LIVE UPDATES: Multiple witnesses, including case agent, take the stand on day 3 of Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona Boudreaux trial

Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one charge of conspiracy to commit the murder of Brandon Boudreaux, her former nephew-in-law. Nate Eaton is live in the courtroom with updates. Please excuse any typos. Times listed below are in Mountain Standard Time, so they are an hour behind Idaho. (Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time.) The most recent updates are at the top.

4:29 p.m. Beresky says we are going to break for the evening. Join me tonight on “Courtroom Insider” at 8 p.m. MT on the East Idaho News Youtube channel.

4:27 p.m. Lori asks about him taking Brandon’s cell phone. Brandon completed a consent to search form and they basically made a digital copy of the phone in the digital forensics unit. It took all the data and the phone was returned to Brandon.

4:26 p.m. Lori asks how long Pillar was at the scene. He says hours. He asks how the scene goes wrapped up. He says after the line search, they started to clean up and he touched base with Brandon about keeping in touch.

4:25 p.m. Pillar’s interview with Brandon was transcribed. There could be some transcription errors, Pillar says. The interview was around 40 minutes. Brandon then returned to his friends. Lori asks if he is aware that Brandon’s friends were walking around the crime scene. He says there were times they had to go inside Brandon’s house – which was allowed with supervision.

4:23 p.m. Lori asks what happened after the briefing. The other detectives began collecting evidence and then Pillar went to introduce himself to Brandon and his friends. He interviewed Brandon in his vehicle where there was AC.

4:22 p.m. Lori asks him what happened on the day of the shooting. He asks for more specifics. She asks who he spoke with when he arrived on the scene. He mentions several names and Lori asks who briefed him. Officer Robb was the first officer and was likely the one who briefed the detectives.

4:20 p.m. Lori asks if Pillar understands that Brandon hired Robertson to track Melanie. Treena objects. Judge sustains. Lori asks why. Judge says it’s hearsay and may open the door to something she doesn’t want. Lori continues to ask questions about the PI. If you missed my interview with Robertson last week, you can watch it here.

4:19 p.m. Sidebar is over. Lori’s advisory attorney removes the report from the witness stand. Lori asks Pillar if he ever received any information from Rich Robertson, the private investigator hired by Brandon. Pillar says they may have spoken early on. He doesn’t remember the specific date, but he says it wasn’t lengthy and they didn’t communicate after that.

4:18 p.m. If you use a white noise machine or app to help you fall asleep at night, your eyes might be getting heavy around now. Trust me on this.

4:13 p.m. Lori begins asking questions about specifics in the report. Treena objects and says this is not his report, it’s another witness. Judge sustains. Lori continues to ask a question. Judge asks for a sidebar. White noise is played in the courtroom as parties put on their headphones.

4:11 p.m. Lori asks Pillar if he got a copy of Nicholas Balance’s report. Balance works for the FBI and is a witness in this trial, but he has not testified yet. Pillar is unsure what report Lori is referencing.

4:08 p.m. Lori asks how Pillar got the FBI involved in the case. After he consulted with Chandler Police about the Jeep, he decided to reach out to the FBI. He and a detective from Chandler went to meet with the FBI in downtown Phoenix and they joined the case.

4:07 p.m. Pillar asked his crime scene analyst to contact the LPR companies and see if they could get any hits on the Jeep. There were not hits Oct. 1-3, 2019, in the city of Phoenix or surrounding areas.

4:06 p.m. Lori asks how long license plate reader companies store the photos. He says he does not know. They are separate companies and their retention policies vary.

4:04 p.m. Lori asks Pillar if he’s been to Holbrook before. He has not. She asks how far away it is from Gilbert. He doesn’t know. The license plate hit presented earlier today was in Holbrook. There were no LPR hits in Gilbert or Mesa, Pillar says. None were hit in local cities – they were all highway cameras.

4:03 p.m. Lori asks Pillar if he is familiar with license plate readers. He says he is, but he’s not an expert. She asks how many license plate readers are within the city of Gilbert. He has no idea. He says at the time, he doesn’t think there were many, but that’s speculation. Lori asks if Pillar could have access to the license plate readers. He says civilian employees have access to LPRs and he has crime analysts assist for requests on the Texas plates. There were multiple hits.

4:02 p.m. Lori asks Pillar if he remembers what Tammy Lachcik was wearing that day. He does not.

