Convicted Idaho murderer Lori Daybell appears in Arizona court, asks to skip next hearing

Lori Vallow Daybell walked into a Maricopa County Courtroom smiling Wednesday morning and asked for permission to not appear at her next hearing in Arizona.

Daybell, convicted of murder in Idaho last year in the deaths of two of her children, is charged in Arizona with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and the attempted killing of her former nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Wednesday’s hearing, a complex case scheduling conference, was over in less than five minutes.

“A large amount of discovery is about to be disclosed — approximately 88,000 pages of discovery. I imagine that’s going to take some time for the defense to get through,” Judge Justin Beresky said.

Keith Terry, one of Daybell’s attorneys, responded that the defense team is waiting on 20 terabytes of data to be turned over. Beresky set another scheduling conference for April 24 and granted Daybell’s request to waive her presence at that hearing.

The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 1, but Beresky mentioned it may not be a realistic date given the amount of evidence.

Lori Daybell is serving a life sentence in Idaho for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — two of Lori’s children — and Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.

Chad Daybell’s trial in the deaths of Tammy and the two children is set to begin in Boise on April 1.