Day 22: Hawaii detective says he found Tylee’s credit card in Lori Daybell’s purse
Tammy Daybell would have been 53 years old today.
The Rexburg mother of five, who was remembered by family and friends as an animal lover and computer whiz, was killed in October 2019. Prosecutors have alleged that Tammy Daybell’s then-husband, Chad Daybell, and his current wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, conspired to murder Tammy and two of Lori’s children.
Chad and Lori — who had a months-long affair — got married on a Hawaii beach two weeks after Tammy Daybell’s body was buried in a Utah cemetery, according to witnesses throughout the trial.
Vallow Daybell’s trial, at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, began in early April and could last another three weeks. Chad Daybell — also charged with first-degree murder in Tammy Daybell’s death — has a hearing scheduled Thursday afternoon.
The Daybells are also charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan.
To be convicted of the first-degree murder charges, the jury will need to conclude that they killed, encouraged or commanded someone else to kill Vallow Daybell’s children.
READ MORE: Lori Vallow Daybell’s case spans 3 states, 4 deaths. Here are all the key people involved.
Authorities said they believe Vallow Daybell’s brother Alex Cox also conspired to kill JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell, according to the indictment filed by prosecution teams from Madison and Fremont counties.
Cox died of natural causes in 2019. Vallow Daybell also faces a felony charge for allegedly conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, with her brother.
4 p.m. — Attorney, prosecutors discuss Chad Daybell’s trial
Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce held a hearing at the Ada County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon to discuss potential dates for Chad Daybell’s trial.
Chad Daybell appeared via Zoom from the Fremont County Jail. The prosecution and Boyce have been in Boise for Vallow Daybell’s trial.
Chad Daybell has pleaded not guilty to the eight felonies against him, online court records showed.
John Prior, the attorney representing Chad Daybell, said he’d like to see the trial set in May 2024 and expects the trial to last 10 to 12 weeks.
Vallow Daybell’s trial, which began in early April, is expected to last eight weeks.
While Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said that “err(ing) on the side of caution,” the prosecution would need eight to nine weeks for Chad Daybell’s trial. The prosecution could be ready to proceed to trial by fall 2023, Blake said, but she didn’t ask Boyce for a specific date.
Blake added that if Boyce set the trial for 2024, that March, April and the beginning of May could be problematic but was OK with June 2024.
Blake said prosecutors expect to call many of the same witnesses who have been called during Vallow Daybell’s trial, and she said it could be “difficult to get them back too quickly” because witnesses were called from various states and had to travel to Idaho.
Prior — who has been at the Ada County Courthouse throughout most of Vallow Daybell’s trial — thanked the prosecution for letting him know the Daybells’ “trials are going to mirror themselves.”
He said he needed the additional time for Chad Daybell’s trial because he expects to call seven to eight experts during the defense team’s portion of the trial. He also plans to request a full transcript of Vallow Daybell’s trial, and Prior said Chad Daybell will need time to review the audio from his wife’s trial.
Prior is also working on additional DNA testing that must be done on a hair sample, but he didn’t go into specifics on the testing. The Daybells’ cases were severed in March after the hair sample was turned over so close to the jury trial, East Idaho News reported.
Boyce is expected to set the trial date soon.
3:30 p.m. — Judge: Prosecution prohibited from admitting over 150-page document
In preparation for Friday’s potential witness, the prosecution attempted to admit a 165-page document that summarizes various aspects of the case. The prosecution is expected to call former FBI Special Agent Doug Hart.
But Jim Archibald, an attorney for the defense, objected to the admission of the document along with the witness. He added that the document allows Hart to summarize the case, which Archibald called “inappropriate.”
Archibald said he received the document around 6 p.m. Tuesday. He said it’s a “common practice” of the prosecution to give them summary documents on short notice.
“I’m very concerned about this witness testifying,” Archibald said.
He said Hart worked with investigators throughout several states, including Idaho and Arizona, and has spoken to various witnesses who have been called throughout the case.
The prosecution clarified that Hart hasn’t talked to any of the witnesses about their testimony.
Boyce agreed with the defense and said the document was “editorializing the evidence” and “pulling the evidence together.” Boyce said it’s the jury’s responsibility to interpret the evidence.
He also noted the timeliness of the document and said it was “not fair” to the defense as it is a “huge exhibit.”
Boyce said he’d consider admitting a different version of the document that was cut down and removed the editorial and “argumentative” language, but the current document “will not be allowed.”
He noted that this type of document would typically be presented during the prosecution’s closing argument and not with a witness.
1:45 p.m. — Arizona detective discusses attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux
Ryan Pillar, a detective with the Gilbert Police Department in Arizona, began testifying. He was the lead investigator in the attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux.
Boudreaux is the ex-husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece Melani Pawlowski. Authorities said they believe Cox, the brother of Vallow Daybell, attempted to shoot Boudreaux, according to KSL.com.
On Oct. 2, 2019, Boudreaux was driving back from the gym when he noticed a grayish-green Jeep Wrangler with a Texas license plate near his home, according to Boudreaux’s testimony during the first week of the trial. He said as he drove up that he saw the back window open further and “heard a bang.”
Pillar said a bullet hole was in Boudreaux’s driver side door and the window was shattered.
Boudreaux had just moved into a new home in Arizona before the shooting, and he said during his testimony that only a few people knew his new address, including his then-wife Melani Pawlowski. The couple was going through a contentious divorce at the time.
Boudreaux and Pawlowski had a life insurance policy together, and if something happened to Boudreaux, Pillar said, Pawlowski would have received a $200,000 payment.
