BOISE, Idaho — The jury at the Ada County Courthouse on Tuesday heard an emotional call from Lori Vallow's sister, Summer Shiflet, begging her to explain how her niece and nephew were killed and buried in the backyard of Chad Daybell.
So far, the jury has heard from some family and friends including Lori Vallow's only surviving child Colby Ryan, as well as multiple police officers from Rexburg and Arizona. The jury has also seen body camera video of law enforcement searching her apartment as well as the autopsy photos from Lori Vallow's children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow.
Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, but KTVB anchor Morgan Romero is in court Tuesday:
Live Updates:
3:15 p.m.: (WARNING: Graphic and gruesome evidence is described below)
A “mass of a human remains - a dismembered, melted mass” was found in a green bucket deep under the soil on Chad Daybell's property.
Special Agent Daniels testified that as the evidence recovery team dug deeper, they found the green bucket but didn't know what it was at first. Then, they discovered a skull. This ultimately turned out to be Tylee's burial site.
Daniels told jurors that they want to be able to show people this is how Tylee and JJ were buried to depict what happened in this case.
Jurors also saw multiple photos from Daybell's property, including the interior of his shed and tools he owned that could have been used in Tylee's alleged murder.
Crews discovered JJ's burial site before uncovering Tylee's.
As was previously testified to, investigators were searching for a hidden grave around a pond at the back of Daybell's property when they spotted shorter grass and weeds. "That's what you're looking for," Daniels told jurors.
Because this raised questions, an evidence team began digging into the soil. They ended up finding JJ's body wrapped in black plastic in a shallow grave.
Tuesday's trial ended at 3:30 p.m. It will resume Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with more of Daniels' testimony.
2:50 p.m.: (WARNING: Graphic and gruesome evidence is described below)
FBI Special Agent Steve Daniels said they looked for remains in Daybell's pet cemetery using a back hoe and tractor to excavate. They also used hand tools.
During the excavation just north of the pet cemetery, Daniels says a tractor uncovered a piece of vertebrae. He smelled decomposing human remains very strongly. Then a second bone was found. They later determined this was Tylee's burial site. As they dug deeper, layer by layer, the smell grew stronger.
Investigators then discover charred pieces of human flesh and bones sticking out of the ground. This area was difficult to process, Daniels says, because of the way the body was dismembered.
1:40 p.m.: Steve Daniels, a special agent with the FBI, takes the stand.
He is on the Evidence Response Team (ERT) and assisted in the search for JJ and Tylee on Daybell's property on June 9, 2020. A local FBI agent asked the ERT to help come up with a search strategy and execute a search warrant to look for human remains and any other evidence of a crime. Daniels testified that because they had about a weeks notice, he was able to review satellite imagery of Daybell's property and knew that the fire pit and pet cemetery would be places of interest.
Geolocation records, cell phone records and text messages indicating where suspects involved in the case had been on the property also helped the FBI know where to dig, Daniels said. Law enforcement conducted a preliminary survey once they arrived on the property -- they determined the pond was an area of interest.
Daniels said investigators found ash on the ground outside the fire pit, leading them to build a grid system around the pit. They noticed a small silver charm early on in the dig. As they sifted through, they discovered suspected pieces of bone, organic material, and fabric. Daniels testified that they don't always know at the time they're collecting evidence what it will turn out to be or whether it will be important -- that is determined after a lab tests the evidence. They also found a chain with the words 'Pura Vida' on it inside the fire pit.
Law enforcement smelled an overpowering chemical accelerant as they were processing the fire pit, Daniels testified.
1 p.m.: After lunch, Schmitt's testimony continues. He discusses all the search warrants he asked for - that were granted - in the investigation into JJ and Tylee's whereabouts. They looked into Alex Cox because was already a suspect in the attempted shooting of Tammy Daybell in early October, and in the attempted shooting of Lori Vallow's niece's ex-husband Brandon Boudreaux in Gilbert, Arizona. Schmitt contacted local shooting ranges and learned Alex shot at Unified Sportsman Club in Rexburg. He believes there were multiple times that Cox used a pseudonym when signing in.
When the search warrant was executed at Chad Daybell's property on June 9, 2020 Schmitt was tasked with keeping an eye on Daybell. He was also tasked with digging through what was later determined to be the burial site -- he says he found teeth, pieces of bone and human flesh. As has already been testified to in this trial, he says he found what are believed to be Tylee's remains melted in a bucket.
The defense asks if he was given any parameters or boundaries when digging for the children's remains -- he said he was essentially given a shovel and told to go dig near the fire pit and in the pet cemetery area.
12 p.m.: The prosecution calls its third witness of the day, retired Rexburg Police officer "Rick" Schmitt. He is discussing surveillance video from a storage unit in Rexburg that caught Lori and Chad going in and out multiple times in early October.
Court breaks for lunch.
11:30 a.m.: Defense attorney Jim Archibald then cross-examines Summer Shiflet, asking her to elaborate about her relationship with her sister, her brother Alex Cox, JJ and Tylee, Lori's relationship with her kids and Lori's relationship with her ex-husband Charles Vallow.
Summer says she felt Lori would have never done anything to harm her children because she was always a loving mother. She says Tylee adored her mother and Lori was patient when Tylee would get sassy with her. Summer testifies that she was never concerned about the safety of Tylee around Lori.
"Could you ever imagine your sister wanting to kill her kids?" Archibald asks.
"No."
"Could you ever imagine your sister being involved in conspiring to kill her kids?"
"No."
Archibald then inquires about how Lori's religious beliefs and spirituality evolved over time, particularly in late 2018 after she met Chad. Summer testifies that Alex also believed the same things Lori did -- that they had lived multiple lives and that people could be ranked on a dark/light scale. This was not something their family was ever taught growing up, believing in Jesus.
Summer and Alex were close. Summer testifies that Alex got in a car accident when he was a teenager-- this impacted his decision-making for the rest of his life.
11:20 a.m: Lori's sister Summer Shiflet is heard sobbing uncontrollably in the June 24, 2020 video visit between her and her sister while Lori is in jail. The courtroom is only able to hear the audio of the call.
Lori's responses are short and mostly calm. Summer starts the call saying Tylee and JJ's bodies were found in Daybell's backyard, including Tylee being found in a pet cemetery.
Summer asks Lori through sobs, “Did you know they were there?” Lori responds, "I can’t talk about it”. Summer expresses how much she loves her sister and their brother Alex, and how she would do anything for her.
Lori asks if Summer believes she would allow her kids to be killed -- Summer tells her that she does because there is no other explanation and because Lori went off to Hawaii to get married on the beach while her kids were buried in the ground.
Lori says there is another explanation but she "can’t talk about it."
"I want to believe the best in you, I love you with all my heart. They were just little kids, I don’t understand!" Summer screamed at her sister.
"You know me, Summer," Lori said.
"That's what I thought," Summer responded.
"You still do," Lori said calmly.
Summer tells her sister the whole family loved Tylee and JJ and would have taken care of them. She questions why Lori didn't call her after the kids died in September 2019 or after Alex died in December 2019.
"You didn’t think this was gonna cause pain throughout our entire family?" Summer tells her sister.
"That's what you think?" Lori responds.
"I think you were dancing on a beach, having a great time, getting married!"
"That was later," Lori says.
"You have no idea what happened," Lori adds. She claims everyone is believing what they're seeing on TV. "Nobody knows. I’m sorry."
"There is nothing in scripture that is godly about hurting a child," Summer tells Lori, "[JJ and Tylee] deserve a proper burial with their family that loves them, at the least," Summer tells her sister. She says what her sister has done is incredibly selfish and this is not the sister she knows and loves. "I have never even seen you upset with your kids."
"You threw Tylee in a pet cemetery like a piece of garbage! That is not Christ like. There is nothing good in that. They were innocent and they were loved," Summer screams at her sister.
Lori's voice grows louder: "I took care of them their whole life. Me, me!"
Summer tells Lori that Chad Daybell's teachings are lies and demands to know why Lori let her kids be murdered. Summer tells her to come up with an explanation publicly.
Summer is seen crying in the courtroom as this call is played.
11:03 a.m.: The prosecution has called Lori Vallow's sister Summer Shiflet. The court has designated Shiflet as a victim so witness laws don't apply to her.
She says she was close with Lori in the past. Summer did not discover the kids were missing until December 2019, about three months after they were allegedly killed. Summer testifies that Lori told her she knew were the kids were and that they were safe; Summer trusted what her sister told her when she said they were safe. Shiflet is crying and wiping tears from her eyes during this line of questioning.
Prosecutors ask if her trust in her sister changed after the kids were discovered and why: “I felt lied to. And my trust in my sister was broken," Shiflet said.
A recording of a video visit on June 24, 2020 between Shiflet and Vallow - who was in jail - is now being played.
11 a.m.: Defense has finished cross-examination, questioning Ballance about GPS location data for Lori and Chad. In re-direct, the prosecution then asks Ballance whether someone can turn off their Google location services; he says, yes, they can opt out of those services on your device. Ballance has been excused.
10 a.m.: The prosecution has finished their examination of Special Agent Ballance. Vallow's defense attorney John Thomas is now cross-examining the special agent.
9:50 a.m.: Prosecution now questioning Ballance about Oct. 18, 2019 geolocation records and tower interactions. Ballance says he was asked to look at this date because Daybell's wife Tammy was found dead overnight between Oct. 18 and Oct. 19.
Based on cell phone tower signals, between 9:35 and 10:55 p.m. on Oct. 18, phones associated with Daybell and Cox exchanged multiple text messages.
Ballance testified that Daybell got a new phone in early October. Wood asked if Ballance noticed a pattern in communication between that phone and the phone associated with Cox once Daybell activated his new phone number; Ballance said, "I would just note it had heavy interactions with phones attributable to both those people".
Google location history showed that between 10:07-10:45 p.m. on Oct. 18, Cox's phone was located at the Salem Church near Daybell's property.
9:14 a.m.: Ballance testifies that based off Wi-Fi signals, cell tower interactions and stored Google location history, a Gmail account and phone associated with Alex Cox is near Vallow's apartment in Rexburg around 9:45 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2019. He tracked the phone then moving north and to Daybell's property outside Rexburg. Ballance says he looked at this date because investigators indicated there was a potential event at that time that was associated with JJ Vallow. After the phone is traced to the highway, Google location history shows Cox's phone was at multiple locations on Daybell's property, including very close to where JJ's body was buried.
8:58 a.m.: FBI Special Agent Nicholas Ballance, who is on the Cellular Analyst Survey Team (CAST), is back on the stand Tuesday morning. He specializes in analyzing cell phone records and geolocation data based on Google accounts and cell phone tower interactions. He's discussing interactions between the Google account and phone number associated with Lori's brother Alex Cox, Lori's cell phone and Lori's husband Chad Daybell's cell phone.
Ballance is testifying to cell phone tower interactions from the area covering Daybell's property the day after investigators believe Tylee was killed, and the day they believe JJ was killed.
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