Mega Edition: Chad Daybell Trial (Part 19-20) (10/23/26)
Day nineteen of Chad Daybell’s trial continued with some of the most graphic forensic evidence of the case as Dr. Garth Warren finished walking jurors through the autopsies of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Jurors were shown photographs documenting JJ’s body, including the duct tape around his wrists and the plastic and tape prosecutors said had been used to suffocate him, while Warren also described the severely burned and fragmented condition of Tylee’s remains. Idaho State Police forensic scientist Tara Martinez then testified that fingerprints belonging to Alex Cox were found on plastic associated with JJ’s body, placing Lori Vallow’s brother directly on material used in the burial. The prosecution later shifted to cellphone evidence surrounding Charles Vallow’s July 2019 shooting death, with analyst Nicholas Werther mapping communications among Lori, Alex and Chad throughout that morning. Records showed Lori and Chad exchanging messages before Charles arrived at Lori’s Arizona home, followed by additional communications among the group after Charles was shot. Chad’s phone also contacted Lori later that day and made a lengthy call to a mortuary that evening. The state used the timeline not to retry Charles’ death, but to illustrate the communication and coordination prosecutors said existed among Chad, Lori and Alex long before JJ, Tylee and Tammy were dead. Day twenty tied physical evidence, Chad’s own words and the couple’s behavior after the children disappeared even more tightly together. Kauai Police Sgt. Colin Nesbitt testified about confronting Chad and Lori in Hawaii in January 2020 and serving Lori with an order requiring her to produce JJ and Tylee. When officers later searched their belongings, they found Tylee’s debit card, an iPad marked “JJ,” multiple copies of Charles Vallow’s death certificate, birth certificates, laptops, credit cards and roughly $10,500 in cash—even though the children themselves were nowhere to be found. FBI analyst Benjamin Dean then highlighted Chad’s now-infamous September 9, 2019 text to Tammy describing shooting a raccoon and burying it in the pet cemetery, a message sent one day after Tylee was last seen alive and on the same property where her remains were eventually discovered. Idaho State Police forensic biologist Katherine Dace testified that human remains on a shovel matched Tylee’s DNA and that material on a pickaxe also produced a partial profile consistent with her; she also said a hair recovered near JJ was overwhelmingly likely to have come from Lori. The day ended with three of Tammy’s former co-workers describing her as energetic, healthy and active immediately before her death, directly contradicting the defense narrative that Tammy had been seriously ill or physically declining. to contact me: [email protected]