Day 19: Hair found on duct tape with son’s body matched Vallow Daybell, DNA expert says

Over the last four weeks, the prosecution has called roughly four dozen witnesses in the Lori Vallow Daybell criminal trial.

Vallow Daybell, and her husband, Chad Daybell, are accused of the first-degree murder of her two children: 7-year-old Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan.

To be convicted of the first-degree murder charges, the jury will need to conclude that they killed, encouraged or commanded someone else to kill Vallow Daybell’s children.

They’re also accused of conspiring to murder the two children as well as Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s former wife.

Chad and Lori Daybell — who had a months-long affair — got married on a Hawaii beach two weeks after Tammy Daybell’s body was buried in a Utah cemetery, according to witnesses throughout the trial.

READ MORE: Lori Vallow Daybell’s case spans 3 states, 4 deaths. Here are all the key people involved.

Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial began early April and could last another three weeks. Chad Daybell — who is also charged with first-degree murder in Tammy Daybell’s death — has a hearing scheduled Thursday.

Authorities said they believe Vallow Daybell’s brother Alex Cox also conspired to kill JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell, according to the indictment filed by prosecution teams from Madison and Fremont counties. Cox died of natural causes in 2019.

Vallow Daybell also faces a felony charge for allegedly conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, with her brother.

3 p.m. — Medical examiner says Tammy Daybell had bruising on upper body

Utah’s Chief Medical Examiner Erik Christensen said during his testimony Monday that Tammy Daybell had several bruises on her body that “occurred around the time of death.”

He pointed to bruising on Tammy Daybell’s arms and chest, including her left upper chest, right bicep and right forearm. Images shown in court confirmed the bruising on Tammy Daybell’s upper body.

Then-Fremont County Deputy Coroner Cammy Willmore during her testimony last week said she noticed some bruising on Tammy Daybell’s bicep but said it didn’t look new.

Christensen said that during Tammy Daybell’s autopsy, he made an incision under the skin to examine her tissue.

He said the bruising likely occurred before Tammy Daybell’s death. Sometimes bruising can occur once someone has died, he added, but it’s difficult for a bruise to form once an individual’s circulation stops.

Tammy Daybell’s organs were normal, but Christensen found a “frothy dried foam” in her airway, he said. A pink-reddish foam, which was a mixture of blood and fluids, surrounded Tammy Daybell’s mouth, according to the witnesses and autopsy photos presented in court last week.

Christensen said the foam could occur from pulmonary edema but clarified that pulmonary edema is not a cause of death. Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye ruled that Tammy Daybell died from pulmonary edema because of a seizure-like episode.

Dye said she initially decided not to perform an autopsy, in part because of information Chad Daybell and his daughter gave her. They also did not want an autopsy performed, she said.

Christensen said Tammy Daybell died at least a couple of hours before 6 a.m. Dye said during her testimony Tammy Daybell died around midnight to 2 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2019.

1:45 p.m. — Utah chief medical examiner testifies

Christensen confirmed Tammy Daybell died by asphyxiation.

Several witnesses — including Dye — have previously told the court about Tammy Daybell’s cause of death, but Christensen performed the autopsy on Tammy Daybell. The 49-year-old mother died in October 2019. Dye during her testimony said she didn’t perform an autopsy.

Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed from a cemetery in Springville, Utah, and Christensen performed the autopsy in December 2019. Christensen said exhumations aren’t common. He added that out of the 7,200 autopsies he’s performed, roughly one dozen to two dozen have been exhumations.

Christensen explained that asphyxiation is a broad case of death that means an individual was “deprived of oxygen.” He said some of the explanations of an asphyxiation death could include drowning, suffocation, smothering or a chemical asphyxiation like carbon monoxide.

Tammy Daybell’s autopsy was a “negative” autopsy, Christensen said, because there was nothing else that could explain her death. He said the autopsy ruled out other factors such as seizures, heart disease, poison or drugs.

“It would also be quite unusual for women of her age to develop seizures,” Christensen said. He added the only evidence that showed Tammy Daybell had seizure-like episodes was from statements Chad Daybell told investigators in Rexburg.

