Daybell's children testify, reveal contradictions to previous testimonies

BOISE — Two of Chad Daybell's adult children took to the witness stand on day 26 of his trial, each testifying about their mother Tammy Daybell's health and their observations of Daybell after her sudden death. 

Daybell is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, insurance fraud and grand theft in connection to the deaths of Lori Vallow’s children — 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J. Vallow — and Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell. Daybell’s current wife, Vallow, was charged with the same crimes last year and was found guilty on all counts. Daybell faces the death penalty if he’s convicted.

The prosecution rested on Thursday, so on Monday, the defense began its case. 

J.J. was last seen alive on Sept. 22, 2019, and his sister, Tylee, was last seen alive on Sept. 8, 2019. Tammy Daybell died on Oct. 19, 2019. Vallow and Daybell were married shortly after, on Nov. 5, 2019. J.J. and Tylee’s remains were discovered in Daybell’s backyard when it was searched on June 9 and 10, 2020.

Both Daybell and Vallow were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Daybell wrote several books loosely based on LDS teachings, his later works focusing on the “last days” or the end of times, which he believed would come before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Daybell was excommunicated from the LDS church in 2019.

DAYBELL'S CHILDREN

The first witness called to the stand on Monday morning was Emma Murray, the Daybells' daughter. The court has previously reviewed footage of Chad Daybell's arrest on June 9, 2020. Murray is in a lot of the footage, talking to Daybell while he sits in a police car. Before his arrest, Daybell told Murray to not cooperate with law enforcement. After he told her that, Murray no longer met with the FBI.

The day before Tammy died, Oct. 18, Murray said Tammy was getting ready for a book fair at the school where she worked. Murray described Tammy as an introvert, and said while she was friendly, she didn't confide in a lot of people. Murray said Tammy was a private person; Murray never heard her mom talk about her health with her coworkers, which is noteworthy because Murray visited Tammy's classroom often. 

According to Murray, her in-laws were in the midst of a step competition with Tammy, who used a FitBit to count her steps. Tammy bought one for Daybell, but he wouldn't wear it. Murray said Tammy often swung her arms to get more steps logged in her FitBit.

Before Tammy's death, Murray trained for a 5K race that her husband was organizing, but Tammy wouldn't do it with her.

This is in direct contradiction to previous testimony given by several of Tammy's coworkers, who testified that Tammy had been losing weight and was training for a race.

Murray and Tammy would attend zumba and clogging classes together — they began attending the same zumba class in April 2019 and started clogging together six weeks before Tammy's death. 

Working out wasn't the only thing Tammy and her daughter did together. 

The two purchased life insurance together, both filling out the paperwork and making the purchase without consulting their husbands, Murray said. However, prosecutor Lindsey Blake admitted Tammy's insurance form into evidence — the same one that Murray testified was only filled out by Tammy. The form has both Tammy and Daybell's signature's on it, which contradicts Murray's testimony. The life insurance is for $80,000. 

Although Daybell's religious beliefs are fairly radical, Murray testified she and her siblings do share some of those beliefs, but not all. The idea of light and dark beings is similar to the belief of good and evil beings, she explained. According to Murray, Tammy was a little more "fundamental" than Daybell was and would often assign numbers to people, indicating how light or dark they were. 

At one time, Murray was experiencing some unmanageable anxiety and felt like there was "a being" that was with her. Daybell cast the being out and Murray said she felt more calm afterward, Murray said. Murray testified that she believes her parents could both sense whether a person was light or dark. 

Murray said Daybell never spoke to her about Lori Vallow before Tammy's death and never spoke to her about Alex Cox, Lori's brother. Murray learned about the affair Daybell was having with Vallow after Vallow was arrested in February 2020. Murray has previously claimed that Daybell's affair was not physical, which she later learned was incorrect. 

On the day Tammy was found dead, Murray arrived at her parents' home at 7 a.m., when a coroner was inspecting Tammy's body and asked if they wanted an autopsy done. According to Murray, Tammy bruised easily. 

"She offered an autopsy and the area where we lived in, the body would have to be taken to Boise which is about five hours away. It would delay the funeral,” Murray said. “I don’t think autopsies should be done on anyone. The idea of my mother’s body undergoing that was very distressing to me.”

Murray recalled telling the coroner she did not want an autopsy performed on Tammy, and Daybell nodded in agreement. She said Daybell appeared to be very distressed. Murray said she does not believe that her mother's death came as a result of a crime. 

"He may not have had the same romantic relationship with my mother that he had in the past, but I knew he valued her as a person," Murray said.

Murray did ask Daybell where Tylee and J.J. were, and he told her they were in a safe place. 

When planning Tammy's funeral service, the family chose to have the funeral in Springville, Utah, where Tammy lived most of her life. 

Garth Daybell, Chad's oldest son, took to the stand around 11:40 a.m. He was the only one living with Chad and Tammy in October 2019, when Tammy died. Garth teaches science at Madison Junior High School, but in October 2019 he worked at a haunted house. 

The morning Tammy was found dead in her bed, Garth came home around 1 a.m. and heard Daybell snoring in his bed. He didn't see any sign of a struggle or fight outside his parents' bedroom. He fell asleep around 3 a.m. that morning, Oct. 19, 2019. 

Tammy was known to have fainting spells, Garth said. 

That morning he was woken up by Daybell. When Garth came into his parents' bedroom, he saw Tammy halfway off the bed, so he lifted her back into her bed. She was cold, stiff and gray, he said. 

Prosecutors came to his home on May 7, 2021, Garth said. They took him and his wife to the police station and detained them for several hours. Garth recalls the prosecutors telling him that they didn't like his story, that it was untrue and he needed to change it. 

"It was made pretty plain that I needed to change my story to fit theirs," Garth testified. 

In the summer of 2019, the Daybells caught and buried three or four raccoons and buried them behind the shed in the backyard, Garth said. He had personally witnessed Daybell shoot a raccoon in their backyard, Garth said during his testimony.  Animals that were pets were typically buried in the pet cemetery on the property. Garth remembers Daybell being overly excited on Sept. 9, 2019, the same day Daybell sent a text to Tammy about killing a raccoon and burying it in the pet cemetery. Daybell told Garth that he had killed a raccoon and buried it behind the silver shed. 

Like his sister, Garth is still LDS, but he admittedly interprets the faith differently than Daybell, noting during his testimony that he teaches evolution to his students. 

The Daybell trial has been going for seven weeks. The trial is anticipated to go on for eight to 10 weeks and will continue on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m.