Brother of Idaho ‘cult’ mom whose two children are missing ‘threatened to kill her third husband’

Alex Cox (pictured) allegedly threatened to kill his sister Lori Vallow’s third husband years before he fatally shot her fourth husband

The brother of Lori Vallow, an alleged cult member believed to be involved in the disappearance of her two children, threatened to kill his sister’s third husband years before he fatally shot her fourth husband. 

Alex Cox became embroiled in the mystery of his sister’s missing children, seven-year-old Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, after it emerged that he had shot dead her estranged husband and JJ’s adoptive father, Charles Vallow, last July.   

Court documents obtained by FOX10 revealed that the July incident was not the first time Alex had gotten in a violent altercation with one of Lori’s husbands. 

A warrant for Alex’s arrest in 2007 in Travis County, Texas, alleges that he had threatened to kill Lori’s ex-husband, Joseph Ryan.

The warrant states that Lori and Joseph were exchanging custody of their daughter Tylee when Alex followed the father into the parking lot to talk. 

Alex then allegedly shocked Joseph with a taser and threatened to kill him before the father escaped. 

The following year, Alex pleaded guilty to a second-degree aggravated assault charge and served three months in jail.   

Twelve years after the incident with Joseph – who died of an apparent heart attack aged 59 in 2018 – Alex killed Lori’s next husband, Charles, in a similar custody exchange.

Charles had gone to Lori’s home in Chandler, Arizona, to pick up there adoptive son JJ – who has autism – when the couple got in an argument. 

Alex intervened and ultimately shot Charles in the chest. Police initially determined that he acted in self defense – but the case was reopened amid a multi-state search for JJ and Tylee, who have been missing since September. 

Cox himself died aged 51 on December 12 in Gilbert, Arizona. His death is now under investigation as police wait for an autopsy to determine the cause, which could take up to three months. 

Court documents revealed that Alex had threatened to kill Lori's previous husband, Joseph Ryan (pictured) in 2007

Court documents revealed that Alex had threatened to kill Lori’s previous husband, Joseph Ryan (pictured) in 2007 

Alex fatally shot his sister Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow (above together) last July

Alex fatally shot his sister Lori’s estranged husband Charles Vallow (above together) last July 

Tylee Ryan, 17, (left) and Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, (right) have not been seen or heard from since September. Police in Rexburg, Idaho, only realized they were missing two days before Thanksgiving when they were asked to conduct a welfare check by relatives

Tylee Ryan, 17, (left) and Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, seven, (right) have not been seen or heard from since September. Police in Rexburg, Idaho, only realized they were missing two days before Thanksgiving when they were asked to conduct a welfare check by relatives

Tylee is seen in an undated photo with her father Joseph Ryan, who died of an apparent heart attack in 2018

Tylee is seen in an undated photo with her father Joseph Ryan, who died of an apparent heart attack in 2018

JJ and Tylee were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, on September 23 but were never reported missing by their mother. 

Authorities began searching for the children in late November after performing a welfare check ordered by concerned relatives who said they hadn’t spoken to JJ in months.  

Investigators say Lori and the man she married in earlier that month, Chad Daybell, fled their Idaho home the day after the welfare check. 

They claim Lori and Chad have repeatedly lied about where JJ and Tylee are and have not cooperated with the investigation.  

The couple are considered persons of interest in the children’s disappearance after investigators said they believe Lori knows where her children are or what happened to them.   

The search for JJ and Tylee uncovered a web of mysterious deaths surrounding Lori and Chad that has baffled investigators and captivated the country for weeks. 

The first death is that of Charles Vallow, Lori’s estranged husband. 

The second was Tammy Daybell – Chad’s previous wife. Tammy was found dead at the couple’s home in Salem, Idaho, on October 19. 

An obituary stated that Tammy passed away in her sleep. Chad reportedly declined an autopsy and her death was ruled to be from natural causes. 

Investigators reopened the case after learning that JJ and Tylee were missing, as their mother had married Chad just two weeks after Tammy died. They believe the two cases could be linked.

Tammy’s body was exhumed on December 11. Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries told DailyMail.com on Monday investigators believe she may have been poisoned. 

On December 12, Lori’s brother Alex turned up dead.  

Lori Vallow (pictured) is currently on the run from police with her new husband Chad Daybell, both of whom are persons of interest in the disappearance of her children

Lori and Chad (pictured) are believed to be members of a dangerous religious cult obsessed with the end of times

Lori Vallow (left) is currently on the run from police with her new husband Chad Daybell (right), both of whom are persons of interest in the disappearance of her children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow. The pair are believed to be members of a dangerous religious cult obsessed with the end of times

Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow

Tylee Ryan

Rexburg police say Chad and Lori have repeatedly lied about where their children are and aren’t cooperating with the investigation. Joshua is pictured left and Tylee is pictured right

Chad's then-wife Tammy Daybell (pictured together) was found dead under mysterious circumstances in October, just two weeks before he married Lori

Chad’s then-wife Tammy Daybell (pictured together) was found dead under mysterious circumstances in October, just two weeks before he married Lori

Chad Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died at their home in Rexburg, Idaho, in October and was buried in Springville, Utah. Chad’s new wife, Lori, was also widowed in 2019 when her husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in July in Chandler, Arizona

The string of mysterious deaths have left other relatives in fear for their lives as they suspect Lori and Chad’s alleged links to a doomsday cult may be responsible. 

Family members have said that Lori turned into a ‘monster’ after she met Chad, the author of 25 books about the end of the world, and joined a cult called Preparing a People with him around 19 months ago. 

Timeline of Joshua and Tylee’s disappearance 

July 11: Lori Vallow’s husband, Charles Vallow, killed in self-defense by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona following an argument between the three people

August: The last time Joshua’s grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, said they saw the boy via FaceTime 

August: September: Lori moved children Joshua and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho

September 23: The last time Joshua was seen at his school in Idaho

October: Activity found on a Venmo account that may belong to Tylee

October 19: Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell, dies at their home in Rexburg. Officials rule her death to be of natural causes

October 22: Tammy is buried in Springville, Utah

October 25: A friend of Tylee receives a text from her phone  

Early November: Lori and Chad get married

November 26: Out-of-state relatives ask Idaho police to perform a welfare check on Joshua. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with a family friend. Police also learn Tylee has not been seen since September, either

November 27: Police execute a search warrant at Lori and Chad’s home, discovering the couple have fled the city

December 11: Tammy Daybell’s body is exhumed from the Utah cemetery

December 12: Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, believed to have died in Arizona

Lori was married to Charles at the time that she allegedly joined the cult. The couple separated months later and Charles filed a petition for divorce and for custody of JJ in February 2019. 

In court documents, Charles claimed that Lori – referred to as ‘mother’ – had recently become ‘infatuated, at times obsessive, about near death experiences and spiritual visions’.

‘Mother has told Father [Charles] that she is sealed [eternally married] to the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she has lived numerous lives on numerous planets prior to this current life,’ the documents state.

‘Mother also informed Father that she is a translated being who cannot taste death sent by God to lead the 144,000 into the Millennium. 

‘Mother believes that she is receiving spiritual revelations and visions to help her gather and prepare those chosen to live in the New Jerusalem after the Great War as prophesied in the book of Revelations.’   

Charles also claimed in the petition that Lori had threatened to kill him.  

During a January 29 phone conversation, Lori allegedly told Charles that she was a ‘God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020 and that if Father [Charles] got in her way of her mission she would murder him’, the documents state.     

Attorneys who represented Charles during the divorce proceedings recently revealed that their client had predicted either Lori or her brother Alex would kill him.  

Speaking to FOX10 on Wednesday, lawyer Steven Ellsworth claimed that Charles told him: ‘I’m afraid I’m gonna be killed, and I know who’s gonna do it. 

‘I’m telling you, Steve, so that if something happens to me, I wanna make sure you let everyone know that something happens, I’m killed, that it’s my wife Lori and her brother, Alex Cox.’ 

Five months later, Charles’ prediction came true when Alex killed him. 

THE PLAYERS: A WHO’S WHO IN THE CASE OF MISSING IDAHO KIDS TYLEE AND JJ 

 

Last week DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Lori and Alex had engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight in the middle of the street about a year ago in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Tan Valley.

Neighbor Donny Self said the fight was so bad he and other neighbors were close to calling the police on the warring siblings.   

‘I heard this huge commotion,’ Self told DailyMail.com. ‘People were coming out in the street to watch what was going on.

‘I thought they must be husband and wife because it was the sort of fight you don’t normally have with your sister. She was screaming at him accusing him of bringing disgrace on their family.’

After it was over, Lori left the house she had been sharing with her brother and never came back, Self said.

‘I joked with my wife that I thought he might have killed her after their argument,’ he recalled.  

Self said Cox, who had a history of violent assaults, was very unfriendly and tried to avoid contact with his neighbors on the quiet residential street. 

‘One day I was doing some yard work in the front and he drove his Ford pickup into the front. I waved and tried to say hello, but he ignored me and just went inside.’

Self said that at one point Cox was away from the four-bedroom single story home for some six weeks — and left the garage door open for the entire time.

‘It’s a good job we are a quiet law-abiding community because he had a lot of stuff in there and none of it got stolen.’