4 p.m. Lori asks if Pillar flew to Rexburg on a commercial airline. He says no, they flew up on an Arizona state plane with two pilots. Det. Olszak had access to a state plane and because they were investigating a vehicle possibly used in a homicide, the state let them take the airplane and they landed in Rexburg.

3:59 p.m. Lori goes on to list the three elements found in GSR. Treena objects again. Judge sustains and tells Lori the detective has already said he doesn’t know. Lori responds, “Ok.” She asks how many people were in Rexburg when they swabbed the Jeep for GSR. He lists the names of the detectives.

3:58 p.m. “Having been the case agent hundreds of times, I’m sure you’ve dealt with dozens of gunshots.” He says not all his cases involve gunshots. Lori asks if he’s ever swabbed someone’s hands for GSR. He says yes. Lori says it’s pretty typical. He says he’s not sure about being typical, but it’s a way to gather evidence.

3:57 p.m. Lori asks if Pillar is aware of the three elements that make up GSR. He does not. He says he understands the collection of evidence, but does not know the processing of GSR.

3:55 p.m. Lori asks why he didn’t do any testing to determine what type of gun this was. He says there would have been no way to determine what type of gun was used. Lori asks him about GSR and can it be transferred from person-to-person. He says he isn’t a GSR expert and does not know if it’s possible for transfer to be made.

3:53 p.m. Lori asks about the hole in the Tesla. Pillar says it was approximately two inches. Lori asks about what type of bullet could make that type of damage. Treena objects. Judge asks for more foundation. Lori asks what his determination was in deciding what type of bullet could make a hole that large. He says he doesn’t have the training to provide that answer accurately.

3:51 p.m. Lori asks why no measurements were taken. He says they didn’t know where the Jeep was specifically parked. She says, “If it was parked nose-to-nose with that van, you kind of know exactly where it’s parked?” Pillar says they had a general idea, but didn’t know specifically. Lori asks if the department decided what the trajectory of the bullet was. It did not. Lori asks if tests were done to test the trajectory. He says no.

3:50 p.m. Pillar says as detectives, they are neutral fact-finders and aren’t deciding things one way or another. They have to follow the leads. Lori asks about a neighbor saying there was a tire on the back of the Jeep. Treena objects based on hearsay. Judge sustains. Lori begins to argue with the judge. He says it was sustained. Lori asks for a sidebar. Judge says no.

3:49 p.m. Lori asks if he followed up with any of the neighbors. He said those tasks were delegated to other detectives. They would inform him if something helpful was obtained.

3:48 p.m. The line search was the last act in searching the neighborhood. It took around 45-60 minutes. Lori asks if the metal detector was part of the walk. It was, but also part of the investigation within the glass and landscaping around the vehicle.

3:46 p.m. Lori says Brandon is seen moving glass with his feet on body camera. She asks if it’s possible he moved it with his shoe. Pillar says it’s possible. Pillar was present during the line search. Approximately 11 detectives were involved. Pillar was one of them and no usuable evidence was found during the search.

3:45 p.m. Lori asks about glass being found in the road but only one piece being photographed. Lori asks if it was tested to see if it was glass from the window. He says it was not tested. Lori asks if they just assumed. He says given the time frame and distance and circumstances, he believed it to be related. “But you don’t know that for sure, correct?” Lori says. He says that’s right.

3:44 p.m. Lori asks if, as the case agent, he watched the body camera footage. He says he watched all footage associated with the case. He doesn’t recall Brandon saying it was a camo green on video, but doesn’t specifically remember. Lori asks if he wants to watch the video. He says if she wants to take the time to watch it, they can, but he isn’t disputing that it may be on the video.

3:42 p.m. Lori asks what color Brandon said the Jeep was when he was with Robb. When he was with Officer Robb, he described it as a green color, he says. Lori asks what color the Jeep was described from witnesses. He says different colors, but he described it as a darker color.

3:41 p.m. Lori asks Pillar how many times he’s been the case agent before this case. He says a couple hundred times. She asks if it’s the case agent’s responsibility to know everything about the case. “We do the best we can,” he responds.

3:39 p.m. Treena has no further questions for Pillar. Lori appraches the podium.

3:38 p.m. Pillar reached out to the FBI to help with cell phone data and tracking analysis. He asked the FBI to assist with tracking location of the devices during this timeframe.

3:36 p.m. Every call on the phone was made to or from Chad Daybell.

