Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Lori Vallow terrifies Hubby Charles with an "Angel waiting to Destroy you," then he's shot dead!

Transcript

Lori Vallow terrifies Hubby Charles with an "Angel waiting to Destroy you," then he's shot dead! · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: JJ Valo and Tyley Ryan are dead. We may have
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: thought so all along, but now we know. We know
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: that their remains were destroyed and buried in the backyard
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: of Cult Mom Laurie Valoe's new husband's home. What now
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace joining us right now is
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: a very special guest. It is the practicing lawyer that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: represented Charles Valoe, now dead, in his divorce case against
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Cult Mom Laurie Valoe, Taylor Lawson. I guess this is
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: one divorce you'll never forget, although you might want to.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: You say that Charles VALA's death was not an accident
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and was not self defense. Why no, ma'am, No, ma'am,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: it was not self defense. I've in my opinion it
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: was pre planned, an ambush that took place on that
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: faithful day in July, mostly because you know, when I
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: first met Charles and he first came into our office
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: to discuss divorce filing divorce from Laurie, he predicted his
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: murder and he predicted who would do it. He was
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: very fearful of his life when he first met with us,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: and frankly told us, if anything was to happen to me,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: it was Laurie and her brother Alex that did it.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: And he was very very serious and scared for his
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: life and scared for JJ entirely's lives as well. And
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: this was back in on February first, was the first
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: time he came into our office. So we're talking, you know,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: five plus months before his demise. He predicted it in
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: our office, and you know, we we even put that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: into the divorced documents, you know, and predicted sadly. The
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: tragedy that has has become to be known as this
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: case with me is Taylor Lawson. He represented Charles Valo,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a dad who was desperately trying to get his son
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: JJ away from coultmom Laurie Valo, and he ended up
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: shot dead doing it. A very curious about when you
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: first met Charles Valoe and thereon what he was saying
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: about Laurie Valo. Why was he convinced she and her
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: brother Alex were trying to kill him. She threatened his
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: life two times over the phone, including one time telling
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: him that she had an angel at the house waiting
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: to dispose of his body if he came home. This
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: is while he was on a business trip in Texas
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: trying to, you know, provide for the family and run
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the business that they owned together. And so, I mean,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: it doesn't get anymore shocking than that when a client
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: comes in and says, hey, my wife told me she's
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: going to kill me. And she also says, I have
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: an angel here to dispose of your body. They murder me,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: kill me. She threatened to murder you, yes, and she
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: how did she do that? My bishop right there is
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: in the car. He was on the phone with me
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: today when she said, I will have you destroyed. That's
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: what she said there. But I can murder you now
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: with my powers. What business did he take? Believe it?
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: It had to do with financial services such as life insurance,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: and he did most of his business in California and Texas.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: And so during this business trip where she called and
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: told him that she was going to kill him and
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: that he was Nick Schnei, he was in Texas, which
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: was you know, usual and very regular for him to
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: be there to do business during the week in Texas.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: She Laurie Valo claimed that Charles Valo was cheating on her.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Is that true? I can tell you that Charles was
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: very very serious about that, and and he loved Laurie
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: more than anything at the time, and he denied, vehemently
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: denied those allegations and wanted to even take a polygraph
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: test to prove to Laurie that he had not cheated
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: on her. And he even messaged her family members that
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: about that, because he was worried that the Laurie was
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: spreading these lies about him and damaging his reputation because
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: he was always seen as such a great family man
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: who loved Laurie and loved his chill ldren and would
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: never ever step out of the bonds of marriage. And
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: so he was very serious and he wanted to take
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a polygraph test to try to prove it. Wow. You know,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: I'm sure in your business handling a lot of divorces,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: when a man is accused of cheating, I've never seen
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: one accused of cheating step up and say, hey, I'll
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: take a polygraph. Wow. Yeah, thats a lot. Yeah. And
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: you know, Arizona is a no false state, meaning that um,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: you know, affairs don't have any relevance in the court
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: case in the divorce case, so there wasn't much that
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: we could plead for in the in the documents to
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: state that he denied any allegations of cheating. But you know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: he said he would put his money where his mouth does.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, he even said that not only would he
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: take a polygraph test, but he would put money up
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: that if he failed it, he would give her street
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: money in cash to try to And that's how that's
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: how strongly he felt about those allegations and was you know,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: I am not a cheater, is what he would say,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: and he said to mean numerous times. When you're in
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the middle of a divorce, the other side, even though
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Arizona's no fault, which means if you want to divorce,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: you're going to get a divorce. It doesn't matter who cheated,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: who got drunk and wrecked the car, doesn't matter. You
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: want to divorce, you got it. So claims are cheating
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: are irrelevant to a divorce in that jurisdiction. But when
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: somebody claims infidelity, don't you know that the other side
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: is going to dig and dig and dig until they
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: find that mistress. And as of right now, no mistress
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: has ever been found. Right absolutely, there I haven't. I've
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: just seen some of the accusations and allegations. You know
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: that Laurie has thrown through her family members to the media.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: But again, where's these text messages, where's these money trails?
