On a summer morning in Chandler, Arizona, the simmering tensions within the Vallow family erupted into fatal violence. Charles Anthony Vallow, a 62-year-old man, had grown increasingly concerned about his estranged wife, Lori Vallow, and her extreme religious beliefs. He had previously expressed fears for his safety and that of their children, telling police that Lori believed he was possessed by a dark spirit.
On July 11, 2019, he went to the home where Lori was staying with her children to pick up their son.
Inside the house, an altercation broke out between Charles, Lori, and Lori's brother, Alex Cox. The argument escalated, and Cox shot Charles. He would later claim he acted in self-defense, alleging that Charles had hit him on the head with a baseball bat. However, the evidence at the scene raised questions about this account. An autopsy later determined that Charles Vallow died from multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. The medical examiner noted that one of the gunshots was fired in a downward trajectory, suggesting Charles was already on the ground when he was shot.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Lori's behavior was described as oddly nonchalant. Instead of immediately calling for help, she took her son to school, stopping for food on the way. It was Alex Cox who eventually called 911, approximately 45 minutes after the shooting occurred. Despite suspicions from investigators that Cox was not being truthful about the events, he was never charged in connection with Charles' death. Cox himself died in December 2019 from what was determined to be natural causes.
The investigation into Charles Vallow's death was reignited as a series of other suspicious deaths and disappearances surrounding Lori Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, came to light. These events included the deaths of Lori's two children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, and Chad Daybell's previous wife, Tammy Daybell. Eventually, prosecutors alleged that Charles Vallow's death was not an act of self-defense but a premeditated murder. A grand jury in Arizona indicted Lori Vallow on a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her estranged husband, portraying it as the first in a string of killings connected to the couple's apocalyptic beliefs and their desire to eliminate any obstacles to their relationship.
