Lori Vallow (center).Photo: Lisa Cheney of Boise, Idaho
A detective for police in Rexburg, Idaho, testified Tuesday that when he first approached Chad Daybell in 2019 and asked him aboutLori Vallow Daybell, Chad said he “hardly knew” Lori — despite the fact that they’d been married for two weeks.
When Hermosillo asked Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, where J.J. was, Cox “got a blank look on his face — a frightened look,” Hermosillo testified.
At that point, said Hermosillo, both Chad and Cox looked at each other.
“It raised some red flags, the way they acted with that question.”
Cox then told Hermosillo that J.J. was in Louisiana with Woodcock.
“I said that it wasn’t likely, because Kay called in for the welfare check. [Cox and Chad] both looked at each other again,” Hermosillo said.
Chad Daybell, left, and Lori Vallow.Rexburg Police Department ; Madison County Sheriff’s Office/AP/Shutterstock
When Hermosillo asked Chad for Lori’s number, Chad said he didn’t have it.
“I assumed he was lying because they were close,” Hermosillo testified.
And when Hermosillo asked Chad about his relationship with Lori, “He said he hardly knew her,” Hermosillo testified, adding that he was suspicious because authorities “knew that Lori and Chad had been married two weeks prior to contact.”
Subsequently, Hermosillo — who testified that his visit to Lori’s house allegedly showed “deception” and “lies” — got a search warrant for the homes of Lori, her niece Melani Boudreaux, and Cox.
“At that time, we felt there was something more going on with the whereabouts of J.J. and we weren’t getting any cooperation from Chad or Alex Cox,” said Hermosillo, who later testified about making the grim discovery of the remains of J.J. and Lori’s daughter, Tylee Ryan,buried on Chad’s property in 2020.
Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, at left, and his sister Tylee Ryan.
Lori is on trial accused of the murders of her two children and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Chad’s first wife Tammy Daybell. Lori has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Chad, who is Lori’s fifth husband, is also charged, but will have a separate trial. He has also pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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“What was left of Tylee was found. Charred remains. A mass of bone and tissues. That was what was left of this beautiful young woman,” Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake said on Monday during opening statements. “Her DNA was discovered on a pickaxe and shovel and later found in Daybell’s shed.”
J.J. was last seen Sept. 23, 2019, and the last known image of Tylee was taken Sept. 8, 2019, while she was on a day trip to Yellowstone National Park with her mother, brother and Lori’s brother, Cox, according to a court filing.
On Dec. 12, 2019, Coxdied from a heart attackat age 51.
Lori has also been indicted in Arizona on one count of conspiracy to commit first degree murder in connection with the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot to death in 2019. Lori and Cox said the shooting was in self-defense, and Lori has pleaded not guilty.
In March, a judge ruled that Loriwill not face the death penaltyin her current murder trial. She faces life in prison if convicted.
Lori’s trial in Idaho is ongoing.
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source: people.com
