BOISE, Idaho — Content warning: This story contains graphic language that may be disturbing to some readers.
The trial of Lori Vallow, or Lori Vallow Daybell, is in its 18th day, including jury selection that began April 3.
Lori Vallow is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and grand theft in connection to the deaths of two of her children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and the death of her current husband -- Chad Daybell's -- late wife, Tammy Daybell.
Tammy Daybell's sister took the stand Friday morning.
Friday's proceedings are scheduled to wrap up about two hours earlier than usual. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, but KTVB investigative and courts reporter Alexandra Duggan is there with updates:
Live updates
12:58 p.m.: Court adjourns early for the day, but will be back Monday at 8:30 a.m.
12:50 p.m.: The state calls Shannan Miller, who was a former Sugar-Salem School District employee.
Miller said she took the high-fitness class with Tammy Daybell and she "appeared very healthy, in great shape."
The day Tammy Daybell died, Miller was working with her at school. She did not appear sick or coughing, she said.
"Friday I see her at school, things are great, the next morning I hear she passed," Miller said. "There was going to be no funeral. People at my school wanted to honor her."
Miller said the principal printed off programs and put a memorial service together. She was aware of a funeral in Utah, Tammy Daybell's hometown, but nothing in Rexburg.
12:45 p.m.: Kelsey Harris is called to the stand -- she taught a clogging class in 2019 where Tammy Daybell was a student.
It's fair to describe this class as fast-paced cardio, she said. Tammy Daybell never fell behind, quit early -- she was never exhausted or had any physical ailments that prevented her from participating, Harris said.
Chad Daybell previously told others who testified that Tammy Daybell was very sick in the weeks leading up to her death, but Harris said she was also in a high-fitness class right before she died and never observed anything wrong with her.
12:38 p.m.: Spencer Cook, the technology director for the Sugar-Salem School District, is called to the stand.
Tammy Daybell was working in the school district as a librarian and the computer lab teacher, he said.
Around June 29, 2019, police came to Cook to view some of Tammy Daybell's emails. She had received 36 emails that week, some of which had been deleted, Cook said.
Cook found an email from Charles Vallow, Lori Vallow's former husband, that was sent to Tammy Daybell. Cook said it was clear she had blocked Charles Vallow's email address.
12:25 p.m: Dye attended Tammy Daybell's autopsy in Springville, Utah in December 2019.
She said the manner of death was homicide and the cause was asphyxiation.
Dye said Emma Daybell was very adamant about not having an autopsy done because of the "extent" -- "she didn't want that done to her mom," Dye said. Chad Daybell also indicated to her he did not want an autopsy.
11:33 a.m.: Dye originally indicated the manner of death for Tammy Daybell was "natural," partly based on information given to her from Chad Daybell and the family. The cause was ruled as a pulmonary edema, which is a buildup of fluids in the lungs, even though no autopsy was conducted. Tammy Daybell was immediately buried in Springville, Utah.
When her body was exhumed in December of 2019, the first autopsy was conducted. Dye attended the autopsy, she said.
11:28 a.m.: Dye noticed the mattress was slightly off the box spring in the home. Evidence photos show the bed, which is covered in blue sheets, is moved off the spring facing left.
But nothing was suspicious from the scene at the time, Dye said.
However, Dye asked Chad Daybell how Tammy Daybell could have fallen off the bed if she was already dead.
Dye said he told her he "must've pulled the top sheet in his sleep, releasing her" because she liked to sleep on the edge of the bed.
Dye determined that she could have died around 12-2 a.m.
11:10 a.m.: The state calls Brenda Dye, the Fremont County coroner. She arrived sometime between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.
When Dye got to the Daybell home, she confirmed that Chad Daybell was "distraught."
Dye observed Tammy Daybell's body that day, just like her deputy coroner, Cammy Willmore did. She saw the pink and red foam like substance coming from her mouth.
Dye said she had seen the foam before when she worked as an advanced EMT.
Dye asked Chad Daybell about it -- Dye said he told her his wife was "feeling off" and having some type of convulsions, fainting spells and seizures.
11:05 a.m.: Willmore said Chad Daybell told her he did not want an autopsy performed on his wife.
10:50 a.m.: Cammy Willmore, an EMT with Fremont County, is now on the stand. She was the deputy coroner for Fremont County in 2019.
She has never responded to a death that was caused by asphyxiation, she said. Willmore arrived on scene sometime around 6:30 a.m.
"The first thing that stuck with me was the foam coming out of her mouth, quite a bit of foam... That was odd," Willmore said.
Her body was stiff, Willmore said. She believed Tammy Daybell was likely dead before 5:30 a.m.
"This is unusual -- she wasn't that old," Willmore said. She asked Chad Daybell about Tammy Daybell's health -- he said she acted like she hadn't felt well.
10:45 a.m.: The jury is looking at photos of Tammy Daybell's body when she was found in her room on Oct. 19, 2019.
