Detective continues testimony in Daybell trial

Editor’s note: The following contains details of graphic evidence revealed during the Chad Daybell trial on Thursday, April 11.

BOISE — Two bodies were uncovered on Chad Daybell’s property in June 2020. They were identified as 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan.

On Thursday, Detective Ray Hermosillo took the stand again at the Ada County Courthouse, continuing as a witness for the state and engaging in cross-examinations from the defense.

Daybell is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, insurance fraud and grand theft in connection to the deaths of Tylee Ryan, J.J. Vallow and his late wife, Tammy Daybell. He could be facing the death penalty. His trial began on Wednesday, after six days of jury selection.

Last year Lori Vallow, mother to Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, was convicted of the same charges Daybell, her husband, now faces and was found guilty on all counts.

Hermosillo began testimony on Wednesday detailing his search of the Daybell property in Rexburg in June 2020, when Hermosillo uncovered two bodies, one in a pet cemetery and another near a pond area behind Daybell’s property. At the time, the pond had no water in it, he said.

J.J’s body, wrapped in plastic, was found there.

Photographic exhibits of the Daybell property fire pit, pond area (J.J.’s burial site) and the excavation process were shown to the jury on Thursday.

Hermosillo testified that after assisting the coroner and other officers with J.J.’s remains, a second burial site was located in a section of the Daybells’ “pet cemetery.”

He personally aided in the excavation of Tylee.

“We got on our hands and knees and began excavating that by hand,” Hermosillo said. “We would take turns digging because the smell was so bad.”

They dug for hours, uncovering “globs” of burned flesh, charred bone and fatty tissue. A misshapen green bucket was excavated, and part of a human skull was lying near the buried bucket, along with some teeth. After photographs and measurements were taken, they took the remains of Tylee Ryan to the morgue, Hermosillo said.

At roughly 4 p.m. on June 10, 2020, Hermosillo followed the county coroner to the Ada County Coroner’s office for autopsies.

Because of the graphic nature of the photographs of Tylee’s burial site and the evidence found there, some of the photos were only shown to the jury and the witness, not the general public.

When Tylee’s remains were brought in to be autopsied, Ada County Coroner Dr. Garth Warren determined there was nothing he could do because of the state of her remains.

The autopsy was performed the next day, on June 11. One of Hermosillo’s team members brought out J.J.’s body bag and opened it to reveal J.J.’s small body. He was wrapped in duct tape from his chin to the top of his head, wearing red pajamas with his arms folded across his body. Once the duct tape and the bag were removed from the head, Hermosillo said he recognized it to be J.J.

“He had the same hairstyle, shorter on the sides, longer on top. At that point I recognized him as J.J.,” Hermosillo said.

The first layer of duct tape was removed, revealing a second layer of duct tape across J.J.’s mouth and binding his wrists and ankles.

He was still wearing a nighttime pull-up diaper, and black Sketchers socks.

There was also bruising on J.J.’s arms, ankles and chest, and scratch marks on the left side of his neck, just under the duct tape, Hermosillo said. Hermosillo was present for the entire autopsy. Some of the evidence was then taken to the state lab in Meridian.

Throughout Hermosillo’s testimony, Daybell sat fairly still, eyes up, and he occasionally shook his head.

During cross-examination, defense attorney John Prior had a couple technical difficulties and occasionally responded to the prosecution’s objections at the same time as the judge. That led to some “admonishments” from the judge, which Prior addressed after lunch, saying he had too much coffee that morning and would slow down during the continued cross-examination.

Prior discussed Oct. 9, 2020, with Hermosillo during cross-examination, clarifying that when Tammy Daybell was shot at on that day, she identified it was with a paintball gun, not a gun.

The two also discussed Alex Cox — Vallow’s brother — and his Google searches. Some of Cox’s searches included questions about how to get a gun working properly in cold weather, or how to sharpen swords, Prior said. Based on metadata, Cox’s phone was not at the Daybell residence during the paintball incident.

On Oct. 9, 2019, Tammy Daybell called 911 after getting shot at by a paintball gun. She was in the driveway of the Daybell property at the time of the shooting, around 8 p.m. She was not hit, but died 10 days later on Oct. 19.

Prior also questioned Hermosillo about Vallow’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who Hermosillo said he only knew the basics on. Charles Vallow was shot and killed on July 11, 2019. When Prior asked who Hermosillo believed to have killed Charles Vallow, Hermosillo replied “Alex Cox.” Cox died on Dec. 12, 2019 of a bilateral pulmonary.

During cross-examination, Hermosillo testified that Chad Daybell is not charged with anything relating to the death of Charles Vallow.

The trial concluded for the day at 2:30 p.m., so the state could have more time to collect witnesses, since the jury was selected sooner than anticipated. Only one side of the courtroom was filled up during Thursday’s proceedings. Over 1,000 people watched virtually through the YouTube livestream.

The trial will resume Monday at 8:30 a.m.