BOISE, Idaho (NewsNation Now) — Lori Vallow was found mentally unfit to stand trial over charges related to the concealment of evidence related to the deaths of her two youngest children.
Vallow is accused of murdering her two children, 17-year-old Tylee and 7-year-old Joshua.
They disappeared in 2019, and their bodies were found in the backyard of her husband Chad Daybell’s home last June.
A psychological assessment conducted in March determined that Vallow is not competent to proceed and recommends restorative treatment. The evidence concealment charges were filed in June 2020 after the children’s bodies were discovered.
New charges related to murder and conspiracy were filed against Vallow this week over her alleged role in her children’s deaths. Vallow is also facing charges for the death of Daybell’s former wife.
The decision that Vallow is mentally unfit to stand trial over evidence concealment charges may influence if she is viewed mentally fit in the murder case. Her first court appearance was cut short Wednesday after Judge Faren Eddins explained the hearing would be postponed over ” information provided to the court” by Vallow’s attorney.
While investigating the crime, authorities learned that Vallow and Daybell were involved in a doomsday preparation group, and Daybell has written books about the end of the world.
He has also been indicted in the three deaths by a grand jury.
New charges were also filed against a third alleged co-conspirator, Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox. He’s accused of shooting Vallow’s ex-husband in Arizona, in 2019.
Charles Vallow had filed for divorce from his wife claiming in divorce documents that she believed she was a reincarnated god and would kill her husband if he tried to stop her from leading the apocalypses.
Cox died of natural causes months after shooting Vallow’s ex-husband.
A person must be deemed capable of understanding the charges they face for a trial to continue even though Idaho doesn’t have an insanity defense provision in their legal code.