BOISE, Idaho — The 28th day of the Chad Daybell trial wrapped up in a confusing way for most public viewers.
Defense called a series of witnesses to help prove their case. They called Patrick Eller, CEO of a metadata investigatory firm. Eller testified about phone locations. Defense also called Dr. Greg Hampikian, who specializes in DNA research. He testified about DNA evidence found on tape that was tied around JJ Vallow's body. Chad Daybell's hairs were not present on the tape.
After counsel had asked for a sidebar to discuss scheduling, Judge Steven Boyce cleared the courtroom of the public, but allowed the jury to stay. It's unclear what was discussed. However, the livestream was still on, with no image. KTVB reached out to the trial court administrator to learn that Judge Boyce did plan on going back on the record. After about 45 minutes of talking to counsel and the jury, the livestream displayed the courtroom again, and Judge Boyce went back on the record.
While on the record in the afternoon, Judge Boyce and counsel reviewed some motion hearings. Prosecution discussed the possibility of calling a witness during rebuttal, as the testimony from Emma Daybell, defense witness, opened the door. They also discussed two law enforcement officers being able to rebuttal as well, however there was no motion in front of the judge, so he couldn't make a ruling.
When they were in the motion hearing, defense attorney John Prior stated he is ready to wrap up his case soon.
In court on Tuesday, defense called five witnesses to the stand to prove its side of the story.
Defense attorney John Prior finalized testimony with Joseph Murray on Tuesday morning, who is Chad Daybell's son-in-law. Then, a forensic pathologist took the stand to testify about Tammy Daybell's cause of death - which the defense said was unclear.
After the pathologist, a neighbor of the Daybells took the stand, to testify about gunshots heard on September 9, 2019 - the day law enforcement believes Tylee Ryan died. An investigator from the Idaho Office of the Attorney General also took the stand to testify about an interview with Melanie Gibb. Melanie Gibb was a friend of Lori Vallow's who also believed in the light/dark scale that Daybell used to assign to people. Gibb told the investigator that he had a light aura, which Prior used to prove that it wasn't Daybell exclusively using the scale system.
Tuesday wrapped up a bit early, with testimony from the last witness being pretty quick. Retired Rexburg PD detective Rick Schmitt's testimony was about the day they found the children on the Daybell property.
The trial is expected to last one to three more weeks.
Live Updates:
11:49 a.m.: Cross examination takes place now, with Lindsey Blake asking questions of the witness. Blake asks about his work, and how he likes to sit down to talk about autopsies, due to the sensitive nature of them. Mattingly's testimony concludes and he is released. There will be no additional witnesses today. Judge Boyce states they are recessing for the day, and court will resume Tuesday for additional rebuttal. Court is adjourned.
11:41 a.m.: During cross examination, Mattingly testifies further that he just wanted to go over the results of Tammy's autopsy with Emma Daybell. He didn't want to just give the report to the Daybell's, so they could keep the investigation moving forward.
11:27 a.m.: Mattingly provided her contact information for the prosecutor's office, and a victims services line. In his testimony, Mattingly states he provided those to further prove didn't want to question Emma, just wanted to go over the autopsy. In the audio, it's heard that Mattingly and team were having a hard time getting ahold of the Daybell family. More of the audio recording is played. Mattingly also made contact to an attorney who was representing Emma. The children never reached out to law enforcement to ask about the autopsy or tell them about her health.
11:14 a.m.: Detective Mattingly, with the Fremont County Sherriff's Office, takes the stand. He talks about his qualifications again, as he has previously taken the stand during the state's case in chief. He became involved in the investigation of the deaths of Tammy Daybell, JJ Vallow, and Tylee Ryan. Mattingly reviewed the autopsy of Tammy Daybell. Mattingly discusses an instance where he tried to reach out to Emma Daybell, while she was at work but after the students had left for the day. They made contact with Emma Daybell that day, after some work. The police filmed the situation on bodycam, and that audio recording is played in court. Mattingly, while talking to Emma, states that he has autopsy results for Tammy Daybell that he would like to discuss with her. It is revealed that Emma asked for the autopsy. Emma states in the recording that she'll just wait for the results to become public. "We're just not interested," she said.
11:12 a.m.: The statement that Garth made to Abegglen happened while at work, close to the end of the shift. Garth was quiet that night, and Abegglen gave his condolences. It was then that Garth made the comment that he had found his mother's body. Redirect takes place, and Abegglen testifies to how sad Garth was. Abegglen reiterates that Garth Daybell did in fact say that Chad Daybell was no where to be seen when Tammy was found. The concludes the testimony of Abegglen, and the next witness is called.
11:03 a.m.: Prosecution calls their next rebuttal witness, McKay Abegglen. He was a coworker of Garth Daybell - who is Chad's son. Abegglen discusses working with Garth at a Halloween attraction, Haunted Mill. Abegglen worked in the next room over from Garth, developing a friendship where they attended some other haunted houses together. Garth didn't talk to the witness about his family much, but Abegglen remembers the weekend after Tammy's passing, Garth made a comment along the lines of finding Tammy when he came home from work. Chad was no where to be seen, according to Garth's comment to Abegglen. Garth usually left work around 12:30 a.m., which doesn't align with the story Garth testified to earlier. Cross examination begins. Prior asks Abegglen about the schedule of the Haunted Mill.
