Forensic, cellphone evidence revealed at Daybell trial

BOISE — Graphic evidence of Tylee Ryan’s remains was shown to the jury on day 22 of the Chad Daybell trial.

The court heard from several witnesses who discussed their forensic work on this case and cellphone data. A close friend of Tylee’s also took the witness stand on Monday morning.

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. Lori 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.

J.J. was last seen alive on Sept. 22, 2019, and his sister Tylee was last seen alive on Sept. 8, 2019. Tammy Daybell was found dead in her bed 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.

TYLEE’S BURIAL SITE

Rexburg Police Department Detective Chuck Kunsaitis reviewed satellite images of Daybell’s property during the case. The photos shown to the court were taken on three separate dates in 2019: Aug 27, Sept. 9 and Oct. 25.

The satellite image taken on Sept. 9 displayed to the court and jury showed discoloration in the area where Tylee was discovered.

The two other photos did not have the discoloration on the ground in the area where Tylee was found. Tylee was found in the Daybells’ pet cemetery.

Kunsaitis personally removed Tylee’s remains and was emotional while discussing the experience.

FORENSIC WORK

David Sincerbeaux, an Idaho State Police forensic chemist, tests whether or not products have ignitable liquids in them. In this case, Sincerbeaux tested a can of Tylee’s remains. The can of Tylee’s remains contained gasoline, decomposing flesh and debris like soil, Sincerbeaux said.

Angi Christensen, a Federal Bureau of Investigation forensic anthropologist, analyzes human skeletal remains and analyzed Tylee’s remains visually and microscopically.

Over 100 bones were submitted to Christensen for analysis.

Photos of Tylee’s left and right femurs were shown to the jury and the courtroom; both were black and gray. Many pieces of Tylee’s remains were charred and burned. Christensen could not say if the burns occurred before or after Tylee’s death, but did say that burning typically takes place after death, meaning Tylee could have been killed and then burned. One of Tylee’s femurs had evidence of carnivore scavenging. It is unclear what animal made the marks on the bones, Christensen said.

Tylee’s upper and lower jaw was also burned, Christensen said. There were five blunt and sharp trauma locations on Tylee’s hip bone, Christensen said. It is unclear whether or not the trauma occurred before or after Tylee’s death. In a CT scan of Tylee’s pelvic bone, Christensen found several sharp trauma locations that occurred from external force.

None of the marks were consistent with dismemberment, according to Christensen. Several parts of Tylee’s skull were missing and it is unclear why, Christensen said. Some of the bones found were so thermally damaged that Christensen could not tell if they were Tylee’s human remains or not.

Doug Halepaska, an FBI forensic examiner in the firearms and tools division, did a tool mark analysis on tools that were found on Daybell’s property.

Graphic photos of Tylee’s remains were shown to jurors but not the courtroom, including photos of a hip bone and spine with stabbing and chipping marks on them that Halepaska says were probably made with a single-bladed knife and a machete, although he couldn’t be absolutely positive.

In another photo of Tylee’s hip bone, Halepaska says the stabbing on the bone was so hard that it cracked the bone. A portion of the hip bone was burned and charred.

Other bones were marked up with ice picks, cleavers and hatchets. A majority of the marks on the bones came from chopping, Halepaska said, but he could not track any of the marks back to an individual tool.

TYLEE’S BEST FRIEND

Ashlynn Rynd met Tylee in 2016. The two became best friends and would often go on drives together and talk. Rynd was at Tylee’s house a couple times a week and met Vallow, Alex Cox (Vallow’s brother), Charles Vallow (Vallow’s late husband) and J.J. Rynd didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary between Tylee and her family members. Tylee was very maternal to J.J. — he was her first priority, Rynd said.

CELLPHONE DATA

Nick Ballance, an agent on the FBI cellular analysis survey team, testified about several cellphones, including one that belonged to Alex Cox. On Oct. 15, 2019 — four days before Tammy Daybell was found dead — cellphone data shows Cox near Daybell’s residence from 1:41 to 1:52 p.m.

Cox’s phone was located near the Salem church and Daybell’s residence between 10:07 and 10:45 p.m. on Oct. 18, the night of or before Tammy’s death. The Salem church and Daybell’s property are just over 2 miles apart. Tammy was found dead on Oct. 19; it is unclear the exact time of her passing. That same day, there was a 16-minute phone call between Cox and Vallow. At the time of the call, Vallow was in Hawaii.

Vallow, Daybell and Cox all exchanged text messages that day. Communication between them was similar on Oct. 9, 2019, the day that Tammy was shot with a paintball gun.

Tylee and Vallow’s phones were typically together after Tylee was missing and believed to be dead, Ballance said.

On the day of Tammy’s memorial, Daybell’s phone was located near a cemetery and a Holiday Inn. Daybell was also texting Vallow that day.

Court will resume on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. The Daybell trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.