BOISE, Idaho — Court was not in session yesterday, Tuesday, April 30. Today, May 1, will begin with testimony from out of state witnesses.
The court had scheduling issues on Tuesday, resulting in taking the day off.
On Monday, April 29, court wrapped up early, as the witnesses the state called that day got through testimony a bit quicker than expected. Prosecution let the court know that their witnesses for Wednesday were coming from out of the area, and it would be best to wait until Wednesday to hear more testimony. Judge Steven Boyce allowed it, with court wrapping up at 1:30 p.m.
On Monday, the court heard testimony from a witness that was not publicly shown in court, due in part to his job. Agent Nicholas Ballance with the FBI took the stand to testify about cell phone data, as he's an expert in that field.
Other witnesses included Tammy Daybell's first and second cousins. Her first cousin, Patricia Later, became emotional during her testimony, crying at the first question asked. The second cousin, Hanna Munoz, testified about hearing different stories from Chad Daybell about how Tammy passed away.
The trial is expected to last another three to five weeks.
Live Updates:
3:10 p.m.: Direct examination wraps up, and cross examination begins. Ballard talks about Tammy's school's insurance policy and their enrollment period. Cross examination is quick, with an even quicker redirect. The state requests that they wrap up early today, due to the witness testimony ending. Judge Boyce agrees that it's better to start with a new witness in the morning rather than breaking it up. Court is adjourned and will return at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 2.
3:01 p.m.: Ballard testifies about Chad Daybell asking questions about insurance coverage for Lori Vallow. She was in prison at that time, and Chad's computer was taken by the FBI, so he couldn't do payroll for his book publishing company. Ballard kept the line of questioning with Chad to insurance, but never heard him mention Tylee Ryan or JJ Vallow. Once Ballard heard of the children being missing, Ballard started to have suspicions that the insurance payout for Tammy may have been planned on purpose.
2:44 p.m.: A quick cross examination takes place, where Prior asks about the layout of the school and how she didn't have to walk around much. Wixom takes up the podium, asking also about Tammy's walking patterns. She walked around the school often, hauling books back and forth. This witness is excused.
The state calls their next witness, Taylor Ballard. She is from Rexburg, Idaho, where she's worked as an insurance broker for the past 14 years. She helps people obtain health insurance. She knows Chad Daybell on a professional level, after he came to her October 31, 2019. He came in to request information about health insurance for him and his children.
2:35 p.m.: The jury is brought back into the courtroom. he state calls their next witness, which is Janice Olson. She lives in St. Anthony, Idaho, which is relatively close to Salem, Idaho. She taught at the same school that Tammy Daybell worked at. She recalls working with Tammy Daybell, having interactions at various times throughout each day. Prosector Rocky Wixom is asking Olson the questions, asking about Tammy's activity levels. "She always went the extra mile," Olson testifies.
2:06 p.m.: During redirect examination, Blake asks a great deal about the LDS church and its beliefs, as Todd Gilbert is a member of the church. Then, they also talk about Garth Daybell and Chad Daybell moving Tammy Daybell's body in the morning she passed. After that, the witness is excused. He will not be recalled, and mid-afternoon break begins. They will take 20 minutes.
1:56 p.m.: Direct examination concludes, and cross begins. Prior asks about the Daybell property. He asks the witness to describe the addition to the home, where their son Garth would occasionally sleep but it was mostly used for storage. Prior also asks the witness about the podcast that Melanie Gibb produced. When a mutual group of church goers came together in 2018, Chad Daybell introduced Melanie Gibb to Todd Gilbert.
1:44 p.m.: Todd Gilbert continues to testify. A lot of his testimony is similar, if not the same, as his wife. They had similar experiences with the Daybell family, and both of the Gilbert's were close to Tammy. Todd Gilbert had heard of Lori Vallow before Chad Daybell introduced them. He know of Lori Vallow due to a podcast she made with one of her friends Melanie Gibb. Todd asked Chad's children how they felt about Lori. According to Todd, they felt fine with it, in their own way. It came off as odd to Todd.
1:24 p.m.: Redirect takes place, with Lindsey Blake at the podium. She asks a handful of questions, then the witness is excused. The state will not be recalling this witness. The state is now calling the Todd Gilbert, the previous witness's husband. He talks about the chores he'd help Chad Daybell with. Todd also read some of Chad's books, but didn't "ring true" with him.
1:14 p.m.: Direct examination wraps up, and cross begins. Prior asks about how often the two women, Tammy Daybell and the witness, Alice Gilbert, would meet up. It was roughly three to four hours a week. Gilbert's testimony included more information about the layout of the Daybell's host. After a few minutes, cross examination wraps up.
1:03 p.m.: Gilbert is back on the stand testifying further about the wedding of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow. Chad Daybell was excited to show Gilbert the photos. He got married about 3 weeks after the death of Tammy Daybell. This surprised Gilbert. Gilbert also testifies about Chad Daybell asking Gilbert if he could move in, and then later asking Gilbert if they would put their house up for bond for Lori Vallow.
11:56 a.m.: Lindsey Blake pauses testimony with Gilbert so the court can take their lunch break. Court will be back in an hour.
11:50 a.m.: Chad came over to the Gilbert household just seven days after Tammy's death, where he broke the news to them that he was to be remarried to Lori Vallow. At church in the days following, Chad introduced the Gilbert's to Lori Vallow. Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow were very affectionate together, said Gilbert, and Gilbert said she felt embarrassed. She felt it moved too quickly. Gilbert had asked Lori Vallow how many children Vallow had. Chad Daybell interrupted the conversation to say that Vallow had recently had a daughter die. Lori Vallow didn't correct Chad.
