BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday saw six witnesses take the stand in the Chad Daybell trial. Their ties to the accused murderer seemed outlandish at first, but prosecution had a plan. They were arguing that Tammy Daybell, Chad's first wife, was by all means healthy before her untimely death in October of 2019.
On Wednesday, April 24, the court heard testimony from Tammy's clogging instructor as well as a coworker of Tammy's, who worked at the same elementary school.
The state also recalled a witness for the first time in this trial. They called Vincent Kaaiakamanu, who was serving as a detective at the time this case first started. He is now working as the Chief Deputy at the Madison County Sheriff's Office. The first time he testified, it was focused on the finding of the children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow. This time, his testimony focused more on Tammy Daybell and her health before her death.
There was also an evidentiary motion hearing after court hours on Wednesday, with Judge Steven Boyce hearing both sides of the argument. He is expected to rule in the motions early on Thursday morning, before the jury is brought back in. To allow for his rulings, he has asked that the jury returns at 9 a.m. instead of the usual 8:30 a.m.
On Tuesday, April 23, the court heard testimony from a family friend of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow, David Warwick. The next witness to testify on Tuesday was Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Melani Boudreaux, who is Lori Vallow's niece. He testified regarding an attempted shooting that took place, where an gunman shot at him while he was driving into his driveway. It is believed that gunman was Alex Cox, Lori Vallow's brother. Lori Vallow is facing charges for this attempted shooting in Arizona, where it took place.
Tuesday was the first day Chad Daybell was visibly emotional in court, as the testimony and images from Officer Alyssa Gerenhalgh showed Tammy Daybell deceased, with pinkish foam coming from her mouth. Chad Daybell appeared to cry a bit upon this testimony, showing some semblance of care for her.
For Thursday, April 25, it is expected that Kaaiakamanu will take the stand again, finishing his testimony.
The trial is expected to last another four to six weeks.
Live Updates:
2:59 p.m.: There is no cross examination of the witness, and the witness is released from the stand. They are concluding early, and Judge Boyce warns the jurors that tomorrow may end early.
2:47 p.m.: Court is back in session after the afternoon break. A new witness is being called by the state. The new witness is Spencer Cook. He's employed at the Sugar-Salem School District as the technology lead. He talks about how the school district uses Google platforms for emails and other like things. Cook also manages the email storage. Cook then describes how the storage works. Cook testimony continues, as he reads an email from Charles Vallow to Tammy Daybell's work email. Tammy had blocked Charles on that work platform. Tammy also never replies to Charles' emails.
2:13 p.m.: Judge Boyce allows a limited re-cross examination of Kaaiakamanu. Prior begins by asking about the driveway, and Tammy's Facebook post about her shooting. Prior has to ask Judge Boyce for permission to grab his laptop, so he can show the Facebook post again to Kaaiakamanu as a refresher. Kaaiakamanu is excused from the stand, there is a brief sidebar with counsel before the court takes their afternoon break.
1:54 p.m.: An exhibit is shown to the court, it's an image of two guns. The one on top is a gun seized from Alex Cox's residence, the below gun was a gun described by Tammy Daybell. They look almost identical. More evidence is shown in court, including a Facebook post Tammy Daybell made to her church ward's Facebook page. She was warning her ward on the attempted shooting that took place. The state replays the audio recording of Tammy Daybell calling 911 after the attempted shooting.
1:38 p.m.: Prior utters some words to himself while leaving the podium. The bailiff helps with papers and exhibits. He walks back to the defense table, as Lindsey Blake gets up from the prosecution table. The defense table is backlit today again, the jury requests the windows stay open.
1:31 p.m.: In an email about a month before her death, Tammy emailed her son about how she had a really bad cold. She talks about her symptoms. Prior points out that she was sick at least two days, and then put on a good face before going back to work, alluding to the fact she could have easily hidden any serious aliments.
1:10 p.m.: Court is back in session. Jury is brought back in. Kaaiakamanu is on the stand. Emails between Tammy Daybell and her son Mark. One of the emails from Tammy talks about her accidentally falling on her wrist after tripping over a gate. She said "Dad [Chad Daybell] blessed it so it might have been worse." Prior now brings up an email about raccoons being bad on the Daybell property in June of 2019. A second raccoon email is displayed, highlighting the issue.
