Monday April 14th
a.m.
REFRESH FOR UPDATES
Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one charge of conspiracy to commit the murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband. 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.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Autopsy photos were shown during court on Monday. Reader discretion is advised.
11:59 a.m. Treena Kay moves to admit an affidavit authenticating the beneficiary change. There is also a CD of the phone recording with Lori Vallow. You can listen to the call
here.
11:57 a.m. Calls are recorded when people call in to change beneficiary information. Before Feb. 26, 2019, Lori Vallow was the beneficiary of Charles’ life insurance. In February, Charles called Banner and requested a beneficiary change form. It was emailed to him and it was sent back notarized. Kay Woodcock then became the primary beneficiary.
11:56 a.m. Scott explains how someone changes a beneficiary on a policy. She believes any changes made to policies over $500,000 and above needs to be notarized.
11:55 a.m. Scott has to make sure the company has the most recent beneficiary on file. Banner Life Insurance keeps copies of all changes made to policies.
11:54 a.m. “When someone passes away, who decides who will be paid out?” Treena asks. Scott says the policy will be reviewed and any documents that have been submitted. They are going to determine and confirm who the primary beneficiary of the policy is.
11:53 a.m. The policy owner and the insured person can be the same person or they might not be. The policy owner can change the beneficiary – the person who will receive the death benefit in the event of the insured person’s death. Only the policy owner can make changes to the policy.
11:51 a.m. Treena asks how someone gets life insurance. You could talk with an agent or apply online. A policy owner is the person who owns the policy and can make any changes. They have complete control over the policy.
11:50 a.m. Scott works in the claims department and processes death claims. She has testified in prior court hearings about payout policies.
11:48 a.m. Robin Smith Scott is the next witness. She is the Custodian of Records for Banner Life Insurance.
11:47 a.m. Treena follows up by asking if everything is done on computer – not just papers. He says correct. He says Social Security was never told about Lori’s marriage change. No further questions. Saari is dismissed from the witness stand.
11:46 a.m. Lori asks Saari if has all of the information from every SS office and seems to insinuate that she went to SS office in Hawaii. Saari says of all the records she has, there is no indication Lori notified SS that she remarried. Lori asks what would need to be done to put in a notification. An employee would have to put a notice in the database and Saari would have access to that. No changes were made on Lori’s behalf after August 2019. “So none were made in November, to your knowledge?” Lori asks. “There were none made.”
11:45 a.m. Juror asks if payments to Lori Vallow were stopped after his investigation. They were. During his investigation, was SS notified by Lori Vallow of her new marriage? She did not. Judge asks defendant if she has any follow up. She does.
11:44 a.m. Judge and attorneys went on sidebar with headphones and white noise. They all just took them off and are talking with the judge at the bench as he is holding the exhibit.
11:38 a.m. Streaming video
here.
11:35 a.m. Saari did not see any survivor spousal benefit applications or forms. Treena asks if the benefits for Lori would have been terminated when she became Lori Daybell. Saari says Lori’s benefits woud have stopped, but JJ’s would have continued. Nothing further from Treena. At least one juror has a question.
11:34 a.m. Treena says in addition to the initial letter about meeting with Social Security, Lori was sent other letters that showed her how much she was ultimately awarded – one for JJ, one as the mother-in-care of JJ.
11:33 a.m. Treena talks about the letters sent to Lori that explained the benefits she would be getting. “Does Social Security just start deciding for people what benefits they feel they might want?” Saari says “not at all.” It’s all based on what people apply for.
11:32 a.m. Lori has no more questions. Treena will now re-direct. She asks what the point of the meeting at Social Security is. The purpose is for an applicant to come and meet with someone to determine whether they are eligible for the benefits.
11:30 a.m. Lori is back at the lectern. She asks Saari if he was present at the interview with her and the employee. He was not. She asks if he knows what was said. He does not. He saw her applications when he began his investigation in January 2020. Lori asks Saari who his superior is. He says he has a special-agent-in-charge who is his immediate boss. Lori asks who assigned Lori’s case to him. Treena objects based on relevance. Judge says the witness can answer. Special Agent in Charge was Joe Rogers, he assigned the case to Saari.
11:29 a.m. Lori asks for a moment to confer with her counsel.
11:27 a.m. Lori asks how the money is supposed to be spent. She says food and clothes, etc. Saari says it can also be saved for the survivor. Lori says the benefit is supposed to be spent every month and not saved up. Saari says that’s not correct – it’s for college. Lori is insinuating the employee told her it could not be saved for college. Prosecutor objects – says Lori is testifying. Judge sustains.
