The Chad Daybell trial, a capital case that has garnered national attention, continued with compelling testimony from family members and neighbors. Chad Daybell could face the death penalty if found guilty of murdering his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and the two youngest children of Lori Vallow, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow.
The trial has been unfolding in a Boise courtroom, where an 18-person jury has been presented with evidence and testimony related to the deaths of Tylee and JJ, as well as the death of Tammy Daybell.
Daybell Family Recounts Surprise at Meeting Vallow
On Thursday, Chad Daybell's family members, including his own mother, took the stand. The family of Chad Daybell took to the stand in his triple-murder trial on Thursday and talked about the surprise they experienced when finding out Chad and Lori Vallow were married and the concern they had with his doomsday beliefs.
Daybell's mother, Sheila, told the courtroom about her surprise in meeting "Doomsday Mom" Lori Vallow for the first time, a month after the death of his first wife Tammy Daybell. "We noticed that these rings on and my husband said, ‘are you engaged?’ and they said ‘no we’re married,’" she said in testimony. When asked by prosecutors if she was surprised she said, "yeah." Sheila went on to say Chad and Lori did not tell the family that they were getting married. Her testimony lasted less than 20 minutes.
The defense pointed to Chad and Lori's seemingly opposite personalities and how Chad was more introverted, and had less experience with romantic relationships, to which Sheila confirmed.
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
Key Events Leading to the Trial
To understand the gravity of the trial, it's essential to revisit the key events that led to it:
- Lori’s children J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan were found dead in Chad’s backyard in June of 2020 after missing for several months.
- Tammy Daybell died of asphyxia in October of 2019.
Heather Daybell, Chad’s sister-in-law testified, telling the court how she was concerned about the self-proclaimed "Doomsday Prophet’s" beliefs several years ago. She told the court how Chad’s alleged visions led to moving his family from Utah to Rexburg, Idaho."He indicated that there would be an earthquake that would be happening in 2015, and he was kind of making sure and preparing us for all of these end of times events that were going to happen and cause a lot of destruction in Utah and particularly Salt Lake," Heather said in court.
This morning we also watched Kay Woodcock, the grandmother of J.J. Vallow testify about how she became suspicious, trying to get in contact with the seven-year-old who went missing in September 2019.
Details Emerge from Witness Testimonies
The prosecution has presented a compelling case through various witness testimonies. Here are some critical details that have emerged:
- Zulema Pastenes: Hear the firsthand account of Zulema Pastenes, the widow of Lori’s brother Alex Cox, as prosecutors build their case against Chad Daybell.
- Neighbors' Testimony: Next, Daybell's former neighbors testified, recalling Lori's kids missing at the time. When Chad first introduced his neighbors Lori, he allegedly told them that Lori had a daughter who had passed away. The witnesses say he later denied that story.
- Alice Gilbert's Account: "I asked him, ‘Where are the children?’ I asked him, ’Where’s Tylee?’ She’s a teenager, so I said, ‘Doesn’t she want a life?' Come out and say, ‘I’m the missing girl. I want a job and a life and boyfriend.' He just said, ‘She didn’t like people and she didn’t like me,'" said Alice Gilbert, witness and a former neighbor of Chad.
Bodycam footage shows Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow being served legal documents to provide information about the whereabouts of JJ and Tylee.
Read also: Inside the Daybell Trial
DNA analyst testifies about tools in Chad Daybell's garage, including a shovel that tested positive for Tylee Ryan's remains.
Chad Daybell, usually stoic in court, could be seen reacting to photos of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan's remains shown to the jury.
Forensic Experts Testify About Tylee Ryan's Autopsy
Forensic expert, Joseph Scott Morgan, joins Court TV to discuss the autopsies performed by Dr. Garth Warren on JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
The jury is shown clips of Lori Vallow at a Burger King drive-thru at around the same time her brother, Alex Cox, killed Charles Vallow.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Garth Warren detailed Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow's remains, including the duct tape found covering JJ's face.
Read also: The Chilling Daybell-Vallow Case
Chad Daybell's attorney tried to attack Zulema Pastenes' credibility and consistency multiple times during cross-examination.
Chad Daybell mentioned that JJ Vallow "would die young, and would die soon," according to former cult member.
FBI Special Agent Steve Daniels talks about finding a necklace in the fire pit on Chad Daybell's property that matched one Tylee Ryan wore.
On June 1, 2024, an Idaho jury sentenced Chad Daybell to death for the 2019 murders of his first wife and his second wife’s two youngest children.
An indictment accused the couple of espousing religious beliefs to justify the murders.
The remains of Vallow’s children were found on Daybell’s property in June 2020, nine months after they were last seen alive.
On June 1, the jury recommended the death penalty for Daybell.
By then, Vallow was sitting in an Idaho jail on charges stemming from the children’s disappearance. She was arrested in Hawaii in Feb.
The judge agreed with the jury’s death penalty recommendation and sentenced Daybell to death for counts 1 through 6.
Timeline of Events
An investigator with the Idaho Office of the Attorney General pieced together a timeline using phone records, witness interviews, and police reports of what happened surrounding the timing of Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
- On September 23, 2019, JJ Vallow was absent from school.
- From September 30 through October 2, 2019, Cox’s cell phone, usually in his apartment during the overnight hours, stayed in Lori Vallow’s Rexburg apartment overnight.
- Testimony from Investigator Rick Wright, FBI, is that the timeline adds up with the attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux in Arizona.
Law enforcement using cell phone data believe Tylee was killed on September 9, 2019.
Chad Daybell, who was at home, called Lori Vallow at her apartment just as Cox was leaving the property.
JJ Vallow was last seen in a photo taken in his mother’s apartment on September 22, 2019.
The "James and Elena" Story
Jurors heard more steamy passages from the “James and Elena” story, which is a parallel depiction of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow’s extramarital affair.
Tammy Daybell's Death and Subsequent Events
Tammy Daybell died of asphyxia in October of 2019.
Cammy Willmore, Deputy Coroner for Fremont County, testified that the foam on Tammy Daybell’s face was something she had not seen before.
Willmore searched online to see if poison caused the ‘weird’ foam but did not find anything.
Brenda Dye described how she observed Tammy Daybell’s body once on scene. Tammy’s body was cold with rigor mortis. There were “old” bruises, pink foam on the side of the mouth and levidity to the back of her arms, lower back, and thighs.
An autopsy of Tamara “Tammy” Daybell determined that her cause of death was asphyxia, and the manner of death was a homicide. Bruising to Tammy Daybell’s left and right arms and chest were determined to have hemorrhaging in the soft tissue.
Chad Daybell told police he was home on the evening of October 18.
On October 5, 2019, Chad Daybell texted Lori that his wife, Tammy Daybell, was in limbo and a demonic entity named Viola had entered Tammy’s body.
Chad Daybell told Ron Arnold, his neighbor in Rexburg, that he was going to live with a friend in Rexburg following Tammy’s death because he did not “feel comfortable” in the home.
Chad Daybell told Jason Gwilliam during a phone call 30 days after his first wife’s death that he had remarried and asked that he not tell anyone.
Financial and Insurance Matters
Taylor Ballard, the insurance broker for Tammy’s insurance policy through the school system, learned that Chad Daybell had married a woman with two missing children. The information made her question how Tammy Daybell died.
On March 11, 2020, Chad Daybell entered the Ballard Insurance Group office “looking thinner and tanner with a black wedding band on his ring finger,” Ballard said.
He asked to add his new and incarcerated wife, Lori Ryan Daybell, to his policy. Chad told Ballard they were married Nov. 5, 2019. “He had stated to me that she was incarcerated. I told him she wouldn’t necessarily get insurance right now, but he was worried about something happening to her.”
Charles Vallow changed the beneficiary on his $1 million life insurance policy from Vallow Daybell to his sister, Kay Woodcock, before he was killed.
Vallow's Statements and Actions
In the video, Rexburg Police Det. David Stubbs and two other officers knocked on Vallow Daybell’s Rexburg apartment on Nov. 26, 2019. When the offices asked Vallow Daybell about JJ’s whereabouts, she quickly told them he was in Arizona with her friend Melanie Gibb.
Throughout the roughly five minutes that the officers were in Vallow Daybell’s apartment, she talked a lot. Vallow Daybell told them that Tylee was attending Brigham Young University-Idaho, and mentioned that she didn’t receive any money from Charles Vallow’s life insurance policy.
Vallow Daybell told the officers that she’d call Gibb but mentioned that Gibb and JJ were likely at the movies watching “Frozen 2.” Gibb told police later that JJ wasn’t with her.
Chad Daybell's Unusual Text Messages
FBI Intelligence Agent Benjamin Dean, who testified Thursday, said he reviewed text messages sent to Tammy Daybell’s cellphone as a part of the investigation into the case. He said a text exchange between Tammy and Chad Daybell on Sept. 9, 2019, caught his attention.
At around noon that day, Chad Daybell texted Tammy Daybell that he had an “interesting morning” because when he went outside to burn some old wood in case the weather got bad, he spotted a large raccoon. Chad Daybell said he shot the raccoon and buried it in their pet cemetery.
Dean said the text message was concerning to him because it was the day after Tylee was last seen at Yellowstone National Park.
Tylee’s remains were found buried in a shallow grave in the pet cemetery, Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo said during his testimony last week, after being burned in the property’s fire pit.
Dean also noted that Chad Daybell’s text didn’t match the normal way he communicated with Tammy Daybell.
JJ Vallow's Last Known Activities
JJ was enrolled at Kennedy Elementary in Rexburg, Idaho on Sept. 3, 2019, Principal Josh Wilson said during his quick testimony Thursday. Exactly three weeks later, on Sept. Wilson added that the last time JJ was physically present in school was on Sept. 20.
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
