Tammy's call of Sept. 9, 2019, heard in court

Tammy Daybell spoke from the grave during her former husband Chad Daybell’s murder trial on Tuesday.

Chad Daybell is charged in Tammy’s death and in the murders of Lori Vallow-Daybell's children, Tylee Ryan, 16; and J.J. Vallow, 7. He also faces insurance fraud charges after allegedly taking $430,000 in life insurance payouts following Tammy’s death. Chad married Vallow-Daybell in Hawaii two weeks after Tammy died.

The state played Tammy’s 911 call made around 9 p.m., on Oct. 9, 2019, to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch. In the call, Tammy reported a masked man threatening her with what she described as a paintball gun.

Tammy told the 911 operator the man was dressed in black and wore a ski mask.

“I pulled up into our driveway getting stuff out of the back seat of our car,” she said. “Suddenly he was there with a paintball gun. He didn’t say anything. He was holding the gun like he had a rifle and was shooting at me. Nothing came out of the gun either, so I don’t think it was loaded.”

Tammy then went inside her home to get Chad and her son Garth.

In the meantime, Fremont County Sheriff's Deputy Colter Cannon was en route from Elgin to the Daybells' home in Salem.

On the way to the Daybells' home, Cannon turned off his siren and flashing lights

“I didn’t want the subject to hear me or see me coming. I wanted to find him,” Cannon said. “I was only a couple miles away,” he said.

After arriving at the Daybell property, Cannon drove around the property looking for the suspect. The shooter was not in sight.

Police reported the incident as a prank.

Two weeks later, and on Oct. 19, Tammy died from what investigators initially believed were natural causes.

That morning around 6 a.m., Chad Daybell called 911 and was heard sobbing in the background.

Former Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputy Alyssa Greenhalgh, now working as a patrol officer for the Rexburg Police Department, also testified. She reported having been the investigating officer following unattended deaths.

“An unattended death is, generally speaking, any death where the person is not under a physician’s care,” she said. “Typically, somebody will call after finding a family friend or loved one who has passed. My duty is to respond before a detective arrives and to check for obvious signs of foul play. Request resources as needed.”

Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye and Fremont Deputy Sheriff Cammy Wilmore soon arrived. They were followed by Daybell family members. Chad Daybell then walked Greenhalgh back to the couple’s bedroom.

Chad Daybell was visibly upset about Tammy’s unexpected death, Greenhalgh said.

“Chad was definitely more emotional,” she said. “He was sobbing and gasped for air.”

While walking toward the couple’s bedroom, Chad told Greenhalgh Tammy had suffered a terrible cold the previous night.

“Tammy had woken up with a coughing fit, and had vomited on the bedroom floor,” she said. “She went down that hallway to the bathroom where she continued vomiting.”

Greenhalgh noted Tammy’s body was off the bed when she arrived.

“(Chad) said at 5:40 a.m. he felt the blankets shift off of him’,” Greenhalgh said. “He had woken up and thought she had fallen. (He) told Tammy to get back up. He got up and turned the lights on and found she was unresponsive.”

Greenhalgh checked Tammy for a pulse without success.

“There was some pink foam coming out of her mouth. She was deceased,” she said.

Greenhalgh also noticed blood around Tammy’s nose and mouth and some purple discoloration in her ear.

Greenhalgh took the picture as she had never responded to an unattended death where foam was coming out of the deceased person’s mouth.

“(I) felt it was important to document,” she said.

Following Tammy’s death, no one made mention of obtaining an autopsy. Yet, in December, investigators opted to have one done. It took nearly a year to get the report back where it indicated Tammy died from asphyxiation.

The court started the day by questioning Brandon Boudreaux, Lori Vallow-Daybell's former relative, about identifying Vallow-Daybell's children on June 9, 2020. Boudreaux told the court he had become quite close to Vallow-Daybell, often spending time with her family.

He reported being asked to identify J.J. and Tylee at an FBI location outside Pocatello on June 11th or June 12th.

“They showed me some pictures,” a visibly upset Boudreaux said. “They asked me if that was J.J. and I said ‘Yeah.’”

On Oct. 2, 2019, Boudreaux reported being shot at while he sat in his car while outside his Gilbert, Arizona, home. He later identified the Jeep as once belonging to Charles Vallow. At one time Charles had sold the Jeep to Tylee who was making payments on it.

It was determined that Alex Cox, Vallow-Daybell's brother, had been driving the Jeep when Bourdreaux was shot at. He had driven back to Rexburg where it’s also believed Alex also shot at Tammy on Oct. 9/ Chander police later contacted Upper Valley law enforcement to ask that the Jeep be inspected.

Ryan Pillar of the Gilbert Police Department also testified.

“Myself and a crime scene specialist flew up. We went to Rexburg’s property evidence building where the Jeep was,” he said.

Pillar took pictures of the Jeep. He also did DNA swabs of the Jeep where the driver had the most contact. Shotgun residue was also sampled, and physical items were collected from the back of the Jeep.

Eventually, Pillar learned Vallow-Daybell's children were missing.

“It was November 26 when the focus really changed,” he said.

Gilbert police continued to track Cox’s movements. On Dec. 12, 2019, Cox died after which police then searched Cox’s property, Pillar said.

“He had multiple (rounds of) ammunition from firearms, clothing items, and literature authored by Mr. Chad Daybell,” he said.

Daybell’s trial continues on Wednesday.