CULTS: Lori Vallow Daybell & Chad Daybell - The Doomsday Couple

Was Lori Vallow Daybell delusional, a calculating sociopath, or both, and what happens when two people share the same doomsday delusion?

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode includes discussions of the murders of children and other deaths. Listener discretion is advised.

Since we recorded (September 2020): Lori Vallow Daybell was found incompetent to stand trial in 2021 and restored in 2022. In May 2023 an Idaho jury convicted her of murdering Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow and conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, and she was sentenced to life without parole. Chad Daybell was convicted of all three murders in 2024 and sentenced to death. In 2025 Lori was also convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Charles Vallow and Brandon Boudreaux. Alex Cox died in December 2019.

Chapters(00:00) Intro and disclaimer(01:07) Bailey Sarian’s timeline video(02:15) Casting Sheri Moon Zombie as Lori(03:38) Delusional, conning, or both?(05:36) Lori’s early life, faith and family(07:59) Attachment and risk factors(12:12) How Lori presents(13:00) The doomsday couple and apocalyptic cults(15:45) Melanie Gibb and meeting Chad(17:13) Does she know what she’s doing?(18:09) Malignant narcissism and reality(21:27) Zombies and the children(22:10) Legal insanity or sociopathy?(25:00) Folie a deux(29:30) The deaths around Lori and Chad(32:00) Insanity, venue and split trials(35:56) Final thoughts(37:40) Outro

Therapists Shannon and Cathy discuss Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell, the “doomsday couple” at the centre of the deaths of Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho. Recorded before either trial, it’s a clinical conversation about delusion, manipulation and shared belief, not a timeline of the case.

Covered in this episode:

• Lori Vallow Daybell, Chad Daybell and Alex Cox
• Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow, Tammy Daybell and Charles Vallow
• Melanie Gibb and the Dateline interviews
• End-of-days beliefs, “zombies” and the doomsday couple
• Jim Jones, Charles Manson and apocalyptic cults
• Bailey Sarian’s timeline of the case

Clinical concepts: delusional disorder, folie a deux (shared delusion), sociopathy and antisocial traits, malignant narcissism, grandiosity, inappropriate affect, gaslighting, attachment theory, static risk and protective factors, legal insanity and competency.

Corrections: Idaho doesn’t allow an insanity defense, so the insanity verdict we predicted wasn’t possible there. And Rob Zombie’s Halloween is from 2007.

Related episodes:

• CULTS: Lori Vallow Daybell, NXIVM & the Zizians Part 3
• Extremist Beliefs of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell - An Interview with Leah Sottile
• Sins of Our Mother - Lori Vallow Daybell

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Two licensed therapists, one forensic psychologist, one clinical LMFT, take apart the minds behind the crimes.

Until then... sleep safe. 😴
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