Sins of Our Mother

What Is the Series About?

Sins of Our Mother is a three-part Netflix documentary series directed by Skye Borgman and released on September 14, 2022. It chronicles the Vallow-Daybell murders — one of the most disturbing true-crime cases in recent American history — centering on Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell, whose intertwined apocalyptic religious beliefs are linked to a string of suspicious deaths, including those of Lori's own children. The series traces the psychological and spiritual deterioration that preceded the crimes, asking how a woman once publicly described as a devoted mother arrived at the deaths of her own children.

The Case

The story begins with Lori Vallow (born Lori Norene Cox), a mother of three who became involved with Chad Daybell, a self-published religious author associated in reporting with doomsday and apocalyptic beliefs. In 2019, Lori's then-husband Charles Vallow was shot and killed in Arizona. Shortly after, Tammy Daybell — Chad's wife — died under circumstances that would later be deemed suspicious.

By late 2019, relatives had reported that Lori's two youngest children, seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and seventeen-year-old Tylee Ryan, were missing. When authorities contacted Lori, she repeatedly refused to disclose the children's location, triggering a months-long missing-persons investigation that captured national attention.

On June 9, 2020, law enforcement searched Chad Daybell's property in Rexburg, Idaho, and discovered the remains of both children buried in shallow graves in his backyard. The discovery confirmed the worst fears of investigators and the public who had followed the case for months.

Lori Vallow Daybell was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and grand theft. She initially pleaded not guilty. After a period of competency evaluation, she was declared fit to stand trial on April 11, 2022. On May 12, 2023, she was found guilty on all charges and subsequently sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.

Co-defendant Chad Daybell likewise pleaded not guilty. His trial proceeded separately, and on May 30, 2024, he was found guilty in connection with the murders.

The case is distinguished not only by its extreme nature but by the role that fringe religious ideology appears to have played. Reporting throughout the investigation described Lori and Chad as holding beliefs about spiritual designations for individuals, doomsday timelines, and the ability to reassign souls. Prosecutors argued these beliefs were central to understanding how the defendants rationalized the deaths.

Production

Director Skye Borgman helmed all three episodes of the series. The production approach focuses heavily on the family dimension of the tragedy, making the series as much a portrait of a family destroyed as a straightforward crime documentary. Borgman's direction emphasizes first-person accounts and archival family material, grounding the story in emotional reality before exploring the ideological spiral that led to the crimes.

The series was released while Lori Vallow Daybell's trial had not yet concluded — she was convicted nearly eight months after the documentary premiered — which gave the production an unusual urgency and generated considerable discussion about the ethics and timing of documentary releases tied to pending criminal proceedings.

Reception

Critical reception to Sins of Our Mother was broadly positive, with reviewers consistently describing it as chilling, haunting, and deeply disturbing. Critics highlighted the series' focus on the psychological unraveling of Lori Vallow Daybell as a distinguishing feature. The three-episode format gives Borgman enough room to build a genuinely disturbing portrait without resorting to sensationalism.

The series has been compared favorably to other Netflix true-crime productions for its restraint and its attention to the victims, particularly the two children. The IMDb listing for the series carries the title ID tt21867596; an exact verified IMDb rating was not available at the time of publication.

The Case Today

As of the time of this writing, Lori Vallow Daybell is serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole following her May 2023 conviction. Chad Daybell was found guilty on May 30, 2024, completing the criminal accountability phase of the Vallow-Daybell case.

The case remains one of the most discussed true-crime stories of the 2020s, raising persistent questions about the intersection of religious extremism, family violence, and how warning signs can go unrecognized until it is too late. Sins of Our Mother stands as one of the most thorough documentary accounts of those questions, and its relevance has only grown as both convictions have been handed down in the years since its release.