Former friend says Lori Vallow threatened to kill her

(NewsNation) — A former friend said Lori Vallow, who is standing trial in Idaho in connection with the deaths of her two youngest children, threatened to kill her when she tried to end their friendship.

At Vallow’s trial Wednesday, Audrey Barratario testified that Vallow said she would cut her up and it would be messy, with lots of blood.

Crying as she recounted the story, Barratario said Vallow told her she would use bleach and trash bags to bury her.

“She said she would cut me up … There’d be so much blood, and bleach, and something about trash bags,” Barratario said.  

Also Wednesday, NewsNational senior national correspondent Brian Entin said he spoke with a woman who was formerly incarcerated with Vallow.

Trish Madsen says Vallow was isolated and has changed a lot since the last time she saw her.

Vallow faces multiple murder, conspiracy, and grand theft charges in connection to the deaths of JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, who was almost 17. The kids went missing in September 2019, and their bodies were later found on the property of Vallow’s husband, Chad Daybell.

During an appearance on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Gigi McKelvey, host of the “Pretty Lies & Alibis,” said Vallow looked “shocked.”

“It caused Lori to sit up. Put her elbows on the table. She was just baffled. I’ve never seen that look from her until today,” McKelvey said.

During a cross-examination, Vallow’s attorney accused Barratario of making the story up and questioned why she waited until now to share these details.

“She (Barratario) seemed credible to me. She was basically hysterical, crying. This was at the very end of her testimony. … She could barely even get it out as she told the story,” NewsNation national correspondent Brian Entin said on “Vargas Reports.”

Vallow is also charged in connection to the death of Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy. Daybell is charged as well in the cases, but will be tried separately.

The case gained national attention in part because of the couple’s doomsday beliefs and extreme worldviews.

Cult experts say Daybell, who followed a group called “Preparing a People,” took the organization’s teachings to an extreme. He would talk about “zombies,” souls leaving bodies and told his followers that the world was going to end July 22, 2020.

Barratario, at the trial Wednesday, recalled a time at a hotel where Vallow talked about “knives and fire” to get zombies out of people. In addition, Barratario said, Vallow claimed Tylee, JJ and her estranged husband before Daybell, Charles Vallow, were all zombies.

At one point, Daybell told Barratario that his wife Tammy would die before she was 50. He told her he would marry again, and his new wife would be Vallow.

Tom Palmer contributed to this article.