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BOISE — Rexburg police detective Rey Hermosillo told jurors Thursday about the difficult discovery of the body of Lori Vallow Daybell's 7-year-old son, who was found buried in Chad Daybell's backyard.
The burial site was near a pond and a tree, where there "appeared to be a small body wrapped in dark plastic with duct tape around it."
Jurors in the murder trial of Chad Daybell — who is charged with the killing of Lori Daybell's two children and his former wife — saw photos of the bag taken when it was first found.
After following investigators taking Joshua "JJ" Vallow's body to the morgue, Hermosillo said he returned to Daybell's home and began helping with excavation in the pet cemetery on the property where he said, again, the smell of decomposing body was strong.
"We had to take turns digging because we were on our hands and knees, and the smell was so bad," he testified.
Hermosillo said he spent "hours" helping with the second excavation. He said they started to uncover "burnt pieces of flesh, charred bone, fatty tissue." They found the shape of a "green melted bucket" with remains they assumed belonged to 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. Under the bucket, the detective said investigators discovered part of a human skull and some teeth.
Before showing photos of the uncovering of Tylee's body, Judge Steven Boyce said some of the evidence was so graphic the court decided it should not shown on the public screen in the courtroom. Instead, it would be shown on screens only visible to jurors, attorneys and any victims who requested to see it. Hermosillo described the photos and explained what they showed.
After testifying about the excavation, Hermosillo described watching the autopsy of JJ. He said when they removed the bag, they found a boy in red pajamas with duct tape wrapped around his head, over his mouth, and around his wrists, arms and ankles. He said the amount of duct tape on the boy's arms caught his attention.
Hermosillo said he recognized the body as JJ. He said the hairstyle matched and was shorter on the sides and longer on top. He said there were scratch marks on his neck under the duct tape and bruises.
With Tylee's body, however, the detective said there was not much that could be done during an autopsy on "what was left as far as remains."
Chad Daybell is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of the two children and his former wife, Tammy Daybell, in late 2019. He is also charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of each of the victims, grand theft and two counts of insurance fraud.
Testimony in the trial concluded Thursday, and the judge dismissed the jurors until Monday morning. Boyce said jury selection in the case finished quicker than anticipated, and other witnesses weren't lined up to testify this week.
Defense attorney John Prior asked multiple questions of Hermosillo during his cross-examination, and said he planned to call him back to the witness stand later in the trial when the defense will present its case.
He questioned Hermosillo about investigating an attempted shooting reported by Tammy Daybell in her driveway 10 days before she died. He asked why Hermosillo referred to the incident as an attempted shooting, when Tammy Daybell reported to neighbors she believed the weapon used was a paintball gun that she did not think was loaded.
Alex Cox, Lori Daybell's brother, is suspected to be the person behind the attempted shooting based on testimony in Lori Daybell's trial from his girlfriend and from officers who testified that his cellphone was in the area at that time. Cox, however, died of what investigators determined was natural causes the day after Tammy Daybell's body was exhumed.
Hermosillo answered Prior's questions citing searches made on Cox's phone about shooting through a Dodge Dakota and shooting an AR-15 in the cold. Later when Wood questioned him again, Hermosillo added that Tammy Daybell's death 10 days later also led him to believe that the previous incident did not involve a paint gun.
During his cross-examination, Prior questioned whether Hermosillo was claiming Chad Daybell was avoiding police officers while they were looking for JJ.
Hermosillo testified that their investigation revealed Chad Daybell went to California after their search of Lori Daybell's home and then later to Hawaii, but said he did not know whether Chad Daybell was avoiding police or going on a planned vacation.
Prior also asked the detective whether Chad Daybell was involved in three incidents: 1) The death of Lori Daybell's former husband Charles Vallow a few months before the children died; 2) The attempted shooting of Brandon Boudreaux, Lori Daybell's nephew-in-law, that led Arizona police to begin searching for Tylee's car in Idaho; or 3) An assault on Lori Daybell's previous husband Joseph Ryan years earlier.
Hermosillo conceded that Chad Daybell is not facing any criminal charges connected to those three incidents.
This line of questioning fits with Prior's opening statements where he said Chad Daybell's relationship with Lori Daybell was "very unfortunate" for his client, and claimed Lori Daybell and her brother had more problematic pasts.
Wednesday testimony:
