An Idaho mother accused of killing her two children with the help of her new husband has been deemed unfit to stand trial for murder following a psychological evaluation, a court has ruled.
Lori Vallow Daybell, who on Monday was indicted with her husband, Chad Daybell, on first-degree murder charges, was determined to be “not competent to proceed” following an assessment by a clinical psychologist. Restorative treatment was recommended, according to court documents obtained by local news outlets.
Her evaluation was ordered in March after her “fitness to proceed” was questioned by the court. The prosecution has objected to the findings of the evaluation and a future hearing will be scheduled on the issue, according to the ruling.
In the nine-page indictment filed this week, the couple is accused of justifying the 2019 killings of JJ Vallow, 7, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, with their religious beliefs.
The two have been publicly referred to as the “doomsday” couple due to Chad Daybell’s publications on the Christian belief of Christ’s return to Earth and Vallow Daybell’s shared belief in the topic, according to her family.
Vallow Daybell’s mental health had been called into question by her previous husband, Charles Vallow, who in divorce papers said she needed psychiatric help. He claimed that she said she had lived numerous lives on other planets before her current life, as The Associated Press reported.
A friend of Vallow Daybell’s has also testified that the mother of two told her in 2019 that she believed her children had turned into zombies and that the only way to rid a person of a dark spirit was by killing them.