3:36 p.m. The phone was only used from Sept. 26, when it was activated, until Oct. 2. It was never used again.

3:33 p.m. The subscriber of the TracFone was associated to a Gmail account. The phone was purchased at Walmart in Idaho Falls on Sept. 25, 2019.

3:32 p.m. In 2020, the FBI alerted Pillar that a TracFone associated to the case was in the area of the shooting. The TracFone belonged to Alex.

3:30 p.m. Approximately 30 minutes after Brandon left his home, there was a 24 minute call between Lori and Alex’s phones in Rexburg, Idaho. Pillar also obtained a search warrant for Melanie Boudreaux’s phone.

3:28 p.m. Treena shows an exhibit with the call records associated to Alex. One of the calls was made to Lori. It was at 9:02 a.m. Idaho time. It would have been 8:02 a.m. Arizona time.

3:27 p.m. One of the phones was responsible for making the appointment to get the windows tinted in Rexburg. Pillar looked at the call records of Alex’s and Lori’s phones on Oct. 2, 2019.

3:23 p.m. Treena moves to admit cell phone records from Lori’s and Alex’s phones.

3:22 p.m. Treena asks if TracFone is a subsidiary of Verizon. It is. The cell phones Pillar ran warrants on were associated with Lori Vallow.

3:20 p.m. Pillar was responsible for writing warrants to obtain cell phone records.

3:19 p.m. Pillar sent many pieces of evidence to the Mesa Police Department to help with processing. Pillar was present when the blood blot from Alex was taken.

3:16 p.m. Gilbert police were in Rexburg processing the Jeep for approximately three hours. They then flew home to Phoenix. The items of evidence were then impounded at the department. Each gunshot residue kit has three viles. Each one is individually sealed. Six vials were used to process the Jeep.

3:15 p.m. The insurance card found in the Jeep showed the names of Charles and Lori Vallow.

3:13 p.m. The final thing processed in the Jeep was the removal of the infotainment system.

3:12 p.m. Lachcik processed the Jeep for fingerprints. No viable fingerprints were located within the Jeep and that can be dependent on the structure of the materials. Nothing was located where they searched, but they did have DNA and GSR.

3:11 p.m. He also wanted DNA from the lugnuts on the back wheel. Lachcik swabbed for DNA in all of those spots.

3:09 p.m. Pillar observed Lachcik processing the evidence. He also told her where they needed to collect DNA from the vehicle. “You want some vigorous connection, so the primary areas identified were the steering wheel, the door handles, the seat belt buckles from driver and passenger side,” he says.

3:08 p.m. GSR was taken from the back of the driver’s seat, the interior roof and the back of the passenger side seat, rear window and head rest/rooftop. Lachcik physically collected the GSR and Pillar was with her giving instructions and helping.

3:07 p.m. The rear seat was in the Jeep folded down. Pillar did not know the seat may have been removed at the time of the October shooting. Pillar knew the rear tire had been removed based on his interview with Brandon.

3:04 p.m. Pillar spoke with Lachcik about where to collect the evidence. They understood the shooter had fired from out the back window. Because of that, they focused GSR collection in the back cab of the interior of the Jeep.

3:03 p.m. We see multiple photos of the Jeep and the Texas license plate.

3:02 p.m. The Jeep has the sticker on the front window in the corner. Treena has pointed this sticker out to the jury when the Jeep photos are shown. The back windows are tinted and you can’t see inside unless you have a flashlight. “Very dark,” Pillar says. The rear tire is affixed on the back of Jeep.

3 p.m. Treena moves to admit photos taken of the Jeep when Pillar was processing it, along with photos from July 2019. The first photo shows an evidence tag. It contains the case number, who photographed the evidence, date and time. We now see a photo of the Jeep impounded at the Rexburg Police impound building.

2:57 p.m. Pillar worked with Crime Scene Specialist Tammy Lachcik. They went to Rexburg in Nov. 2019 to process the Jeep. Rexburg Det. Ray Hermosillo was with Pillar and helped execute the warrant. All the doors had integrity stickers on them to show it had not been physically accessed.

2:55 p.m. All the integrity seals were put on the evidence in Rexburg and the report management system assigns a number for each individual piece of evidence.

2:54 p.m. Pillar explains how DNA swabs are collected, sealed and then processed. Immediately after collecting GSR, you seal the item that you collected, put on a fresh pair of gloves and proceed to the next collection. Pillar was collecting evidence in Rexburg, Idaho, on the Jeep.

