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Utah deputy chief medical examiner Lily Marsden testified at Chad Daybell’s triple murder trial Tuesday that the bruises on his former wife Tammy Daybell were consistent with being restrained and could mean more than one person was there when she was killed.
The 49-year-old died suddenly in her sleep at home in October 2019. Just weeks later, her “doomsday author” husband married Lori Vallow on a beach in Hawaii.
Daybell, 55, is on trial for Tammy’s murder after an autopsy later revealed her death was due to asphyxiation.
He is also charged with the murders of Lori Vallow’s children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and JJ Vallow, seven, who went missing in September 2019 and were found buried in his Idaho backyard in June 2020.
Prosecutors say Daybell’s “desire for sex, power, and money” led to the murders. But his defence attorney claims he was manipulated by Vallow.
Last year, Vallow was convicted in the three murders and sentenced to life in prison. Jurors heard how she, Daybell and her late brother Alex Cox were fuelled, in part, by their bizarre cult beliefs.
If convicted, Daybell faces the death penalty or life in prison.
Chad Daybell’s trial resumes today in Boise
The “doomsday” author’s trial will resume today in Boise, Idaho around 10:30am ET.
The trial, which began 1 April, is expected to last two to four more weeks.
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 14:00
WATCH: Chad Daybell sends texts after alleged burial of Tylee Ryan
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 13:00
RECAP: Tylee Ryan’s best friend testifies she was ‘almost maternal’ with brother JJ
Tylee Ryan’s best friend Ashlyn Rynd testified on Monday in court that Tylee’s relationship with her younger brother JJ Vallow, seven, was “almost maternal.”
“She was there for him. … he was going for anybody who was going to provide for him, and Tylee would always be the one to show up,” Ashlyn said.
Ashlyn temporarily moved to Texas in 2017, but the two friends remained close, and she moved back to Arizona.
However, when Tylee moved to Idaho in 2019, they “tried for two weeks” but fell out of contact.
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 11:00
Jury hears gruesome testimony about tools used to chop up Tylee Ryan’s remains
On Monday, jurors listened to Douglas Halepaska, FBI Toolmark Analyst, describe tools used to chop and shattered Tylee Ryan’s remains.
The 16-year-old’s remains were found buried and burned on Chad Daybell’s property. Her hip bone and spine were shattered.
“The force you can kind of see at the top left, you can see that the bone has actually shattered in separate places and fractured,” the analyst said.
“Based on my training experience, it appears that the tool that was used actually cut through the bone and into that soft tissue and may have actually carried into it.”
Mr Halepaska testified that many of Tylee’s injuries came from tools like a machete, a hatchet, a cleaver and a pick.
A pickaxe and shovel were among the numerous tools found on Daybell’s property that tested positive for human remains.
The defence argued that the tools analyst could not specifically identify the tools that were used on Tylee.
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 09:00
ICYMI: Chad Daybell gets emotional as 911 call is played at his murder trial
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 05:00
Jury hears Lori Vallow’s name for Chad Daybell’s penis
Text messages between Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow appeared to reveal a nickname the couple had for Daybell’s penis, according to testimony from FBI tactical specialist Nicole Heideman.
One message described how “Elena,” a fictional name the pair used for Vallow when discussing their relationship, “gripped the storm and they stare into each other’s eyes as intense waves wash over them,” according to the FBI agent.
The agent added that “the storm” appeared to be a nickname for Daybell’s anatomy, reportedly drawing a smile from the 55-year-old murder suspect at the defence table.
Josh Marcus reports:
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 03:00
FBI agent testifies about location Lori Vallow’s brother during murders
Rick Wright, an FBI special investigator, testified on Tuesday about the location of Lori Vallow’s brother Alex Cox.
He said data specifically places Cox’s phone near where children’s bodies were found on dates investigators believed they were killed.
On the first day JJ was absent from school, 23 September 2019, Cox’s phone showed it was located behind Chad Daybell’s home between 9:55am and 10am.
He testified about a few other times where Cox’s phone location showed Daybell’s residence but for shorter periods.
Andrea Cavallier15 May 2024 01:00
Medical examiner testifies that smothering, a bag over the head or weight on the chest would not leave signs of asphyxiation in Tammy Daybell’s case
Dr Lily Marsden attended the exhumation of Tammy Daybell and assisted Dr Erik Christensen, Utah’s chief medical examiner at the time, with the autopsy.
They concluded that Tammy died from asphyxia, and the manner of death was homicide.
But in their initial examination, Dr Marsden said she and Dr Christensen were not able to see anything that would have caused Tammy’s death.
On the stand Tuesday, Dr Marsden said that smothering, a bag over her head or weight on her chest would not have left any obvious signs of asphyxiation on the body.
Andrea Cavallier14 May 2024 23:00
Where are Chad Daybell’s children?
Chad Daybell’s adult children have mostly stayed out of the spotlight in the wake of their father’s arrest in the death of their mother Tammy Daybell and Lori Vallow’s two children.
But almost all of them will testify in his death penalty case in his defence.
Daybell’s attorney John Prior says they will detail their mother’s “health struggle” before her sudden death in 2019.
Daybell had told police his wife had died suddenly in her sleep after battling an illness, but an autopsy later revealed she died of asphyxiation.
“They’re going to talk about their mother’s use of various medical treatments she would use—oils she would put on her leg, medicine, and different herbs she would take, and that their mother was suffering from a number of maladies, and she would refuse to see a doctor,”Mr Prior said during opening statements.
Andrea Cavallier14 May 2024 22:00
Court breaks for lunch
Chad Daybell’s trial is now on break for lunch.
Court will resume at 2pm.
Andrea Cavallier14 May 2024 18:58
