Lori Vallow trial – live: Chad Daybell wired $24k to his own children as police dug for Tylee and JJ’s bodies

Oliver O'Connell and Rachel Sharp
·25 min read
1

The high-profile trial of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow continues in Boise, Idaho, as the jury hears a seventh day of testimony.

Ms Vallow, 49, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven.

Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019. Their bodies were found buried on the property of Ms Vallow’s new husband Chad Daybell in June 2020.

Ms Vallow is also charged with conspiracy to murder Mr Daybell’s first wife Tammy in October 2019.

She has pleaded not guilty in a dramatic case spanning multiple murders and unexplained deaths, where jurors have heard testimony about Ms Vallow’s concerning cult beliefs.

On Tuesday, the jury heard Ms Vallow’s only surviving child Colby Ryan angrily confront his mother about his siblings’ deaths in a jailhouse phone call, telling her: “You ripped my heart out!”

Wednesday’s testimony outlined how after their murders Ms Vallow stole Social Security payments intended for Tylee and JJ, and how Mr Daybell wired thousands of dollars to his own family as police searched his property for the children’s bodies.

Key points

20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake is questioning Mr Cowden.

He tells the court he and other firefighters responded to the call on 11 July 2019, the day that Charles Vallow was shot.

They entered the house and found him lying on his back on the floor. He was unconscious.

Cowden was the first to assess Charles and saw he had blood on his shirt and appeared to have been shot twice.

19:58 , Oliver O'Connell

There is an objection by the defence that Lori Vallow is not on trial for anything that happened in Arizona.

Judge Steven Boyce overrules the objection.

New witness: Scott Cowden, Chandler Fire Department

19:57 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness for the prosecution is Scott Cowden, a fire engineer and paramedic with the Chandler, Arizona, Fire Department.

He was on duty the day that Charles Vallow was shot by Alex Cox, Lori’s brother.

Court back in session

19:56 , Oliver O'Connell

Court is back in session and on the record after an extended lunch break.

The judge and jury have returned to the courtroom.

19:46 , Oliver O'Connell

There is a 30-minute delay in court resuming.

As there has been much discussion of timelines today, here’s one that Rachel Sharp has put together of the whole of the Lori Vallow case:

Timeline of the Lori Vallow Daybell case

18:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Court breaks for an early lunch.

The trial will resume at 12.30pm MT.

18:18 , Oliver O'Connell

Douglass found that Tammy Daybell’s life insurance was increased to more than $400,000 on 8 September 2019. She died on 19 October and Chad filed the claim days later with the funds being deposited in his account on 1 November and 16 November.

Right after Tammy died, Chad took his children and Lori on a family trip to Knotts Berry Farm, all paid for by him.

On 9 June 2020, between 9.50am and 10am, as his property was being searched by police for the bodies of Tylee and JJ, Chad transferred $8,000 to each of his three eldest children, leaving $4,400 in his account.

Rawlings has no further questions for Douglass.

Defence attorney Jim Archibald says he has nothing to ask Douglass and the witness is dismissed.

18:07 , Oliver O'Connell

Circling back to the earlier flight records, Douglass says what was interesting about Chad Daybell’s accounts was what he didn’t find before the death of Tammy Daybell — purchases for travel undertaken by Chad. These flights were paid for by Lori on credit cards she shared with both Alex and Charles.

18:05 , Oliver O'Connell

More clarification that the source of funds for Tylee’s Venmo account changed after her death and payments continued to her brother Colby Ryan.

Lori sent him $5940 over 20 transactions from Tylee’s account.

17:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Turning to the timeline from Charles Vallow’s death (11 July 2019) to JJ’s death 23 September 2019), Douglass says Social Security payments relating to the loss of his adopted father began being paid to JJ on 18 September 2019 — into Lori’s account.

In total, she was receiving $5740 in payments from the children and her own benefits.

The dates of these payments are detailed in the timeline:

After the murders of her children, Lori received a total of approximately $22,545 in fraudulent Social Security payments between October 2019 and January 2020.

This testimony lays out the grand theft charge for the jury.

Court resumes after mid-morning recess

17:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Douglass remains on the stand for direct examination.

The jurors are being brought back into the courtroom.

17:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori moved the Social Security payments to Tylee from Joe Ryan’s death to her own account in August 2019 and opened a joint account with Tylee shortly before they moved to Rexburg.

Douglass says: “I found through my research on September 8 that Colby had requested Tylee to send him a Venmo payment. Tylee responded back that she did not have the funds in her account and that [Lori] was receiving them.”

On that same date, Chad Daybell searched the wind direction to see if was south/southwest. It is believed that was the day that Tylee was killed.

Court takes its mid-morning recess.

17:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Reviewing Tylee’s two accounts (Chase and BBVA), Douglass confirms what we learned yesterday, that her purchases were predominantly in-person except for payments to her cellphone account and for her Jeep. Money from her father’s death went into the Chase account.

“Tylee was responsible with her money. I never saw her have one negative balance,” Douglass says.

16:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Douglass is a forensic accountant who examined accounts relating to Lori and Tylee.

He is asked to walk the jury through a timeline relating to Tylee’s life after her father Joseph Ryan passed away. A second timeline shows JJ’s life from Charles Vallow’s death onward.

Douglass adds the dates on which each child was killed as told to him but confirms the veracity of the other dates on the timelines.

In addition, there is another timeline that Douglass refers to as the “grand theft timeline” that he prepared to help the jury understand the significance and sequence of events relating to the large amount of financial information presented so far in court.

New witness: Mike Douglass, FBI

16:46 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness is Mike Douglass an FBI agent who is expected to elaborate further on some of the financial records submitted into evidence yesterday afternoon.

Fremont County Deputy Prosecution Attorney Tawyna Rawlings will conduct the direct examination of Douglass.

16:41 , Oliver O'Connell

Direct examination of Det Kunsaitis has concluded.

Defence attorney Jim Archibald says he has reviewed all of the documents and has no questions at this time.

The detective can be called again if questions do arise.

16:32 , Oliver O'Connell

More airline records are shown, this time for Southwest. We learn that JJ had six trips between Phoenix and Houston with the last one being on 16 June 2019. Tylee was not found listed in the records.

Records from Allegiant show flights paid for by Lori to bring Chad to Arizona on 6 January 2019, and several for Melani, Chad and Lori between Idaho Falls and Mesa, Arizona.

16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Flight records from American Airlines are submitted showing Tylee visited Hawaii twice in February and March 2019. Lori flew multiple times. There are no records of JJ flying.

One notable flight is Lori flying from Hawaii to Phoenix to Idaho Falls on the same day as Tammy Daybell’s funeral.

16:12 , Oliver O'Connell

The next piece of evidence is an email from Lori to her accountant asking about forwarding tax returns to her new address. The email was sent on 9 September 2019 at 5.03pm.

Det Kunsaitis says they believe it was sent within hours of Tylee being buried in the backyard of Chad Daybell’s home.

16:08 , Oliver O'Connell

The last refill for JJ was in Arizona in January 2019.

He died in September and 17 pills were found in a bottle with his name on it in November, indicating that he was not being given his medication.

16:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Det Kunsaitis says they also searched state pharmaceutical records in Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, and Idaho for any refills for JJ’s prescriptions.

None were found.

Why Montana? There a tip the children were being held on a compound in the state and so it was included as part of that investigation.

Lori, Melani, and Tylee’s names were also searched for and no medications were found for them.

15:59 , Oliver O'Connell

The next exhibit is from Windstream Communications in reference to an IP address associated with Tylee Ryan’s Venmo account. The IP address was registered to a Residence Inn in Kansas City, Missouri.

On 10 October $100 was sent to Colby Ryan from Tylee’s account with the message: “We love you.”

Lori was with her niece Melani Pawlowksi in Kansas City that day to visit friends. Det Kunsaitis says the Venmo transaction was made using Tylee’s phone.

To confirm the stay in Kansas City an invoice from a Residence Inn is shown with two people listed in the room charged to Melani.

The significance here is that Tylee’s phone was used and she was not on that trip as she had been killed more than a month before.

15:53 , Oliver O'Connell

The next document shown to the court is subscriber information for Lori Vallow’s SparkLight/Cable One account. This was for the Rexburg apartment complex unit number 175. However, Lori’s rental lease agreement was for apartment 107.

Det Kunsaitis says Lori leased in 107, where Alex lived, but she lived in number 175.

15:51 , Oliver O'Connell

The next document is an email from Chad Daybell to Kauai Dream Realty in Hawaii on 8 November 2019 — three days after his wedding to Lori Vallow.

“We are interested in seeing this property. Would the owners be interested in leasing this property to a clean couple with no pets or children? Please let us know. Thank you.”

15:49 , Oliver O'Connell

Prosecutor Rob Wood continues his direct examination of Det Kunsaitis.

The first financial record of the day is the loan documentation for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler. Tylee was making payments of $599.99 per month on the vehicle, paid for by the Social Security payments she was receiving following the death of her father.

The last payment for the Jeep was made in August 2019. Lori then switched the Social Security payments to her account. When the next payment came due for the Jeep there were insufficient funds in Tylee’s account and she was dead.

When Rexburg PD seized the Jeep on 4 November 2019, it was not reported missing.

15:39 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Steven Boyce is back on the bench and the jury is being brought in for day seven of testimony.

Lori Vallow is flanked by defence attorneys John Thomas and Jim Archibald and appears to be in a good mood, according to reporters in court.

Prosecutors Rob Wood, Spencer Rammell, and Tawyna Rawlings are present.

Det Kunsaitis is back on the stand.

Court to resume shortly

15:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Rexburg Police Detective Chuck Kunsaitis will be back on the stand when court resumes this morning.

He spent much of yesterday afternoon testifying about bank records and credit card statements that showed how Lori Vallow misappropriated Social Security payments to her children after their murders, as well as financial evidence of her ongoing affair with Chad Daybell.

Her late brother Alex Cox’s financial records were also examined showing how he quit his job, moved from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho, took out a loan purportedly for medical expenses, and instead bought ammunition and 46 guns as he prepared to be a warrior as Chad had said he would be.

Listen: Full jailhouse phone call between mother and son

15:02 , Oliver O'Connell

What might Lori Vallow’s defence be?

14:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Rachel Sharp reports on Lori Vallow’s alibi for her children’s murders and how she points the finger at her late brother.

‘Doomsday cult mom’ Lori Vallow claims new alibi in murder of her two children

Lori Vallow mouthed three words to surviving son

13:57 , Rachel Sharp

On Tuesday, Lori Vallow’s only surviving child Colby Ryan testified against his mother.

As he took the witness stand, Ms Vallow was seen mouthing “oh my baby”.

He told the court about text messages he received from his sister’s phone in the weeks after her murder that felt like he was speaking with someone else.

The jury then heard him angrily confront his mother about his siblings’ deaths in a jailhouse phone call.

“You ripped my heart out!” he told her.

12:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Former best friend confront Vallow about lies in secret recording

12:15 , Oliver O'Connell

A phone call between “cult mom” Lori Vallow and her former best friend was played in court during her ongoing trial for the murders of two of her children.

Andrea Blanco reports.

Lori Vallow confronted by best friend about JJ lies in secret recording

Timeline of ‘doomsday cult mom’s’ mystery case

11:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Rachel Sharp has compiled a timeline of the tragic and bizarre case:

Timeline of the Lori Vallow Daybell case

Chad Daybell warned Lori Vallow of police search when arrested

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A jailhouse phone call captured the moment Chad Daybell warned “cult mom” Lori Vallow that police were closing in on the day that her children’s remains were discovered buried on his property.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Lori Vallow trial hears jailhouse call with Chad Daybell on day bodies found

Lori Vallow trial hears horror of her children’s murders

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Graphic photos shown at “cult mom” Lori Vallow’s murder trial revealed how her slain son JJ was still wearing his red pyjamas and a nighttime diaper when his remains were found buried in a shallow grave on Chad Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho.

His sister Tylee’s remains were found nearby.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Lori Vallow’s son JJ was found buried in red pyjamas and diaper

Everything we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell ‘doomsday cult’ murder trial

03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Rachel Sharp delves into the deeply disturbing tale of suspected murders, unexplained deaths and apocalyptic cult beliefs about killing zombies which surrounds Lori Vallow and her doomsday author husband Chad Daybell.

What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell ‘doomsday cult’ murder trial

Vallow’s chilling response to question about missing daughter, 16, revealed

01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A former friend of Lori Vallow has revealed the “cult mom’s” chilling response after being confronted about her missing teen daughter.

Ms Vallow’s trial is in its second week at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, almost three years after she was charged with killing her son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, seven, and daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and conspiring to murder the first wife of her doomsday preacher husband Chad Daybell.

On Friday, Ms Vallow’s former friend and former fellow cult acolyte Zulema Pastenes told the court about the ritualistic “castings” that Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell performed to drive out demons from “dark spirits.”

Andrea Blanco reports.

Lori Vallow’s chilling response to question about missing Tylee revealed

Vallow trial hears emotional prison call with surviving son

Tuesday 18 April 2023 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On day six of testimony in the trial of “cult mom” Lori Vallow, the jury heard a recording of a phone call between the defendant and her eldest son from the early months of her incarceration.

Colby Ryan, Ms Vallow’s son from her second marriage, was called a witness for the prosecution. He is her only surviving child following the murders of daughter Tylee, 16, and adopted son JJ, 7, in September 2019.

In the emotional call between mother and son, Ms Vallow refused to switch on her camera, while Mr Ryan demanded to know whether Jesus had really told her to murder his siblings.

Read more:

Lori Vallow trial hears gut-wrenching prison call with surviving son Colby Ryan

Tuesday 18 April 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Court adjourns for the day

Tuesday 18 April 2023 22:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Boyce adjourns court for the day.

The trial will continue at 8.30am MT tomorrow.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A further document put into evidence is the rental application for the town home in Rexburg. Lori put her income as $5,000 per month (the total of all the Social Security benefits) and said her reason for moving was so her daughter could attend BYU-Idaho.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori also shared a credit card with her brother Alex Cox.

In a March 2019 statement, there is an airfare for Tylee to go to Hawaii with a friend, and another for Chad Daybell to fly from Idaho Falls to Mesa.

Both Charles Vallow and Tammy Daybell were still alive at this point and married to Lori and Chad respectively.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:54 , Oliver O'Connell

The next exhibit is credit card statements for a joint account with Charles Vallow that Lori continued to use after his death.

Two major transactions are highlighted: a $3,000 payment to the local mortuary on 12 July and another on 20 July for an Allegiant Airlines flight from Provo to Arizona for Chad Daybell.

Mr Daybell was still married to Tammy at this point.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:43 , Oliver O'Connell

The next account shown to the court is a joint BBVA account for Tylee and Lori. There are statements from 19 August to 2019 through until January 2020.

After 1 September 2019, all transactions were conducted online with the exception of two purchases at Mexican restaurant Costa Vida in Rexburg on 17 September and another at the chain’s branch in Idaho Falls 7 October.

There are deposits from Lori’s account into this one which are then immediately Venmoed to Colby Ryan, her son. There are 29 such deposits of around $60. The Venmo transactions would occur on the same day as the deposit is made.

Prior to September 2019, almost all of Tylee’s purchases were in-person.

Court resumes after afternoon break

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:33 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury is brought back in following the afternoon recess.

Det Kunsaitis is still on the stand for direct examination. As another account is brought up, the defence team asks for a sidebar with Judge Boyce.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 21:16 , Oliver O'Connell

The next account looked at is the BBVA Compass Bank account for Lori which was opened on 20 October 2018. All of the Social Security payments were redirected to it.

From August 2019 through January 2020 this is where payments to Tylee were deposited after her death.

From 18 September the payments for JJ began to be deposited in the same account. Det Kunsaitis says: “Based on our investigation, JJ was killed five days later.”

After a summary document is submitted as evidence court goes on its afternoon break.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell

The focus of the evidence presented to the jury is Tylee’s bank statements from January 2019 to October 2019. It is a heavily used account and each month she received her $1,859 from Social Security and made payments on her Jeep Wrangler.

In addition, much of her spending is at shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and convenience stores. Her final in-person purchase was on 1 September at a McDonald’s in St George, Utah.

Her Social Security deposits ceased in July as they had been diverted to a different account.

The final transaction was on 20 September. She had $10.04 in the account and it was transferred to Lori, who had access to the account. Profile numbers assigned to account users show that it was Lori who made this transfer.

Last proof of life for Tylee was 8/9 September 2019.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 20:22 , Oliver O'Connell

A large number of exhibits are entered into evidence ahead of Det Kunsaitis’s testimony he is asked to only refer to them if referenced during questioning.

Det Kunsaitis has worked as a police officer in Rexburg for 23 years. He has been a detective since 2011.

On 27 November 2019, he was aware Det Hermosillo was issuing search warrants for three different townhomes in Rexburg to locate JJ Vallow. He arrived in the afternoon to help with the warrants.

At Lori’s home, he found an invoice for Self Storage Plus sitting on a printer and so a further warrant was issued for the unit.

In addition, a PO Box belonging to Lori was located in Sugar City, Idaho. Inside was approximately 100 pieces of mail addressed to Lori, Chad, Alex, and the children, including letters from the Social Security Administration.

The manager of the apartment complex also said he had mail for them.

Much of it was bills and financial documents, so a list of financial institutions was drawn up associated with the family.

New witness: Det Chuck Kunsaitis, Rexburg PD

Tuesday 18 April 2023 20:01 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness is Detective Chuck Kunsaitis of Rexburg Police Department.

Before he is brought in there is a brief sidebar after which a large folder of documents is placed on the witness stand by the prosecution.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:51 , Oliver O'Connell

In addition to the payments to the children, Lori also received “Mother, child and care benefits”.

Lori was eligible because she and Charles were married for 10 years.

She was paid $1,951 per month. These payments were also stopped in January 2020. Social security recipients have a duty to report any change in circumstances such as a child no longer being in their care or that the child has died.

Lori never reported the deaths of her children, her new marriage, or her change of address.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:48 , Oliver O'Connell

JJ also got benefits following the death of Charles Vallow, his adopted father.

He was paid $1,951 per month beginning on 18 September 2019 (Charles died on 11 July 2019).

These payments were also suspended in January 2020.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:47 , Oliver O'Connell

Tylee was receiving $1859.00 a month in 2019 into a JP Morgan account. That was then switched to a BBVA account on 20 August 2019.

Any change would have been flagged to Lori as her mother in an automated notice.

It reads: “As you requested on August 20, 2019, we changed Tylee's direct deposit. We will send her payment to the new account you selected.”

Social security payments for Tylee were suspended on 3 January 2020 due to the children’s whereabouts being unknown.

New witness: Mark Saari

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:44 , Oliver O'Connell

The next new witness is Mark Saari, a special agent with the Social Security Administration who investigates fraud.

He became involved in the case in January 2020 when his office was contacted by the FBI in Arizona as part of the search for Tylee and JJ.

Mr Saari was asked to investigate whether the children’s benefits were being misused by Lori.

Court back in session

Tuesday 18 April 2023 19:42 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Steven Boyce is back on the bench and the jury is brought back in.

Lori has been chatting with her attorneys though at times has looked a little more stoic than earlier having listened to the call before lunch.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Colby’s testimony concludes and he is released from his subpoena.

He looks over at Lori for two seconds on his way out of the courtroom.

Judge Boyce calls lunch.

The trial will resume at 12.30pm MT with a new witness.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:34 , Oliver O'Connell

The highly emotional call ends abruptly: “I pray every day no matter how mad I am at you, no matter how bad I want to hit your husband in the face with a shovel, I pray for you, I pray for him. You ripped my heart out, you ripped everyone’s heart out. I want to be in Idaho this week. You need to look me in my eye, Mom. Look me in my eye.”

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Colby tells his mother that Jesus will judge her for what she has done and she laughs.

She says that no one understands what happened but Tylee and JJ do.

“They love me and they are fine and they know the truth and we are the only people that do.”

Colby yells at his mother for saying that Jesus told her to do these things.

“The kids are found buried in your new husband’s backyard?”

He confronts her about running away to Hawaii after the murders.

“They were murdered and you walked away,” Colby says.

Lori replies: “That is not what happened.”

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:26 , Oliver O'Connell

The call is playing again.

Colby: “I have prayed for you in my worst moments, I have prayed for my siblings who you swore to me were ok. I thought I could trust you. I thought that you were a completely different person.”

Lori: “You’ve known me your whole life.”

Colby: “I don’t know a murderous mother.”

Later Colby confronts Lori about the text messages from Tylee’s phone:

“You lied to me more times than I can count about this. To know they're gone and you knew and my phone being texted by my little sister who wasn't even alive. My brother was the sweetest kid and you say this is God's will for my whole family including my stepfather to be dead after everything that you’d tried to tell me you can tell me right now that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World is on your side? You tell me that with all the conviction of your heart that Jesus Christ is on your side right now. Please.”

Lori: “I can tell you that.”

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:21 , Oliver O'Connell

Colby is brought back into the courtroom because Judge Boyce wants him on the stand while the call is played to the jury.

Judge Boyce says that on hearing the beginning of the call he wants Colby on the witness stand.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:19 , Oliver O'Connell

For context, the call was made after the bodies of Tylee and JJ had been found on Chad Daybell’s property.

Before Judge Boyce called a sidebar, Colby said he had prayed for Lori and she said she didn’t do anything.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:17 , Oliver O'Connell

The call is played but interrupted when Judge Boyce calls for a sidebar with attorneys.

Tuesday 18 April 2023 18:16 , Oliver O'Connell

Wood now asks to admit and play a jailhouse phonecall between Colby and Lori.

Colby has left the room but he remains under subpoena so could be called back in if the defence has questions.