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: You know, where's the emails? Because we certainly have lots
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of emails and things in writing from Laurie to Chad,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: but I haven't seen anything from Charles to anybody. And
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: you know that Laurie had all access to Charles's accounts.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: You know, she used his Amazon account to buy the
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: wedding ring for her and Chad, so she had access
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: to all those emails. So I would believe that, you know,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, that would come out here, you know,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: kind of prove it here. Yeah, I mean emails, texts,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: money trail, buying flowers, buying jewelry, all that. We have
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: none of that, and no woman has come forward and said, hey,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I'm I'm the mistress. And at this juncture, I really
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: believe somebody would have ratted her out if she's existed.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: So he comes in and tells you he's afraid he's
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: going to get killed by Laurie Valo and Alex Cox,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: her brother. And you know Alexe Cox has a history.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: He attacked her last husband, Joe Ryan, remember that, with
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: a tasering and did jail time for it. And in
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: that case, Alex Cox told Joseph Ryan, I'm going to
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: kill you and he attacked it with a taser. In
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: this case, your client ends up dead. What was your
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: client Charles Valo's concern about the children being with Laurie
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: valo cult mom. The main concern was that she was
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: mentally unstable, not able to make, you know, clear decisions
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: for the children. Not only had he been threatened by
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: her over the phone, but she had also told him
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: that he could have the kids, that she didn't want
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: anything to do with them because she had a more
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: important mission to carry out and the kids were seen
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: as a burden to her. It didn't allow her, especially
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: you know, JJ who was special needs and you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: required more attention than you know, someone who doesn't have
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: special needs a child, and especially at his age, you know,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: a younger child too. So Charles was very worried because
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: she just wanted to toss the kids by the wayside,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: so to speak. You know, I didn't realize she actually
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: said that that she wanted to give him the children
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: because she didn't want to be bothered with them anymore,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: that they got in the way of her mission. Isn't
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: it true? That on one occasion, your client, Charles Valor,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: told you that she went to Hawaii and was gone
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: for weeks on in and never texted or called or
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: even checked on the children. Yes, we during the divorce,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: we could not get a hold of Lorie because you know,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: as you know Nancy, to initiate the divorce, you have
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: to serve the other person with the papers, you know,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: personally through a process server, and we were never able
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to find Lorie to serve her with number one the
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: divorce petition, but also number two the order of protection
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: that we advised Charles to go and obtain to try
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: to give afford him some protection from her. He obtained
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: an order of protection and we tried to serve her
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: numerous times throughout the entire time that we represented Charles,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: but we couldn't find her. We tried at her at
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Alex's house, we tried at her parents' house, we tried
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: at some of her friends houses here in the Phoenix area.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: We even sent a process server up to Boise, Idaho,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: because we thought that she would be appearing at one
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: of these a vow preparing a people conferences with that
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: where there were going to be scheduled speakers there and
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: she ended up not even being there, even though she
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: made hotel reservations under Charles's name in Boise. And now
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: we now know, after all this has happened just in
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the last few months, and you know, the timelines kind
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: of unfolded that she was in Hawaii with Tyley. But
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: at the time we had no idea where she was,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and we were trying to find her just to be
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: able to serve her so that the divorce could go
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: through number one and number two, that the order of
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: protection would be put in place and valid. Where was
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: JJ at that time? JJ was with Charles. He when
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Charles got home from Texas. I believe the bodycam footage
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: just came out that showed when he got there, how
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Laurie had changed the locks on the house, had taken
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: everything in the house, including Charles's underwear and his clothes,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: his laptop, had taken JJ and Bailey, the service dog
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: for JJ, and was not communicating with Charles until a
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: few days later. She said, come get JJ, or what
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: she said was, I'm going to drop JJ off at
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: school tomorrow. You can pick him up. I don't want
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: anything to do with him. He tried to put JJ
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: on the order of protection as a protected person, meaning
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: you know, the order protection was between Laurie and Charles,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: and that Laurie could not come, couldnot contact Charles or
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: come in in the vicinity of Charles. He tried to
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: put JJ on that order of protection as a protected
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: person so that Laurie could not come and get JJ
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: if she changed her mind or you know, went to
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the school and picked him up and absconded with him.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Charles was very fearful that Laurie was going to take
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: JJ and run and so unfortunately the court did not
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: allow JJ to stay on the order protection as a
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: protected person and only had Charles on there. Crime stories
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace, Hey, I'm going to kill you or
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: anything like that. I didn't say she was going to
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: kill herself or anything like that, just some of her
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: the irrational statements about calling him a different name and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: saying it was a different person. There was there was
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: a level of disconnect from reality that was disturbing, but
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: that was again, that was just that's just my impression.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Joining us right now is a very special guest. It
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: is the practicing lawyer that represented Charles Valo now did
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: in his divorce case against cult mom Laurie Valo Taylor Lawson.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Did Charles Valo no that Laurie Valo was cheating on
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: him with Chad day bell Um. He definitely had some
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: suspicions that she was cheating. He never told me who
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: he suspected, but he did send me some communications between
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Chad and Laurie that he had found, and I believe
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: that was when he started to try to put the
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: puzzle together. He did tell me that this all started,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: you know, years prior, when Laurie had a near death
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: experience when they were living in Hawaii, and she became
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: fascinated and if you read, you know, some of the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: divorce pleadings that we put in there. She became infatuated
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: in that times, obsessive over some of his near death
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: experiences and was listening to podcasts about other members of
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints who
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: had near death experiences and had you know, allegedly had
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: visions of the spirit world and could communicate with those
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the veil. Charles told me
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: that she would read books over and over about it,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: she would listen to podcast NonStop, and she just was
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: gravitating towards these type of people and these groups. And
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: that's how she found Chad Dayville because most of his
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: books are about that. You're talking about her getting let
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: me just say, becoming enthralled with her cult as it
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: turned out to be. But it started with a near
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: death experience. What was the near death experience? What happened?