11:26 a.m. Lori asks if there was a spousal support form she applied for and insinuates the employee could have made a mistake in putting the information in the computer. Saari says Lori was present at the Social Security office to go through line by line of the applications. “So, if I thought…” she then corrects herself to say, “If a person” and then changes direction. Lori asks if Saari has seen all of her applications. He has received any and all documents in relation to JJ and Lori.
11:24 a.m. Lori asks if an employee put in the wrong benefit a recipient, would it be up the applicant to correct it. Lori asks if he has a copy of the application she filled out. Saari says she would need to talk to the prosecutor. Saari has seen the forms and she applied for child-in-care and survivor benefits for JJ.
11:23 a.m. Lori asks how an employee determines whether someone gets a spousal benefit versus a mother care benefit. Saari says it’s up to the person to apply for the benefit. They would then get a letter in the mail and be told during their appointment. Lori begins by saying “if I was told” and the prosecutor objects as testifying. Judge sustains.
11:22 a.m. Lori asks about the mother-in-care benefits versus a spousal benefit. Colby is back in the courtrooom.
11:21 a.m. Lori asks Saari what he does for his job. He investigates fraud. She asks if he’s privy to what a Social Security employee would tell a “regular person” who might come in to talk with them. He says he is not in those meetings.
11:20 a.m. Lori says if there were two spouses to a deceased husband, consecutively, and they were both each married for over ten years to that same husband, could they both apply for and receive a spousal benefit? Saari says he isn’t aware of the policy regarding that issue. Lori says if it was explained to her that she could receive it…Treena objects as testifying. Judge sustains.
11:19 a.m. Lori asks if a surviving spouse can get benefits if they don’t have any children. Saari believes so. Lori says if you’ve been married for longer than ten years, you get benefits. Saari says there are some rules for that but yes.
11:18 a.m. Treena asks Saari if he learned that Lori eventually got married. He says yes. She married Chad Daybell on Nov. 15, 2019. Treena has nothing further. Lori will now cross.
11:16 a.m. Lori also got a letter saying she gets a Social Security payment of $1,951 per month plus backpay of $4,157. Combined, Lori is getting nearly $4,000 a month from JJ and her benefits.
11:15 a.m. Treena shows the letter on the screen. It says JJ Vallow is entitled to monthly benefits beginning July 2019. He would get $1,951 per month plus backpay of $3,902 to the date Charles died.
11:14 a.m. Saari was aware of a letter Social Security sent to Lori regarding survivor benefits. Treena moves to admit the letters as evidence.
11:12 a.m. Lori and Charles were married Feb. 24, 2006. During the August 2019 meeting, Lori was questioned if she and Charles were living together at the time of her death. Lori told them they were living together at the time of the death. That fact helps determine if recipients are entitled to the benefit.
11:12 a.m. Treena asks if Saari became aware of Lori going to an appointment with someone at Social Security related to JJ. It happened on or about August 12, 2019. During the meeting, Lori had to answer questions about her relationship with Charles. She had to provide the date Charles married.
11:11 a.m. Lori Vallow was the representative payee for Tylee Ryan. Those benefits are put into a bank account for the child and payee. “If Lori Vallow was married in June 2018 to someone else, not Tylee’s benefit, would she still receive that mother of survivor benefits?” Treena asks. She would not.
11:10 a.m. Saari learned that Tylee Ryan was receiving survivor benefits from Social Security for the death of her father. She was getting $1,859 per month.
11:09 a.m. If the parent is not married at the time the other parent dies, there is no payout. If the parent remarries, the benefit ceases. The child still gets the benefits.
11:09 a.m. When a child has a parent who passes away, the mother could get benefits. If a mother is married to the father at the time of death, she will receive a mother-child care benefit. The same dollar amount for the child and for herself.
11:08 a.m. Treena asks what happens to survivor benefits when a child becomes an adult (if they are receiving them for a deceased parent). Saari says they would cease.
11:07 a.m. Saari investigates crime of abuse and fraud. He has worked for the Social Security Department for about six years.
11:06 a.m. Next witness is Mark Saari from the Office of the Inspector General. He testified in Idaho. Colby Ryan just left the courtroom.
11:03 a.m. Treena follows up with some clarifying questions and has nothing further. Baumgarner is done. Next witness will be called.
11:01 a.m. Jury questions: Was there signigicant amount of blood in the left lung? Baumgarner says not the left lung but the chest cavitiy. Does that suggest the heart was still beating during the second shot? Baumgarner says the heart could have been beating, but it’s also possible the blood spilled into the left cavity from the heart. Was there blood in the throat or mouth? There was not. No other questions.
11 a.m. Treena Kay asks if there was anything about his death that could have been anything other than gunshot wounds. Baumgarner says no. Treena has no further questions. Judge asks jury if they have questions. There is at least one.
11 a.m. Treena asks about Bamboo clothing and if it caused a shored wound at one spot, wouldn’t it cause it on the second wound too? Baumgarner says he would expect that. But there was only one shored wound. The other exit was not a shored wound.
10:58 a.m. Lori asks if tight clothes could have caused the shored wound. Baumgarner says usually a bra or belt could possibly cause that. Lori asks if he is familiar with Bamboo clothing. He is not. Lori has no further questions.
10:57 a.m. Lori asks if it’s possible Charles could have been falling when he was shot the second time and then hit the floor. Baumgarner says not really. A shored wound would not have been caused if he was falling.
10:56 a.m. Lori asks about the abrasions on Charles’ knees and if they could hvae been caused by a scuffle before he was shot. Baumgarner says that’s possible. Lori asks about the abrasions on his hands and if they could have been caused by a scuffle beforehand. He says it’s possible.
10:55 a.m. Lori asks if law enforcement were to request additional tests for drugs, would he do it. He says it’s possible, depending on what they are asking for, but it’s atypical.
10:53 a.m. Lori approaches the lectern. “Dr. Baumgarner, you did a toxicology report in this case?” He says yes, it included tests for 16-20 substances. Lori asks if that included regular medications – like for high blood pressure or testosterone. Baumgarner says that would not show up on the toxicology.
10:52 a.m. A defect on the floor in the area where Charles was shot would support the fact that he was shot on the ground. No drugs or alcohol were found in Charles’ system. Cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. Treena has no further questions.
10:51 a.m. Both gunshot wounds were front to back. “Given the trajectory that you observed from the gunshot wound to Charles’ abdomen, would that be consistent with the shooter standing somewhere near Mr. Vallow’s feet and firing at Charles Vallow as he was laying on the floor?” Reponse: “Yes, that’s certainly possible.”
10:50 a.m. Trajectory path was front to back, right to left and upward. We now see an interior photo from Charles’ body. Treena Kay asks how you open up a body when you do an autopsy. Baumgarner says you make an incision.
10:49 a.m. Distance from Charles’ head to the entrance wound in the abdomen was 27 inches. Distance from head to exit wound was 14 inches. Prior shot had a 1.25 inch difference – this second shot was 13 inches.
10:48 a.m. Bullet went through the skin and tissue, hit Charles’ left lung, hit the left fourth rib (back part of the rib) and then exited soft tissue and skin of left shoulder, Baumgarner says.
10:47 a.m. Shored exit wounds are “relatively rare,” Baumgarner says. He’s seen less than 50 in his career. We now see a close up of the wound. “This is textbook worthy” of being a shored exit wound, Baumgarner says.
10:45 a.m. The exit wound appeared “atypical.” It was a shored exit wound. This occurs when the body is pressed against a firm surface when the bullet is exiting the skin. “If a person is lying on the floor and is shot, would you expect to see a shored exit wound?” Treena Kay asks. Baumgarner says yes.
10:43 a.m. During the autopsy, Baumgarner noted another gunshot wound. It was on his left abdomen. It was an entrance gunshot wound. We see closeup photos of the wound. There was no stippling or soot. This means the muzzle of the gun was likely 4-5 feet away from the victim. There was no projectile recovered from this bullet. The exit wound was on the back of the left shoulder.
10:41 a.m. We now see a close-up photo of inside Charles’ chest. There is a rod that shows where the bullet hit. The bullet trajectory was right to left, front to back and slightly downward.
10:40 a.m. Baumgarner says Charles could have moved and reached up to touch where he was shot with his left hand immediately following the shooting. Given the abrasions on his knees, it’s possible Charles fell to the ground on his knees after he was shot.
10:38 a.m. Baumgarner says this has all the characteristics of an exit wound. Exit wounds are normally larger than an entrance wound. From the entrance to exit wound was about 1.25 inches. Treena asks about the wound path of the gunshot wound. Baumgarner says it passed through the skin, sternum, paracardia (sack that surrounds the heart), hit two chambers of the heart and then passed through soft tissue of the skin on the left back before exiting. The wound was not immediately fatal, Baumgarner says. Charles could have lived for a “short period of time,” Baumgarner says. “Seconds up to a very few minutes.”
10:37 a.m. Baumgarner says the shooter was 2-4 feet from Charles Vallow. He did not acquire a bullet from the wound. We now see a photo of Charles’ back. The exit wound is on the middle of the back.
10:36 a.m. The closer the gun muzzle is to the person, does that increase the amount of stippling you would observe, Treena asks. Baumgarner says yes.
10:34 a.m. Baumganer says there was stippling, which is when gunpowder strikes the skin after the bullet enters. Soot is combusted gunpowder, stippling is caused by partially burned or unburned gunpowder that hits the skin.
