The Zombie Murders - "SUMMER OF BLOOD: Four Murders in Four Months"

0:03 Caalarogu Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter, and welcome back to Celebrity Trials. We've spent two episodes exploring how Chad Dabell and Laurie Valo transformed from ordinary people into self proclaimed gods with a divine mission to eliminate family members. Today we're entering the killing phase, the summer of twenty nineteen, when their twisted planning became bloody reality. What happened over the next four months wasn't just murder. It was the systematic destruction of a family, carried out with such callous precision that it still shocks investigators today. By the time Chad and Laurie were done, three people were dead, two children had vanished, and the survivors were left to piece together how people they trusted could become such efficient killers.

0:55 But here's what makes this case particularly chilling. Between each murder, Chad and Laurie went about their normal lives. They posted on social media, they went to conferences, they celebrated, They acted like nothing had happened, because, in their twisted minds, they weren't committing crimes. They were doing God's work. Let me take you through the summer that changed everything, starting with a phone call that would set everything in motion. On July eleventh, twenty nineteen, Charles Valow drove to Laurie's house in Chandler, Arizona, to pick up JJ for a visit. It should have been a routine custody exchange. Instead, it became the opening act of a killing spree that would span four months and claim five lives. Charles had no idea that he was walking into a trap that had been months in the planning. Laurie had made sure her brother Alex Cox would be there. She had positioned Hilely as a witness. She had prepared the story they would tell police about self defense. According to the official police report, Alex Cox claimed that Charles became violent during an argument with Tyley. Cox said Charles threatened the sixteen year old with a baseball bat and that he shot Charles to protect his niece and sister, But prosecutors would later prove this was an elaborate lie. The evidence at the scene told a different story. Charles Valow was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head. The second shot was fired while Charles was already on the ground dying.

2:26 That's not self defense, that's execution. Phone records show that in the minutes after Charles was killed, Laurie and Alex were frantically calling Chad dabll not nine one one, not for medical help. They called their spiritual leader to report that the first obstacle had been eliminated. But here's the detail that shows you exactly who Laurie Valo really was. Within hours of her husband's murder, she was hosting a pool party. Picture this for a moment. Charles Valow's body has just been removed from Laurie's house by the coroner. The police have finished processing the crime scene, and that same evening, neighbors report hearing loud music and seeing lots of people swimming at Laurie's house. The woman whose husband had just been killed was celebrating. She was literally partying on the day of his murder. When investigators later asked her about this, Laurie claims she was just trying to keep things normal for the children. But JJ wasn't even there.

3:22 He was in the custody of Charles's sister Kay after the shooting. This wasn't grief management, this was celebration. Laurie was marking the successful completion of phase one of their plan. Alex Cox was questioned by police, but never charged. He claimed self defense, highly backed up his story, and without contradictory evidence, prosecutors couldn't prove otherwise. It was exactly what Laurie had planned, a perfect murder disguised as justified protection. But Charles Valow's death had an unexpected consequence because he had changed his life insurance beneficiary from Laurie to his sister Kay just months before his death, Laurie didn't get the million dollar payout she was expecting. Charles had outsmarted her from beyond the grave. Laurie was furious. Text messages recovered from her phone show her raging about the insurance money going to Kay instead of her. In one message to Chad, she complained that Charles must have changed the beneficiary before we got rid of him. Those five words before we got rid of him proved that Charles's murder was premeditated. Laurie wasn't talking about a sudden act of self defense. She was talking about a planned execution that didn't go exactly as intended. With Charles dead, but the insurance money gone, Chad and Laurie needed to accelerate their timeline.

4:48 They still had obstacles to eliminate, and now they had less money to fund their new life together. The children were next on their list. In late August twenty nineteen, Laurie moved JJ and time Hi from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Chad. She told friends and family that she wanted a fresh start after Charles's death, but investigators would later prove she was actually preparing for the next phase of the murders. Chad helped Laurie find a townhouse in Rexburg, just minutes from his family home. Laurie enrolled Jaj in school and seemed to be settling into normal life, but behind the scenes, she and Chad were finalizing their plans to eliminate the children. September eighth, twenty nineteen, Tylee Ryan was last seen alive on a family trip to Yellowstone National Park. Laurie had taken JJ and Tyley to the park along with Alex Cox for what she told them was a fun family outing. Photos from that day show Tily smiling at the camera, unaware that her mother and uncle were planning her death. But here's what makes that Yellowstone trip so sinister Chad Dabell's phone pinged in the same area at the same time. He wasn't officially part of the family trip, but cell tower records prove he was there. Prosecutors believe this was the day Chad and Laurie finalized their plan for Tyley's murder. The next day, September ninth, Tylee Ryan disappeared. Her own mother would later claim that Tiley had gone to Byu, Idaho,

6:20 but school records show she never enrolled. Laurie told other family members that Tylee was staying with friends, but she could never provide names or contact information. What actually happened to Tylee Ryan on September ninth is too horrific to fully comprehend. Investigators would later find her dismembered remains buried on Chad day Bell's property. The level of violence used against this sixteen year old girl suggests a rage that goes beyond simple elimination. Someone wanted to erase Tyley Ryan from existence. But even as her daughter lay dead and buried, Laurie Valo continued with her normal routine hosted on social media.

7:01 She attended religious conferences, she went on dates with Chad day Bell, She acted like a woman whose teenage daughter was safely away at college, not buried in pieces on her boyfriend's property. Two weeks later, it was JJ's turn. September twenty second, twenty nineteen, seven year old Jjvallo was last seen alive by his babysitter. Laurie had asked the babysitter to watch JJ during the day, then picked him up that evening for what she said would be a normal night at home, but JJ Vallo never made it to school the next day. When the school called to report his absence, Laurie told them that JJ was visiting his grandmother in Louisiana. It was a lie. JJ was already dead. September twenty third, twenty nineteen, phone records show that Alex Cox's phone was pinging at Chad day Bell's property early that morning. Investigators believe this is when JJ's body was buried, wrapped in plastic bags and duct tails, in a shallow grave near where his sister had been buried two weeks earlier. The level of planning required to murder and dispose of two children while maintaining the appearance of normal life is staggering. Chad and Laurie had to coordinate alibis, burial sites and cover stories. They had to make sure no witnesses saw them transporting bodies. They had to create explanations for where the children had gone that would satisfy schools, family members, and child services. Most chillingly, they had to look JJ's autism therapists in the eye

8:34 and lie about why he was suddenly unavailable for appointments. They had to tell his grandparents that he was thriving in his new school while his body decomposed in Chad's backyard. Back in a moment, welcome back to Celebrity Trials, I'm read Carter, and we're in the middle of the summer of twenty nineteen, when Chad Dabell and Laurie Valo systematically murdered her family members to clear the path for their new life. Together. With Charles Tyley and JJ dead, Chad and Laurie began implementing the cover up that they believed would allow them to get away with triple murder. But their lives were about to catch up with them in ways they never expected. October twenty nineteen, with both children dead and buried, Laurie needed to maintain the illusion that they were still alive. She continued collecting JJ's Social Security benefits.

9:39 She told his therapists that he was adjusting well to his new school. She assured concerned family members that both children were thriving in Idaho. But Laurie made a crucial mistake. She kept the children's belongings. In early October, surveillance cameras captured Laurie and Alex Cox loading multiple storage units in Rexburg with items that belo belonged to JJ and Tyly bikes, clothes, toys, personal items, everything that would have been evidence of the children's existence and death. Why keep this evidence? Prosecutors believe Laurie was planning to eventually sell or dispose of the items, but she needed to wait until enough time had passed that no one would connect them to the missing children.

10:22 It was a calculated decision that would ultimately help convict her. More importantly, Laurie was already planning the next murder. With the children eliminated, only one obstacle remained between Chad and Laurie and their new life together, Tammy day Bell. Throughout September and October, Chad continued telling Tammy about his prophetic dreams of her death. But now these weren't just spiritual visions. They were threats disguised as revelations. Chad was psychologically preparing his wife for her own murder. While setting up the narrative that would explain her death, Chad also began making practical preparations. He researched bi options and cremation procedures. He updated Tammy's life insurance policies. He started talking to friends and family about how difficult it would be to live without her, positioning himself as the grieving widower he was about to become. But Chad and Laurie had a problem.

