'You Should Never Be Released,' Judge Tells Vallow Daybell

Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison Friday on two murder conspiracy convictions in Arizona, marking an end to a winding prosecution for the mother with doomsday religious beliefs who claimed people in her life had been possessed by evil spirits. Vallow Daybell, already serving life sentences in Idaho in the killings of her two youngest children and a romantic rival, was convicted at separate trials this spring in Phoenix of conspiring to murder her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, and her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux. Vallow Daybell, who represented herself in both Arizona cases though she isn't a lawyer, used her final testimony to complain about jail conditions and the legal system, the AP reports.

• "You will fade": Judge Justin Beresky said Vallow Daybell has "shown blatant disregard for humanity," and he rebutted her claim that she didn't get a fair trial in Arizona. "You should never be released from prison," Beresky said before sentencing her. "Eventually the camera that you seek out, the media requests, will lessen over time and you will fade into obscurity."
• The defendant: "If I were accountable for these crimes, I would acknowledge and let you know how sorry I was," Vallow Daybell told the court.

• Victims' families: In court on Friday, family members called Vallow Daybell "evil," "greedy" and a "monster" while describing their grief. The victims' family members sat in the jury box, passing around tissues. Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell's only surviving child who testified by remote link, described how he "had to fight to stay alive after the pain" of losing his father and siblings. Ryan zeroed in on his mother, who has claimed the Arizona cases were family tragedies that shouldn't have ended up in court. "I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy," Ryan said.