Friday 26th - 1st and final update
LIVE UPDATES FROM THE CHAD DAYBELL TRIAL
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Please excuse any typos – these updates are live.
11:51 a.m. Boyce says the state is requesting that court be done for the day because the next witness will be “lengthy” and they could come in fresh on Monday. Court is done for the day. Nate Eaton will be back on Monday, and I will be posting a recap video later tonight.
11:50 a.m. Wixom asks if Garner saw Joe at the 5K. Prior objects; Boyce overrules. Garner says he did see Joe at the 5K over by the timing van for the race. Wixom is done with redirect, and Garner is released from the stand. The state may recall him.
11:49 a.m. Wixom asks if Garner is being asked to recall things from 5 years ago and if that could impact his memory. Garner says yes.
11:48 a.m. Prior asks if Tammy was about to get a “bump” in her life insurance. State objects; Boyce sustains. Prior is done questioning, and Wixom is doing redirect.
11:47 a.m. Prior suggests Tammy would come to work sick and try not to let on that she wasn’t feeling well. Wixom objects that Prior is testifying. Boyce sustains.
11:45 a.m. Garner agrees that Emma’s grief was genuine at the Daybell house and says Chad was “stoic.” Prior asks if Daybell was “trying to be strong.” Garner says he doesn’t know.
11:43 a.m. Prior suggests Garner told police he didn’t know anything about Tammy outside of school regarding her home life. Garner says he was not very aware of that. Prior asks about the 5K race, and Emma’s husband, Joe, being the organizer of it. Garner agrees that Joe would know who participated in the race and confirms he says Tammy and Emma cross the finish line.
11:42 a.m. Garner says he was interviewed by police in May 2020. Prior says he noticed in the interview that Garner said, “Emma and Tammy were thick and tight.” Garner says that meant they were mother and daughter, colleagues and friends. Garner says they were very close.
11:40 a.m. Garner says Chad did not help with the logistics of the memorial service in Idaho. Wixom is done questioning, and Prior is beginning cross-examinations.
11:39 p.m. Garner received a text close to Wednesday about who would speak at the service, what songs would play, etc. Wixom is clarifying who sent the text, and Garner says he thinks it was Emma. He says he was surprised that the family wanted him to arrange everything.
11:37 a.m. Eventually, Chad called Garner, and they planned to do a memorial service for Tammy on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Idaho. The school board voted to close the school that day.
11:35 a.m. Garner was concerned about having a memorial during the weekend so teachers could go but didn’t know how the school would be staffed if the funeral was only on a Tuesday. Chad said, “I don’t want to inconvenience or put anybody out.” Chad said there was a possibility of doing something in Idaho and that he would check.
11:33 a.m. Garner says he wanted to know when the funeral was because he knew all of his teachers would like to go, and he was trying to figure out if it was on a weekend so they could all go. Chad said it was going to be on a Tuesday in Utah, and Garner said they would love to do something in Idaho because so many people loved Tammy and want to honor her.
11:32 a.m. Emma invited them into the house, where the Garners spoke with her about taking time off and helping her through the tough time. Garner says he scanned the room and saw some of the other children and Chad. Garner says Chad was “just standing there.” He asked Chad what he could do to help, and it came up that Tammy’s body was already in Springville.
11:31 a.m. Garner and his wife went to the home to find Emma. He remembers knocking on the screen door and Emma opening the door. “She just took a small step down to where I was and collapsed onto my shoulder.” Garner says Emma was “weeping.”
11:30 a.m. Garner says he was shocked and stunned to learn that Tammy died. “I thought she must’ve been in a car accident or something because I didn’t know why she would pass away.” Garner says he wanted to reach out to Tammy’s daughter Emma, as she used to work at the school too.
11:28 a.m. Garner says Tammy’s neighbor texted him, “We lost Tammy” when she died, and he thought that meant she had taken another job. He then found out she had died.
11:27 a.m. Garner says there was no reason for him to believe Tammy wasn’t healthy. He coached cross country and track and says he had no concern about Tammy and Emma.
11:25 a.m On Sept. 7, 2019, Garner was working in his yard and heard music at a local park. He and his wife rode their bikes and saw a running race was happening. They saw Tammy and her daughter Emma crossing the finish line after a 5K. He went over and talked to them and said Tammy “looked like someone who ran a 5K. She was just Tammy.” Tammy said she was there to support Joe, Emma’s husband, who was sponsoring the race to support charity.
11:24 a.m. Garner says Tammy never needed time off. He doesn’t recall her ever taking any sick days. Garner says he knew Tammy went to Zumba with other teachers and her daughter and saw her at a running race.
11:23 a.m. “She was busy all day. The only time I saw her sitting was when she was doing lunch count,” says Garner. Wixom asks if Garner ever observed anything about Tammy regarding health concerns. Garner says no, she appeared to be healthy. “She was really active, energetic, happy all day.”
11:21 a.m. Wixom asks Garner about Tammy’s physical health. Garner says Tammy did a decent amount of walking back and forth in the school throughout the day.
11:19 a.m. Garner says Tammy was “always looking for ways to help out and improve.” She once asked Garner for approval to put up curtains she made for the computer lab because children were peaking in during recess and distracting the kids. Garner says she was well-liked at the school. “I never heard someone say anything bad, ever, about Tammy.”
11:18 a.m. Garner says he worked with Tammy Daybell. She was the librarian, but she also helped organize the computer lab. Garner says she was “good with computers.” She covered lunchroom duty, outside duty, and in the lunchroom, she offered to check the kids in for lunch on her lunch break.
11:17 a.m. Garner works at Central Elementary School in Sugar City, Idaho.
11:15 a.m. Attorneys and Judge Boyce are back in the courtroom. The state has called Principal Rich Garner to the stand.
11:13 a.m. Batey is done with redirect, and Hough is released from the stand. He will not be recalled. Boyce has called a sidebar.
11:12 a.m. Batey asks if Chad’s sincerity of emotion. Hough says he learned Chad had remarried and was “shocked.” Hough says after everything that followed, “I love Chad as a friend, and want to feel that (his emotions) were sincere, but there are always those questions that you have.”
11:11 a.m. Prior is done questioning. Batey is doing redirect.
11:10 a.m. Hough says Chad’s grief about Tammy was genuine during the viewing.
11:09 a.m. Hough says Chad’s books were “his theories.” Prior asks if Tammy was primarily responsible for the finances, and Hough says he doesn’t know. “When a check was written, Tammy wrote the check.”
11:08 a.m. Prior asks Hough if he was aware that Tammy did the finances for the Daybell’s publishing company. Hough says yes. Prior suggests Chad was the “artistic side.” Hough agrees and categorizes the books as “nonfiction, but at the beginning of the books, he always says, ‘This is my opinion.'”
11:06 a.m. Hough says Chad loved “being with the youth and being with people.” Prior asks about Chad’s personality, and Batey objects. Boyce overrules. Hough agrees that Chad wanted to serve the church “in a strong way.”
11:05 a.m. Hough says he is very familiar with Chad’s children. He describes Chad as “wonderful. He served in the Scouts with my children, was very much involved in the local congregation.”
11:04 a.m. At some point, Hough was called as a bishop in the LDS church, and he asked Chad to be his executive secretary. Chad would make all of his appointments.
11:03 a.m. Chad told Hough that a week before Tammy passed away, he “got all of the passwords he hadn’t been able to have before.” According to Chad, he was never part of having passwords for the bank accounts, etc. Chad insinuated it was a “miracle.” Batey is done questioning. Prior is beginning cross-examination.
11:01 a.m. Hough says he talked to Chad at the viewing for Tammy. Chad and Hough both broke down crying, and Chad said Tammy “choked to death.” Hough says Chad spoke to him about passwords the Saturday after Tammy’s funeral in Rexburg.
11 a.m. Hough says he maintained contact with Chad after the Daybells moved in 2015. He remembers Tammy’s death in October 2019, and attended the memorial service in Utah.
10:58 a.m. Batey is questioning Hough. He lives in Springville, Utah, and knows Chad from being in the same church ward. He says he was friends with Chad.
10:57 a.m. The state has called Craig Hough.
10:56 a.m. Lori told Whitney she had seven children that were all out of the home. She was unclear if that meant her own children or combining her own and Chad’s. Batey is done with questioning, and Prior declines to question Whitney. She is released from the stand and will not be recalled.
10:55 a.m. Whitney says they invited Chad and his children to their house every Monday for dinner after Tammy died. One night in November, Chad asked if he could bring his new wife, Lori. Whitney says she was “disappointed and frustrated.” “I felt like, emotionally, that was not fair to the kids as they were grieving their mother. I was at odds with him within myself. I never verbalized to him, just recognizing to him where he was at in his grieving process,” says Whitney.
10:52 a.m. Chad was “disconnected
both broke down crying, and Chad said Tammy “choked to death.” Hough says Chad spoke to him about passwords the Saturday after Tammy’s funeral in Rexburg.
10:51 a.m. Whitney says she was shocked when she learned Tammy died. She and Ron went to the house to “get answers” and offer condolences. Whitney remembers Emma, Leah, Garth, Seth, Chad, and possibly McKayla, Seth’s wife being there.
10:49 a.m. Whitney is also being questioned by Ingrid Batey. Whitney says she lives in Sugar City, Idaho and knows Chad Daybell. She points him out in the courtroom. She also knew Tammy as a “friend, acquaintance and collaborator. We knew eachother in many different realms.” They went to church together.
10:48 a.m. The state has called its next witness, Whitney Arnold. She is Ron Arnold’s wife.
10:47 a.m. Batey asks if he believes there was a different reason for Chad wanting to put a home on the property other than wanting to live there with Lori. Arnold says yes. He is released from the stand, and will not be recalled.
10:46 a.m. Arnold says to do place a manufactured home, you have to buy a home, dig a foundation, and hook up the home to a sewer. Batey asks if Arnold is aware of what was found on Chad’s property. He says yes.
10:45 a.m. Batey asks if Arnold is familiar with placing a manufactured home on a property. He says not all realtors are, but he knows the generalities of it.
10:44 a.m. Arnold says as a realtor, he can run credit checks on people before he shows them properties, but it’s not usual practice.
10:43 a.m. Batey is back with a re-direct. She asks Arnold if September 22 is actually the Sunday he went to the new property with Chad, David, Melanie, and Alex. He says it’s possible.
10:40 a.m. Attorneys are back without the jurors. Boyce says the fact that Prior is the owner of Chad’s property is true, but not relevant to the case. Both sides are not to bring that up again and jurors are not to keep that in consideration. Jurors are being brought back in.
10:24 a.m. While we’re on break, here is a video of the contentious moment between Prior and the current witness, Ron Arnold. Thanks for the video clip Janeese Summers.
10:14 a.m. The break is now starting. I will be back at 10:35 a.m.
10:13 a.m. Just kidding! The sidebar is apparently being live-streamed. Batey says the door has been opened for this witness to say that Chad’s urgency to put the new home on the property while Lori was incarcerated was for Chad to dispose of evidence. Batey says she warned Prior of the possibility this morning and had no intent to get into this. Prior says he disagrees and is allowed to inquire about the intent. Prior calls Arnold “hostile.” Boyce allows the questioning, and says they can speak about it “within (Arnold’s) personal knowledge.”
10:09 a.m. Arnold says a possibility was that Chad wanted to put a mobile home on the property for himself and Lori. Prior is done with cross. Batey asks for a brief sidebar. Boyce calls for the mid-morning recess. Back in 20-25 minutes.
10:08 a.m. Prior asks about his discussion with Chad in March 2020 and about adding a house to his property. Arnold says the county wouldn’t let him split the property, but because there had been a single-wide trailer and septic system, he says the county would probably allow him to put another property on it.
10:07 a.m. Prior asks if Arnold reserves Sundays for church and family. He says yes. Prior asks if Chad had the same practice. Arnold says, “everybody does that different.”
10:05 a.m. Prior asks Arnold if he thought the children were alive after CHad said, “They were fine. He says yes and that Chad seemed sincere. Batey objects, Boyce sustains.
10:03 a.m. Boyce is back. He says he had a sidebar regarding the last response from Arnold. Boyce says it was “an unsolicited response in the case” and that it has no relevance to the case. Boyce asks the jury to disregard it. He is referring to prior owning Chad Daybell’s property.
10:02 a.m. Attorneys are back in the courtroom. Waiting for Boyce to return.
10 a.m. Arnold says he had never been inside the house before he went after Tammy’s death. Prior asks if he was familiar with the property, and Arnold says he knew about the acreage. Prior asks what the acreage of the property is and Arnold responds, “You own it, how many acres is it?” Prior asks for a sidebar with the judge.
9:59 p.m. Prior asks if Arnold went to a restaurant with Chad and David Warwick the following Monday. Arnold says he doesn’t remember that.
9:58 p.m. Arnold seems irritated by Prior. prior asks if Arnold looked into Warwick’s financial standing, and he responds, “My Prior, I did not know who was coming.” He says he doesn’t see the relevance of Prior’s questions for him. Prior says, “That’s up to the judge to decide, not you and me.”
9:56 a.m. Arnold did not look into Warwick’s financial ability to buy the property. Arnold says it cost around $700,000 at the time.
9:55 a.m. Alex showed up in his car, Melanie Gibb and David Warwick showed up together, and Chad and Arnold showed up together. They were only there for 15 minutes. Warwick indicated he was looking in the area to do some developing.
9:53 a.m. Arnold tried to get Chad to wait until Monday, but Chad said the people who wanted the property were only going to be there until Monday, so Arnold “reluctantly agreed” to go show that property after church, sometime after 12 p.m.
9:52 a.m. Prior asks about a man named Keith. Arnold says he was helping Keith to find a home or a piece of property to build a home on. Keith was interested in the same property as Chad. Chad called Arnold and said that David Warwick was interested in buying property in the Salem area.
9:51 a.m. Arnold says the church service was 2 hours, but there were meetings for leaders before and things to do after church. Arnold was there for 3 to 4 hours. Prior asks if Chad would’ve been able to leave and meet with someone before Arnold picked him up to look at the property that day. Arnold says he was not with Chad “eye-to-eye contact” the entire time at church, so he doesn’t know.
9:50 a.m. Prior asks if the church in Salem is used for free internet access. Arnold says, no, the internet is really bad. Prior asks about Sept. 21, 2019. Arnold says he was in church with Chad that morning.
9:47 a.m. Prior asks Arnold to describe a church ward. Arnold says it’s a geographical area inside a stake, inside the church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. A stake is bigger than than a ward and is based on numbers in a geographic area. Prior asks about the Henry’s Fork ward. Arnold says it’s the Rexburg Henry’s Fork Stake, that has multiple wards in it.
9:46 a.m. When asked about the kids, Arnold says Chad, “looked me straight in the eye and he told me that they were okay, and when everything came out, everything was gonna be just fine.” Batey is done questioning, and Prior is beginning cross-examination.
9:45 a.m. Chad asked Arnold if he could split his property and put another home on it. He said he wanted to put another home on his property because he was “going to need a place for him and Lori to live” as fast as possible.
9:44 a.m. Arnold says Chad and Lori “were not there that long.” The next time he heard from Chad was around March 16, 2020. Chad called Arnold and asked to meet with him but did not say why. Chad met with Arnold and drove around while they spoke. Arnold says he asked Chad “the questions that probably everyone else would ask” about “where are the kids, and why haven’t you told anybody.” At that point, Lori was in jail and there was a large search for Tylee and JJ.
9:41 a.m. Arnold met Lori Vallow in November of 2019 when Chad asked if he could bring his new wife to his house to meet. The Daybell kids were already planning to go to the Arnold’s house for dinner. Arnold asked Lori “the normal questions you’d ask someone you don’t know.” Lori told him that she had seven kids.
9:39 a.m. Arnold did not ask how Tammy died, but he attended the memorial service in Rexburg a few days after her death. At the memorial service, he spoke to Chad, who said he wasn’t going to be living in the house and “didn’t feel comfortable living there,” so he was going to be staying in Rexburg with a friend. He also said he was going to go to Hawaii to help a friend do a biography. He did not identify the friend.
9:37 a.m. Chad did not purchase the property. On October 19, 2019, Arnold received a call from his bishop that said Tammy had died. Arnold immediately went to Chad and Tammy’s house. He says Chad, some of the kids were there in different rooms. Arnold says Chad seemed distraught.
