Hey guys! I just noticed that it looks as if the next morning, Nate woke up and re-read his article about Ian, Melani, and the "cult beliefs", and noted that it was making much less sense than it needed to, for lo! he has posted a next-day update to this article, which IMO adds in a lot of answers:
Zombies, shootings, dark beings: What new court documents suggest about Lori Daybell | East Idaho News
(After the quoted portion, there's some more BS (IMO) from Melani's attorney about her innocence. I did not attempt to repeat any of that.)
(I also note that whenever Nate says "allegedly", what it seems to mean is "according to the documents filed in court by Brandon". It doesn't mean he necessarily thinks they're lies.)
BBM:
Ian became severely worried about what he was hearing and spent days trying to reassure himself that everything was fine, according to court documents. In the meantime,
Ian’s ex-wife had reached out to Boudreaux, and he told her Melani was in a “cult” and that she had tried to have him killed.
Going to the police
Ian’s ex-wife contacted him and expressed her concerns, according to court documents. She said she was going to meet with police, and Ian agreed to go with her.
“What I shared with the police were the ideas that Chad, Lori and Alex may have planned shooting at Brandon and that Tylee and JJ may be in serious danger if Melani’s fears have any validity,” Ian allegedly wrote. “If shooting at Brandon was indeed based on the idea that he was no longer actually Brandon and needed to die as part of the Lord’s plan, then the kids’ lives could be forfeited based on the idea that they’re not really Tylee and JJ anymore.”
Ian shared other details, said he would cooperate with police and allowed them to pull data from his phone. He met with officers the next day, and they gave him a recording device to put on his keychain.
“My plan was to record anything I thought could help locate Tylee and JJ, locate Chad and Lori and understand what happened when Brandon was shot at,” Ian wrote. “If I thought Chad and Lori were going to be calling, I’d turn on the recorder and just let it run until they’d hung up.”
Ian says nothing substantial was ever recorded with Chad and Lori because they never talked about the missing children.
On Dec. 19, police searched Alex Cox’s Rexburg townhouse, and Ian says he admitted to Melani that he had spoken with officers.
“I didn’t know how she would react, but I couldn’t hang onto the stress anymore. Of course she was hurt, feeling betrayed, but she reassured me that she loves me and that she understands why I did it,” Ian allegedly wrote.
‘What-if’ scenarios
Over the next week, the couple discussed what Ian had shared with officers and Melani allegedly told him she didn’t have any proof of what she had told him. They agreed her expressions were “what-if” scenarios.
“I’m worried that I jumped the gun and have sent the authorities on yet another wild-goose chase along with prompting them to light up the national media with pieces of what I shared,” Ian allegedly wrote.
He expressed his frustrations with Chad and Lori fleeing to Hawaii and said he “still had his doubts” about them.
“I don’t ever want to have anything to do with those two after this. Melani has been put through the ringer because of their paranoia and now is in the hot seat because I went to the police and tried to help,” Ian allegedly wrote.
He concludes his report by saying he will only deal with law enforcement officers going forward if his attorney is present.