Lori Vallow, who murdered her kids, explains why she’s representing herself in court for husband’s death
She is back in court—this time representing herself.
Already serving three life sentences for the 2019 murders of her children and conspiring to kill her husband’s previous wife, Vallow now faces a new trial in Arizona for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, per NBC.
Charles was shot and killed at Lori’s home in 2019. At the time, Lori’s brother Alex Cox claimed he had shot Charles in self-defense after being hit with a baseball bat. Cox died later that same year, which authorities ruled was from natural causes.
Now, from behind bars in Idaho, Vallow is taking the unusual step of acting as her own lawyer.
“There’s lots of reasons. I am not an attorney. I'm not an attorney. I do not have training to be an attorney. There's something that I figured out when I got to this jail, you know, this experience has been five years running,” she told True Crime Arizona.
“I came here with the intention of having a speedy trial. Right? These charges came first. Right? They're like five years old. I first talked to the attorneys, and I was like, they've had five years, the prosecutors, to put their case together. And I really want to go to trial, we need to go.”
Critics on social media have suggested she’s treating the trial as a game—but Vallow says she hasn’t heard any of that.
“I never hear any of this stuff because I'm in a room 23 hours a day, and we don't have any access to any kind of news. Or any kind of anything, really. So I didn't know that people were saying that, but I wouldn't agree with that, obviously.”
She said she believes she understands her case better than any lawyer could.
Vallow also made the claim that the deaths of her children weren’t a crime at all.
“But here's the thing, when you waive your speedy trial, then they can keep you here as long as you want. There are intelligent, strong, beautiful women in here that have been here for eight years because of family tragedies,” she said.
“It’s the same, like, my case, a family tragedy, not crime. A family tragedy, and they’re waiting, and they’re facing the death penalty for a family tragedy.”
Opening statements for Vallow’s trial are scheduled for Monday, April 7.