He added Tammy Daybell had bruises that could be “consistent with someone being restrained.”

Christensen said examiners also searched for drugs, but they found nothing aside from a medication Tammy Daybell had been taking for years. There was no blood to perform a toxicology panel because she’d been embalmed, so instead, Christensen said examiners used liver samples.

1 p.m. — Cox on Chad Daybell’s property for 17 minutes

Cellphone records — including GPS data — showed Cox’s cellphone at a Latter-day Saints church roughly 2.5 miles from Chad Daybell’s property the night before Tammy Daybell died, former FBI Special Agent Rick Wright said during his testimony.

Cox’s phone was located at the church from around 10:45 a.m. Oct. 18, 2019, to 11:53 a.m. Oct. 19, 2019.

Vallow Daybell’s defense attorney John Thomas during his cross-examination also questioned the length of time Cox was on Chad Daybell’s property on Sept. 23 — which was 17 minutes.

Thomas asked Wright whether someone would be able to bury JJ in 17 minutes.Wright said he’s seen JJ’s grave site, and based on his knowledge, “it would take a lot more more time.”

Authorities said they believe JJ was killed on Sept. 22 or 23.

The prosecution asked Wright whether the burial could have gone faster if more than one person assisted. Wright said yes, but added that based on the cellphone data, he has no way of knowing how many people were on the property.

10:30 a.m. — Cellphone records placed Cox on Chad Daybell’s property

Roughly 10 minutes after cellphone records showed Cox leaving Chad Daybell’s property — where the children’s bodies were located — Chad Daybell texted his then-wife Tammy Daybell about shooting and burying a raccoon in their property’s pet cemetery, according to evidence presented by Wright.

“Well I had an interesting morning. I felt I should burn all of the limb debris by the fire pit before it got too soaked by the coming storms,” Chad Daybell texted Tammy Daybell on Sept. 9, 2019. “While I did so, I spotted a big raccoon along the fence. I hurried and got my gun, and he was still walking along. I got close enough that one shot did the trick.”

“He is now in our pet cemetery. Fun times!” the text continued. Tylee’s remains were found burned in Chad Daybell’s fire pit and placed into a melted bucket, which was buried in the pet cemetery, according to witness testimony and evidence presented throughout the trial.

READ MORE: Cell records show Alex Cox in Chad Daybell’s backyard, where kids were found

Wright during his testimony Monday said cellphone evidence, which included data from cellphone towers and GPS, showed Cox’s phone was in Vallow Daybell’s Rexburg apartment in the early hours of Sept. 9, 2019.

Wright said Cox’s phone was back at his apartment before 12 a.m., according to data from the first week of September, when Vallow Daybell and Cox first moved to Idaho.

A few hours later, the records showed Cox at Chad Daybell’s property from 9:22 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. Chad Daybell texted Tammy Daybell at 11:53 a.m., according to evidence presented by Wright.

Authorities said they believe Tylee was killed on Sept. 8 or Sept. 9, 2019.

“It certainly sent up some red flags for us,” Wright said.

Wright added that Cox’s phone was on Chad Daybell’s property two additional times in September 2019, on Sept. 6 and Sept. 25. But it was only on the property for less than 20 minutes during each visit, and it was closer to the front door.

When Cox was on the property on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23, the data showed him in the property’s backyard, Wright said.

8:30 a.m. — DNA expert says hair sample found on duct tape matched Vallow Daybell

Investigators said they found JJ’s body bound in duct tape, and during their search, they also found a partial hair sample on a piece of duct tape.

DNA analyst Keeley Coleman, who works for Bode Technology, a private lab that works with law enforcement, said Monday during her testimony that the hair sample belonged to Vallow Daybell. Coleman was sent the hair sample and tested them for investigators.

The hair sample, Coleman said, was tested against three DNA profiles: Vallow Daybell, Tylee Ryan and Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb.

Coleman said most of the DNA samples they tested in criminal investigations are partial profiles. A partial sample, which is missing part of the DNA profile, typically occurs when evidence is degraded.

Idaho State Police Forensic Biologist Katherine Dace during her testimony last week said she collected a hair sample from the duct tape on JJ’s body and sent it to a lab.