Lori Vallow murder trial day 22: Nephew-in-law of 'Doomsday mom' finishes testimony

Ian Pawlowski, the husband of Lori Vallow's niece Melani, was back on the stand Thursday to wrap up his testimony in the murder trial of the so-called "Doomsday mom."

Vallow is accused of killing JJ and Tylee. She is also accused of conspiring to kill her husband's wife of nearly 30 years, Tammy Daybell.

Daybell has a status conference scheduled for Thursday regarding his trial, which is separate from Lori's.

On May 3, Pawlowski testified he never saw Vallow’s kids, JJ and Tylee, and Lori allegedly never mentioned them.

Ian also told the court about the alleged light and dark spirits rating system. He said he heard about it through Melani, who learned it from her aunt, Lori, and her new husband, Chad Daybell.

Witnesses have testified that she called JJ and Tylee zombies before they were killed. Investigators asked Ian to record Lori and Chad’s conversations which he did for a short time.

Gilbert Police Detective takes the stand

While we have seen multiple officials from the Chandler Police Department testify regarding the murder of Vallow’s 4th husband, Charles Vallow, May 4 marked the first time an officer with Gilbert Police Department took the stand.

Officer Ryan Pillar was the lead detective investigating the attempted murder of Vallow's ex-nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux. In October 2019, Gilbert Police officials said Vallow’s late brother, Alex Cox, shot Boudreaux’s vehicle as he pulled into his driveway.

The suspect vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler that was usually driven by Vallow’s daughter, Tylee Ryan. By that point, Tylee and her little brother, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, were not seen for almost a month.

Police would recover that Jeep, and Pillar learned that Tammy died 17 days after the shooting. Weeks after Tammy's death, Chad Daybell married Vallow.

As a multi-agency effort focused on finding JJ and Tylee, Pillar reminded the court how Vallow lied about JJ being with Melanie Gibb in Arizona. Pillar even surveilled two homes Gibb lived at in the Phoenix area.

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Murder, Money and the End of Days: The Lori Vallow story

Murder, Money & the End of Days. Why investigators believe religion, greed and an affair led an all-American mom on a trail of death. This is the Lori Vallow story. FOX 10’s Justin Lum walks us through the crucial timeline on the eve of Vallow’s trial.

For all previous and extensive coverage on this case, visit https://fox10phoenix.com/vallow + watch the in-depth special here.