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A Skagit County Superior Court jury convicted Vanessa Valdiglesias LaValle, also referred to as Valdiglesias-Lavalle, on April 9, 2021, of solicitation to commit first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree assault with a noxious substance after she discussed poisoning her sons' father during a June 2, 2020, visit at her residence in Skagit County, Washington.

Valdiglesias LaValle was born and raised in Peru. She met Timothy Grady, who was approximately 25 years older, through an online dating service. Grady brought her to Skagit County, and they married in 2008. They had two sons, identified in court records as S.G. and J.G. The couple separated by 2014, and Grady filed for dissolution in 2015. Valdiglesias LaValle initially had custody after the divorce, while Grady paid child support. In 2019, a court awarded Grady full custody, ordered her to pay support and allowed her limited weekly unsupervised visitation.

During a scheduled four-hour visitation, Valdiglesias LaValle discussed putting rat poison in Grady's food or drink so she and the children could live together "forever." The older son said he overheard talk of "bad stuff" and "rat poison" before going into the bedroom. Court records described an offer that they could be together permanently if their father were killed, which became the focus of whether the offer constituted a "thing of value" under Washington's solicitation statute. No poisoning was carried out, and Grady was not harmed. The charge concerned solicitation, not completed murder or assault.

The older son recorded part of the conversation after Grady had instructed him to record any concerning talk. Law enforcement received the recording, which was admitted at trial. The son testified that he took the discussion seriously but that his mother did not give him poison or a specific item to use. Valdiglesias LaValle did not testify. Charges filed in July 2020 initially included attempted murder and solicitation, but the case went to trial on two solicitation counts. Evidence included the audio/video recording, the child's testimony and the recent custody change. The Court of Appeals later upheld admission of the recording.

At sentencing in July 2021, the assault-solicitation count was vacated to avoid double jeopardy. Valdiglesias LaValle received 180 months, or 15 years, on the remaining count, the low end of the standard range. The defense had sought an exceptional sentence of about one year based on her lack of criminal history and claimed domestic-violence trauma. Defense materials described domestic conflict and immigration-related pressure during the marriage. The judge expressed empathy but declined the request, finding that the expert report did not sufficiently connect that history to her mental state at the time of the 2020 offense.

In 2022, the Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, ruling that a promise to be together "forever" was not a "thing of value" under the statute. The Washington Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2023 and reinstated the conviction, holding that a "thing of value" can include non-monetary inducements that have desirability or utility.

In January 2024, the Court of Appeals vacated the 15-year sentence and ordered resentencing so the trial court could properly consider the defense expert's mitigation report. Publicly reported records through early 2026 confirm that the conviction stands and resentencing was ordered, but the sources reviewed do not clearly publish a later precise sentence. A federal habeas petition was filed in December 2024, and the filing showed she remained in custody while challenging the conviction. Public records available through 2025 to 2026 do not show the conviction being vacated after the state Supreme Court ruling.

The video is a police interview-room recording lasting about 60 minutes. It shows the interview itself, without narration or a presenter.