12:00 p.m.: Due to timing, they take lunch right at 12 p.m. and will return in one hour. Kaaiakamanu will be back on the stand after the lunch break.
11:24 a.m.: Chad Daybell has his arms crossed, leaning forward like he's attentively listening. Prior continues cross examination. There was a sidebar with counsel to discuss evidentiary problem. When they return, Prior tries to draw a connection between Alex Cox and the attempted shooting. They talk about Alex Cox's gilly suit, as well as some search history items like "how to protect an AR against the cold." With the attempted shooting taking place in eastern Idaho in October, it would have been cold.
11:07 a.m.: During his testimony, Kaaiakamanu further testifies about the painball gun vs real gun debate. Prior is arguing that it is becoming increasingly challenging to identify which is which, and not always does the hopper determine a difference. Emails and phone calls Tammy Daybell made are played in court. She mentions paintball gun more often than she brings up "real" gun.
10:37 a.m.: Judge Boyce calls court back to order after a morning break. Judge Boyce does some housekeeping in regard to an exhibit, before the jury is brought in. Cross examination continues with more exhibits. Prior is arguing that paintball guns can look like real guns, with the biggest difference being the hopper - or homing unit for the paintballs themselves. Without having the exact weapon in court, it will be challenging to tell which was at the scene of Tammy Daybell's attempted shooting. Prior brings up some theories for who shot at Tammy. One theory includes a "bipolar teenager wandering around".
10:07 a.m.: Prior asks if it's easy to tell if a hopper is easily identifiable as opposed to a scope. Kaaiakamanu states it can be a challenge to tell them apart. According to Prior, Tammy Daybell had searched online for what paintball guns look like, and supposedly even pointed one out to a different officer, when they arrived at her house on Oct. 9, 2019, the date of the attempted shooting. Mid-morning break takes place, and will be back at 10:35 a.m.
9:58 a.m.: Cross examination begins after defense attorney John Prior asks if the court would like to take a break, or continue. Prior takes the podium, but there's a few technical issues with Prior's microphone. Prior makes a comment about mispronouncing Kaaiakamanu's name and asks if he can call him Officer K.
9:46 a.m.: Kaaiakamanu testifies about geofences he created, to show where Chad Daybell was traveling to and from. Google will send back the phone numbers attached to the phone, but doesn't show names. There were a few numbers that caught Kaaiakamanu attention. With a second search warrant, they received further information on the four numbers they got from the first warrant. One number kept popping up, which was Alex Cox.
9:29 a.m.: Now the contents of Tammy Daybell's phone is being admitted to evidence. It included information about her emails to and from her missionary son, Mark. More evidence is presented. One piece of evidence is images of a gun recovered from Alex Cox's residence. In earlier testimony, Kaaiakamanu read an account of the shooting from Tammy, who mentioned a 'hopper' on the gun - the hosting mechanism of a paintball gun. However, the gun was truly that - a gun.
9:19 a.m.: The testimony of Kaaiakamanu has shifted into talking about Alex Cox, and the evidence they found at the residence. The state provides more evidence in the form of exhibits. One of the exhibits shows Alex Cox attending a gun range, but he signed up with a different name. He used the same derivative of his license plate.
9:02 a.m.: The bailiff brings the jurors in after the motion rulings. All four prosecutors are present, as well as defense attorney John Prior and Chad Daybell. Direct examination of Vincent Kaaiakamanu continues this morning. Lindsey Blake takes the podium and asks for an exhibit. There appears to be technical issues presenting evidence, as Blake takes a few minutes to get things adjusted.
8:45 a.m.: Judge Boyce gives his rulings, and asks prosecution if they are ready to begin or need a break. They ask for a break, so court will readjourn at 9 a.m. with jury present.
8:32 a.m.: Court is in session. Judge Boyce has not brought in the jury, as he takes up motions from yesterday's trial after hours. He is delivering his oral rulings on the motions presented yesterday. The motions pertained to victim designation as well as some evidentiary motions.
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