Episode Details

There are two courtrooms in the story of Lori Vallow’s niece Melani Boudreaux: the custody dispute over her four children and the criminal trials that later examined Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell’s circle. Between them sits a whirlwind November 2019 wedding, a written warning attributed to her new husband, and persistent questions about what Melani believed while JJ and Tylee were missing.

Melani moved next door to Lori in Rexburg and quickly married Ian Pawlowski. Ian testified that Lori and Chad held enormous influence in her life. Alex Cox, Lori’s brother, reportedly served as a witness to the wedding. In a documented account attributed to Ian, he expressed concern that Melani had heard beliefs under which Brandon Boudreaux and perhaps the missing children were considered threats that needed to be removed. His account must be understood as reported concern rather than independent proof of a plot.

After Lori was arrested on February 20, 2020, Brandon continued pressing allegations in Arizona family court that Melani knew more about the attack on him and the missing children. Melani disputed those allegations through counsel and said she did not know the children’s whereabouts. She has not been charged in the Brandon shooting. She went on to testify for the state at Chad Daybell’s trial.

Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott and former FBI behavioral expert Robin Dreeke join Tony Brueski to examine how people make choices under intense family loyalty, and why testimony, legal claims, and psychological interpretation should not be blended into one asserted fact. This is the story of a family crisis that outlasted an arrest and followed Melani into court.

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