11:41 a.m.: "It didn't seem very mournful," Gilbert testifies when talking about Chad's behavior at his first wife's funeral. Chad spoke at the funeral, going after all his children. Gilbert said Chad's speech was more like a church lecture, instead of a more heartfelt speech, traditional of spouses in these situations. In the days following Tammy's funeral, Chad told Gilbert that he was going to move to a condo in Rexburg, moving in with a friend, presumably being Alex Cox.
11:38 a.m.: Gilbert came over to the Daybell house the day Tammy had passed away. Gilbert wanted to go get food for the Daybell children, and as she walked out, Chad informed her that the funeral would be the following Tuesday, with a memorial Wednesday. Tammy passed on a Saturday, so the short turn around alarmed Gilbert, especially due to the planning that usually goes into a funeral within their church. "I felt like it had been planned," said Gilbert. She becomes emotional shortly after that, when describing the funeral of Tammy Daybell.
11:26 a.m.: The state calls their next witness, Alice Gilbert, Chad and Tammy Daybell's neighbor. She lived next to the Daybell's in Idaho. Gilbert was closer to Tammy, due to working together within the church they attended. The two women met roughly twice a week, on Sundays mostly. They would meet every week from 2017 to the week Tammy died. Gilbert talks about how great with computers Tammy was, and how helpful she was. Tammy is being described by Gilbert as witty, smart, and helpful.
Starting in 2019, the behavior between Chad and Tammy became "different" and "more distant". Tammy didn't talk about her marriage much, besides talking about financial strain.
11:21 a.m.: As Christensen's testimony concludes, Judge Boyce begins to release the witness, however Prior asks for a sidebar. After sidebar, Judge Boyce allows a re-cross on one small issue that was brought up. Prior begins to ask about Tammy's medical records. Dr. Christensen is done on the stand for today, but the state may recall him at a later date. Before he is fully excused, Prior asks for another sidebar.
11:01 a.m.: Prior and the witness are going back and forth, discussing the cause of death of Tammy Daybell. Cross examination finalizes and redirect begins. Lindsey Blake takes the podium for prosecution. She asks the witness about the exhumation order, Christensen did not sign the order. Christensen also states that the Daybell children hadn't reached out to his office at any point.
10:42 a.m.: Direct examination wraps up, and John Prior, defense attorney, takes up the podium. Immediately, Prior asks to admit evidence to the court. The evidence is the autopsy report from the State of Utah. While asking the witness questions, Prior begins to talk over the witness. Judge Boyce asks him not to and allow the witness to answer the question. Prior takes a small walk away from the podium, in a circle, allowing the witness to finish the answer.
10:16 a.m.: Blake hands the witness a document that has a drawing of a body on it, looks like something from an autonomy book. The witness draws where the bruises on Tammy Daybell's body. The document is then put on the projector and shown to the court. Christensen then testifies more about the autopsy of Tammy Daybell.
10:02 a.m.: Court is back in session after a short recess to get the jury's monitors to work, so they can be shown evidence. The evidence will not be shown on the stream, as they are graphic in nature. The jury is brought in. Dr. Christensen remains on the stand. Prosecutor Lindsey Blake asks to admit some evidence to the court. The first image shown is a picture of Tammy dead, and Dr. Christensen identifies a fluid coming out of her mouth.
9:37 a.m.: There is a sidebar to discuss some evidence, there are some graphic images that they do not want shown to the public. They are going to take their morning break a bit early, so they can get the jury's monitors up and running to show them the evidence.
9:21 a.m.: Tammy reportedly had seizures, however the medical examiner did not find any evidence of the supposed seizures. The witness had looked at Tammy's long term medical records and also found nothing of seizures. He also discusses arrhythmia symptoms, and how it can cause sudden death. There was no evidence of arrhythmia, however, it was expected to find no evidence. Without the heart pumping, it is hard to tell what happened to it. Prosecutor Lindsey Blake asks about blood. Because Tammy was embalmed, her blood was diluted by embalming fluid. They were able to get some information from the liver. They tested it for drugs, both prescription or otherwise, plant based toxins and more. There was nothing that was found of significance.
9:13 a.m.: Dr. Christensen identified Tammy's cause of death: asphyxiation - or when someone cannot get enough oxygen into their lungs. This can be caused by a variety of factors, like drowning or carbon monoxide, or it could be caused by another person. Based on evidence, he could not tell what caused the asphyxiation. There were no natural diseases or outside trauma to the body at the time of autopsy.
9:00 a.m.: Dr. Christensen did the autopsy on Tammy Daybell with help from an assistant and talks about the exhuming process, using other cases as examples to how it works. There were no concerns with exhuming Tammy Daybell, so they continued forward. Besides doing an autopsy, Christensen and his office also looked other evidence, on the outside of the body. He states that exhumation is not common, but he has done it multiple times to do autopsies.
8:44 a.m.: Court begins on Wednesday a few minutes later than expected. Judge Steven Boyce calls court to order, and the jury is brought in. The state is calling more witnesses today, with their witness being Dr. Erik Christensen. He's self employed currently, but retired on April 1 as the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Utah. He has a long history of medical examination. He discusses the systems in which Utah does medical examinations for those who are deceased. He has done roughly 7200 autopsies in his time with Utah, and completing Tammy Daybell's autopsy.
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