(NewsNation) — Lori Vallow, infamously known as the “Doomsday Mom,” was recently convicted of murdering her two children, in a case that attracted global attention.
Now, April Raman, one of Vallow’s closest friends and a key witness at the trial, spoke out for the first time since the verdict in an exclusive interview on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”
Raman emphasized the need for time to process and recover from the devastating experience, saying, “It “has been shattering. It’s not something that I would wish on my worst enemy.”
Raman said she did not totally understand Vallow’s actions and admitted that she could not fully comprehend what led to Vallow’s transformation.
‘I think it was a combination of things,” she said. “I think that Lori was kind of at a crossroads in her life for a lot of reasons. I think she was unhappy in her marriage. She had recently become a grandmother. And she had met Chad Daybell.”
Vallow’s husband and co-defendant Chad Daybell is awaiting trial on the same murder charges, but his trial is expected to take place in April 2024.
“Those are just the circumstances that I am privy to,” Raman said. “I think just the combination of all three was extremely toxic, and led us to where we are today.”
Reflecting on her encounters with Vallow, Raman recalled a noticeable shift in Vallow’s beliefs and behavior.
“Initially in 2018, she came for a visit with Tylee. And that’s when I started to see the change in her. She was having some different beliefs,” Raman said.
In subsequent visits, Raman said Vallow became more forceful and aggressive in promoting her beliefs and was associating with unfamiliar people.
“It just wasn’t something that made any sense to me,” Raman said. “She looked different. She was speaking differently. She was associating with people that she’d never really been associating with before. And it just wasn’t the same person that I had known.”
Raman had considered if drugs played a role in Vallow’s transformation, but got no confirmation during the investigation.
When Raman testified in court, she experienced a profound sense of loss, realizing that the person she once knew as her friend was unrecognizable.
“I had a lot of trepidation going into my testimony, anticipating what it would feel like to see her and be, you know, 20 feet away from her,” she said.
“I grieved at the loss of my friend quite a while ago,” Raman continued. “And it was confirmed that day in court; it was a complete stranger I was looking at. It wasn’t her.”
As details of the case continue to unfold, the world eagerly awaits Chad Daybell’s trial, hoping for further insights into the motivations that led to the tragic deaths of Vallow’s two children.