2:50 p.m. Treena picks up with questioning about Pillar being trained in collecting GSR, gunshot residue. He is trained in collecting fingerprints.

2:49 p.m. Judge is on the bench and Det. Pillar is back on the witness stand. Jurors are taking their seats.

2:46 p.m. Back in the courtroom. To clarify, I apparently misheard the juror question. It actually was “would it be harder to hit a closer target” not “cougar running” This courtroom has poor acoustics. You can hear the question on the livestream.

2:34 p.m. Afternoon recess for 15 minutes.

2:32 p.m. Juror question: “When hunting with a rifle, would it be easier or harder to hit a cougar running?” She says it would be harder. Treena asks if the movement of the object would also make it more difficult. If you are shooting freehand, the gun could go in an upward direction when you fire.

2:30 p.m. White noise is played in the courtroom and judge, Lori and Treena put on headphones while they discuss the juror question.

2:29 p.m. Treena has nothing further. One juror has a question. This is the first juror question from this trial. Judge tells the juror to write it down and pass it forward.

2:28 p.m. Treena shows an image of the scene. She asks about the distance between the car and the Jeep. Robb didn’t do any measurements, but believes they may have been 10 feet apart.

2:27 p.m. Other officers searched the house room-to-room to make sure nobody else was there, Robb says. Brandon gave permission for the officers to search.

2:26 p.m. Treena asks if Brandon said his car was still moving when it was hit by a bullet. He did. The person was firing at a moving vehicle.

2:25 p.m. Treena asks if Brandon was able to tell her what happened when he turned onto the street and saw the Jeep. He was.

2:24 p.m. She asks about Brandon saying it was a BB gun because nothing came into his vehicle. That is correct, Robb says. Brandon had no idea there was a bullet hole in his vehicle.

2:23 p.m. Lori has no further questions. Treena will now re-direct.

2:23 p.m. Robb says she sees green in the report, but not pukey. Lori moves on and asks, “The only witness you had that heard a loud bang was Brandon, is that correct?” That’s correct.

2:22 p.m. Lori asks if she remembers writing that the Jeep was a pukey green. Robb is looking at her report to refresh her memory.

2:21 p.m. Lori asks Robb if she has spoken with Pillar about this case since Oct. 2, 2019. She has not. She wrote her report and was done.

2:18 p.m. Lori asks Robb if she entered the house or garage. She did not. Lori asks if Robb wrote a report. She did. Lori asks the name of the neighbor who Robb spoke with and if she said…Treena then objects. Hearsay. Judge sustains. Lori asks if the neighbor gave relevant information that was used in the investigation. Robb says she gave the information to the detective.

2:17 p.m. Lori asks Robb if she followed up with the neighbor. She did not. Lori asks Robb when Brandon called his friends to come over. Robb says she asked Brandon if she needed to call someone to be with him. He did not, but called his friends himself.

2:16 p.m. Lori asks how long Robb was at the scene. Maybe an hour or two. Lori asked what Robb did after she spoke to Brandon and briefed the detectives. She stood on the side of the road next to Brandon and his friends. A neighbor came out of her door and Robb spoke with her.

2:15 p.m. Lori asks Robb if she was part of the side-by-side walking down the road looking for projectiles or casings. She was not. Robb was not there when the officers did the search.

2:14 p.m. Lori asks how far the Jeep was from the driveway. Robb says maybe ten feet. Lori asks if it would be hard to hit your target at ten feet away. “No, I don’t think so,” Robb says.

2:13 p.m. Lori asks if there was a silencer, would there be a loud bang? Robb says she doesn’t know. She’s never had experience with a silencer on a rifle, just a handgun. Lori asks if you are inside a nice car and the radio might be on, you might not even hear a loud bang if a silencer is on a rifle. Treena objects. Judge sustains.

2:12 p.m. Lori asks Robb if Brandon said “puke green” to her regarding the color of the Jeep. She doesn’t recall. She does remember Brandon getting his phone to show her and another officer the color of the Jeep. Brandon said it was camo green.

2:11 p.m. Lori asks if Robb is aware that one piece of glass was found in the street. Robb is not aware of that. Lori says if Brandon and his friends were walking around the crime scene, they could possibly kick the glass with their shoes. Robb says that is a possibility. Lori asks if it’s odd that Brandon was standing in the street after someone had shot at him. Treena objects based on speculation. Sustained.

