Cult mom Lori Vallow's brother reportedly told authorities that he believes that she murdered her third husband, Joseph Ryan.
According to court documents obtained by the New York Post, Vallow’s late brother Alex Cox told detectives that he believes that he and his sister murdered Ryan.
Ryan died of what was reported to be a heart attack in 2018.
In November, the Phoenix Police Department said it had "been made aware of the information and is reviewing the 2018 death investigation of Joseph Ryan" after audio of Lori saying she "was going to kill" Ryan was released.
"He [Ryan] was cremated, so there is not going to be any new physical evidence," an OK! insider said at the time. "It is really just looking at what they already have from the autopsy, and what Lori and her brother Alex were doing around that time, where they were doing it."
Lori accused Ryan of sexually assaulting her and her son Colby Ryan during a custody dispute regarding their daughter Tylee. Ryan was cleared of the allegations, Deseret News reported.
In 2007, Alex reportedly assaulted Ryan with a taser.
Lori had reportedly told several friends about the incident.
Lori's friend Angeline Law told detectives that the mother-of-three said she had hired her brother to kill Ryan "because of stuff he did to them," Deseret News reported.
Lori's brother Adam Cox told detectives that Lori and Alex intended to kill Ryan. "They planned out how they were going to kill Joe, and Al was going to taser him, throw him in the trunk and take him out to a field and shoot him and then bury him. Well, Al went to taser him and it didn’t work and Joe called the cops and Al went to jail," he said.
"It’s odd that Joe, her ex-husband, supposedly died of a heart attack when they were desperate for money and he left her $50,000 and Tylee gets $2,000. Then Charles has $2 million … there’s a lot of red flags for me," Adam told detectives.
Earlier this year, Lori was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder following the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow in 2019. In May, it was determined that she was mentally unfit to stand trial. The proceedings have been postponed while she undergoes treatment.
Alex shot Charles but claimed it was in self-defense. He alleged that Charles struck him with a baseball bat in the head during a custody dispute about Charles and Lori's son Joshua "JJ" Vallow.
Authorities first determined that Alex acted in self-defence. The case was reopened when JJ and Tylee were reported missing in November 2019.
In June 2020, the children were discovered buried in Lori's fifth husband Chad Daybell's backyard.
Daybell is accused of conspiring with Lori to murder her children and his estranged wife, Tammy. His trial was scheduled for November but a judge reportedly granted his request to move the trial. The new date was not set yet, KTIV reported.
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Lori is said to have told a friend that her kids were zombies and the only way to rid them of evil spirits was to kill them, the Post noted. Adam appeared on USG Audio's "The Followers: Madness of Two" podcast and said that Lori and Daybell think they are on a mission from God to become the leaders of the "Second Coming."
Adam said on the podcast that Lori was a great sister when they were growing up but later in life, she changed and developed obscure beliefs. He said he suspected JJ and Tylee were dead when they were reported missing.