11:16 Unlike Charles Valow, Tammy Day Bell wasn't involved in any confrontations that could justify a claim of self defense. She was a beloved librarian and educator with no enemies and no history of violence. Her murder would have to look like natural causes or an accident. The solution they devised was as simple as it was evil. They would make Tammy's death look like a heart attack or natural illness, then rush to cremate her body before anyone could order an autopsy. October nineteenth, twenty nineteen, Tammy Day Bell went to bed healthy and woke up dead. Chad called nine one one early that morning, reporting that he had found his wife of nearly thirty years unresponsive in them. He told paramedics that Tammy had been feeling ill the night before and that she had a history of health problems.

12:07 But here's what makes Tammy's death immediately suspicious. Chad seemed remarkably calm for someone who had just lost his wife. Paramedics noted that he showed no emotion, no distress, no signs of genuine grief. He seemed more concerned with controlling the narrative than mourning his loss. Even more suspicious was Chad's immediate insistence that Tammy be cremated as quickly as possible. He told the coroner that Tammy had expressed wishes to be cremated and that he wanted to honor her desires immediately. There was no viewing, no extended funeral service, no time for family and friends to say goodbye. The coroner initially ruled Tammy's death as natural causes, citing her age and apparent health issues, but Tammy's family was suspicious. They couldn't understand how a healthy, forty nine year old woman could die suddenly in her sleep, with no warning signs. What they didn't know was that Chad had been poisoning their minds for months with talk of prophetic dreams about Tammy's death.

13:09 He had convinced them that her death was spiritually inevitable, even as he was actively planning to murder her. But Chad day Bell couldn't wait to claim his prize. Within seventeen days of Tammy's death, he married Laurie Valo in a ceremony in Hawaii, seventeen days. Most people take longer to plan a week end vacation than Chad took between burying his wife and marrying her replacement. The quick remarriage raised immediate red flags with both families. Tammy's relatives couldn't understand how Chad could move on so quickly from a woman he claimed to love deeply. Charles Valo's family was horrified that Laurie was remarrying so soon after her husband's violent death. But for Chad and Laurie, the Hawaii wedding wasn't just a celebration of their love. It was a victory lap They had eliminated four opst to their relationship.

14:01 They had access to insurance money and social security benefits. They believed they had committed the perfect crimes and gotten away with everything. The photos from their Hawaiian honeymoon show two people who look absolutely care free. There's no guilt, no remorse, no signs that they had just murdered three people, including two children. They looked like any other couple celebrating their new marriage. But back in Idaho and Arizona, people were starting to ask questions, where were JJ and Tylee? Why hadn't anyone seen them? Why were their school enrollment records incomplete? Why couldn't Louri provide current photos or allow family members to talk to them. Kay and Larry Woodcock, JJ's grandparents through Charles, were particularly persistent. They had been trying to contact JJ since Charles's death, but Laurie kept giving them excuses. The boy was sick, he was adjusting to his new school, he was too busy to talk.

14:58 By November twenty nineteen, the woods Cocks were convinced something was wrong. They contacted Rexburg Police and asked them to do a welfare check on JJ. They explained that no one had seen or heard from the seven year old boy in months, and they were afraid for his safety. November twenty sixth, twenty nineteen, Rexburg police arrived at Laurie's townhouse to check on JJ's welfare. Laurie told them that JJ was staying with a family friend named Melanie Gibb in Arizona. She seemed calm and cooperative, giving police Melanie's contact information and assuring them that JJ was safe and happy. But when police contacted Melanie Gibb, she told them a very different story. JJ wasn't with her, She hadn't seen him in months. She had no idea where he was or why Laurie would tell police he was in her care.

15:48 Police returned to Laurie's house the next day with a search warrant, but the townhouse was empty. Laurie, Chad, and any evidence of the children's whereabouts had vanished overnight. The hunt for the missing children had begun, but Chad and Laurie believed they were untouchable. They had fled to Hawaii, where they planned to wait out the investigation and start their new life as spiritual leaders preparing for the apocalypse. What they didn't realize was that their perfect crimes were about to unravel, one lie at a time. Tomorrow, we'll explore how Chad and Laurie's final murder led to their downfall, and how a community's desperate search for two missing children exposed the horrific truth about what had happened in Chad Daybell's backyard. This is read Carter with celebrity trials. The most dangerous killers aren't always the ones who look like monsters.

16:41 Sometimes they're the ones who look like your neighbors, your family members, the people you trust most. And sometimes evil doesn't announce itself with fanfare. It hides behind smiles, spiritual language, and the promise of divine purpose.