9:36 a.m. Arnold says he works as a real estate broker for Ron Arnold Realty in Rexburg. Ingrid Batey asks Arnold about Sept 21, 2019. He showed Chad the property that day. 100 East 190 North in Salem, Idaho. David Warwick, Melanie Gibb and Alex Cox were also there.
9:35 a.m. Arnold says he met Chad and Tammy in their church ward. Chad was his home teacher for 3 1/2 years. Chad and his son Mark visited him on a regular basis.
9:33 a.m. The state has called Ron Arnold.
9:32 a.m. Wixom is done with re-direct, and Prior asks more questions. Prior asks if someone writes books about death if that means they are comfortable with death. Shultz asks him to rephrase. “Just because someone writes books about topics that make people uncomfortable, does that mean they are comfortable with death?” Shultz says it depends on the person. Shultz has been released from the stand; neither side will recall him.
9:30 a.m. Shultz was concerned if they rushed the funeral, the newspapers wouldn’t have time to run the obituary to tell people when the funeral was going to be. Wixom asks about Chad being comfortable around death. Shultz says, “He would have to be. Chad is an author; he has written books about death and dying as well. He’s not squeamish about anything as far as being around a dead person. Although it must have been traumatic for him to be around his wife like that.”
9:28 a.m. Shultz says the group Chad was a part of thought the Deer Creek Dam in Provo, Utah was going to break and Utah County would be flooded, things he saw as “red flags.”
9:27 a.m. Shultz says Chad is a good person, but there were red flags. “There’s obviously the doomsday type thing. After he left Utah, he got involved in a group.”
9:26 a.m. When asked by Shultz if he thought Chad killed Tammy, he said “Oh no, never. Not him.”
9:25 a.m. Prior suggests Garth and Tammy were particularly close. Shultz says he can’t testify to that but says Tammy was a great mother to all of her children. Shultz says he thought of Chad as a brother. Jason defended Chad when Shultz asked if he thought Chad killed Tammy. Prior is done with cross, Wixom is doing re-direct.
9:24 a.m. Prior says Chad was “tugging on his hair” from emotion. Shultz says this was a typo in the report, and that Garth was leaning over the casket showing “extreme emotional distress.”
9:22 a.m. Prior makes a point to confirm that Chad had no experience using a shovel to dig a grave. Shultz agrees with this. Prior says four of the five Daybell kids spoke at Tammy’s funeral, as one of them was on a church mission. Chad “broke down” at the funeral. Shultz says the emotion seemed genuine “from his point of view.”
9:21 a.m. Prior asks if Chad ever “hand-dug graves.” Shultz says nobody does that. They use back-hoes, which Chad was authorized to do.
9:20 a.m. Shultz says he didn’t see anything on Tammy’s arms, legs or any other part of her body that caused him any concern. He also says he has limited medical expertise.
9:19 a.m. Prior asks if Chad said he wanted to hide anything. Shultz says no, he said he “didn’t want to drag this thing out.”
9:18 a.m. Prior suggests the family’s want to rush the funeral process could be a reaction to grief. Shultz says it’s possible.
9:17 a.m. Prior says the coroner is the one who makes the final determination on whether there will be an autopsy or not. Shultz agrees.
9:16 a.m. Prior asks if Shultz found a problem with a body that would cause concern and if he is legally obligated to report that to law enforcement. Shultz says “typically not” because the coroner or doctor should’ve looked that over. He says he doesn’t know if he would report something under a “moral obligation.”
9:15 a.m. Prior asks Shultz how long he worked as a mortician before retirement. Shultz says 12 years.
9:14 a.m. Shultz says he told officers that Chad told him Tammy had been sick and he woke up to find her dead. Prior asks if Jason knew that Tammy was dealing with medical issues as well. Shultz says he can’t confirm that.
9:13 a.m. Prior asks if Shultz thought Chad was a good guy. he says yes, and hesitantly says he still thinks Chad is a good person.
9:12 a.m. Shultz is talking about Jason Gwilliam, who is married to Tammy’s sister, Samantha Gwilliam.
9:11 a.m. Shultz says he also knew Chad’s parents from the area he grew up in. Prior asks about police interviews Shultz did in February 2020.
9:10 a.m. Wixom is done questioning. Prior is beginning his cross-examination.
9:09 a.m. Shultz says he didn’t notice anything suspicious on Tammy’s body, such as broken bones or marks. “Something wasn’t sitting well with me,” says Shultz. “The speed of the funeral.” They then transferred the body back to Springville. On the drive there, he talked with Chad’s brother-in-law, Jason, about how quickly things with the funeral happened. “We both felt like there was a feeling of being rushed through this whole process.” Shultz asked Jason if he thought Chad killed Tammy. Jason is married to Tammy’s sister, Samantha.
9:07 a.m. Chad told Shultz she was sick and had a chronic cough. He says he was concerned about Tammy because she passed away without doctors around, and the family didn’t want an autopsy. “There were already some red flags I had encountered prior to her passing away that just, there was a cause of suspicion for me. Not suspicion, concern. I wanted to find out if she had fallen, if there was anything wrong with Tammy.”
9:05 a.m. Shultz says he took a quick glance at Tammy’s body. “I was concerned because this was sudden death. I understand she was sick, but somebody that young is usually physical enough to overcome it.”
9:04 a.m. Tammy’s body was then brought back to Springville by another mortician. Boyce asks Shultz to slow down, he is talking pretty fast.
9:03 a.m. Shultz says, “When I was there, when I gave him the hug, he was teary. he just lost his wife. But it just seemed like there was a business-like atmosphere about it. Which could be either a person’s way of dealing with grief, or I want to get this thing done and over with.” Chad said, “I don’t want out drag this out.”
9:01 a.m. Shultz says he brought booklets about caskets to the Daybell home, and most of the funeral arrangements were done by the time they left the house. “He wanted to have the funeral services as soon as possible.” Chad wanted the funeral to be on Monday possibly, but that was too quick. The funeral was set for Tuesday. Shultz says there is usually a 3-4 day time period between the death and funeral.
9 a.m. Chad told Shultz that the coroner said Tammy had died from an embolism. Shultz says Chad did not want an autopsy done.
8:58 a.m. Shultz went to Rexburg with Chad’s brother-in-law that Sunday after Tammy’s death. They went directly to Chad and Tammy’s house. Chad, Garth, and Chad’s parents were there. Shultz says he told Chad he was sorry for his loss. Chad told him that Tammy had been experiencing difficulty with breathing, and she went to bed that night. When he woke up, she had passed away. “I believe he found her on the floor, then he called Garth in to help lift his mom into the bed.”
8:55 a.m. Shultz learned from another neighbor that Tammy had died on October 19, 2019. Chad called later and asked if he could help bring Tammy’s body to Springville for funeral services. “I said I’d be honored to.” Chad says the Daybell’s were “A solid rock in our community.
8:54 a.m. Shultz was Daybell’s neighbor until the end of 2015, for a total of nine years. Shultz says he knew Tammy and the Daybell children “very well.” “We were neighbors. We attended the same church together, we had many conversations, worked together both in the funeral industry as well as just basic good neighbors.” Shultz says Chad worked for the Springville and Spanish Fork cemeteries as the sexton, taking care of the cemetery.
8:51 a.m. Rocky Wixom is questioning Shultz, who says he lives in Springville, Utah. He worked for the State of Utah in a child support enforcement division and worked in multiple mortuaries as a funeral director and an embalmer. He says he knows Chad Daybell, as he used to be his neighbor in Utah.
8:50 a.m. Boyce says the court took up an evidentiary matter and ruled on it before the trial started this morning. Steve Shultz is on the stand this morning.
8:48 a.m. Jurors are being brought it. Chad is wearing a blue patterned tie and a white/blue button-up shirt.
8:45 a.m. While we wait for court to start, a quick reminder that EastIdahoNews.com will be streaming the memorial service for JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan tomorrow at 1 p.m. MST. It will be held at the Colonial Theater on 450 A Street, in Idaho Falls.
8:15 a.m. Hello! Kaitlyn Hart from EastIdahoNews.com, bringing you the latest live updates on Day 12 of the Chad Daybell trial. Today, we expect Spencer Cook, the Technology Director for Sugar-Salem School District, to continue his testimony.
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