Mega Edition: Chad Daybell Trial (Part 9-10) (10/20/21/26)

Day nine of Chad Daybell’s trial shifted heavily toward the events surrounding Tammy Daybell and the attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux. Brandon testified that someone driving Tylee Ryan’s Jeep fired at him outside his Arizona home on October 2, 2019, and he later identified JJ Vallow’s body after the children were found on Chad’s property. Gilbert Police Officer Ryan Pillar testified that Alex Cox became a person of interest in the shooting and that investigators later found guns, gun-related material and Chad Daybell’s books in Cox’s home. Fremont County Deputy Colter Cannon then described the October 9, 2019 incident in which Tammy reported that a masked man had pointed what she initially described as a paintball gun at her and attempted to fire it. Cannon testified that no paintballs or shell casings were recovered, but he found it unusual that Chad took no obvious protective action after learning someone had confronted his wife outside their home. The day ended with Deputy Alyssa Greenhalgh describing the morning Tammy was found dead, including Chad’s account that Tammy had been coughing, vomited during the night and later fell partially out of bed. Jurors were shown graphic photographs documenting Tammy’s body, including blood and pink foam around her mouth, while the defense emphasized that officers initially found no signs of a struggle and that Chad appeared visibly distraught.

Day ten concentrated almost entirely on whether Tammy had actually been in poor health before her death and how her death was originally classified. Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye testified that she initially attributed Tammy’s death to pulmonary edema caused by a cardiac event based largely on what Chad told her about fainting spells, low blood pressure, coughing and Tammy’s preference for natural remedies. After Tammy’s body was exhumed, however, Dye said the autopsy changed her assessment: Tammy’s organs were generally healthy, she had a deep bruise on her arm, her stomach contents raised questions about Chad’s claim that she had vomited, and her lungs still contained substantial pink foam. Dye ultimately amended the cause of death to homicide by asphyxiation through suffocation and acknowledged that, had she known more about the surrounding investigations at the time, she would have ordered an autopsy immediately. Tammy’s friends and co-workers then testified that she had been active, healthy and capable of keeping up with strenuous exercise classes shortly before she died, directly challenging the picture of declining health Chad had presented. Detective Bruce Mattingly added that Tammy’s Fitbit data showed no significant slowdown in her activity and testified that Chad received roughly $430,000 from Tammy’s life-insurance policies, while also noting that Chad’s children had not voluntarily provided investigators with information about their mother’s health.


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