10:56 a.m.: They are arguing a piece of evidence, and Judge Boyce overrules the objection, allowing the evidence into the courtroom. Jensen testifies that Emma Daybell told her that Tammy passed away from a blood clot. Direct examination is done. Cross begins with Prior asking how often Jensen talked to Tammy when they worked together. Jensen saw Tammy two to three times a week. Jensen was close with both Tammy and Emma, and still believes that she and Emma are still friends. Prior asks if Tammy was an introvert, Jensen said no, Tammy was comfortable at school. Cross examination concludes and testimony of Lisa Marie Jensen concludes.
10:43 a.m.: The witness will be excluded from testimony, per Judge Boyce. The jury is brought back into the courtroom. The defense rests, and rebuttal begins. Lisa Marie Jensen is called by the state in rebuttal. She lives in Sugar-Salem, Idaho and worked alongside Tammy Daybell. Jensen testifies about Tammy's health, and how healthy she was. They worked together for several years. "She was well," said Jensen. Jensen chuckles as she remembers Tammy always wearing sneakers, even with dresses. In the weeks before Tammy's passing, Tammy never took a sick day or slow down. Prosecutors ask for a sidebar to discuss something without the jury.
10:21 a.m.: After an hour break, court is back on the record for the morning. They had to handle some administrative things while in break. Judge Boyce states that defense is ready to rest. Without the jury present, they handle a witness testimony issue. The state wants to call Deputy Cannon in rebuttal, he was the officer called on the day that Tammy Daybell was almost shot. During two of the defense witnesses testimony, the two witnesses claimed that they showed Deputy Cannon a picture on their computer. Deputy Cannon never saw that image, didn't even go into the house. The problem with calling Deputy Cannon is that they have released him from a subpoena and Cannon may have heard some testimony from other witnesses.
10:17 a.m.: Court has still not come back on the record, after nearly an hour break. The mouse keeps moving on the livestream, showing someone appears to be monitoring the stream.
9:21 a.m.: Redirect takes place now, with Prior asking if there was a specific place where this blunt force trauma took place, witness states no. That concludes Dr. Bartelink's testimony. Before the witness is called, defense asks for a sidebar. There is another evidentiary issue to address, and they remove the jurors from the courtroom. It will be in place of the mid-morning recess. The evidentiary hearing is about Chad taking the stand. Chad has talked to his attorney about this matter, and Chad chooses not to. With that, mid-morning recess takes place now.
9:16 a.m.: Rocky Wixom questions the witness during cross examination. He brings up some line of questioning that defense opened up. There were several cases of blunt force trauma and sharp point trauma as well on Tylee's body. The tools in question in this investigation, a shovel and pickaxe, could have been used, he cannot exclude them. There were two rib fractures in the report and 16 possible impacts onto the bones.
9:05 a.m.: The jury is brought back in, and the witness testimony continues. He testifies about an experiment they completed on a willed-donor - or someone who donated their body to science. They used the donor body to track how fire damages the body, and they used a bonfire type fire to experiment. Bartelink believes that there was so much missing, but it wasn't related to the fire. Some of the other dilemmas were that the bones were so small, they weren't always identifiable. He doesn't know where the missing remains are. He doesn't think they burned out or disappeared from the fire, but simply just missing. Based on the burn pattern, he believes Tylee as burned whole, not in pieces. There was a carnivore marks on Tylee's body, according to the FBI anthropologist. He didn't personally see scavenging marks, but doesn't fully discount it. Bartelink cannot identify where the body was burned, or at what time or day. Prior argues that the body may have been burned, then moved to the Daybell property.
8:54 a.m.: A majority of the rib cage was missing. They couldn't determine which rib bone was which, so it's unclear which ones were not found. The witness states they were missing large sections of the skeleton. Bartelink goes over the tests he completed to investigate Tylee Ryan's body. Prosecution then interrupts John Prior, asking for a sidebar and objecting to the line of questioning. There needs to be an evidentiary hearing, without the jury there, so the jury is removed for a few moments. The state is objecting the line of questioning, because the witness is talking about an experiment that Bartelink did. The experiment being discussed by the witness was not included in the report, and was not able to be reviewed by state experts. After John Prior states he's bringing this up as a foundational line of questioning, and the state drops their objection.
8:49 a.m.: Bartelink discusses what work was done on Tylee's remains, looking at the pattern of burnings and putting the body in anatomical order. There was 3 anthropologists working on this case, and it took them several hours to put everything together. There were certain things missing from the anatomical structure of Tylee Ryan, such as vertebrae and leg bones missing. Bartelink's report that he made is displayed in court. Bartelink goes over a skeleton diagram and talks about what was absent. Judge Boyce interrupts the defense attorney's line of question for a brief sidebar. They don't state what they discussed.
8:37 a.m.: Court is back in session for the 29th day of the Chad Daybell trial. Judge Boyce brings the jurors in, and defense calls their next witness. Before the witness is called in, they take a few minutes to get technology working. Dr. Eric Bartelink, he's an anthropology professor at Chico State University in California and he is the director of the CSU-Chico Human Identification Laboratory. He works as a forensic anthropologist. He then discusses his education and qualifications. He's worked on a great deal of burned remains, helping them identify the body if it is burned. He's testified about seven or eight times in his career, in various cases. Bartelink's office looked into Tylee Ryan's remains.
Watch more Chad Daybell Trial:
Watch more coverage of the Chad Daybell trial on the KTVB YouTube channel:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.