BOISE, Idaho — Author Leah Sottile wrote a book about Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. She said even with today's verdict, there are plenty of questions that may never be answered.
"How could a mother do this to their children? How could she offer no explanation?" said Sottile
Sottile said that question is part of the reason people across the nation have been so invested in the case, ever since Lori Vallow's two young children went missing. They were later found buried in her fifth husband's back yard.
Sottile has spent a lot of time in Spokane, and recently wrote the book 'When the Moon Turns to Blood'. Sottile said the Vallow case quickly grew a lot darker than anyone had allowed themselves to realize. In the end, she said Lori didn't see Tylee and JJ as her own kids.
"Really referring to them not just as zombies as we had heard in the past but obstacles, that they saw them as physical obstacles in the way of the life that they wanted to live," said Sottile
According to Sottile, before the murders, Vallow was considered an all-American mom. A cheerleader, beauty queen, and somebody who taught Sunday school.
"So I think all of those things combined kind of present this image of this perfect person that is just truly the exact opposite...Chad and Lori really advance the conversation around extremism that we're having in America." Sottile said.
Many are wondering if Chad Daybell's defense team will blame Vallow for the murders when he goes on trial next spring. Sottille isn't sure how it will play out.
"At the end of the day, I like to say he's the one who had bodies buried in his back yard. So, I've heard a lot of people saying it was all Lori Vallow, but when you look at it, Chad Daybell in so many ways was the architect of so many of these ideas and conspiracies."
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