Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
BOISE — Chad Daybell will not testify on his own behalf, he told the judge Thursday, after defense attorney John Prior called his last witness to the stand.
Daybell follows the suit of his wife Lori Vallow Daybell, who likewise declined to testify during her trial last year. It is not uncommon for defendants not to testify during trials, particularly murder trials.
Dr. Eric Bartelink, a forensic anthropologist, was the last defense witness and testified about the remains of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, found buried in a fire pit on Chad Daybell's property in Salem, Idaho.
"I believe a large amount of these bones are actually missing," said Bartelink, who reviewed evidence from the recovered remains. Bartelink wrote a report after examining the remains with his team and concurred with the original findings that numerous bones from the arms, legs and spine have not been recovered.
Bartelink said that it was a "possibility" more of the girl's bones could be on Daybell's property or elsewhere.
The defense rested its case just before 11 a.m., after Daybell announced he would decline to testify, moving the trial into the rebuttal phase of the case. Prosecutors called former co-workers of the Daybell children and a detective who had a role in the investigation.
Deputy can't return as rebuttal witness
On Wednesday, prosecutors argued that they should be allowed to call three specific witnesses back to the stand — Tammy Daybell's former co-worker Janice Olsen, Rexburg police detective Ray Hermosillo, and Fremont County sheriff's deputy Colter Cannon.
But Prior argued that Cannon "has now been tainted" because he had listened to trial testimony after his testimony ended, and Prior objected to having the witness return, calling it "highly inappropriate."
Judge Steven Boyce denied the prosecutors' request to call Cannon back to the stand Thursday, saying his exposure to the previous testimony was "concerning" and would present "an appearance of impropriety or an unfair advantage."
Hermosillo and Olsen are expected to testify when the trial resumes on Tuesday.
KSL.com is streaming the trial each day:
Conflicting testimony
Lisa Marie Jensen, a former co-worker of Tammy Daybell, testified Thursday that the former librarian was "well, healthy, and strived to keep herself that way" in the months leading up to her death. Jensen said the woman never complained about sickness and told jurors she never noticed Tammy Daybell getting tired, winded, or exhausted.
Jensen also worked with Tammy Daybell's daughter Emma Murray, playing a role in her hiring. Murray told Jensen she believed her mother's death was "related to a blood clot," Jensen said Thursday.
Murray and her brother Garth Daybell testified Monday that their mother's health had been declining in the last year or so of her life and that she experienced "fainting spells" and shortness of breath.
A former co-worker of Garth Daybell, Jason MacKay Abegglen, was next to testify Thursday. He told the jury that Garth Daybell did not usually talk about family with him, but on the week following his mother's death they spoke of the events.
"I remember he said that he found her when he got home from work, and he didn't know where his father was," Abegglen said. "He said she was kind of pale, and her lips were blue."
Garth Daybell testified earlier this week that upon coming home from work the night of his mother's death, "They were both in bed; I saw their forms, their shapes in the bed as I passed by the room." He also said that he heard his father snoring.
Fremont County sheriff's detective Bruce Mattingly testified about his efforts to give Murray the results of her mother's autopsy after the body had been exhumed. Mattingly and a Rexburg police officer went to Murray's school after trying unsuccessfully to contact her.
A voice recording of the interaction at the school was played for the jury. They met Murray after school, but Murray refused to be told the results of the autopsy without a lawyer present.
"We're not looking to ask any questions," Mattingly said in the recording. "We just want to give you the information."
Murray continued to decline to listen to the report.
On cross-examination, Prior said, "Isn't it true your motive to talk to Emma Murray was to capture her reaction on tape?"
Mattingly denied that it was.
Boyce released the jurors for a long holiday weekend and scheduled the prosecution's rebuttal to resume on Tuesday morning. Closing arguments will likely be held next week, and the jury will begin deliberations.
Daybell is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Lori Daybell's children — 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — and the death of 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.
If Daybell is convicted, a sentencing phase of the trial would be held, and the same jury would determine whether he should receive the death penalty.
Wednesday's testimony:
