(NewsNation) — Lori Vallow Daybell’s murder conspiracy trial took an unusual turn Wednesday when she cross-examined a woman who went on a date with her estranged husband the night before he was killed.
Vallow Daybell, known as the “Doomsday Mom,” convicted of killing two of her children, is acting as her own attorney as she seeks acquittal on charges that she arranged for her late brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019.
Lori Vallow Daybell claims she and Charles Vallow were not divorcing
The night before he was fatally shot, Charles Vallow went out with Nancy Jo Hancock. Vallow Daybell seemed to assume the persona of a jilted spouse as she grilled Hancock about her rendezvous with a married man.
FILE – Lori Vallow Daybell stands and listens as the jury’s verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, May 12, 2023. The trial of Chad Daybell, the man charged with the deaths of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children, is set to begin in Idaho on Monday, April 1, 2024, serving as a second act in a bizarre case that has drawn worldwide attention and already resulted in a life sentence for the kids’ mother, Lori Vallow Daybell. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File) 
FILE – Lori Vallow Daybell sits during her sentencing hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Monday, July 31, 2023. Vallow Daybell, who was sentenced to life in an Idaho prison for the murders of her two youngest children and another woman, is now in an Arizona jail on charges related to another slaying, authorities said Thursday, Nov. 30. (Tony Blakeslee/EastIdahoNews.com via AP, Pool, File) 
Lori Vallow Daybell sits between attorneys during her sentencing hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Monday, July 31, 2023. Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival. The case has included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse. (Tony Blakeslee/EastIdahoNews.com via AP, Pool) 
New mugshots of “Doomsday Mom” Lori Vallow were released by Madison County Sheriff’s office after she was found guilty of killing her two children and conspiring to kill her husband’s first wife. 
FILE – Lori Vallow Daybell sits in a police car after a hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, on Aug. 16, 2022. The sister of Tammy Daybell, who was killed in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot, told jurors Friday, April 28, 2023, that her sister’s funeral was held so quickly that some family members couldn’t attend. The testimony came in the triple murder trial of Vallow Daybell, who is accused along with Chad Daybell in Tammy’s death and the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children. (Tony Blakeslee/East Idaho News via AP, Pool, File) 
FILE – A boy looks at a memorial for Tylee Ryan and Joshua “JJ” Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, on June 11, 2020. The sister of Tammy Daybell, who was killed in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot, told jurors Friday, April 28, 2023, that her sister’s funeral was held so quickly that some family members couldn’t attend. The testimony came in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, who is accused along with Chad Daybell in Tammy’s death and the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File) 
FILE – Lori Vallow Daybell, appears in court in Lihue, Hawaii, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island via AP, Pool, File)
“Charles was in the process of a divorce,” Hancock said from the witness stand.
“He was not in the process of a divorce,” Vallow Daybell shot back. “Did it surprise you to find that out? You’ve seen it all on TV. We were not getting divorced.”
“Okay,” Hancock replied. She said she was meeting Charles Vallow for dinner and wasn’t in a physical relationship with him.
“I knew his divorce was not final,” Hancock said.
“His divorce was not started,” Vallow Daybell said.
“Okay,” Hancock said.
Witness to Lori Vallow Daybell: ‘Don’t flatter yourself’
Vallow Daybell asked her whether her husband had shared the details of his marriage: “You spent your whole date getting to know each other, talking about me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Hancock said. “No, we did not spend the whole time talking about you.”
She said that Charles Vallow had discussed his million-dollar life insurance policy at the dinner. Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell sought the insurance payout by having her husband killed while pursuing a relationship with Chad Daybell, an author who wrote about doomsday prophecies.
Podcast producer: ‘The jury was laughing’ in Lori Vallow Daybell trial
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky called for a sidebar Wednesday, saying that the court reporter was experiencing technical difficulties. With the jurors absent, he told Vallow Daybell she was potentially opening a “really big door” by pressing Hancock about what her husband had said about her.
When the jury returned, Vallow Daybell moved on.
“I think that judge deserves an Oscar because I don’t think anyone in that room had a straight face but him,” Lindzie Haller, producer of the “Drop Dead Serious” podcast, told “Banfield” on Wednesday. “The jury was laughing. It was like a car crash. You couldn’t stop watching.”
Vallow Daybell already has been convicted of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. She is serving three life sentences.
Wednesday was the third day in her murder conspiracy trial, which is being held in Arizona. Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty.