Monday 22nd - 2nd update
LIVE UPDATES FROM THE CHAD DAYBELL TRIAL
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Please excuse any typos – these updates are live.
10:57 a.m. Hart is released from the stand, but he will be recalled by the state and the defense at a later date.
10:56 a.m. Blake brings up the term “telestial relative.” Hart agrees that they were “obstacles.” Blake asks if Charles Vallow, Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell were ever deemed dark. Hart says yes, but JJ and Tammy were deemed to be “inhabited by dark entities.” He says all four of those people are dead.
10:54 a.m. Blake asks if Chad was indicating that he and Lori would be married eternally. Hart says that is precisely what was written in Chad’s writing. Hart says the “light and dark” teaching originated from Chad.
10:51 a.m. Prior says he is going to stop there. Blake asks Hart about the “sealing reference” and if recalls testifying about it before. He says yes. Blake asks if he testified that there are also sealings done for people who have passed away. Hart says yes. Prior objects, and it is overruled.
10:49 a.m. Prior says Hart talked about the process of “sealing.” Hart says it’s part of the James and Elena story. Prior says it’s part of a marriage process in the LDS church. Hart says it’s when two people go to get married. Prior continues, saying it’s a “religious symbolism to show that they have an intent to wanting to be together for the rest of their life.” Hart agrees.
10:47 a.m. Hart says there was only one instance where Lori disputed a “dark or light” number given to somebody. Hart says the only times he saw “light and dark” numbers being generated with the exception of that one occasion, were by Chad Daybell.
10:45 a.m. Prior published more messages to the projector screen but they are very hard to read on the livestream. “Phoebe” (Melanie Gibb) says to Lori, “I am doing pretty good thanks. I love you so much. I’m going to teach right now. Teaching about discerning and shutting off dark portals. I could see the darkness so clearing last night when I was teaching last night. Their eyes were dark like marbles.”
10:44 a.m. Apparently there was a thumb drive not opening files. Seems to be working now.
10:43 a.m. Attorneys are back at their tables. Chad seems to be staring very intently at the computer screen in front of him.
10:41 a.m. Prior asks to approach the bench. The attorneys take a brief sidebar.
10:40 a.m. Prior says it wasn’t a secret that Chad thought Tammy was going to die young. Hart agrees. Prior asks if he’s wrong that Chad was waiting for Tammy to pass away, and that was why Lori couldn’t be with him yet. Hart states, “It could be that, or it could be waiting to take action.”
10:39 a.m. Prior asks if there were ever any texts from Chad saying “I agree with you Lori, let’s kill the kids.” Hart says there were multiple texts talking about the kid’s “death percentages.” Prior says Chad had been talking to public audiences since 2016, saying that Tammy was going to “have a short life.”
10:37 a.m. Prior asks if it’s fair to say that Lori was saying that unless Chad and Tammy get divorced, he kills Tammy, or Tammy dies, he won’t “have her.” Hart agrees.
10:36 a.m. Prior asks if Lori saying she was “just a distraction” and telling him to “go have fun with your family” was sarcastic. Hart says he thinks she was being serious.
10:34 a.m. Prior asks if Chad’s books were marketed toward LDS people. Hart agrees. Prior asks if they were members of a cult, and Hart says not that he knows of.
10:33 a.m. Hart agrees that Chad was trying to make a living by selling his books to an audience of people at “encampments or gatherings” in St. George, Mesa, Boise, in the intermountain west.
10:32 a.m. Prior says Chad Daybell wrote a lot of books about religious issues, and Hart agrees that he often wrote books with an “end of times theme.”
10:31 a.m. Prior suggests Hart said Lori wasn’t believing everything Chad was saying about religion. Hart says that’s untrue, and he thinks Lori believed pretty much everything Chad Daybell said.”
10:30 a.m. Hart says the “peripheral” members of the group would include six to ten people, including Melanie Gibb, David Warwick, Zulema Pastenes, and Melanie Boudreaux.
10:27 a.m. Hart agrees that Chad was using his religious beliefs to manipulate Lori Vallow. Hart says Chad was looked to as the visionary for the small group they were a part of and that he used that to keep Lori in a relationship with him. Hart says the “inner circle” group included Chad, Lori and Alex Cox.
10:25 a.m. Prior asks Hart to explain how Chad’s light and dark scale works. Hart says the numerical system is not part of the LDS faith to his knowledge.
10:24 a.m. Prior asks if there is a reference to light and dark in the LDS faith. Hart says yes, there are references to “light and dark” in the LDS faith. Prior asks if sometimes testified otherwise, if they would be lying. Hart says yes.
10:22 a.m. Hart says he believes the “dark number” provided justification for Chad and Lori to kill JJ and Tylee.
10:23 a.m. Chad is watching the projector screen intently. The livestream is a little dark due to the windows being open, so it’s hard to see his facial expressions.
10:21 a.m. Prior asks if he is talking about text messages where Chad assigned “death percentages” to the children. Hart says yes.
10:20 a.m. Hart says there were texts alluding to and planning for the deaths of the kids. Prior asks him to explain. Blake objects, Boyce sustains. Hart says Chad and Lori refer to a plan to take the children, “and Chad Daybell’s ability as a supposed visionary to understand when that might happen.”
10:18 a.m. Hart says he “doesn’t know what was in Daybell’s mind” as to why Hevaen would strike him down if he met with Lori Vallow at that point. Prior says throughout the text messages, he didn’t see any that said “Hey, this is Chad. Let’s kill the kids.” Blake objects, Boyce overrules. Hart says there are several texts that talk in detail about the deaths of the kids.
10:17 a.m. Prior discusses the Aug. 11, 2019 text messages between Chad and Lori. Prior says the text, “I would happily join you tomorrow if it felt like heaven would not strike us down” has “nothing to do with murder.” Hart says he cannot say it doesn’t have to do with murder.
10:16 a.m. Prior asks Hart if it is possible that Chad was providing artistic embellishments in the book. Blake moves to strike, and Boyce sustains.
10:15 a.m. Hart says someone on the investigative team read Chad’s other books, but he personally did not. He says he understands that Chad has written about prior experiences in his life. Prior says Chad wrote a book about his daughter, Emma.
10:13 a.m. Prior asks Hart if he knows Chad Daybell is an author and was working on a book about his relationship with Lori Vallow. Hart says he believes it is a “truthful and accurate story.”
10:12 a.m. Hart says Lori and Chad’s relationship started the first time they met in October 2018. Their physical relationship began in November, because Chad Daybell “wrote about it in great detail. They were kissing fondling in bed together, taking each others clothes off.” He is referring to the James and Alayna story.
10:11 a.m. Prior asks how Hart interpreted the texts when being questioned by Blake. Hart says he did not interpret it – but read it directly into the record.
10:10 a.m. Prior admits an exhibit on the projector screen showing the previous text messages we saw between Lori and Chad.
10:08 a.m. Prior asks if Hart remembers Melanie Gibb referring to herself as Phoebe. he says it “rings a bell” but he can’t remember for sure. Hart says Alex Cox was often called “Al”, Melanie Boudreaux was “Mel”, and Lori often called Chad “bubby.”
10:07 a.m. Prior asks if any of the involved people ever used nicknames. Hart says Lori referred to herself as Lolo, Lily, and Chad referred to her as Alayna.
10:05 a.m. Prior says Hart went over tens of thousands of messages through his investigation. Hart agrees. Prior asks if he ever reviewed messages between Lori and Melanie Gibb. Hart says yes.
10 a.m. The jury is being brought in, and Prior will begin the cross-examination of retired FBI Agent Doug Hart.
9:57 a.m. Boyce says there is some editorial content in the exhibit that can’t be published to the jury. Blake says it should be noted in the record that the redaction was made to the exhibit. Prior agrees.
9:56 a.m. Court is back in session, but the jury is not in the room while attorneys and Judge Boyce talk about redactions in an exhibit.