(CNN) – A jury has found Lori Valo Tabel guilty of murdering her two children and conspiring to murder her husband’s first wife.
Vallo Table, who pleaded not guilty, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy in the 2019 deaths of her children, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “JJ” Wallo, 7. Tammy Tabell is the first wife of her husband, Chad Tabell.
She faces up to life in prison when sentenced.
A jury of seven men and five women began deliberating Thursday afternoon and reached a unanimous guilty verdict Friday afternoon.
Wallow Table showed no apparent reaction when the verdict was read.
Lisa Cheney/Pool
Lori Vallo Table whispers to defense attorney John Thomas during her trial.
He will be transferred from Ada County to Fremont County for further proceedings and sentencing. Judge Steven Boyce said sentencing would take three months.
As jurors were excused, a cross-armed Wallow table stood, spoke briefly to her attorney and quickly left the courtroom as a bailiff escorted her away.
Vallo Tabelle’s charges included grand theft on suspicion of changing bank accounts to receive Social Security benefits on behalf of her children after their deaths. A May 2021 charge. The East Idaho News reported that prosecutors are collecting money for her missing children on Thursday.
Larry Woodcock, JJ’s biological grandfather, thanked jurors for their service outside the courtroom after the verdict was read, CNN affiliate KBOI-TV reported.
“Thank you all, thank you all, thank you all,” he said, spreading his arms. “What they went through, what they saw, was mind-blowing.”
Woodcock and his wife Kay, A $20,000 reward was offered For information leading up to the children’s return in January 2020.
“I hope no one has to go through this,” he said Friday. “I hope no one ever sees or hears the details of what happened to JJ, Tylee and Tommy.”
Chad Table, who pleaded guilty to the charges, will be tried separately.
Tommy Tabel died in his sleep in October 2019 – Valo Tabel married Tabel a few weeks later.
Law enforcement officials discovered the remains of Tabelle’s stepchildren in June 2020 in her backyard in Fremont County, Idaho. He was charged with two counts of felony conspiracy; altering or concealing evidence; and two felony counts of destroying, altering or concealing evidence.
Madison County Attorney Rob Wood He insisted on a guilty verdict Wallow Dabell on each count charged in closing arguments that ended Thursday after a month-long trial.
“You have to punish her,” Wood said in the courtroom Thursday as she looked at pictures of Vallo Tabelle’s children and Tommy Tabelle, the East Idaho News reported.
Wood and Fremont County Attorney Lindsey Blake said in a statement Friday that they were “very pleased” with the verdict.
“We want to assure each and every one of you that we are committed to bringing justice to Tylee Ryan, JJ Wallow and Tommy Tabel,” the statement read.
Rexburg Police Department
Lori Vallo Tabelle’s children, Joshua Vallo, 7, and her sister, Tylee Ryan, 17, went missing in September 2019, according to the Rexburg Police Department.
Before resting their case Tuesday, the defense made a so-called Rule 29 motion to dismiss the case before handing it over to a jury, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant charges, KBOI-TV reported. Judge Steven Boyce denied the motion on all counts Thursday.
“Nobody here thinks Lori actually killed anybody, and that’s why she’s charged with conspiracy,” Wallow Tabelle’s attorney, Jim Archibald, said Thursday.
“If you find her guilty, does that bring the kids back? No. If you find her innocent, does that bring the kids back? No,” Archibald said, according to East Idaho News.
The East Idaho News reported that people familiar with the couple, who married shortly after the disappearance of Wallow Tabelle’s children, described them as members of a deeply religious doomsday cult.
The May 2021 indictment alleges the pair “adopted and supported religious beliefs” intended to justify or encourage the murders of the children and Tommy Tabel.
Their story was featured in a Netflix true-crime documentary last year.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the marital status of Tommy Tabell when Chad Tabell was murdered. They are still married.