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Charles just told me that she had a near death
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: experience in Hawaii when they were living there, and ever
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: since then she became a different person. He you know,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: it wasn't like an overnight type of deal. It was
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: over a period of time that he could see that
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the woman that he was married to was changing and
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: becoming a different person. And I will tell you that
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: throughout the entirety of the divorce proceedings, he just thought
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: that this was just a bad dream and that he
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: would wake up one day and you know, the Lorie
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that he knew and loved and married thirteen years prior
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: would just be there again. And you know, he really
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: thought that she was having some mental distress and that
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: she just needed some medication and some help. Throughout the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: entire time that I communicated with him, he was always
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: very emotional about it and just wanted this to wanted
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: it to be back to what it was before this
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: all started. Earlier used to that they divorce was dismissed.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: We never were able to serve Lorie. We were We
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: did ask the court to allow us to serve her
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: through an alternative means, meaning through email or mailing it
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: to her last known address, but we never got an
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: answer from the court. Before we dismissed the case. Charles
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: asked to dismiss the case because he just couldn't get
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: over the fact that she had abandoned him and JJ
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: and UM. He still loved her and he held hope
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: that that someday she would wake up from this and
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: come back to him. I mean, he just really loved
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: her and the family and he couldn't He couldn't go
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: through with the divorce anymore, mostly because she had become
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: you know, she had she was gone. We didn't know
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: where she was. She was not communicating with him, and
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: so he thought, why am I getting a divorce if
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: she's already just leaving me alone? And you know, I
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: want to hold out hope for the future that we
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: can still become a family again. Time stories with Nancy
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Grace joining us right now is a very special guest.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: It is the practicing lawyer that represented Charles Valoe, now dead,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: in his divorce case against cultmom Lorie Valoe Taylor Larson.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: If the divorce had proceeded, what would have happened to
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: JJ and Tylely? The court here in Arizona did not
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: have jurisdiction over Tyley in our divorce proceeding because Tyley
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: was not common to the parties, meaning that Charles had
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: not adopted Tyley, and that her bio father, Joseph you know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I know he was passed. But because Charles was not
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Tyle's legal guardian or father, the court had no jurisdiction
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: over her. But for JJ, you know, we asked that
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: the court gave Charles sole legal decision making. We were
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: hopeful and with all of these salacious allegations, I felt
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: very strongly that the court would grant that. Why do
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: you think Laurie Valley would have wanted Charles Valet your
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: client did? There was a million reasons why she wanted
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Charles value to head because there was a life insurance
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: policy on Charles's life for a million dollars that she
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: knew about and that she thought she was the beneficiary
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of and after Charles was killed by her brother Alex,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: she found out she was not the beneficiary. Can you
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: describe what you know of that. While we were talking
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: to Charles at the beginning of our representation during the divorce,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: he you know, was very very scared for his life
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: and believed that Lorie was up to something with her
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: brother Alex, and that he was, you know, close to
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: you know, having to deal with Alex showing up to
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: try to kill him. And so when that happens in
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: a divorce, usually we wait till towards the end of
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the divorce where we will advise our client to make
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: sure that they change the beneficiary, you know, of any
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: estate planning documents such as a trust or will or
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: life insurance. And so when Charles started talking about this
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: with us at the beginning, we thought, well, you need
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: to go change the beneficiary of your life insurance policy
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: right away, and he said absolutely, and I want the
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: beneficiary to be kay wood Cock, my sister, because I
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: know that if she got the money, she would use
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: it to take care of JJ. And so a couple
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: of days went by and Charles contacts me and says, Hey,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I just try to change the life insurance beneficiary to
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: k and guess what, someone put a password on my account.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: I've never had a password on my account ever. And
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: the life insurance the life insurance company said that someone
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: had called and represented themselves as Charles and put a
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: password on the account just days prior to Charles calling
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: and trying to change the beneficiary, and it was a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: big nightmare and mess for him to try to change
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: that back. And he said in an email to me,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: if anything happens to me before the beneficiary has changed
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: and this gets all ironed out with the life insurance company,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: please know that I want all of the life insurance
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: proceeds to go to Kay Woodcock, my sister. That is
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: damning if I die before I can change it. You've
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: got to know I wanted to go to my sister Kay.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: So it seems as if the clock was running. How
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: many days after that communication was he killed. That communication
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: took place at the end of February, so we're talking
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: four and a half months for it to happen. And
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I never knew if Charles was able to change the
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: beneficiary completely and get that all ironed out with the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: life insurance policy until after his death when I learned
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: that he had and that Kay was a little beneficiary,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: and that Laurie was not very happy with it. As
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: you can imagine, I'm just thinking back through all the
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: communications that Charles told you about with Cultmont Laurie Valo.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: I read a lot about it in what parts of
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: the divorce papers that I've been able to read. What
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: do you believe Taylor Lawson is the most significant threat
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: or communication Laurie Valo made to Charles. The most significant
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: one to me and the one that always stuck out
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: to me and made the hair on the back of
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: my neck stand up when he told me, was when
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: she told him over the phone, if you come home,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I'm going to kill you, and I have an angel
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: here to dispose of your body. Obviously, that type of allegation.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: We hear allegations all the time in divorce law. Right
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: at it's a very emotionally driven type of law. You know,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: these people are at their worst, and there's a lot
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: of hate flowing between each other. But never have I
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: ever heard of a threat so clear and so just heinous.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: And the fact that she thought that she could have
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: an angel there at her beckoning call to dispose the
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: body and presumably dispose of the evidence. Why do you
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: believe Charles Valo went over to Laurie Valo's that day
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: that he was shot. I believe that Charles did that
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: because he loved JJ more than anything in this world.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: And I know that at the time, Charles was living
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: in Texas away from JJ, while JJ was here in
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: Arizona with Lori. And I know that Charles wanted to
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: spend time with his son. And you know, I've heard
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: that that he was intending on taking JJ to breakfast
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: that day before he took him to school, and you know, unfortunately,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: he didn't ever make it to that breakfast. Do you
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: believe or have you been told that police are close
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: to charging Laurie Valor with Charles's murdyr. I have not
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: been told anything, I would hope. So I do believe
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: that the motive is clear, that this was an intent
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: to kill. This wasn't an self defense, This was a
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: premeditated plan to murder Charles. Guys, let me pause at
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: one moment to thank you for joining us on Crime
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Stories with Nancy Grace every day. You know, if you
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: ever miss an episode, you can download the program Crime
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Stories with Nancy Grace as a free podcast on your
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: favorite podcast app, or you can go to Crime online
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: dot Com, scroll down and punch the podcast. It's easy
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and free. If you're listening to your favorite podcast app,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you can get not only the latest episode from that
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: very day, you can go back in time and hear
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: all the previous episodes. You can catch up on the
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: most important investigations, dive into cold cases with us, or
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: research a missing person. Go to Crime online dot Com
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: slash podcast right now and start listening. Join the investigation.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Subscribe to the podcast so new episodes will be delivered
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: right to your phone. That's awesome, and please leave us
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: a review so we know what you think of our program,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories, and leave us tips ideas of cases you'd
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: like us to cover. We listen as Crime online dot
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Com slash Podcast. Repeat Crime online dot Com slash Podcast.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Thanks guys for joining us. Time Stories with Nancy Grace.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Joining us right now is a very special guest. It
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: is the practicing lawyer that represented Charles Valoe, now dead,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: in his divorce case against cultmom Laurie Valoe. Taylor Larson.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: I just don't understand the logistics of what happened, because,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: by Laurie Valo's statement, your client, Charles Valoe, came over,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: got into an argument with Alex Cox, hit Alex Cox
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: in the back of the head, but your client was
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: shot twice in the chest and right, and that doesn't
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: fit together for me logistically. How did he get hit
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: in the back of the head and then in self
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: defense turn around and shoot him twice in the chest.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: I'm also curious as to whether those shots were at
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: close range or if gunshot powder residue tests were taken
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: that day on Laurie Valo and Alex Cox or on
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: your clients chest. Was it a contact wound. We don't
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: know what happened, and the physicality what we're learning from
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: forensics does not jive with what Alex Cox and Laurie
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Valo said happened. I think another important part of that
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: is that Alex Cox, on the bodycam footage even says
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: he hit me in the back of the head with
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: a bat then I went into my room. He went
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: back into his room to grab the gun and then
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: came back out and shot Charles twice in the chest.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: How is that self defense under the law? That turns
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Alex Cox into the aggressor. But Laurie Valli says she
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: was in the kitchen the whole time, which I find
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: very difficult to believe. Yeah, I don't believe that for effect.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: I think there were two different stories she told police,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: one where she had already taken JJ, one where she
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: was in the kitchen, and Alex said that same same thing.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: I think he changed his story twice too, saying that
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Laurie was home at the beginning, and then saying that
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: she was gone, also taking JJ to school in Charles's car,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: No less the car that Charles drove there, his rental
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: car drove to Laurie's house, she went and got into
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: his car while he was fighting with Alex. I don't
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: believe that. But then also Tiley states to police that
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: after the shooting is when JJ was taken school. Yeah,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: it just it doesn't make sense to me. It never has.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: But I will tell you when I first learned of
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Charles's murder, it was a few weeks after the shooting.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: I didn't see it in the news at first, and
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: then I was contacted by a family member of Charles
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: who told me, and right away, as soon as she
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: told me that Charles had been shot and killed. I said,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: was it Alex and she said yes, And I said
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: has he been arrested? And she said no. And I said,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: how is that possible? And she said, well, he's claiming
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: it was self defense. And I said, there's no way
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: it was self defense. It was pre planned. And this
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: was before I knew any of the facts of what
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: happened on that day. I'm wondering if Laurie Vale lured
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Charles over that day. I've wondered that too, mostly because
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I don't know why Charles would go into the house
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: to have a discussion with Lorie, especially with Alex there.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Just a few months beforehand. Charles is telling me, hey,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: if anything happens to me, it's Alex who killed me
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: and Laurie, you know, is behind that. So if he
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: knew that Alex and Laurie were in the house, I
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: don't believe that he would have went in. And if
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: he was just there to pick up JJ, why does
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: he need to go into the house. You know, what
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: kind of a hole did Laurie Valo have over her
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: brother Alex. She's referred to him as her hitman. He
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: attacked her other husband. Now Charles Valo, and Valo is dead.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Many people believe he shot at Brandon Bedro for Laurie
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Valo and possibly shot at Tammy daybel for Laurie val
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: What kind of hole does she have over him? Yeah,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: it's a very good question, and I don't know if
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: we'll ever get the answer because Alex is dead. But
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: I will tell you that Charles, when he first came
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: into our office, he met with the managing partner of
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: our firm, Steve Ellsworth, and Charles told Steve in the
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: initial consultation that Alex was Laurie's destroying angel and that
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: he was there to protect her at all costs. Well,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: it all fits together for me, because Laurie Valo told you, client,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: if you come home, I'm going to kill you, and
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: I've got an angel here to dispose of your body.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: On a previous incident, she had referred to Alex Cox,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: her brother, as her quote destroying angel. So that's the
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: angel that was going to get rid of his body.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I agree. One. We have a man here in Charles
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: who was an ultimate family man, who loved his family
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: more than anything and would do anything for them, and
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: he predicted what would happen to not only himself, but
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: also to the children. Months prior to it all happening,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: you know, he was very concerned about Tyley's her safety
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: as well as JJ's. It was unfortunate that through the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: court system here in Arizona, we could only try to
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: protect JJ. But I will tell you that Charles was very,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: very fearful of what was going to happen to Tyley
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: as well, and he loved Tyley as his own. He says,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: going to happen to the children, well, he didn't specifically
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: ever say that Laurie would would do anything to harm them,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: just that she had inferred that the children were a
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: burden and that she if anybody got in her way
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: of her mission, she would dispose of them. And so
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: it was more of a you know, if she has
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the kids, she's number one on not going to think
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: of their best interests. She's going to be obsessed with
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: the end of times and preparing the one hundred and
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: forty four thousand over the children and not care for them.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: And the fact that JJ's special needs and takes, you know,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: needs special care, she wasn't going to be able to
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: provide that. I don't know if Charles ever thought that
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: she would harm the children in a way or you know.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: But he was very fearful that if she was going
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: to have the children in her care, that they were
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: not going to be safe. Taylor Lawson, Associate attorney with
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Elsworth Family Law. I've got a feeling you're going to
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: end up as a state's witness at some point. No
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: attorney wants to ever be a witness at a murder
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: trial for one of their clients, But in this situation,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: I think that that's as close to justice as we
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: can get for Charles. Thank you so much for being
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: with us. Taylor