Testimony concludes in Daybell trial; closing arguments Wednesday

BOISE — On day 30 of the Chad Daybell trial, several more rebuttal witnesses were called to the stand, including the man who performed Tammy Daybell's autopsy and Rexburg detectives who worked the case. 

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. Vallow, Daybell’s current wife, was charged with the same crimes last year and was found guilty on all counts. Daybell faces the death penalty if he’s convicted.

Rebuttal witnesses concluded on Tuesday. Closing arguments will take place on Wednesday, and a verdict from the jury could come later this week. 

Out of the 17 jurors who have been listening for the duration of the trial, 12 will deliberate on Daybell's verdict. The 12 deciding jurors will be selected from a lottery drawing. The court will begin a formal jury instruction on Wednesday morning.

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.

DR. ERIC CHRISTENSEN

Christensen is a medical examiner in Utah who performed the autopsy on Tammy Daybell. He was a witness for the prosecution earlier in the trial. Christensen has not watched any part of the trial but did read a transcript of forensic pathologist Kathy Raven's testimony, who said that Tammy did not die from asphyxiation — which was ultimately determined to be her cause of death. In the case of Tammy's autopsy, Christensen received several reports from various law enforcement agencies and obtained her medical records from Teton Clinic and Seasons Medical. 

According to Christensen, his review was far more thorough than Raven's. 

Tammy's body had bruises on her arms and chest but had very normal organs. Her lungs were not inflamed enough for her cause of death to be ruled as pulmonary edema, Christensen said. 

Christensen said the causes of death included asphyxiation, cardiac arrhythmia, drug intoxication or seizure. She did not die because of toxicology issues — health risks that can come after exposure to chemicals or physical agents.

During the autopsy, Christensen ruled out most of those aforementioned possibilities including seizure, drug intoxication and cardiac arrhythmia, which left asphyxiation as Tammy's cause of death. He also noted that Tammy was not obese and there was no sign of her death being accidental or a result of suicide. 

The final decision on Tammy's cause and manner of death was between undetermined and homicide by asphyxiation, and Christensen came to a final decision 14-15 months after his investigation.

DAVID STUBBS

Stubbs, a retired Rexburg police detective, testified Tuesday about records he received from Google, including search history, user, account owner and service location on iPhones. 

The prosecution admitted Google search history from Daybell's account as evidence, revealing that on Jan. 3, 2019, Daybell searched how to turn off location and GPS on an iPhone. In another exhibit, the prosecution showed that Daybell was successful in turning off location data on his iPhone. Daybell also requested that Google delete his location data on Aug. 24, 2019.

Daybell did have an Android device during this time period. Vallow had an iPhone. The search history request and lack of GPS data was only on Apple devices. It would not be unusual for someone who was having an affair to turn off their location services, Stubbs said. 

JUDGE RULES TO EXCLUDE REBUTTAL WITNESS

During Tuesday's court proceedings, an issue with rebuttal witness Janice Olsen was brought up because Olsen listened to the testimony of Chad Daybell's daughter, Emma Daybell, after she was released from subpoena. Before Tammy Daybell's death, Olsen overheard Tammy saying that her husband wanted to raise her life insurance. Olsen was a co-worker of Tammy's. 

After the prosecution explained the situation, defense attorney John Prior suggested that the prosecution was preparing the witness over the weekend and that it's questionable to have Olsen testify after hearing Emma Daybell's testimony. 

Judge Steven Boyce ruled to exclude Olsen from testifying as a rebuttal witness.