‘Sins of Our Mother’: Alex Cox ‘Sexualized’ His Sister Lori Vallow Long Before He Killed Her 4th Husband, According to His Ex-Wife
After Lori Vallow was arrested in connection with the murder of her two children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, new details about her past are emerging. Netflix‘s new documentary series, Sins of Our Mother, explores Vallow’s relationships with her family, including her late brother and presumed hitman, Alex Cox.
The siblings had a complicated dynamic. As detailed by his ex-wife, Cox “sexualized” Vallow long before he killed her fourth husband.
Alex Cox may be connected to the murders of Lori Vallow’s children
Vallow’s story was highlighted when her children were reported missing in November 2019. Law enforcement officials requested that Vallow, enjoying her honeymoon with doomsday cult leader Chad Daybell in Hawaii, produce the kids to prove they were safe. But Vallow did not comply.
But with the media attention, disturbing facts about Vallow, Daybell, and Cox began to surface. Vallow’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was killed by Cox — he claimed it was self-defense — in Arizona in July 2019.
Three months later, Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died in her sleep. Her body was exhumed on Dec. 11, 2019. The next day, on December 12, 2019, Cox died of what seemed to be natural causes in his wife Zulema Pastenes’ home.
In February 2020, Vallow was arrested for deserting her children. In July 2020, investigators found Tylee and JJ’s remains on Daybell’s property.
A deeper look at Vallow’s phone records revealed that Cox was on Daybell’s property for hours around the time the kids went missing. And investigators believe that Cox may have been responsible for their deaths.
Vallow and Daybell — whose religious beliefs reportedly led them to claim that their family members were “zombies” — await trial in jail. As they deny any wrongdoing, the timing and cause of Cox’s and Tammy’s deaths have also come into question.
Alex Cox’s ex-wife claims he sexualized Lori Vallow
As detailed in Sins of Our Mother, Vallow and Cox were very close. But according to Cox’s ex-wife, Debbie, who he married in 1992, some of Cox’s feelings toward his sister may have been sexual. She also claimed that the siblings would simulate sex acts and touch each other inappropriately.
“There were so many crazy dynamics in that family,” Debbie told investigators, as reported by East Idaho News. “It caused a lot of issues right away, and it actually made me scared and nervous.”
“[Cox] talked about [how Vallow was] hot, and he sexualized her quite a,” she continued. “He did touch her breast and things. Alex and I only lived together married about four or five months. Then I just knew that family was too weird and that I made a big mistake, so I got out.”
Lori Vallow’s friend says Alex Cox tried to have sex with his sister
In true crime writer John Glatt’s book, The Doomsday Mother, some of Vallow’s friends paint a disturbing picture of her relationship with Cox. One friend, who uses the pseudonym Rose Vaughn, recalled how a “fixated” Cox would often stare at her and Vallow when they were kids.
“When Lori and I were in the pool, he was always watching us,” she said. “And I didn’t like that.”
Rose claimed that Vallow often talked to her about Cox. And she recounted one conversation they had in seventh grade, in which Vallow revealed that her brother made sexual advances toward her.
“We grew up together so we talked about everything,” Rose alleged. “Suddenly Lori was crying and emotional, and she just said, ‘Alex is trying to have sex with me. What can I do?'”
Concrete details about Vallow and Cox’s relationship may emerge during Vallow and Daybell’s trial in early 2023. Sins of Our Mother is currently streaming on Netflix.
