Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
BOISE — Kay Woodcock took the witness stand in the Chad Daybell murder trial Thursday and said after she found out Charles Vallow "was murdered," she became "extremely worried" about her grandson, Joshua "JJ" Vallow.
Vallow, Lori Vallow Daybell's former husband, was shot and killed in Arizona by Lori Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, who claimed he acted in self-defense. Police, however, later determined it was not self-defense.
Charles Vallow, Woodcock's older brother, and then-Lori Vallow adopted JJ when he was an infant. Woodcock explained that JJ was her biological grandchild. She said he was born 10 weeks early with drugs in his system and he remained in the hospital for over six weeks. After that, he lived with Woodcock and her husband for about eight months until he was adopted.
She said Charles and Lori Vallow had been "doting" parents and talked about pleasant visits with them over the years. She said through JJ, she and her brother became closer.
But Woodcock said contact with her grandson was sparse over the month after Charles Vallow's death with only a few FaceTime calls. She said Lori Daybell was "very evasive." After the last call she had with JJ on Aug. 10, 2019, Woodcock said she called, texted and emailed his mother multiple times but never received a response.
Chad Daybell is on trial facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of JJ and his sister, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as 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.
KSL.com is streaming the trial each day.
Woodcock said she heard about her brother's death on July 12, the day after it happened, when his older children reached out to her to confirm texts sent by Lori Daybell telling them he had died. She said they verified it through searching his name on the internet.
The grandmother said she arranged to fly with JJ, so that he could go to his father's funeral in Louisiana. But after everything was planned, Lori Daybell "backed out of the deal." Woodcock said she believes Lori Daybell backed out after learning that Woodcock was the beneficiary of Charles Vallow's life insurance policy instead of her.
Woodcock testified about logging on to her brother's email on Nov. 8, 2019, almost three months after she had last heard JJ's voice, and finally learning that Lori Daybell had moved from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho.
Woodcock said she had been trying to connect Charles Vallow's printer to her computer and woke up early "with a compulsion" to go finish. She said the Gmail login page was open for his email, and she tried one of his favorite passwords and the email opened.
Woodcock said she saw an email from Amazon about a delivery that had an address in Rexburg. She talked to a private investigator she had hired who helped her see the Amazon browsing history. She found a search for malachite wedding rings, beach wedding dresses, men's beach clothing and a yellow bathing suit.
She said the searches were made on Oct. 2, 2019, before Tammy Daybell's death.
"Lori was obviously involved with Chad Daybell and … it was just mind-blowing that they were looking at wedding rings before Tammy's death," she testified.
When defense attorney John Prior asked Woodcock whether she received a life insurance check after Charles Vallow's death, she responded, "I don't know if they were the only two involved in the murder, but yes," implying that she believes Chad Daybell was involved, too.
Woodcock looked directly at Chad Daybell as she moved from the witness stand to her seat in the gallery.
Chad Daybell is not facing any charges related to Charles Vallow's death, as Prior has tried to emphasize when questioning several witnesses.
Chad Daybell's mother testifies
Chad Daybell's mother, Sheila Daybell, testified the last time she saw her daughter-in-law Tammy Daybell was on Oct. 13, 2019, when she traveled to Idaho, and at that point she looked healthy.
She said she drove to Idaho again on Oct. 19, immediately after hearing from her son that his wife had died. She said he seemed "upset," as well as his children. "He just looked like someone who had their partner pass away," she said.
Sheila Daybell testified about meeting her son and Lori Daybell at a Texas Roadhouse in Idaho Falls the next month. She said she saw rings on their fingers and her husband asked if they were engaged.
"They said, 'No, we're married,'" she testified.
She said Lori Daybell was "very friendly and upbeat" at that meeting and shared more than her son. Sheila Daybell said Lori Daybell told her that she had a daughter who had died.
Sister-in-law speaks about concerning beliefs
Heather Daybell, Chad Daybell's sister-in-law, testified Thursday that she did not want him to move to Rexburg near where she lived. She expressed concerns about his religious beliefs.
She said in 2014 Chad Daybell started talking about end-of-times events and things he said he had seen in visions. He told her and her husband that they would become leaders after an earthquake in Utah, and she told jurors that she did not believe him. Heather Daybell said she does not believe individuals are given specific revelations from God about other people like that.
"I was concerned about the things that he was telling the family. ... I was not comfortable," she said.
Heather Daybell said she spoke with Tammy Daybell and said she and her children believed in Chad Daybell's visions. She said she asked Chad Daybell not to talk to her children about them.
She said she also asked Chad Daybell not to move into her church congregation, but he did anyway.
After hearing about Tammy Daybell's death, she said she called Chad Daybell to ask what happened and when he told her, "it felt scripted" and "it made me feel very uneasy." Weeks later he told her Tammy Daybell died of a pulmonary embolism because of gaining weight, and she testified that she was flustered at the difference in the story.
She was out of town with her husband when Tammy Daybell died and they asked for the funeral to be scheduled after they could return, but Chad Daybell's response was, "No, we're just going to get it done," Heather Daybell testified.
She was able to attend the funeral and said Chad Daybell seemed to turn his grief on and off and was late to the luncheon.
"It was strange to me that Chad could be smiling and then crying all of a sudden. His demeanor seemed strange to me," she said.
When Heather Daybell heard that he had gotten remarried, she reached out to Chad Daybell's children in a group text, which led to a phone call from Chad Daybell telling her she "had been a problem for him his whole life," and he called her a "pot stirrer."
She testified she told him she did not want to meet his new wife when he offered.
Lori Daybell was found guilty last year of murdering her children and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell and was sentenced to five terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
She is charged in Arizona with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the death of Charles Vallow and the attempted shooting of her former nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Cox died in December 2019 of natural causes, according to investigators, before being charged in any of the deaths.
Judge Steven W. Boyce said Thursday that one of the 18 jurors selected for the case has been excused for medical reasons, so now there are 17 jurors listening to the evidence in the case. Of the initial 18 jurors, six were alternates, so now there will be five alternates.
KSL.com is streaming the trial each day. Testimony is expected to resume Friday at 8:30 a.m. MDT.
Wednesday's testimony:
