Court sketch from the Lori Vallow Daybell Trial, May 2, 2023.
BOISE, Idaho — In the fifth week of the Lori Vallow Daybell Trial, testimony centered around Tammy Daybell and her sudden death that was later deemed “suspicious” by investigators.
Vallow Daybell is charged with seven felonies. She and her husband Chad Daybell are accused of murdering her two children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Vallow Daybell is also accused of conspiring to murder Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.
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Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty. Chad Daybell’s trial will be held separately and at a later date.
Testimony from Tammy Daybell’s friend and neighbor, Alice Gilbert, explained to the court the “great person” Tammy Daybell was and how the relationship between Chad and Tammy began to change.
“In 2019, it kind of changed. He was more distant to her,” she said. “So that was noticeable.”
Alice Gilbert learned of Tammy’s death on the morning of Oct. 19 when Tammy’s daughter Emma called her at approximately 7 a.m.
Emma supposedly called her sobbing and said that her mother had died. Alice Gilbert said Chad Daybell took the phone from her.
“He told me not to tell anybody and to wait for about an hour. I said, ‘Well, I need to call the Bishop’ and he said, ‘Nope. Don’t call.’ But I did.”
Alice Gilbert told the court she went over to the home at 8:30 a.m. but Chad Daybell did not seem stunned. He told Alice Gilbert that Tammy Daybell died of an embolism. He explained he found her with her legs hanging off bed and then fell off the bed.
Alice Gilbert testified about the funeral and memorial and that Chad Daybell said he was moving out and moving to Rexburg and had a friend there with a condo who would let him stay there.
By Oct. 26, Alice Gilbert reached out to see how Chad Daybell was doing he said he would come over to her home.
“He said, ‘actually I’m doing really good,’ That he met the woman he was going to marry,” Alice Gilbert said. “Yes, we were shocked. He went on to say how beautiful she was, and we asked him where he met her. He said at a conference in St. George in October.”
A few days later Chad Daybell brought Lori Vallow with him to visit the Gilberts. According to Alice Gilbert they were “quite affectionate with each other.” Alice Gilbert said she asked about Lori’s family and Vallow Daybell said her husband died in December of a heart attack.
“Then Chad said, ‘And she just recently lost a daughter.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ She said, ‘Thank you.’ I asked how many children she had. She stammered….like there were step-children involved. So I didn’t get a number,” Alice Gilbert said.
It wasn’t until weeks later when the search began for JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan that Alice Gilbert thought that comment could refer to Tylee. When Vallow Daybell was arrested, Chad Daybell came to the Gilberts and asked them to put up their property to pay Vallow Daybell’s bond. Alice Gilbert said at this point she began to ask more questions.
“I said to him, ‘You told me…she had just lost a daughter.’ And he said, ‘No, I didn’t.’ I said, ‘Yes, you did.’ So I knew that it was Tylee he was talking to me about. I asked him also, ‘where are they? Where are the kids, Chad? Doesn’t Tylee want a life, a job, a car, a boyfriend? And he said, ‘She didn’t like people and she didn’t like me.’”
Alice Gilbert said the reply stood out to her because Chad Daybell had used past tense in talking about Tylee.
Todd Gilbert, Alice’s husband, also testified in court Tuesday. Chad Daybell told Todd Gilbert Tammy Daybell would die before 50 in February of 2019.
“He made the statement as he was leaving, he said, ‘I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but I’ve seen a vision that Tammy is going to move on and die before her 50th birthday,’” Todd Gilbert said.
Todd Gilbert also mentioned the time he and his wife Alice Gilbert confronted Chad Daybell about what he’d previously said about Vallow Daybell’s daughter.
“He said she didn’t really like him too much and she just kind of stayed away,” he said. “That’s all I remember about that.”
Other testimonies included the cross examination of Dr. Erik Christensen, chief medical examiner for the state of Utah and Det. Bruce Mattingly, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.
Data from Tammy Daybell’s Fitbit was shown to the jury.
“Tammy was very active up until the time of her death,” Mattingly said.
Tammy Daybell had been doing Zumba, taking a clogging class, and just completed running a 5k.
“From your review of this, did it corroborate statements made by Chad Daybell?”
“No, it was completely opposite,” Mattingly said.
Trial will resume Wednesday.