She is covered in a blue comforter but her upper half is visible. There is pink and red foam running down Tammy Daybell's face from around her nose and mouth. Greenhalgh said she has never seen this fluid on someone before.
Tammy Daybell also has visible lividity, which is blue, purple and green discoloration of the skin that occurs after death. Her body was cold to the touch, Greenhalgh said.
10:25 a.m.: Rexburg Police Officer Alyssa Greenhalgh responded to the Daybell home for Tammy Daybell's "unattended death" around 6 a.m that morning.
Chad Daybell was distraught and crying, she said.
The first thing police look for is obvious signs of foul play or injury.
When Greenhalgh got to the bedroom, she saw Tammy Daybell laying on the bed.
"He had told me she woke up in a coughing fit, vomited in the bathroom... He went into the bathroom to help her clean up, and got her back to bed. He said about 5:40 a.m., the covers fell off the bed... He said he got up, turned on the lights... She had partially fallen off the bed," Greenhalgh said.
She was told Chad Daybell and his son moved the body back to the bed and covered it up with blankets.
Greenhalgh said Chad Daybell told her "Tammy didn't like to see the doctor," and wasn't aware of any medical issues she had. However, Chad Daybell told others that she was "very sick" leading up to her death, according to prior testimony.
9:45 a.m.: Christina West, a dispatcher with the Fremont County Sheriff's office, was working the morning shift on Oct. 19, 2019. She received the 911 call indicating Tammy Daybell was dead.
The jury hears the 911 call.
It came from Tammy Daybell's son.
"We just found my mom... She's... I don't know," he says.
Chad Daybell gets on the phone.
"She's clearly dead," Chad Daybell said. He describes her as frozen or cold. There is crying and wailing in the background. "Oh my... Oh."
9:30 a.m.: Helena Kaaiakamanu was a former dispatcher for the Fremont County Sheriff's Office -- she is on the stand to testify about the 911 call made on Oct. 9, 2019 regarding the attempted paintball shooting of Tammy Daybell.
The jury hears the 911 call.
"I pulled up into our driveway... He had a paintball gun like he was gonna shoot at me... I kept asking what he was doing... He ran off behind the house," Tammy Daybell said in the call. She told Kaaiakamanu that her son-in-law and husband went outside to look for the man, but he was gone.
"Nothing came out of the gun either, I don't think it was loaded," Tammy Daybell said.
9:20 a.m.: Colter Cannon, a deputy for Fremont County, is on the stand to testify about the attempted paintball shooting of Tammy Daybell on Oct. 9, 2019.
He said two calls were made to dispatch about a suspicious person, one coming from Tammy Daybell. Cannon said the description of the suspect he was given was a male wearing all black with a ski mask.
Once Cannon arrived to the Daybell home, he said Chad, Tammy and Garth Daybell were all there.
"She was a little nervous," Cannon said. He said Tammy Daybell was getting groceries out of her car in the driveway. When she looked up, there was a man standing behind her. Tammy Daybell asked the man what he wanted, but he didn't say anything, Cannon said. The suspect fired the gun and ran off. Tammy Daybell called for her husband and ran inside.
Cannon didn't find any shell casings at the residence.
9:00 a.m.: Gwilliam said on cross examination that she had a spiritual feeling something else happened to her sister when she died. Tammy Daybell's body was later exhumed and it was determined she died by asphyxiation -- but Gwilliam didn't know those details at the time.
"My sister was telling me something had happened to her," Gwilliam said.
When Gwilliam spoke to Chad Daybell in December of 2019, she said he and Lori Vallow were likely living off insurance money -- "he told us she had lots of money," Gwilliam said. He never came around to visit the family after the new marriage.
"He wouldn't even tell my parents he had gotten remarried. He made his daughter call my mom," Gwilliam said.
8:45 a.m.: Tammy Daybell's sister, Samantha Gwilliam, is back on the stand.
Chad Daybell told her that Tammy Daybell had died peacefully in her sleep in October of 2019 because she had been sick -- but Gwilliam said she wasn't sick, and seemed very healthy. She wanted to run a race, Gwilliam said.
Gwilliam said the family learned one month to the day of Tammy Daybell's burial that Chad Daybell was remarried.
"You don’t get married four weeks after you just buried your wife of almost 30 years," Gwilliam said. She told the jury she was devastated.
Chad Daybell told the family his new wife's name was Lori Ryan, and "she had a hard life" because she was also grieving a spouse. Gwilliam searched Lori Ryan on the internet and it came up with stories about Lori Vallow's former husband Charles Vallow when he was shot in Arizona.
Eventually, Gwilliam said she told Chad Daybell to stop lying to her -- police contact and internet searches made her believe he was being untruthful. Gwilliam called Chad Daybell again, and asked if he and Lori Vallow were going to raise any children together. She said his response was they were "going to be empty nesters."
Watch more Lori Vallow Trial:
Watch more coverage of the Lori Vallow trial on the KTVB YouTube channel:
