Law&Crime Network will be covering the following trials this week. You can watch trials live on our website and YouTube page.
ID v Lori Vallow Daybell
Lori Vallow appears in a mugshot from the Ada County Jail in March 2023.
Lori Vallow Daybell and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, are each accused of murder in the 2019 deaths of Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17. The children disappeared on different dates in September of that year. Vallow was initially arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on charges of child desertion. The two defendants were indicted for the murder of Vallow’s children and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. The alleged killer couple’s cases were recently severed and will be tried separately.
Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and Tylee Ryan
Vallow has been dubbed as the “doomsday cult mom” as she allegedly thought she was a “godlike figure” responsible for aiding in the “apocalyptical end times.” Jury selection is expected to kick off Monday, April 3. Vallow faces the following charges in this trial: two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and grand theft.
FL v Miguel Ruiz Lobo
Miguel Ruiz Lobo (Miami Police Department)
Miguel Ruiz Lobo is accused of stabbing Martha Guzman, 11, to death in June of 2014. Miami investigators claim Lobo killed Guzman because she allegedly convinced her mother, Amaury Alvarenga, to break up with Lobo. Detectives said Lobo was emotionally abusive toward Alvarenga.
The mother of two came home and found a knife in her daughter’s throat. Her other child, a 3-year-old, was inside the home when Guzman was killed. According to Miami Police, a neighbor’s surveillance video showed Lobo entering the family’s apartment at 10:30 a.m. and leaving at 11:00 a.m.
Martha Guzman (Miami Police Department)
Lobo allegedly tried to make the slaying look like a suicide, as Guzman had a history of cutting. But DNA found in skin under Guzman’s fingernails was matched to Lobo, and investigators determined there was no way the victim could have stabbed herself in the throat with the injuries she sustained in her wrists.
Opening statements are expected to begin Monday, April 3. Lobo faces first-degree murder and occupied burglary charges.
CO v. Letecia Stauch
Letecia Stauch (El Paso County Sheriff’s Office)
Letecia Stauch is accused of fatally attacking her stepson Gannon Stauch, 11, in his bedroom in January 2020, in El Paso County, Colorado. Authorities claimed to find blood on a mattress, walls and floors, as well as in Stauch’s Volkswagen Tiguan SUV. Stauch allegedly claimed that a man named “Eguardo” raped her, and kidnapped Gannon. Investigators said she didn’t call 911 about her account, and she didn’t want to look into collecting evidence against the alleged attacker.
Gannon’s remains were found stuffed inside a suitcase under a bridge in northwestern Florida in March 2020, about six weeks after Stauch took a trip there. An autopsy showed Gannon had been shot and stabbed, and he appeared to have defensive wounds on his hands.
Gannon Stauch (El Paso County Sheriff’s Office)
Stauch took off from Colorado and was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At one point, she acted as her own lawyer and in made unsubstantiated claims that a doctor who examined her was “clearly an actress” and her defense lawyers were in “cahoots” with the prosecution.
Opening statements are expected to begin Monday, April 3. Stauch faces multiple charges including first-degree murder, child abuse, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence.
The post The Week Ahead: ‘Doomsday Cult’ killer, an angry boyfriend and a stepmom stabber first appeared on Law & Crime.
The Week Ahead: ‘Doomsday Cult’ killer, an angry boyfriend and a stepmom stabber