10:32 a.m. The next series of photos show closeups of the gunshot wound on Charles’ chest. Baumgarner says this was a gunshot entrance wound. There are red abrasions around the hole. “The projectile was coming in at an angle and kind of scraped away the skin as it entered,” Baumgarner says.
10:31 a.m. Charles was wearing a watch the day he was shot. We now see a photo of Charles’ legs. There were abrasions on both knees. Baumgarner says they appear to be perimortem, caused at the time of his death.
10:30 a.m. We are now streaming video
here.
10:28 a.m. Baumgarner says the wound was caused perimortem, or just around the time of death. We now see three photos of Charles’ right hand. There were no abrasions on the hand. On his left hand and fingers, there is a bit of an abrasion. There is also blood on the hand.
10:27 a.m. We now see a photo of Charles Vallow on the autopsy table. We see a bullet wound on the external chest, left abdomen area. Treena Kay zooms in on the wound. It’s pretty close to the center of Charles’ chest.
10:25 a.m. The first photo we see is Charles Vallow’s face. Baumgarner says Charles was just under 6 feet tall and weighed a little over 200 lbs. Charles had no injuries on the front of his face and there were no abrasions or contusions on the back of his head.
10:23 a.m. Baumgarner performed the autopsy on Charles Vallow. He took photos of the autopsy. Treena asks to admit photos of the autopsy.
10:22 a.m. Baumgarner explains what an autopsy is and how he writes a report after he’s done doing them.
10:20 a.m. Baumgarner started working at the ME’s office in 2018. He has several board certifications. He explains what he needed to do to be board certified.
10:18 a.m. Baumgarner works at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office. He performs autopsies, determines causes of death, runs toxicology reports and occasionally testifies in court. Treena Kay asks about his education.
10:17 a.m. First witness is Dr. Derek Baumgarner from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
10:16 a.m. Judge says there may be additional publicity issues because of this trial. He suggests an initial pool of 300 jurors. Treena Kay agrees, so does Lori. Jury is now brought into the courtroom.
10:12 a.m. Judge back on the bench. He asks to discuss the scheduling of the Brandon Boudreaux trial. Judge says remote questionnaires will go out the week of May 19. The cutoff date would be the 23rd. Parties will be at 1:30 p.m. on May 29. Walk-in jurors would be brought in for voir dire on May 30. Opening statements and evidence starts on Monday, June 2. Trial will run June 2-6, 9-13th at noon. The next week will be dark. Then June 23-25. Then June 30-July 3.
10:11 a.m. Judge has left the bench. We are still waiting for the juror to show up. The jury originally consisted of 12 jurors and two alternates. Last week, two alternates were dismissed. The jurors will not know who the alternates are until after closing arguments. A random drawing will determine who remains on the jury.
10:06 a.m. Here is a diagram showing the family relationships in this case:
10:05 a.m. Lori’s paralegal just arrived. Rexburg Detectives Ray Hermosillo and Eric Wheeler are seated on the same row as Colby Ryan.
10:04 a.m. A juror has not yet arrived. Treena Kay has her witness ready. We are waiting for the juror.
10:02 a.m. Judge asks if these issues need to be dealt with between 10-12. Prosecutor Treena Kay asks for the Bobby Vallow and Brandon Boudreaux subpoenas to be sealed. Judge grants the request. He says we will hear the motions at 1:15 today or later this afternoon.
10 a.m. Lori just walked in the courtroom. She is wearing a navy blue pantsuit. Judge Justin Beresky is on the bench. Lori says her paralegal is on the way “as far as I know.” Beresky asks Lori if she has received some motions the state filed. “I just did this morning,” Lori says. Beresky says his staff received an email from the state on Friday about the subpoena served on Bobby Vallow. Lori says she has not seen it, but heard about it. There’s also a motion in limine about police. Another motion from the state to preclude the defendant’s witnesses. Another motion to exclude a video observed by Janis Cox and Summer Shiflet.
9:53 a.m. In the courtroom. Every seat is taken. Susan Bin, a sketch artist who attended Lori’s trial in Idaho, is sitting next to me today. She has her watercolors and will be drawing today.
9:46 a.m. Court will begin in about 15 minutes. You can find the video feed
here.
9:32 a.m. Rexburg Police Officers Ray Hermosillo and Eric Wheeler are in the gallery today. Colby Ryan is also here.
9:31 a.m. The waiting area is packed with people today. I think this may be the biggest crowd we’ve seen. Just spoke with three ladies who flew in from Utah for the trial. Others have traveled from Idaho, New Mexico and other places.
9:30 a.m. Trial is starting 30 minutes early today and tomorrow. It’s day 5. The state has 9 witnesses left to testify. Here is who has not testified yet – along with a graphic showing Lori’s list of potential witnesses:
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