Chad Daybell trial live: New witness casts doubts on cult prophet’s son’s story about mom’s death
Chad Daybell’s trial began on April 1, about a year after Lori Vallow was convicted in the 2019 murders of Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow, and Tammy Daybell
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A new rebuttal witness for the prosecution testified that Chad Daybell’s son Garth had told him how he found his dead mother Tammy Daybell, which is different from what Garth told the court at his father’s triple murder trial earlier this week.
Shortly after the defense rested on Thursday, Jason Abegelen, who worked with Garth at a haunted house, recalled that Garth told him how he found his mother dead in the bedroom and that his father was not there.
But Garth had testified that in the early morning hours of October 19, 2019, his father woke him up to help after finding the mother-of-five dead and halfway off the bed on the floor, tangled up in sheets.
Daybell, 55, is on trial for the death of Tammy, and the murders of Lori Vallow’s two children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and JJ Vallow, seven. Two weeks after Tammy’s death, Daybell and Vallow married on a beach in Hawaii.
It was only after the children were reported missing – and authorities began delving into the couple’s bizarre cult beliefs – that questions were asked about Tammy’s death and her body was exhumed for an autopsy. It was determined she had died of asphyxia and Daybell was charged with her murder, as well as the murders of Vallow’s children, who were found buried in Daybell’s Idaho backyard nine months after they went missing.
Prosecutors say Daybell and Vallow justified the three killings by creating an apocalyptic belief system, which was part of an elaborate scheme to eliminate any obstacles from their life.
But Daybell’s attorney claims he was manipulated by Vallow, who was convicted of the murders last year and received three life sentences.
Like Vallow, Daybell did not testify in his defense.
Closing arguments are expected to be next week and then the case will be in the hands of the jury.
If convicted, Daybell faces the death penalty or life in prison.
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He’s accused of killing their mother but Chad Daybell’s children will take the stand in their father’s defence
WATCH: Steamy texts between Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow are read in court
Court breaks for lunch
Chad Daybell’s trial is now on break for lunch.
Court will resume at 2pm.
Where are Chad Daybell’s children?
Chad Daybell’s adult children have mostly stayed out of the spotlight in the wake of their father’s arrest in the death of their mother Tammy Daybell and Lori Vallow’s two children.
But almost all of them will testify in his death penalty case in his defence.
Daybell’s attorney John Prior says they will detail their mother’s “health struggle” before her sudden death in 2019.
Daybell had told police his wife had died suddenly in her sleep after battling an illness, but an autopsy later revealed she died of asphyxiation.
“They’re going to talk about their mother’s use of various medical treatments she would use—oils she would put on her leg, medicine, and different herbs she would take, and that their mother was suffering from a number of maladies, and she would refuse to see a doctor,”Mr Prior said during opening statements.
Medical examiner testifies that smothering, a bag over the head or weight on the chest would not leave signs of asphyxiation in Tammy Daybell’s case
Dr Lily Marsden attended the exhumation of Tammy Daybell and assisted Dr Erik Christensen, Utah’s chief medical examiner at the time, with the autopsy.
They concluded that Tammy died from asphyxia, and the manner of death was homicide.
But in their initial examination, Dr Marsden said she and Dr Christensen were not able to see anything that would have caused Tammy’s death.
On the stand Tuesday, Dr Marsden said that smothering, a bag over her head or weight on her chest would not have left any obvious signs of asphyxiation on the body.
FBI agent testifies about location Lori Vallow’s brother during murders
Rick Wright, an FBI special investigator, testified on Tuesday about the location of Lori Vallow’s brother Alex Cox.
He said data specifically places Cox’s phone near where children’s bodies were found on dates investigators believed they were killed.
On the first day JJ was absent from school, 23 September 2019, Cox’s phone showed it was located behind Chad Daybell’s home between 9:55am and 10am.
He testified about a few other times where Cox’s phone location showed Daybell’s residence but for shorter periods.
ICYMI: Chad Daybell gets emotional as 911 call is played at his murder trial
Jury hears gruesome testimony about tools used to chop up Tylee Ryan’s remains
On Monday, jurors listened to Douglas Halepaska, FBI Toolmark Analyst, describe tools used to chop and shattered Tylee Ryan’s remains.
The 16-year-old’s remains were found buried and burned on Chad Daybell’s property. Her hip bone and spine were shattered.
“The force you can kind of see at the top left, you can see that the bone has actually shattered in separate places and fractured,” the analyst said.
“Based on my training experience, it appears that the tool that was used actually cut through the bone and into that soft tissue and may have actually carried into it.”
Mr Halepaska testified that many of Tylee’s injuries came from tools like a machete, a hatchet, a cleaver and a pick.
A pickaxe and shovel were among the numerous tools found on Daybell’s property that tested positive for human remains.
The defence argued that the tools analyst could not specifically identify the tools that were used on Tylee.
RECAP: Tylee Ryan’s best friend testifies she was ‘almost maternal’ with brother JJ
Tylee Ryan’s best friend Ashlyn Rynd testified on Monday in court that Tylee’s relationship with her younger brother JJ Vallow, seven, was “almost maternal.”
“She was there for him. … he was going for anybody who was going to provide for him, and Tylee would always be the one to show up,” Ashlyn said.
Ashlyn temporarily moved to Texas in 2017, but the two friends remained close, and she moved back to Arizona.
However, when Tylee moved to Idaho in 2019, they “tried for two weeks” but fell out of contact.
WATCH: Chad Daybell sends texts after alleged burial of Tylee Ryan
Chad Daybell’s trial resumes today in Boise
The “doomsday” author’s trial will resume today in Boise, Idaho around 10:30am ET.
It is being livestreamed on Judge Steven Boyce’s YouTube page.
The trial, which began 1 April, is expected to last two to four more weeks.