‘Doomsday cult mom’ Lori Vallow sent a creepy message from behind bars to her only surviving child during a bizarre moment on stage at a crime convention.
Vallow’s estranged son Colby Ryan appeared at CrimeCon 2025 to share his story just weeks after his mom was handed another two life sentences in connection to the string of murders involving her and her doomsday author husband Chad Daybell.
The 52-year-old mom-of-three was first convicted in 2023 of the murders of her children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, 7, and conspiracy to murder her love rival Tammy Daybell, 49.
This April, she was convicted of conspiring to murder her fourth husband Charles Vallow.
Two months later, she was convicted of conspiracy to murder Brandon Boudreaux – her niece Melani Pawlowski’s ex-husband – in a failed shooting plot.
It’s a horror case that sent shockwaves across the nation with its tangled web of missing children, murders and mysterious deaths all leading back to Vallow, her fifth husband Daybell and her late brother Alex Cox – and all centered around their disturbing, bizarre apocalyptic cult beliefs.
As Ryan spoke on stage Friday about the toll his little brother and sister’s murders had taken on him, it emerged that Vallow had tried to insert herself in the appearance from prison.
Journalist Nate Eaton, who was interviewing Ryan and Rexburg Police Lt. Ray Hermosillo, revealed that ‘somehow Lori found out’ about the talk and sent him a message to share with her son.
Lori Vallow in court at her sentencing in July 2023 after she was convicted of murdering her children and conspiring to murder her new husband’s wife
Vallow sent a message to her son Colby Ryan (with his children) while he was speaking at CrimeCon 2025 in Denver
‘If you talk to Colby, please tell him that I love you very much, no matter what,’ Vallow said in the message, which was in all caps.
The killer mom – who has spewed doomsday religious beliefs about zombies and dark spirits when confronted with the murders – went on to point to a Bible verse.
‘You can ask him about Matthew 25,’ she said.
Ryan said he believes the passage – the ‘Parable of the Ten Virgins’ – is his mother’s way of still claiming she is ‘godly’.
‘It’s her trying to talk about the wicked versus the good,’ he said.
‘It’s her way of trying to say that she is still good and, basically, godly.’
When asked if he ever wants to talk to his mom again, Ryan said no.
Now the sole survivor of his siblings, Ryan revealed he wishes his mom had been sentenced to death for the murders of his brother and sister.
Vallow was facing the death penalty at her first trial in Idaho but it was taken off the table just one month before the start date after her defense argued they didn’t have time to review the huge amount of discovery.
Colby Ryan, Lt Ray Hermosillo and Nate Eaton on stage at CrimeCon 2025 on Friday
Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow with Vallow’s brother Alex Cox at Yellowstone National Park in September 2019. Days later, both children were dead
At Daybell’s trial the following year, capital punishment remained on the table and he was sentenced to death.
‘I 100 percent agree’ she should have received the death penalty, Ryan said of his mother.
‘I was surprised when they took it off the table. Not to sound cold but why would he get it when she didn’t. They were her kids,’ he said.
Hermosillo, who was the lead investigator on the case in Idaho, agreed.
‘If you’re asking me my opinion, yes, she should have. They were both involved. It was the same crime,’ he said.
Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019.
One month later, Tammy – a healthy 49-year-old mom-of-five – was found dead in her home in Rexburg, Idaho. Initially her death was ruled natural causes.
With her children missing and her lover’s wife now dead, Vallow and Daybell jetted off to Hawaii and married in a fairytale wedding on a beach.
Back home, a desperate search was launched to track down the missing children, with Vallow refusing to tell authorities or family members where they were.
Chad Daybell sits at the defense table after the jury returned its verdict in his murder trial in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday, May 30, 2024
Then, in June 2020, JJ and Tylee’s remains were found buried in the pet cemetery in Daybell’s backyard.
JJ’s body was wrapped in a plastic bag and duct tape. He was still wearing the red pajamas he was last seen wearing.
Tylee’s body had been dismembered and burned.
As the investigation into the children’s murders ramped up, Tammy’s body was exhumed and an autopsy found she died by asphyxiation.
The web of mysterious deaths, murders and attempted murders also began to emerge.
Vallow’s fourth husband Charles Vallow was shot dead by Cox in July 2019 when he went to pick up JJ from her home in Arizona.
At the time, his death was ruled self-defense as Cox claimed Charles Vallow attacked him with a baseball bat.
But Vallow conspired with Cox to murder him due to their cult beliefs – and so she could get her hands on a $1 million life insurance windfall.
One month later, Boudreaux was then targeted in a drive-by shooting.
Colby Ryan said he believes his mom should have been sentenced to death for the murders of his younger siblings ‘JJ’ Vallow and Tylee Ryan
Tylee and JJ’s bodies were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property in Idaho in June 2020
In another bizarre twist, Cox died suddenly – and mysteriously – in December 2019 at the age of 51 just as Tammy’s body was being exhumed.
His death was ruled as natural causes.
During the CrimeCon discussion, Ryan hinted that he does not believe Cox died from natural causes.
Had he not died, Ryan believes Cox would have eventually confessed to police about his crimes.
‘I don’t know if he would have flipped [on Vallow and Daybell] but I think if he got caught he would have told what he did,’ he said.
He added that he believes Cox was ‘easily manipulated’ by Vallow and Daybell.
‘I just think that he was easily manipulated. He made really, really bad decisions,’ Ryan said.
‘I don’t know what was going on in his head.’
Lori Vallow (in her first TV interview with Dateline) is behind bars serving multiple life sentences
Tammy Daybell’s death was first ruled natural causes, but an autopsy later determined she died by asphyxiation. Charles Vallow was shot dead by Alex Cox
While Cox was unable to face justice, Vallow and Daybell were both arrested and charged with the murders of Tylee, JJ and Tammy in May 2021.
At their trials, jurors heard how Vallow and Daybell plotted the murders based on their doomsday cult beliefs, as well as for financial gain.
Friends revealed at Vallow’s trial that she had claimed the children had become zombies prior to their sudden disappearance.
But, speaking Friday, Hermosillo said: ‘It was never about religion.’
‘It was that Chad and Lori wanted to have sex and wanted to have money.’
Vallow was convicted in 2023 of the murders of Tylee and JJ and conspiracy to murder Tammy and sentenced to life in prison.
Daybell was convicted of the murders of Tylee, JJ and Tammy in 2024 and sentenced to death.
Vallow represented herself in her second and third trials and was again convicted of all charges.
But, Hermosillo said the case might not be over just yet.
When asked if it was possible charges might be brought against Pawlowski in connection to Boudreaux’s attempted murder, he said cryptically: ‘Unfortunately I can’t answer that.’
Hermosillo then added: ‘I’m not done yet.’
