A Date With Dateline · Kimberly and Katie - ADWDL

Lori Vallow Daybell: The Jailhouse Interview S.33 Ep.18

·1 hr 55 min·5 clips

Lori Vallow aggressively calls Keith Morrison by name 27 times in a bizarre jailhouse interview.

This episode of A Date With Dateline is a recap and analysis of the Dateline NBC episode featuring Keith Morrison's jailhouse interview with convicted murderer Lori Vallow Daybell. Hosts Kimberly and Katie provide commentary on the interview and the broader case. Keith Morrison interviewed Vallow Daybell in the Maricopa County Jail, marking at least the seventh Dateline episode on her case. Vallow Daybell is facing a new trial for conspiracy in the attempted murder of her niece's husband and the murder of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow. The hosts note Vallow Daybell's dramatically tattooed eyebrows and her request to remove her bright blue handcuffs during the interview. Morrison opens by stating Vallow Daybell is considered "the most hated mom in America," to which she replies, "I heard that." She repeatedly accuses the media of twisting facts and calls Morrison by his first name an excessive number of times. The interview revisits her background, including her appearance on Wheel of Fortune and a Mrs. Texas pageant where she called herself a "ticking time bomb." Her ideological shift began after hearing end-times speaker Chad Daybell, whom she believed she knew from past lives. Chad Daybell, described as an "unattractive, unsuccessful author," claimed to have had near-death experiences and said Charles Vallow was possessed by a demon named Ned Schneider. Shortly after this claim, Vallow Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles. Vallow Daybell then took her son, JJ, to Burger King and dropped him at school before returning to charm the police on body camera. A key piece of evidence is a text she sent saying she couldn't move through spiritual portals with Charles alive, sent the day before his murder. One surprising moment is Vallow Daybell claiming Jesus visits her in her cell and is her "good friend," joking she is his favorite. The hosts question how she was found competent to stand trial and act as her own lawyer given these statements. Morrison ponders whether her combative and sarcastic demeanor during the interview is her genuine personality or a calculated performance to charm him. The tone is conversational and critical, blending recap with the hosts' personal reactions and sarcastic humor. They express frustration with Vallow Daybell's evasive answers and performative behavior during the interview. True crime listeners fascinated by the psychology of high-profile defendants and the dynamics of jailhouse interviews will find this episode engaging. Listeners seeking a straightforward, solemn narrative of the crimes may find the hosts' comedic commentary distracting.

As heard by us

A brisk return to Lori Vallow Daybell, with Keith Morrison and the show's longer memory doing the heavy lifting.

This Dateline episode stays on Lori Vallow Daybell and the unsettling orbit around her, with Keith Morrison hosting. Its real strength is restraint: the show has been through this case before, so the jailhouse interview carries the weight of that longer memory without needing to…

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Why you'd press play

You get Keith Morrison, Lori Vallow's jailhouse interview, and a very wacky Dateline sit-down in one grim package.

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