When he returned to the home — which is now empty and up for rent — he moved everything out of the garage so he could fit the truck in. 

‘I think he just wanted to get straight into the house without having to see any of his neighbors,’ said Self.

Alex was found dead in his new home in Gilbert on December 12 – 10 days after he ran off to Las Vegas to marry Zulema Pastenes, 55, on December 2.

His widow did not return calls from DailyMail.com and did not come to the door at her home in Gilbert. 

However, her son confirmed she and Cox had married shortly before his death.

Missing JJ Vallow suffered from a far more severe form of autism than previously known, needing a therapy dog and his iPad at all times

Missing seven-year-old JJ Vallow suffers from a far more severe form of autism than has previously been acknowledged according to court papers obtained by DailyMail.com

Missing seven-year-old JJ Vallow suffers from a far more severe form of autism than has previously been acknowledged according to court papers obtained by DailyMail.com

Missing seven-year-old JJ Vallow suffers from a far more severe form of autism than has previously been acknowledged according to court papers obtained by DailyMail.com.

He needs a therapy dog and has to have his iPad with him at all times according to the papers filed by his adoptive father Charles Vallow.

Vallow was in the midst of divorce proceedings with Lori Vallow — which were later dropped. The papers, drawn up by his attorney, refers to him as ‘Father’ and calls Lori ‘Mother.’

In the papers filed in Phoenix in February 2019, Vallow — who was shot dead in July last year — said his son’s iPad had ‘special expensive developmental apps on it that he loves and helps keep him calm.’

‘Father believes that the iPad should always go with JJ regardless of what type of parenting time schedule is ordered.’

Vallow — who said he earned $240,000 a year — claimed his wife had drained his bank account, taken his truck, stolen his clothes and computer and removed JJ’s support items, including vital medication and a special collar for his service dog.

‘Father would like for the collar to stay with whoever has the dog and JJ,’ he wrote. ‘Not having his normal clothes and iPad has been very disruptive and created a hardship on JJ.’

He said she also took 2,000 points from their Enterprise Rental Car account. ‘Father is worried that Mother may be planning to use the rental car points to leave the state and potentially take JJ with her.’

‘Father also states that Mother’s mental and emotional instability is not in the best interests of JJ for him to be alone with Mother.’

Vallow referred to Lori’s older children, Colby, who is now married with a young daughter and living in Mesa, Arizona, and missing Tylee, as ’emancipated,’ but did not go into further details. Colby Ryan refused to speak to DailyMail.com when approached.

Vallow said the problems came to a head while he was on a business trip in Texas. He said Lori took most of his possessions from their home.

He needs a therapy dog and had to have his iPad with him at all times according to the papers filed by his adoptive father Charles Vallow

He needs a therapy dog and had to have his iPad with him at all times according to the papers filed by his adoptive father Charles Vallow

‘Before cleaning out Father’s possessions at the residence, Mother cancelled Father’s flight home from Texas the day of the flight. Father arrived at the airport for boarding and was informed that he had cancelled the flight but it was Mother who went onto the airline account and cancelled the ticker.

‘Father then had to buy a last-minute ticket that cost him $600.

‘Upon arriving in Phoenix, Father went to the parking lot to get his truck only to find that the truck was no longer parked there because Mother had used the spare key to get the truck and remove it from the airport parking lot.

‘Once home, Father discovered Mother took Father’s desktop computer, JJ’s iPad, Father’s clothes and underwear, JJ’s clothes, the service dog’s collar, JJ’s medication among other items.

‘JJ has special needs and has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD,’ he continued. ‘He needs his medication, service dog and iPad with special developmental apps on a daily basis to maintain his routine.

Vallow claimed that Lori believed she was ‘sealed’ — meaning eternally married — to the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she had lived ‘on numerous planets prior to this current life.’

‘Mother also believes that she was married to (Christian apostle) James the Just in a past life and also lived as Mary French in the 1800s who was (Mormon founder) Joseph Smith Junior’s natural grandmother.

‘Mother also informed Father that she is a translated being who cannot taste death sent by God to lead the 144,000 into the Millennium.

‘Mother believes that she is receiving spiritual revelations and visions to help her gather and prepare those chosen to live in the New Jerusalem after the Great War as prophesied in the book of Revelations.’

He said she had threatened to kill him if he got in the way of her plans and had started to call him Nick Schneider.

‘Father asked who Nick Schneider was and Mother told him that Nick was Father’s real name because Nick had killed Father and taken his identity.

‘Mother proceeded to warn Father that she would kill him upon his return home and had an angel there to help her dispose of the body.’

Four months later, Charles Vallow was dead, shot and killed by his wife’s brother.  

   

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk