Topline: Jurors are hearing arguments in Daybell’s third criminal trial, this time for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Published: June 6, 2025 8:00 am ET
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Lori Vallow Daybell, left, (via Dennis Fujimoto/AP), and Brandon Boudreaux (via IMDb)
PHOENIX, AZ — In a courtroom where prosecutors allege she helped plan a failed assassination of her niece’s estranged husband, Lori Vallow Daybell insisted to jurors: “I am all about spreading love.”
Representing herself in court, Daybell pleaded with jurors during opening statements on Thursday to question whether a crime even occurred.
“I am all about spreading love and will continue to do so even after this trial is complete no matter the result,” Daybell said, according to KSL.com.
She denied involvement in the 2019 Arizona shooting, suggesting her niece’s estranged husband, Brandon Boudreaux, blamed her out of spite during his divorce from her niece, Melani Boudreaux (now Pawlowski).
“Was I an enemy to Brandon? That is news to me,” she said.
Boudreaux, in emotional testimony, described being shot at on Oct. 2, 2019, outside his Gilbert home. He recalled seeing a Jeep parked oddly near his driveway, then a muzzle flash. “I hear a bang… and my window shattered,” he said. A bullet was later found lodged in his car’s frame. Prosecutors allege Daybell loaned the Jeep to her brother, Alex Cox, who lay in wait to ambush Boudreaux.
Deputy Maricopa County prosecutor Treena Kay told jurors that Daybell’s actions—including helping prepare the Jeep and providing an alibi—demonstrated premeditation. “She provided the means — the Jeep, she helped get the Jeep ready, and she tried to provide an alibi for her co-conspirator,” Kay said, as reported KSAZ.
Kay argued that Daybell conspired with Cox and others to kill Boudreaux, stating, “The evidence in this case will prove to you beyond reasonable doubt that this defendant conspired… to kill Brandon.” Kay said Daybell helped remove the Jeep’s back seat and tire, rented a storage unit for them, and used a burner phone with Cox shortly before the shooting. Cox later used that phone to search for Boudreaux’s address and shooting trajectory data. License plate readers tracked the Jeep from Idaho to Arizona.
Daybell, however, cast doubt on the entire account. “Did a shooting actually occur? Only Brandon claims that it did. Only Brandon names me and Alex,” she told the jury during her statement, which was interrupted several times by objections, KSAZ reported.
She also accused Boudreaux and investigators of conspiring against her. “That is what a conspiracy looks like — two people trying to set up another for a crime,” she said, referencing Boudreaux’s role in pointing police toward her and Cox.
Prosecutors presented photographic evidence of damage to Boudreaux’s Tesla and said Daybell’s attempt to provide Cox with an alibi—through coordinated phone activity—suggested she was an active participant in the plot.
Boudreaux testified that Daybell had influenced his wife during their divorce, claiming Melani saw Daybell as a mother figure. He said that on June 25, 2019, she accused him of hacking Daybell’s computer, which he said “didn’t make sense” and led to an unexpected divorce. “I texted Lori and Charles, and tried to call both of them to discuss it… This is my family. This is my kids,” he testified, according to KSAZ.
Daybell is already serving life without parole after being convicted of murdering her children and conspiring to kill her previous husband, Charles Vallow. Cox, who prosecutors say pulled the trigger in this case, died in 2019.
The trial continues
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
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On Trial Again, Lori Vallow Daybell Says She’s ‘All About Spreading Love’
Jurors are hearing arguments in Daybell’s third criminal trial, this time for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
By Jacob Charles
Published: June 6, 2025 8:00 am ET
Lori Vallow Daybell, left, (via Dennis Fujimoto/AP), and Brandon Boudreaux (via IMDb)
PHOENIX, AZ — In a courtroom where prosecutors allege she helped plan a failed assassination of her niece’s estranged husband, Lori Vallow Daybell insisted to jurors: “I am all about spreading love.”
Representing herself in court, Daybell pleaded with jurors during opening statements on Thursday to question whether a crime even occurred.
“I am all about spreading love and will continue to do so even after this trial is complete no matter the result,” Daybell said, according to KSL.com.
She denied involvement in the 2019 Arizona shooting, suggesting her niece’s estranged husband, Brandon Boudreaux, blamed her out of spite during his divorce from her niece, Melani Boudreaux (now Pawlowski).
“Was I an enemy to Brandon? That is news to me,” she said.
Boudreaux, in emotional testimony, described being shot at on Oct. 2, 2019, outside his Gilbert home. He recalled seeing a Jeep parked oddly near his driveway, then a muzzle flash. “I hear a bang… and my window shattered,” he said. A bullet was later found lodged in his car’s frame. Prosecutors allege Daybell loaned the Jeep to her brother, Alex Cox, who lay in wait to ambush Boudreaux.
Deputy Maricopa County prosecutor Treena Kay told jurors that Daybell’s actions—including helping prepare the Jeep and providing an alibi—demonstrated premeditation. “She provided the means — the Jeep, she helped get the Jeep ready, and she tried to provide an alibi for her co-conspirator,” Kay said, as reported KSAZ.
Kay argued that Daybell conspired with Cox and others to kill Boudreaux, stating, “The evidence in this case will prove to you beyond reasonable doubt that this defendant conspired… to kill Brandon.” Kay said Daybell helped remove the Jeep’s back seat and tire, rented a storage unit for them, and used a burner phone with Cox shortly before the shooting. Cox later used that phone to search for Boudreaux’s address and shooting trajectory data. License plate readers tracked the Jeep from Idaho to Arizona.
Daybell, however, cast doubt on the entire account. “Did a shooting actually occur? Only Brandon claims that it did. Only Brandon names me and Alex,” she told the jury during her statement, which was interrupted several times by objections, KSAZ reported.
She also accused Boudreaux and investigators of conspiring against her. “That is what a conspiracy looks like — two people trying to set up another for a crime,” she said, referencing Boudreaux’s role in pointing police toward her and Cox.
Prosecutors presented photographic evidence of damage to Boudreaux’s Tesla and said Daybell’s attempt to provide Cox with an alibi—through coordinated phone activity—suggested she was an active participant in the plot.
Boudreaux testified that Daybell had influenced his wife during their divorce, claiming Melani saw Daybell as a mother figure. He said that on June 25, 2019, she accused him of hacking Daybell’s computer, which he said “didn’t make sense” and led to an unexpected divorce. “I texted Lori and Charles, and tried to call both of them to discuss it… This is my family. This is my kids,” he testified, according to KSAZ.
Daybell is already serving life without parole after being convicted of murdering her children and conspiring to kill her previous husband, Charles Vallow. Cox, who prosecutors say pulled the trigger in this case, died in 2019.
The trial continues
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
Must Read
Editor Picks
Latest Articles
On Trial Again, Lori Vallow Daybell Says She’s ‘All About Spreading Love’
Jurors are hearing arguments in Daybell’s third criminal trial, this time for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
By Jacob Charles
Published: June 6, 2025 8:00 am ET
Lori Vallow Daybell, left, (via Dennis Fujimoto/AP), and Brandon Boudreaux (via IMDb)
PHOENIX, AZ — In a courtroom where prosecutors allege she helped plan a failed assassination of her niece’s estranged husband, Lori Vallow Daybell insisted to jurors: “I am all about spreading love.”
Representing herself in court, Daybell pleaded with jurors during opening statements on Thursday to question whether a crime even occurred.
“I am all about spreading love and will continue to do so even after this trial is complete no matter the result,” Daybell said, according to KSL.com.
She denied involvement in the 2019 Arizona shooting, suggesting her niece’s estranged husband, Brandon Boudreaux, blamed her out of spite during his divorce from her niece, Melani Boudreaux (now Pawlowski).
“Was I an enemy to Brandon? That is news to me,” she said.
Boudreaux, in emotional testimony, described being shot at on Oct. 2, 2019, outside his Gilbert home. He recalled seeing a Jeep parked oddly near his driveway, then a muzzle flash. “I hear a bang… and my window shattered,” he said. A bullet was later found lodged in his car’s frame. Prosecutors allege Daybell loaned the Jeep to her brother, Alex Cox, who lay in wait to ambush Boudreaux.
Deputy Maricopa County prosecutor Treena Kay told jurors that Daybell’s actions—including helping prepare the Jeep and providing an alibi—demonstrated premeditation. “She provided the means — the Jeep, she helped get the Jeep ready, and she tried to provide an alibi for her co-conspirator,” Kay said, as reported KSAZ.
Kay argued that Daybell conspired with Cox and others to kill Boudreaux, stating, “The evidence in this case will prove to you beyond reasonable doubt that this defendant conspired… to kill Brandon.” Kay said Daybell helped remove the Jeep’s back seat and tire, rented a storage unit for them, and used a burner phone with Cox shortly before the shooting. Cox later used that phone to search for Boudreaux’s address and shooting trajectory data. License plate readers tracked the Jeep from Idaho to Arizona.
Daybell, however, cast doubt on the entire account. “Did a shooting actually occur? Only Brandon claims that it did. Only Brandon names me and Alex,” she told the jury during her statement, which was interrupted several times by objections, KSAZ reported.
She also accused Boudreaux and investigators of conspiring against her. “That is what a conspiracy looks like — two people trying to set up another for a crime,” she said, referencing Boudreaux’s role in pointing police toward her and Cox.
Prosecutors presented photographic evidence of damage to Boudreaux’s Tesla and said Daybell’s attempt to provide Cox with an alibi—through coordinated phone activity—suggested she was an active participant in the plot.
Boudreaux testified that Daybell had influenced his wife during their divorce, claiming Melani saw Daybell as a mother figure. He said that on June 25, 2019, she accused him of hacking Daybell’s computer, which he said “didn’t make sense” and led to an unexpected divorce. “I texted Lori and Charles, and tried to call both of them to discuss it… This is my family. This is my kids,” he testified, according to KSAZ.
Daybell is already serving life without parole after being convicted of murdering her children and conspiring to kill her previous husband, Charles Vallow. Cox, who prosecutors say pulled the trigger in this case, died in 2019.
The trial continues
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
Must Read
