1-on-1 with Lori Vallow Daybell’s surviving victim, Brandon Boudreaux

PHOENIX — On Friday, “Doomsday Mom” and convicted killer Lori Vallow Daybell will be sentenced in Arizona for two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

One of those counts is for the attempted killing of her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux. He’s the only living victim from all of the cases, or as he calls himself, a survivor.

He plans to speak at the sentencing.

The plot to kill him involved Lori’s brother, who shot at Boudreaux back in October 2019. The bullet narrowly missed his head.

Boudreaux was key in all of Lori’s convictions, working with investigators for nearly six years on all the other murder cases. 

She’s already been sentenced to life in prison in Idaho for the murders of her children, Tylee and JJ, and for her role in the death of Tammy Daybell, her current husband Chad Daybell’s first wife.

She was also convicted in Arizona for conspiring to kill her former husband, Charles Vallow, who died in 2019. Lori Vallow Daybell will be sentenced in that case on Friday, too. 

“The side effect of going through something so crazy and having so many people get hurt and killed, and you know attempted murders, is that, like you don’t know who you can trust,” Boudreaux said. “Even amongst the people who you think you should be able to trust.”

Boudreaux used to be married to Lori’s niece, and they were going through a divorce at the time of the shooting. Lori represented herself at trial and got to question Boudreaux on the stand.

“It was uncomfortable,” Boudreaux said. “I didn’t enjoy it. I wouldn’t want to do it again, but it was the right thing to do at the time.”

At the core of the crimes are extreme doomsday religious beliefs, including Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell rating people light or dark and calling victims zombies before they died.

“What was it like for you to uncover or learn about some of those beliefs?” asked the I-Team’s Erica Stapleton. 

 “Probably just like it is for everybody else,” Boudreaux said.  “Shocking. Weird. Bizarre. Doesn’t really connect.  Doesn’t make doesn’t make sense to me. Personally, it’s not something I would believe.”

Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in Idaho, but was not charged in Arizona. Lori Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, died before charges were filed.

Boudreaux’s ex-wife, Melani Pawlowski, was named as a co-conspirator in the attempt to murder him.  She’s never been charged, and her attorney previously had no comment about what was said about Melani during the trial.

“I don’t want to talk about individual people in that process,” Boudreaux said, when asked about whether anyone else should be charged.  

“That’s not my job…My hope is that anyone who commits a crime and participates in that that the commission of crimes that we can use that judicial system. We have to hold them accountable for their own good, too. Like you can’t really grow and become better if you’re busy continuing to do terrible things.”

Going forward, Boudreaux is working on a book.  He hopes he can use the book to best explain all of this to his own minor children. When asked how he navigated all of the murders, criminal cases, and trials with his young children, he said he tried to make sure it wasn’t something they talked about.

“I also think if you give too much time to that, you’re going to miss out on some wonderful opportunities,” he explained. “I have beautiful children that are growing up, and they live beautiful lives.  And you don’t get to do that over.”

He’s also working with Lori’s only living child, her son, Colby Ryan. The pair is working on a podcast project through their new company, Timber & Wings Media Co.

“Maybe help other people out there who’ve gone through different traumas in their lives,” he said of their goal with the project. “Hopefully helping other people share their stories and us sharing ours in a positive way that helps people. “

Lori Vallow Daybell’s sentencing in Arizona is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. local time. Court proceedings will be broadcast on a five-minute delay.  

After Lori Vallow Daybell is sentenced in Arizona, she’ll be extradited to Idaho, where she will continue serving her life sentences.  

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