BOISE, Idaho - After nearly two months, Chad Daybell spoke in the courtroom on Thursday, but only to confirm that he would not be testifying in the trial.
The prosecution has called what is expected to be its last witness to testify in the capital murder trial of Chad Daybell.
Key Moments from the Trial
- The defense rested its case after calling its final witness, Dr. Eric Bartelink, to the stand.
- After the defense rested, the state called several rebuttal witnesses to testify, including an ex-coworker of Garth Daybell who says that Garth told him that his father was not present when he discovered Tammy's body.
- The prosecution is expected to continue with more rebuttal witnesses.
Daybell Declines to Testify
Judge Boyce asked Daybell if he had decided against testifying. Daybell confirmed that he had discussed the issue with his attorney, who advised him of his right to testify or not in the trial, and that it was his decision not to testify.
Testimony of Dr. Eric Bartelink
The day also saw testimony from Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Eric Bartelink who analyzed Tylee Ryan’s remains. Defense Attorney John Prior asked him:
“I want to talk to you about whether you can make a determination as to where Tylee Ryan’s body was burned. I cannot make that determination. So in other words you can’t make the determination that her body burned on Chad Daybell’s property is that correct? I cannot make that determination.”
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Detective Mattingly's Testimony
After the defense rested, prosecutors called Fremont County Detective Bruce Mattingly. Mattingly recorded a conversation he had with Chad’s daughter Emma about her mother’s autopsy. Defense Attorney John Prior asked the detective why he felt he had to record the conversation.
“So after 14 months, your organization in mass decided that your going to hit all the kids and wear recorders and try to tell the kids what’s going on correct?
Judge Boyce denied the motion for direct judgment on all nine counts, except one. Count number four of the amended indictment listing the charges against Daybell included the incorrect dates for when the prosecution alleges JJ Vallow died. Judge Boyce stated that time is not an essential element of an indictment when charging someone with murder, and therefore does not unfairly prejudice Chad Daybell by changing the dates to match.
Defense Attorney John Prior argues that the State did not present evidence that Chad Daybell was involved or even present during the deaths of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
The State argued in rebuttal that they have shown a trove of evidence and witness testimony that shows Chad Daybell was directly responsible for the deaths of Tammy, JJ, and Tylee. Overt acts committed by Chad Daybell include the fact that both children were found buried on his property, and his DNA was found on the shovel and pick ax used to bury and burn Tylee's remains.
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Numerous witnesses testified to hearing Chad say that he believed Tammy would die soon, and text messages between he and Lori show him saying he feels so trapped but that freedom is coming soon.
The messages display their beliefs that dark spirits could take over people and that Chad himself could see how far "gone" the person was as the spirit gained more control over them.
Messages shown by Ret. Agent Hart show conversations between Chad and Lori regarding how much of the person is left vs. how much the dark spirit has taken over via a numbering system created by Chad.
A series of text messages over the span of a few weeks between Chad and Lori discuss the "death percentages" of Tammy Daybell, JJ, and Tylee. Lori sent one message to Chad shortly before all three would die, saying "We are both so tired of taking care of demons. We are weary. Please ask the Lord to take them!" a reference to their belief that Tammy, JJ, and Tylee were all possessed by dark spirits and that Chad and Lori believed they would be gone soon.
Lori Vallow asks Chad at one point if "there is a perfectly orchestrated plan to take the children?" Chad responds "There is a plan being orchestrated for the children. I was shown last night how it fit together, but it has been taken from my mind of course."
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As the prosecution wraps up its case, the defense prepares to present its case. It may be another week or two before the jury gets the case.
PHOENIX - After testimony from the officer assigned to Lori Vallow Daybell's case on Wednesday, prosecutor Treena Kay said she was done presenting witnesses and officially rested her case.
Judge Justin Beresky denied a motion from Daybell alleging that the prosecutor provided no evidence to the jury that there was a conspiracy to commit the murder of her then-husband, Charles Vallow, or that she assisted in a premeditated murder.
Instead, Daybell argued that the evidence "suggested self-defense" from her brother, Alex Cox, who fired the shots that killed Vallow.
Kay responded to the motion, citing evidence that Cox was invited over because Daybell knew there would be an intervention and when Vallow would be there, that Cox brought his handgun, that Daybell took and held onto Vallow's phone and that she had a motive based on money and the desire to have an affair with Chad Daybell.
Daybell, who is representing herself, said she was ready to rest her case as well, but when asked if she was ready to do so officially in front of the jury she asked to do it Monday, when the court scheduled closing arguments in the case. Thursday, it is set to go over jury instructions.
Chandler (Arizona) police detective Nathan Duncan testified Wednesday about reviewing Lori Daybell's iCloud records. He confirmed with a detective that there would have been about 45 minutes between when Vallow was shot and when Cox called 911. Before he called 911, Cox called Lori Daybell twice, Duncan said.
