Forensic work, cell phone evidence revealed during Daybell trial

Graphic evidence of Tylee Ryan's remains were shown to the jury on day 22 of the Chad Daybell triple murder trial Monday at the Ada County Courthouse.

The court heard from several witnesses who discussed their forensic work on this case and cell phone data. A close friend of Tylee 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 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, 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 Det. Chuck Kunsaitis reviewed satellite images of Daybell's property during testimony. The photos shown to the court were taken on three separate dates: Aug 27, 2019, Sept. 9, 2019, and Oct. 25, 2019.

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.

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

FORENSIC WORK

David Sincerbeaux, an Idaho State Police forensic chemist, tests whether products have ignitable liquids in them. In this case, Sincerbeaux tested a can of Tylee's remains. The can 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. In her analysis of the bones, Christensen did not remove soft tissue from the bones aside from the ankle and foot bones.

Photos of Tylee's left and right femur were shown to the jury and the courtroom, both were black and gray. Christensen could not say if the burns occurred before or after Tylee's death, but did say that burning typically takes place after death. 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 were also burned, Christensen said. There were five blunt and sharp trauma locations on Tylee's hip bone, Christensen said. It is unclear whether 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 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 hip 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 of 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.

CELL PHONE DATA

Nick Ballance, an agent on the FBI cellular analysis survey team, testified about several cell phones, including a cell phone that belonged to Alex Cox. On Oct. 15, cell phone 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 two 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.