Beyond the Veil: Oprah and Portals and Daybell- Oh My! (Episode 5)

Originally Published July 30, 2020. Before we move on to explore Lori Vallow’s role in these murders, we examine Chad Daybell’s peculiar obsession with portals and his and Lori’s disdain for Oprah Winfrey- and what these two quirky beliefs mean for this case and, more generally, for understanding the criminal mind and the human condition.

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Dr. John Matthias is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist with twenty-five years’ experience in both clinical and forensic work. He has performed over 500 forensic and psychological evaluations and risk assessments for the courts since 1996, assessing the risks for violent and sexual recidivism for both adults and juveniles. He serves as an expert witness for the federal government and he has consulted on numerous high-profile cases for District Attorney’s offices and defense attorneys in several states. He is a certified court evaluator in several Western states, and he has forensic evaluation contracts with the federal government. He recently started a podcast, Hidden: A True Crime Podcast, with his journalist wife, Lauren, to present forensic psychology to a broad audience. The current season of the podcast explores the psychological dynamics behind the Vallow/Daybell case.

In the forensic area, Dr. Matthias has developed expertise in personality assessments, hidden behavioral motivations, complex trauma and criminal psychology. In the clinical realm, he has worked with numerous victims of abuse and trauma, including with survivors of the Las Vegas shooting massacre in 2017. He also received his Master’s degree in Marriage, Family and Child counseling from the University of Southern California and he has worked with hundreds of families, couples and children over the years. He supervises UNLV doctoral students on forensic assessments, clinical case formulation, and various therapeutic approaches to clinical work.

Dr. Matthias graduated with honors in philosophy from Princeton University, and won the prestigious McCosh Thesis prize while there. In high school he graduated valedictorian from a large public high school in Chicago where he was chosen to participate in a ground-breaking valedictory study that continues to this day. He received his doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Lauren has worked as an anchor and reporter for ABC, NBC, and FOX News in East Idaho, Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah. She spent a decade reporting on a diverse range of topics from high profile crimes to Presidential visits. Most recently, she reported for Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate News4Utah. In 2015 she received the Idaho State Broadcaster’s Association Best Reporter award in addition to receiving the best report of the year in 2015 based upon a short documentary she did on LGBTQ rights. She was hired by Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate to be their lead reporter in 2015. She recently left the reporting world to stay home with her son and to produce and edit, Hidden: A True Crime Podcast. She currently works as the executive producer of the Hidden podcast