Testimony turns to Tammy Daybell’s death in murder trial, as jurors hear from her sister

BOISE (KSL.com) — After three days focused on testimony around the burial site, recovery of bodies and autopsies for Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, the focus of Friday’s testimony in the trial for Lori Vallow Daybell turned to the death of Tammy Daybell, her husband’s former wife.

Lori Daybell is on trial for murder, conspiracy and grand theft in the deaths of her two children, 16-year-old Tylee and 7-year-old JJ. She is also charged with conspiracy in connection with the death of Tammy Daybell. Her husband Chad Daybell is charged with murder for the same three deaths and will face a separate trial at a later date.

On the first day of Lori Daybell’s trial, it was revealed publicly that Tammy Daybell died from asphyxiation. Initially, her death had been treated as if it occurred from natural causes, but after police began searching for the children, her body was exhumed and an autopsy was performed.

Samantha Gwilliam, who was the last to take the stand on Thursday, teared up when she was faced with a photo of her sister, Tammy Daybell. She said the two were close, and she said Chad Daybell treated her well and was a “really nice guy,” but she did notice changes over time.

Gwilliam said she saw her sister two weeks before her death, and when Chad Daybell called her the morning Tammy Daybell died saying she was really sick, it did not make sense to her. Gwilliam said Tammy Daybell’s visit a few weeks prior was unusual; she didn’t typically travel alone, but Chad Daybell had told his wife to visit her family.

“I felt something had happened to her, and I didn’t even know why. I had no reason to suspect … but I do feel as a spiritual person myself, that my sister was telling me something had happened to her,” she said.

Gwilliam said she found it odd how quickly the funeral was held for Tammy Daybell, as one of Tammy Daybell’s sons serving a mission in Africa was unable to get to his mom’s funeral.

She found out one month after the funeral that Chad Daybell had remarried, later learning the marriage happened only two weeks later.

“You just don’t do that,” Gwilliam said at the trial.

She said she researched the new wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, and learned her previous husband didn’t die from a heart attack, as she had been told, but was shot. Gwilliam said she was also told Chad Daybell’s new wife didn’t have children and that the couple would be “empty nesters.”

In her final conversation with Chad Daybell, Gwilliam said she asked him to stop lying. In her testimony, she described religious books written by Chad Daybell as fictional.

Tammy Daybell’s death

On Oct. 9, 2019, 10 days before her death, Tammy Daybell called police to report a figure in a black ski mask who approached her with what she said was a paintball gun, fired twice and ran off. A Fremont County officer, Colter Cannon, testified in the trial that Tammy Daybell was shaken up when he responded, and no casings were found at the scene.

This 911 call from this incident was played for the jury, shortly before a 911 call from Tammy Daybell’s son, 10 days later. Chad Daybell takes over the call to give the address and said his wife was clearly dead. Then, he can be heard on the recording crying and saying, “Oh man.”

Rexburg police officer Allie Greenhalgh testified that Chad Daybell seemed distraught when he arrived at the scene, and told her Tammy Daybell had woken up in the middle of the night vomiting and coughing, then, at about 5:40 a.m. he noticed her torso and head had fallen off the bed. The officer said he told her Tammy Daybell doesn’t like seeing doctors and had a cold.

Greenhalgh and others who responded said they had never responded to a death by asphyxiation before, including Cammy Willmore, an emergency medical technician with Fremont County, who reported around 6:40 a.m. that she believed Tammy Daybell had been dead for a few hours, and was displaying signs of rigor mortis. She said she believes Tammy Daybell died prior to 5:30 a.m.

Willmore said she initially thought Tammy Daybell died from heart failure, which can lead to the pink foam at the mouth. The technician said she was so concerned about the foam that she did more research — wondering if Tammy Daybell had a serious illness but had avoided going to the doctor. She said she had concerns due to Tammy Daybell’s age and the foam at her mouth.

At the time, no one decided to move forward with an autopsy. It wasn’t until later that the death was determined to be a homicide.

On Thursday, jurors learned blood and charred flesh were found on multiple tools on Chad Daybell’s property — two with DNA matching Tylee. Katherine Dace, who works for Idaho’s state crime lab, said she tested 18 hand tools and found “several presumptive positive blood stains” and “charred flesh” on several of the tools.

It was also revealed by Tara Martinez, a forensic scientist with Idaho State Police, that prints from Lori Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were found on the black bag that was placed around JJ’s body, specifically, prints from his right palm and pinky finger. Cox is named in the charges, but he died of what was determined to be natural causes before they were filed.

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