2:10 p.m. Lori asks if Brandon indicated about seeing a little boy outside. “Nothing like that, no,” Robb says. Lori asks if Brandon commented about a paintball gun. He did. Lori asks Robb if she saw any exit hole with the flashlight. She did not.

2:09 p.m. Lori asks Robb if she moved the glass. She did not. Lori asks if she saw any of the detectives move the glass. She did not. Lori asks if the glass was intact just shattered. Robb says it stayed in one big place on the ground in the driveway. Lori asks Robb if she saw a bullet hole in the glass. She did not.

2:08 p.m. Lori asks Robb what was found in the back seat. Nothing. Lori asks if there was any glass in the backseat of the car. No. Lori asks if glass was in the front seat of the car. Robb doesn’t recall. There was glass on the outside but doesn’t recall if any glass was inside.

2:07 p.m. Lori asks how big the hole was. Robb says she didn’t measure it, but it was definitely a rifle round. Lori asks if this was a typical rifle bullet. “I don’t know much about bullets,” Lori says with a small laugh.

2:05 p.m. Lori asks if sticking the pen in could dislodge the projectiles. “No, ma’am,” Robb says. No projectiles were found. Lori asks about the trajectory of the bullet. Robb says the bullet hole was approximately 1.5-2 inches above Brandon’s head. The bullet went upward into the frame of the car.

2:04 p.m. Lori asks how long they talked because they went to look at the Tesla. Robb says maybe 4-5 minutes. Lori asks if when Robb put her pen in the bullet hole, what she looking for. She was looking for the trajectory and trying to determine where the bullet could be in the vehicle.

2:02 p.m. Lori approaches the podium. She asks Robb how far into the street Brandon was when she pulled up. She says maybe 2-3 feet. Lori asks Robb where she parked. Across the street. Lori asks where she spoke with Brandon. She started to talk with him in the street and had him walk onto the sidewalk to tell her what was happening.

2:01 p.m. Treena has no further questions. Lori consults with Pamela Hicks, her advisory attorney.

2 p.m. Brandon told Robb he had just moved into the home a week earlier. He shared his morning routine with the officer – taking the kids to school, dropping off their youngest at Melanie’s. Robb passed these details along to the sergeants. She took notes “from the minutes I started until I left the scene.” She was also wearing a body camera that recorded the interaction.

1:59 p.m. Brandon told Robb that Lori and her husband, Charles, used to live in Texas. That was significant because the Jeep had license plates from Texas. Robb passed that information to the sergeants to bring to the detectives.

1:57 p.m. Robb had contact with Brandon in front of his home and when he went with his friends across the street to sit down. Robb asked Brandon if he had any enemies. He said the only thing he could think of was his soon-to-be ex-wife’s family. He also mentioned an incident in Chandler that happened in July involving Lori Vallow and Alex Cox.

1:56 p.m. Detectives were dispatched out to the scene. Robb asked if there was a family member or friend who could come to stay with Brandon. A few of his friends showed up. Brandon has had many friends and family members in court. His uncle from Las Vegas is here today.

1:54 p.m. Robb told the other officers she did not think they would be able to find a casing because it was shot from a Jeep. In order to open the back window of the Jeep, you have to open the tailgate. “If there’s a tire on it and you want to open just the window, it would hit the tire?” Treena asks. Robb says that’s correct.

1:53 p.m. Treena asks Robb if she has fired a rifle. Numerous times, she’s an avid hunter. She says if you have a bolt-action rifle, you need to manually open up the bolt, and the casing will eject, but then you put another round in your gun. If it’s a semiautomatic rifle, as soon as you shoot, the casing will pop out and another bullet will go into the chamber. Robb didn’t expect to find a casing because she also owns a Jeep Wrangler. The majority of the rifle would be inside the Jeep, so the casing would likely be inside the vehicle.

1:51 p.m. Brandon told Robb the Jeep was parked the wrong way next to a white minivan on the street. Treena shows a photo of the scene. Brandon called 911 as he was driving away from his house. Brandon said it was a 2-door Jeep with a Texas plate.

1:49 p.m. Brandon described the vehicle as a darkish green Jeep Wrangler and he said as he was driving westbound on Phelps, the back window of the Jeep flew open and he noticed a muzzle that was pointing out at his vehicle. He thought it might be a silencer, but there was a very loud bang. “His window shattered and he just got scared so he took off and went around the block.”

