BOISE, Idaho — A new Netflix docu-series titled 'Sins of Our Mother', will focus on the story of Lori Vallow and how she devolved from a devoted wife and mother to an end-of-times extremist.
The three-part docu-series, premiering September 14, is directed by Skye Borgman who directed another series focused on Idaho crime: Abducted in Plain Sight.
"They're both family stories, and they both have LDS ripples in them," director Skye Borgman said. "With Lori, it's substantially different. I think that she had these beliefs and went beyond anything that LDS condones, or that LDS talks about. And she got to this point of extremism, and I think that those two things are incredibly different."
In a tweet promoting the new docu-series on Twitter, Netflix wrote: "Lori Vallow was known as a devoted mother of three, a loving wife, and a woman of God. Now Lori is waiting to stand trial for the deaths of her fourth husband, her fifth husband’s wife, and her two youngest children."
Filming the docu-series before the trial began proved to be a bit challenging, something director Borgman said took longer to work out.
"I mean, there's always so many challenges in telling a story like this," Borgman said. "I mean, we started this back in 2019, and here we are at the end of 2022. So we've been gathering information, we've been talking to people and we've been spending a lot of time editing."
Originally the trial was scheduled to take place in Nov. 2021, but Lori Vallow's trial was pushed back after mental health evaluators determined she was not mentally competent to stand trial in May 2021.
However nearly a year later, in April of 2022, that ruling was reversed and she was deemed mentally competent to stand trial.
Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan. The children disappeared in September 2019 and were found dead nine months later on Daybell's Fremont County property, in June 2020.
Daybell is also charged with first-degree murder for the death of his late wife, Tammy Daybell. Vallow was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection to her ex-husband's death, Charles Vallow.
Investigators say her end-of-times beliefs led to the deaths of her children, who she allegedly told others had turned into zombies or became possessed by evil spirits.
"I don't know that you can ever answer why Lori did what she did," Borgman said. "But we're at least attempting to contextualize it, and say 'these steps lead to these events'."
The trial is scheduled to start this upcoming January, on the 9th, so it is possible the series may include more parts covering information from the trial.
"Anything's possible you know, I mean we have a slice of the story, and I think we've got a good slice of the story," Borgman said. "But I think more will come out in the trial."
The documentary will provide more background information on Lori Vallow, and an interview with Vallow's third child, her oldest son Colby Ryan. Borgman spoke with him to get a different angle on the story.
"It really chronicles Colby Ryan's journey from finding out that his brother and sister were missing to what ultimately happens to them," Borgman said. "He's got a family of his own and he is committed to being a good father and a good husband," Borgman said. "In the wake of such incredible tragedy, he really is an inspiration."
"I know Colby wants people to walk away with a feeling that you can get through it no matter what," Borgman said. "And I think that's what I ultimately want people to kind of be able to look at him and find some hope and find some inspiration; that if you're in a situation that feels hopeless, that that there is hope."
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