During his investigation, Pillar said he contacted police in Chandler, Arizona and he learned about the shooting of Charles Vallow and that the Jeep Wrangler was at the scene.
Pillar said cameras also showed the Jeep Wrangler heading south on Interstate 15 toward Utah on Oct. 1, 2019. The Jeep Wrangler was then also spotted driving toward the Phoenix area, Pillar said, and then again back in Idaho Falls on Oct. 3, 2019.
Pillar said as Gilbert police learned more information and began working with police departments in Idaho, they not only wanted to locate Cox but the children.
“Family members were concerned because they hadn’t been able to communicate with JJ or Tylee at all,” Pillar said.
Pillar said that police in Idaho seized the Jeep, searched the vehicle and located chemicals — which would typically be found in gunshot residue — in the back.
The defense did not cross-examine Pillar — they haven’t with the majority of witnesses from Arizona. Vallow Daybell’s attorney’s said they don’t believe evidence from Arizona should be admitted.
Typically, in criminal trials, evidence that indicates other alleged or convicted crimes aren’t talked about. According to Idaho Rules of Evidence, “evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person’s character.” But it can be used when trying to prove “motive, opportunity or intent.”
Vallow Daybell’s attorney John Thomas added that the defense team “can’t effectively cross-examine” Pillar without losing grounds to an appeal on the admission of certain evidence under that rule of evidence.
11:30 a.m. — Hawaii detective testifies
A several-minute body camera video played in court Thursday showed Vallow Daybell lounging poolside on a beach chair in Hawaii. This was in late January 2020.
Kaua’i Police Detective Colin Nesbitt, who was one of the officers present in this video, began testifying Thursday. Vallow Daybell was ordered to bring JJ and Tylee to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or to Rexburg police by Jan. 30 — which is the paperwork police handed Vallow Daybell.
In the video, an officer hands Lori Daybell paperwork and says, “You’ve been served.” He then asked her whether she had any questions.
Vallow Daybell sat up from her lounge chair and looked over the documents for roughly a minute, and then glanced over at Chad Daybell, who was sitting next to her.
“Any questions? No. OK, have a nice day,” the officer said before walking away.
Nesbitt said police also searched Vallow Daybell’s rental vehicle in Hawaii just a few days later and found a credit card belonging to Tylee in Vallow Daybell’s purse.
Nesbitt said they also found various documents and electronic devices including JJ’s iPad, Social Security cards for both the children, and roughly 14 to 15 copies of Charles Vallow’s death certificate.
The court broke for lunch a little after noon.
11 a.m. — Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policy increased by $70,000 before her death
Angela Yancey, who handles payroll and benefits for the Sugar Salem School District, said Tammy Daybell amended her life insurance policy in September 2019, a month before she died.
Tammy Daybell worked as an assistant librarian within the school district.
The life insurance policy, Yancey said, was changed from $60,000 to $130,000 — which was the maximum. Yancey said Chad Daybell was the beneficiary.
During the cross-examination, Thomaspointed out that Tammy Daybell changed her life insurance policy during the yearly open enrollment period.
Tammy Daybell was killed on Oct. 19, 2019.
By Oct. 21, 2019, Chad Daybell visited Yancey at the school district and asked to begin the claim process for Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policy.
Yancey told Chad Daybell that she couldn’t submit the claim until they’d received Tammy Daybell’s death certificate.
Yancey said Chad Daybell responded with, “That’s OK, I’ve already ordered eight of them.” Yancey said at most, she’s seen someone order three death certificates.
10 a.m. — ‘Are there any children?’
Health Insurance Broker Taylor Ballard, who works for an insurance company in Rexburg, said Chad Daybell visited her in late November 2019 to get health insurance for himself and his children as he had just lost his wife.
Ballard said Chad Daybell later reached out to her and asked if he could add a spouse onto the health insurance. During that process, Ballard had Chad Daybell fill out paperwork, which included a question about children.
“One of the questions is, ‘Are there any children?’” Ballard said. She said Chad Daybell said “no.”
9:15 a.m. — Recordings of Daybell conversations not allowed, Judge Boyce decided
The husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece Ian Pawlowski continued testifying Thursday.
Ian Pawlowski said during his testimony Wednesday his wife, Melani Pawlowski, was extremely close to the Daybells — so much so that when the Pawlowskis got married, he asked the Daybells for their approval.
Ian Pawlowski said he approached law enforcement in December 2019 with concerns about the safety of his children, himself, and his ex-wife after Melani Pawlowski “dumped everything on” him about the Daybells. He didn’t elaborate on what his wife told him about the Daybells.
When Ian Pawlowski approached police, they had already been investigating the Daybells. He said the police asked him to listen and observe the Daybells and also requested that he record conversations.
Boyce denied the defense’s request to admit the recordings Thursday morning.
Ian Pawlowski said he felt the Daybells had manipulated him and Melani Pawlowski with their spiritual beliefs. He said that as Melani Pawlowski was going through a divorce with her first husband Brandon Boudreaux the Daybells told her Boudreaux was a “dark spirit.”
The Daybells were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had fringe beliefs that people could be possessed by dark spirits, witnesses said in testimony, and that the spirits would need to be cast out.
“You feel like you were manipulated?” Thomas asked.
“Absolutely,” Pawlowski said, adding Melani Pawlowski was manipulated more than anyone.
Ian Pawlowski was excused from the witness stand around 10 a.m., but the defense attorneys said they might call him as a witness during their portion of the trial.