1:49 p.m. When Robb showed Brandon the bullet hole, he said he needed to sit down. “I just need a minute. I just need to sit down,” he said. Robb asked if he needed a chair. He said he just needed a minute. Robb let him sit down to gather himself. “He was quite shaken,” she says. His hands were physically shaking.

1:48 p.m. Brandon was “bewildered,” she says. He was very quiet and concerned. “He had no idea what in the world happened,” Robb says. “What in the world took place a few minutes ago.”

1:46 p.m. Robb used her iPhone to take photos of the scene. She asked Brandon if he took out the window. He said as soon as he put the car into park, the driver’s door opened and the window fell. Brandon said he had not touched it or moved it.

1:44 p.m. Brandon had not seen the hole before Robb pointed it out. She used her flashlight to try to find an exit point for the bullet. She did not find one. Robb went back to her vehicle and called one of her officer’s who was in the area looking for a suspect’s vehicle. She explained this was no BB gun, this was an actual bullet hole. “We do have a crime here” and she asked him to come over to set up the crime scene.

1:43 p.m. Treena shows a photo of the car from the driver’s side showing the bullet hole. Brandon made a comment that at first he thought maybe it was a BB gun because the window “kind of shattered.” Treena asks if the hole looked like it was made by a BB gun. “Definitely not,” Robb responds. Robb told Brandon it was definitely not a BB or pellet or paintball gun.

1:41 p.m. Dispatch had told Robb there had been a shooting possibly involving a rifle. When Robb went over to the Tesla, all the doors were closed. On the frame of the car on the driver’s side, she noticed a hole in the top of the car. “It looked to me like it was a bullet hole.”

1:40 p.m. When she arrived, a gentleman was standing in the street and a dark colored Tesla was in the driveway. Next to the car was a window on the ground. Robb spoke with Brandon Boudreaux, the man who called 911. Robb went and looked at the Tesla.

1:39 p.m. Robb spent most of her career on patrol. She was also a crime prevention officer and worked as a detective for a few years. She working on Oct. 2, 2019, around 9:15 a.m. She responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting.

1:39 p.m. Robb was the first officer to arrive at Brandon’s home after the shooting. Robb retired in 2021. She worked as an officer in Arizona for 34 years.

1:38 p.m. Marianne Robb, retired officer with the Gilbert Police Department, takes the stand.

1:36 p.m. Perry did not do any analysis for this case, she simply prepared them to be analyzed. Perry has no further questions, neither does Lori. The jury has no questions. The witness is excused.

1:34 p.m. Perry makes notes that the evidence is properly sealed with initials before she opens it. She says when she reviewed the evidence in this case, nothing appeared to be tampered with. She was provided with a swab from a steering wheel, driver’s side seatbelt and passenger side interior handle. Another swab from the spare tire and driver’s side interior handle.

1:32 p.m. Perry was responsible for receiving swabs collected from a crime scene. She prepared her work space to handle the evidence, cleaned her lab space with a bleach solution and put down paper to prepare the area. She takes copious notes. She removed the swabs to process half of it for DNA testing, the other half was to be preserved in case further testing is needed.

1:31 p.m. Perry is sworn in. She works for Mesa Police Forensics Services. Her current duties include supervising the Evidence Processing Unit. In 2019 and 2020, she was a forensic scientist in the evidence unit.

1:29 p.m. Lori has no questions, jury has no questions. Witness steps down. Next witness is Lisa Perry from Mesa Police.

1:27 p.m. The blood was collected at the coroner’s office. She used the blood to create a profile. Treena has no further questions.

1:25 p.m. Sapinoso created a DNA profile for Alex Cox from his blood. Lab technicians went to the Gilbert Police Department evidence section and brought some evidence back for DNA testing. Alex’s blood sample was in a sealed evidence envelope.

1:24 p.m. Known-source DNA is collected directly from an individual. A DNA profile is created after DNA is obtained from a person. You can have a known DNA profile or an unknown DNA profile.

1:22 p.m. Sapinoso has been trained internally and done workshops, training outside the office. Treena asks what biological sources can be used to obtain DNA. Sapinoso says half of DNA comes from your mom, half comes from your dad. DNA is in the blood, semen, saliva, touch DNA, skin cells, etc.

1:21 p.m. Sapinoso currently works at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. She used to work in Mesa, Arizona, as a forensic scientist where she did DNA analysis, blood stain pattern analysis and was a forensic artist.

