Child victim’s grandmother takes the stand in Chad Daybell murder trial
BOISE, Idaho (ABC4) — The biological grandmother of murder victim Joshua “JJ” Vallow testified as a state’s witness in court Thursday morning in the third week of the murder trial of Chad Daybell.
The body of JJ Vallow was found by police on June 9, 2020, on Chad Daybell’s property. While JJ was in the custody of Lori Vallow Daybell — Chad’s wife — JJ was actually the biological nephew of Lori’s previous husband, Charles Vallow. Lori and Charles had adopted the infant JJ in 2013.
CONTEXT: A complete timeline for the Daybell, Vallow murders
JJ Vallow, born Canaan Trahan in Lake Charles, La., was the grandson of Charles Vallow’s sister, Kay Woodcock. According to Woodcock’s testimony, the boy was born with “drugs in his system” and was later diagnosed as autistic. As such, Woodcock said his original parents were not able to care for him.
Shortly after his birth, Woodcock said Charles and Lori Vallow began discussions about adopting the child to care for him. Charles and Lori renamed him as Joshua Jaxon Vallow, and took him with them to their home in Arizona.
Woodcock testified that under the adoption agreement, she remained in JJ’s life as his grandmother, and she explained that she and her husband traveled to Arizona to visit JJ as often as they could.
“We were having a real hard time dealing with letting him go,” Woodcock said.
In the beginning of their relationship, Woodcock testified that Lori Vallow “seemed to be a wonderful person,” and JJ was doted upon as the family researched his autism. Woodcock said that when she and her husband visited JJ, Lori and Charles would often disappear to give the grandparents quality time with the boy.
By 2019, however, Lori and Charles Vallow’s relationship had deteriorated, and they separated. Woodcock testified that in the spring of 2019, Lori Vallow “disappeared” for several weeks, leaving JJ in Charles Vallow’s care and having little to no contact with him. Charles moved to Houston, Texas, which put him within a couple hours of the Woodcocks’ home in Louisiana.
Relative says Chad Daybell told inconsistent stories about wife’s death
Charles Vallow was then shot to death by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, on July 11, 2019. After the shooting, Woodcock testified that she became scared for JJ.
Shortly before Charles Vallow’s death, he made several moves to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. While Lori was originally his beneficiary, he eventually named Woodcock as his beneficiary and left instructions with her on how the money should be used. Woodcock testified that she and Charles only had one conversation about that change, and she wasn’t even entirely sure he had named her as beneficiary until the insurance company contacted her after Charles’ death.
After Lori found out that she was no longer Charles’ beneficiary, Woodcock said she limited contact with JJ. Woodcock testified that she received a text from Lori Vallow asking if the life insurance money was the reason “why you want JJ.” Woodcock said the last time she saw JJ was Aug. 10, 2019, in a brief video call. Woodcock said Lori became “evasive” and “wouldn’t respond to requests.”
Woodcock also testified that she had arranged to fly to Arizona to see JJ in August 2019, but Lori canceled their meeting. Woodcock also testified that Lori refused to let JJ attend Charles’ funeral services.
“The minute we found out Charles had been murdered, we were extremely worried [about JJ],” she said.
As the Woodcocks worked with law enforcement following Charles’ death, Kay testified that she would repeatedly bring up JJ’s whereabouts with law enforcement. Eventually, she worked with Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Lori’s niece Melani, on splitting the cost of a private investigator.
Amazon account
Woodcock also testified that she has access to a number of Charles Vallow’s accounts, including banking and email. She noted that in November 2019, she accessed Charles Vallow’s Amazon.com account to find that Lori Vallow had used it to search for and purchase a number of items, including malachite wedding rings and beach clothing — all of which were used in Lori and Chad Daybell’s November wedding in Hawaii.
Woodcock testified that Amazon records showed Lori searching for the items in the first week of October 2019, days before Chad Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died. Using the delivery information from the Amazon account, Woodcock said she was finally able to find where Lori had moved — to Rexburg, Idaho.
Woodcock called the Amazon discovery “jaw-dropping” and “mind-blowing.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
