Convicted murderer Lori Vallow left multiple victims in her wake—but Brandon Boudreaux survived an alleged attempt on his life.
In October 2019, prosecutors say Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox, drove to Boudreaux’s Arizona home and opened fire. The bullets narrowly missed the father of two, who went into hiding for months afterward.
At the time, Boudreaux was in the midst of a contentious divorce from Vallow’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.
Although Boudreaux survived, several people in Vallow’s inner circle did not. Prosecutors said Vallow and Cox plotted to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. After Vallow moved to Idaho, authorities alleged that she worked with Cox and doomsday author Chad Daybell to kill her children, 7-year-old Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, along with Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell.
Vallow and Daybell were later convicted in Idaho of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges related to the deaths of their loved ones.
Brandon Boudreaux Speaks Out About Lori Vallow’s Murders, Attempted Hit
Now, Boudreaux is sharing his account of surviving the alleged murder attempt.
Boudreaux told Dateline’s Keith Morrison that Charles repeatedly tried to contact him in the months before his death, but Boudreaux never received the messages. He believes Melani, who has never been formally charged in connection with the case, may have blocked them.
“It’s something that will weigh on you for the rest of your life,” Boudreaux said in a preview of the interview. “Can’t go back and change it.”
After Melani—who had grown increasingly close to her aunt—told Boudreaux she wanted a divorce, he finally contacted Charles in late June 2019. During their conversation, the two discussed Lori’s troubling behavior and her involvement in a religious doomsday cult.
“I apologized to him. I missed the mark. I wasn’t there enough for him. I could have done more,” Boudreaux said. “I could have been better while he was going through this, and so I told him and he forgave me and said he loved me and said he understood. We talked through things, and he reminded me how he’d been warning me.”
Just weeks later, on July 11, 2019, Charles was killed inside Lori’s home in Chandler, Arizona, after arriving to pick up J.J. for school.
According to a police report previously obtained by Oxygen, Alex admitted shooting Charles but claimed he acted in self-defense after a fight broke out inside the house.
Vallow was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with Charles’ death. However, no charges were initially filed, and she moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Daybell.
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Soon after the move, Vallow’s children, J.J. and Tylee, disappeared weeks apart in September 2019. Their bodies were found the following year, buried on Daybell’s Idaho property.
Vallow’s friend Melanie Gibb told investigators that, before the children vanished, Vallow and Daybell believed they had become zombies or were possessed by dark spirits, according to an affidavit previously obtained by Oxygen.
Then, on October 2, 2019, Boudreaux was driving into his home in Gilbert, Arizona, when he saw a rifle emerge from a Jeep and heard a gunshot.
“I just immediately thought someone’s shooting at me,” he testified, according to Courthouse News Service. “So I just accelerated forward.”
Investigators later determined that the Jeep was registered to Vallow.
Only weeks later, Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died at their Rexburg home. Daybell said she died in her sleep, but an autopsy later determined that she died of asphyxiation, The Associated Press reported.
Vallow and Daybell married two weeks after Tammy’s death.
While prosecutors believe Alex conspired with Lori and Chad to carry out the murders, he died of natural causes in December 2019 and was never formally charged in any of the deaths.
During their Idaho trials, prosecutors argued that Lori and Chad had wanted to kill the children and Tammy to cash in on life insurance and survivor benefits, the outlet reported.
Brandon Boudreaux Went Into Hiding For Months After Attack
After Lori was convicted of conspiring to kill Brandon in 2025, he recounted in court—along with his siblings and parents—how he’d gone into hiding for months as he feared for his life.
“Had this heinous crime succeeded, my children would have been left to face a lifetime of grief,” Brandon said at the sentencing, “robbed of the love, stability and spiritual guidance I provide as their father.”
He added that the attack left him with “overwhelming emotions” including fear, loneliness, constant vigilance, anger and heartache.
Still, he told the court that he’d chosen to forgive Lori as he tried to move forward with his life.