1:19 p.m. Jury walks in. Beresky says we should get back to Det. Pillar later this afternoon. Treena calls Sapinoso.

1:18 p.m. Beresky asks Treena what each witness will testify about. Lori asks if the jury will be confused based on the witness order. Treena says the trial started two days late and she had to juggle her witnesses based on them traveling from out of state.

1:13 p.m. Lori just walked in with her files. Her advisory attorneys are at the defense tables. Treena Kay, Det. Pillar and paralegal are at the prosecution table. Beresky is on the bench and asks who will testify. Next witness is Emy Lynn Sapinoso, a retired forensic scientist. Followed by Lisa Perry from the Mesa Police Department and Marianne Robb from Gilbert Police. Det. Pillar will then take the stand again.

1:09 p.m. Back in the courtroom. A few empty seats this afternoon in the gallery, but not many.

11:53 a.m. The judge says we are going to break for lunch and will be back at 1:15 p.m.

11:52 a.m. Miller was witness #11. The prosecution has a list of 22 potential witnesses who could be called or referred to during the trial.

11:51 a.m. Treena has no questions. Jury has no questions. Treena asks for a sidebar.

11:49 a.m. Treena asks about drivers defeating the license plate readers. He says they remove their license plates, change numbers on the plate or cover part of the plate to make sure the camera doesn’t take an image. He says if traffic is busy, a failure rate could be high of not capturing images depending on the age of the cameras.

11:48 a.m. Treena approaches the lectern. She asks about the cameras being set up for drug trafficking and if the cameras are positioned in areas with high drug-trafficking. He says yes. Treena asks if all drug trafficking readers across the country are associated to Diesel. He says no. Other license plate readers could be part of other systems. He says there are many different programs. Their program is relatively small compared to others.

11:46 a.m. Lori asks if there are other photos of the Jeep Wrangler on Oct. 2. He is unsure if that was ever run. After 90 days, photos are purged from the platform. There are no photos from Oct. 3 either. Lori asks how far Holbrook is from Gilbert. He does not know. Lori says, “Would you be surprised if it was 173 miles?” He doesn’t know. Lori says she has no more questions.

11:45 a.m. Lori asks if they have any other photos of the Jeep. He says they don’t. He says a lot of time there are hardware or software issues with the cameras. Sometimes speed and the age of the camera, along with the amount of traffic, will also determine whether an image is captured. He says there are ways to defeat the cameras. Lori responds, “Huh. Interesting.” Treena objects and moves to strike. Lori chuckles and says, “Sorry, your honor.”

11:43 a.m. Lori asks Thomas if that is the only photo he has of the Jeep Wrangler license plate on Oct. 1. He says that is the only photo in the platform. Lori asks how many license plate readers are in Gilbert, Arizona. He is not sure. She asks if they have any. He says yes. There are over 11,000 cameras that feed into the platform. She asks if he is aware of any in Mesa. He says there are quite a few cameras in Arizona.

11:41 a.m. It would have been 5:52 a.m. Arizona time, given that daylight saving time is not in effect here. There is no tire on the back of the Jeep. A second page shows a close-up of the Texas plate. Treena has no further questions.

11:40 a.m. We see the image of the Jeep on the license plate reader with a Texas plate. It was captured on Oct. 1, 2019, at 6:52 a.m. MST traveling westbound on I-40.

11:38 a.m. The reader in Holbrook, Arizona, captures the back license plate. Treena moves to admit an exhibit.

11:36 a.m. Treena asks what information the cameras capture. It depends on the camera, software, etc. Sometimes it will just be the back plate, sometimes it’s the front plate, sometimes it’s both and sometimes it’s the entire vehicle.

11:35 a.m. Treena asks about a system used to access the information saved from the LPR (license plate reader) cameras. The headquarters for the program are in El Paso. Law enforcement can gain access to the platform. Diesel is the name of the program.

11:33 a.m. The program was established to help with drug trafficking investigations. Treena asks what a license plate reader is. Miller says it’s a camera normally positioned on routes utilized by drug traffickers. The camera focuses on license plates and creates images while creating an XML/text type file.

11:32 a.m. Next witness is Thomas Miller. He is a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration where he has worked for 27 years. He is the unit chief for the National License Plate Reader Program.

11:31 a.m. Lori has no questions for Moss. The jurors don’t have any questions. The witness is excused.

11:30 a.m. The job took about an hour on Sept. 25, 2019. Moss does not recall seeing the person who picked it up. He does not recall having any in-person contact with the owner. Treena has no further questions.

11:29 a.m. Treena points out the sticker on the window. It was there when the Jeep was dropped off. When the job was finished, Moss sent a text message receipt to the Arizona number. 5% tint was put on the rear window, 20% was put on the front. The job was $200.

11:27 a.m. Treena asks Moss if he recalls seeing the person who dropped the Jeep off. He does not. Moss says the license plates on the Jeep were white and from Texas. He couldn’t get the exact numbers from his camera surveillance system because of the angle of the vehicle.

11:25 a.m. Moss was asked to add more tint to the rear window. “If someone was laying or sitting in the back of this Jeep and you walked to look in there, you wouldn’t be able to see them?” Treena asks. Lori objects based on speculation. Judge overrules the objection. Moss says you wouldn’t be able to see someone with the factory tint plus an additional 5% added. “Broad daylight – you wouldn’t be able to see,” he says.

11:24 a.m. It’s a two-door Jeep Wrangler. They come with factory tint. “All the time, people come in and ask to darken the factory-tinted glass,” he says. Factory tint is 20%. He says they add another layer to the factory tint to make it darker.

11:22 a.m. A few days after the original inquiry, Moss sent a text to the number to set up an appointment. He told the person to drop the Jeep off at 9 a.m. to have the work done. Treena now shows a photo of the Jeep in the shop. Moss is cleaning some windows before putting film on the glass.

11:21 a.m. We see the exhibit and it shows a list of phone numbers that called the store. One of the numbers is from a 480 Arizona number. The person asked about getting a tint on their Jeep. Moss says he scheduled an appointment and tint was put on the Jeep.

11:20 a.m. We have video from today’s proceedings here.

11:19 a.m. If it’s 20%, you could see a silhouette of a person in the vehicle. Treena asks about some business he did on Sept. 23 and 25, 2019. She moves to admit an exhibit.

11:18 a.m. There are different percentages of tint that can be put on a window. 5% window film only lets in 5% of physical light. 70% lets in 70%. 5% is really dark, he says.

11:17 a.m. Treena asks who answers the phone if someone calls his company. He says it could be him or another employee. If someone calls in, they pull out a calendar and give them some dates and times they can come by. People can drop by their cars before or after hours.

11:16 a.m. Moss owns a window tinting shop in Rexburg, Idaho. He has owned the business since 2008.

11:15 a.m. Judge thanks the juror for their patience. He says an issue came up and not to speculate what happened. He says we are moving on to another witness. His name is Daniel Moss.

11:14 a.m. This is unusual as we were in the middle of Pillar’s testimony on Friday. He is not on the witness stand. Instead, Treena walks in with another witness.

11:13 a.m. Beresky is on the bench. He asks for the jury to be brought in and tells Treena Kay to get her next witness.

11:12 a.m. Treena Kay is next to Pillar and her paralegal. Jury has not been in the courtroom at all today.

11:08 a.m. We are being let back into the courtroom. Lori and her team remain at their table. Judge is not on the bench.

11:05 a.m. Sidebar continues. Still waiting outside courtroom.

10:56 a.m. A Department of Corrections administrator was part of the sidebar. He just walked out of the courtroom.

10:45 a.m. Still waiting outside the courtroom. Unclear what issue has come up but Judge Justin Beresky will likely explain (even vaguely) once we are allowed back in.

10:34 a.m. Judge has asked everyone to clear the courtroom. We are headed outside to the lobby area.

10:32 a.m. Judge asks for a sidebar with the parties. They all approach the bench. White noise is played in the courtroom.

10:32 a.m. Lori is in the courtroom with her advisory attorneys, judge is on the bench.

10:15 a.m. Not everyone was able to get into the courtroom. People are lining up outside to get in after lunch.

10:14 a.m. Treena is sitting at the prosecutor’s table with Pillar and her paralegal. I’ve been referring to her as Treena in these updates rather than Kay to prevent confusion with Kay Woodcock.

10:11 a.m. One of the biggest days we’ve seen as far as public turnout. Every seat is full. People began lining up outside at 5:30 a.m.

10:09 a.m. Back in the courtroom for day 3 of Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona trial. Gilbert Det. Ryan Pillar will be back on the stand this morning with Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay questioning him. Brandon and Jenny Boudreaux are in the courtroom with other family members. Kay Woodcock is also here.