Lori Vallow appears in a courtroom sketch on April 11, 2023; JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan appear inset. (Courtroom pool sketch artist; Fremont County Sheriff’s Office)
The triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell — a “doomsday cult”-connected mother of two dead children and former wife to two dead husbands — stretched into its thirteenth day of testimony in an Ada County, Idaho, courthouse on Friday morning.
Vallow, 49, and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, 54, stand accused of murder in the 2019 deaths of Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ashlyn Ryan, 17. The children disappeared on different dates in September of that year. Vallow was initially arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on charges of child desertion. Daybell was arrested later that year after the children’s bodies were found buried in shallow graves on his property in Salem, Idaho.
The two were indicted for the murder of Vallow’s children and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. They were initially prosecuted as husband-and-wife co-defendants, but the couple’s cases were recently severed and they now face separate trials.
The third week of the trial comes after abbreviated first and second weeks. The trial is now well ahead of schedule.
Keeping proceedings apace is the speed at which the many witnesses in the complex case are testifying – most of them moving quickly for the state and facing little in the way of cross-examination by the defense.
Last week, jurors heard from Lori Vallow’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan, who took the stand and discussed his faith and family. He later sat silently for jurors as prosecutors played a jailhouse phone call between him and his mother in which he accuses her of murdering his siblings and calls her a liar.
On Tuesday, a similar scene played out in the Gem State’s southwestern halls of justice as Vallow’s sister, Summer Cox Shiflet, took the stand – first to smiles from the defendant. But that smile turned to visible grief as the aunt of the deceased children sat on the stand as an emotional jailhouse phone call between the sisters was played.
Wednesday, the jury heard grim and gruesome details about the way the children died, including JJ Vallow’s cause of death; Tylee Ryan’s cause of death is unknown to this day. Jurors were also shown autopsy photographs that showed how, exactly, the children’s bodies were treated after their murders.
Jurors heard more disturbing evidence about the deaths on Friday, including testimony from a chemical expert who said gasoline was used as the accelerant to burn the remains. FBI agents also described the site where the bodies of Vallow’s children were found.
Law&Crime correspondents will provide updates in court on Friday and throughout the trial.
Lori is wearing a black top. She’s chatting with Thomas. Chipper as always. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
9:00 a.m. MT – Tammy Daybell’s sister, Samantha Gwilliam, learned Chad Daybell’s new wife was named Lori Ryan. Samantha soon started searching the internet and found out who she really was.
Tammy Daybell’s picture is put back on the screen. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/sCGU8Xh6FR
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Samantha asked Chad why he was burying Tammy in Springville and not Rexburg. She said Tammy’s kids were in Rexburg, etc… Chad told her it was too cold/snowy in Rexburg. #LoriVallowTrial@LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Samantha found Charles’ obituary and learned there were kids involved. She asked #ChadDaybell if Lori had children. He told her Lori had no children and they were going to be empty nesters. #LoriVallowTrial@LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
10:15 a.m. MT – Jury hears 911 calls of the “paintball” incident and then Tammy Daybell’s death where Chad Daybell says her body is “frozen.”
We’re going to hear the 911 calls about the “paintball” incident. Joseph Murray – Daybells’ son-in-law called 911 and so did Tammy Daybell. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Tammy was convinced it was a paintball gun. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
West received the 911 call about Tammy Daybell’s death. We’re about to hear that call. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Chad is crying (not sure if it’s real) on the 911 call saying Tammy’s body is “frozen”.
Lori is writing. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
11:00 a.m. MT – Cammi Willmore, who was the deputy coroner in October 2019, testifies about Tammy Daybell’s death and her suspicions that she was poisoned. Meanwhile, Chad Daybell did not want an autopsy done.
Chad told Willmore the same story about Tammy coughing, vomiting. He told her Tammy was in menopause and she liked to sleep with her leg outside the covers. Tammy was out of the bed with her head and body down and one of her legs was twisted in the blankets. #LoriVallowTrial
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Lori is staring at the photo of Tammy in the bed.#LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Willmore got her phone and looked up poisoning/foam from a dead person because she had never seen that before. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Willmore says Chad Daybell did not want an autopsy. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
11:35 a.m. MT – Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye determined Tammy Daybell died of natural causes — prosecutors in opening statements revealed a reexamination of Tammy Daybell’s exhumed remains showed she died of asphyxiation and her manner of death was homicide
As the coroner responding to the scene it’s her duty to determine the cause and manner of death. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
It’s the coroner’s duty to decide if an autopsy is warranted. She consults with detectives, etc… Dye says nothing was suspicious at the time. #LoriVallowTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
Dye estimated Tammy’s time of death between 2:30 – 4am due to rigor, etc..
Dye determined Tammy died of natural causes. #LoriVallowTrial@LawCrimeNetwork— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
12:28 p.m. MT – Dye was present when the second autopsy was done on Tammy Daybell ruling her death a homicide by asphyxiation
The Utah medical examiner, after exhuming Tammy’s body, found the cause of death to be asphyxiation/suffocation and the manner of death was homicide.#LoriVallowTrial@LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
That’s it for today. The witnesses went faster than the state had planned (due to no to little cross). Trial resumes Monday morning at 8:30am MT. #LoriVallowTrial@LawCrimeNetwork
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 28, 2023
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