow is guilty.

Gibb told people at court that Vallow Daybell believed some people were “good” and others were “bad”. People who Vallow labeled as “bad” included her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot and killed by her brother in July 2019; her two little children, which were gone for about eight months before their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s backyard in 2020; and Brandon Boudreax, who was attacked by an unknown attacker shortly after he divorced Vallow Daybell’s niece in 2019.

Gibb’s testimony was the first time that jurors got to hear about the death of Vallow Daybell’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow. They were not living together anymore when he was shot and killed outside his house in Phoenix, Arizona by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox. Cox said it was self-defense so no punishment was given to him. Unfortunately, he died a few months later in December 2019 due to natural causes.

The law in Arizona suspects that Vallow Daybell, with help from Cox, conspired to kill Charles Vallow. The Idaho prosecutors also believe Cox had something to do with the death of both kids and previous wife of Chad Daybell.

Vallow Daybell still hasn’t said if they are guilty or not yet.

JJ had autism, which made it hard for Lori Vallow Daybell to take care of him plus have enough time with Chad Daybell. After Charles Vallow’s death they moved closer to Chad’s family in Rexburg, Idaho where Lori began claiming that JJ was possessed by chemicals. She said he would say things like “I love Satan” and climb up on furniture.

Tylee was away from home when her stepfather, Gibbs, said that Vallow Daybell had told him she sent the teen to stay with some of her friends in a college dorm. Prosecutors informed that the pair had been seen alive for the last time in September 2019.

Chad Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy Daybell, passed away in October 2019 and the news said it was because of natural causes. However, prosecutors got suspicious when Chad got married just two weeks after her death. The body of Tammy Daybell was dug up and autopsy results show that she died from not being able to breathe properly.

Gibb said that Chad Daybell told her in November 2019 to not answer if the Rexburg police called and asked about JJ, because Vallow Daybell had said that he was with Gibb in Arizona. Gibb asked Vallow about this during a phone call which was later played for the jury by prosecutors.

Gibb said to Vallow Daybell on the phone, “It doesn’t seem like God’s plan that your husband passed away after Tammy and now he is missing. It feels strange.”

Lori Vallow responded, “I know you well Mel, and anyways this kind of thing only happens when somebody has a dark agenda.”