Governor Katie Hobbs told the Republic on Thursday she would sign extradition papers so that Lori Vallow Daybell can be prosecuted in Arizona.
A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it had delivered requisition for extradition paperwork to Hobbs’ office Thursday morning.
Vallow Daybell started serving a life sentence in Idaho last week after being convicted in the murder of her daughter and son, in a case that landed her the nickname “Doomsday Mom.” A former friend testified that Vallow Daybell told her she thought her kids were zombies.
She now awaits extradition to Arizona to face an active murder case in Maricopa County. Vallow Daybell faces a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow.
Here’s what to know about the Lori Vallow extradition process.
After the request is signed by the governor and sent to authorities in Idaho, the process could several more months, the county attorney’s office said. Vallow could either agree to the extradition or fight it.
If Vallow agrees to be extradited, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office would pick her up in Idaho and bring her Maricopa County to await trial.
If both governors of Arizona and Idaho approve of the extradition, but Vallow challenges it, an extradition hearing would be held in Idaho.
Typically in extradition challenges, according to legal experts at FindLaw.com, a defendant must be turned over as long “as the process and procedure found in the U.S. Constitution and federal law have been followed.”
The U.S. Supreme Court only allows a handful of reasons to legitimately block a transfer, FindLaw says. In Vallow Daybell’s case, those are specifically whether the extradition request is proper, and whether she has been charged with a crime in Arizona.
The county attorney’s office said it typically takes three to six months for the extradition process to be completed.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said at a press conference Wednesday she hoped to prosecute Vallow in Maricopa County by the end of the year. Mitchell would not yet say if her office would be seeking the death penalty against Vallow.
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