After Vallow's death, Duncan said Cox's phone records showed photos of Vallow's phone conversation with Lori Daybell's other brother, Adam Cox, who testified earlier in the trial about coming to Arizona to do an intervention with Vallow of his sister. Vallow planned the intervention and flew Adam Cox in to support him.
Duncan said texts showed that Lori Daybell referred to her husband as Ned, the name of a "dark spirit," and cited texts with Alex Cox referring to him and other people they knew - including Adam Cox and Adam Cox's son, as dark spirits or "z's" which he said, based on other witnesses, was likely referring to zombies.
He said Lori Daybell's niece was keeping her updated on where Adam Cox and his son were through text messages.
He also testified about a chat shortly before Vallow's death where Lori Daybell told Alex Cox the "plot thickens," and they would "be like Nephi." Duncan said in his research online and talking to people, the story that always came up related to Nephi in the Book of Mormon is that he was justified in killing Laban.
Duncan said after Vallow's death, texts between Lori Daybell and Chad Daybell started to be "open and obvious romantic messages" when they hadn't been before. He said Chad Daybell was saved in her phone as both "Bubby" and "Melanie 2," and he verified messages with both contacts.
He testified to conversations in the coming weeks about Vallow changing the beneficiary on his life insurance and Lori Daybell's mother kicking Adam Cox out after he was defensive of Vallow - in addition to multiple loving texts each day.
The final piece of evidence Duncan testified about was a Hawaii marriage record between Chad and Lori Daybell.
"Four months after Charles Vallow is shot and killed inside of the defendant's home, she has remarried to the man Chad Daybell?" Kay asked, and Duncan confirmed.
Duncan also said he responded to the scene of Vallow's death, noting that he saw Vallow on the ground and blood in the webbing of his left hand, showing he likely touched his hand to a bullet wound. He said the only other blood evidence found at the home was a smear of blood on a faucet.
He said all the evidence was "100%" consistent with Vallow being shot while he was on the floor for at least one of the two shots.
During Daybell's cross examination, she asked Duncan about the various evaluations that were not done, focusing specifically on DNA swabs of the bat that Alex Cox and Daybell claimed Vallow was using against them requiring self-defense. She asked why these were never tested, and Duncan responded that any DNA or fingerprints found would not necessarily be from that incident as everyone involved could have had other contact with the bat.
He said he didn't request other tests on the bullet, floorboard or Vallow's shirt because he "was confident."
"If you take those three points and then match them up, then there's no other explanation other than Charles was laying on the ground at that time (he was shot)," Duncan said.
Duncan said knowing what he knows now, that would be important for his investigation, but much of the same information could be acquired through the various accounts they received records for.
He also said the physical scene was inconsistent with the self-defense story they were additionally told by Adam Cox and Daybell.
Wednesday was the seventh day in the jury trial for Lori Daybell, which was initially scheduled to last until mid-May. Beginning in late May, she faces another trial on allegations that she conspired to murder her niece's husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at near his home in late 2019 but was not hit.
Alex Cox died in December 2019, and his death was ruled to be from a natural cause. He was never charged in Vallow's death or Boudreaux's shooting - although officers have testified he was the man behind the gun in both instances.
Lori Daybell was convicted in 2023 in Idaho of murdering her two children, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, along with conspiring to murder them and Chad Daybell's then wife, Tammy Daybell.
These three deaths occurred in September and October of 2019, according to testimony at the Idaho trial. She is serving five sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
People around the world learned of the couple while officers were searching for the two children in early 2020 while Chad and Lori Daybell were in Hawaii.
During seven days of trial proceedings, prosecutors called 19 witnesses to testify against Vallow Daybell. The defense’s argument has been a narrative of self-defense, but jurors also saw the romantic text messages between convicted murderer Chad Daybell and Lori, at a time when the two were in the midst of an affair
The jury also saw Vallow Daybell acting as her own attorney, cross-examining Det. Duncan about his testimony on her alleged religious beliefs, focusing on a biblical figure named ‘Nephi’ who, in a text to Alex, the defendant said she would be like in the lead-up to the deadly shooting on July 11, 2019.
"Four different prophets in the Book of Mormon there, Nephi. Are you aware of that?" Vallow Daybell asked.
"No," Det. Duncan replied.
"OK. So, isn't it true that you really have no idea what I was referring to, when I reference Nephi in my text message?" Vallow Daybell asked.
"I can only go off of what I what I see. I can't tell you what you're thinking, or what you're trying to relay there. But based on my knowledge and based on talking to people about who is in Nephi, that is a story that came up consistently," Duncan said, in response.
In Arizona, Vallow Daybell is accused of planning the death of her then-husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019. It was allegedly motivated by Vallow Daybell's religious beliefs, and a $1 million life insurance policy that Charles owned.
Charles was shot by Vallow Daybell's late brother, Alex Cox. Cox had said he shot Charles after a fight involving a baseball bat.
Vallow Daybell is also accused of attempted murder in connection with her ex-nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux.
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