Law&Crime Sidebar - 7 Shocking Revelations About Tammy Daybell's Death Uncovered in ‘Doomsday Cult’ Mom’s Trial

Episode Date: May 4, 2023

Shortly before the “doomsday cult” duo got married, Chad Daybell’s wife died at his Idaho home. The trial of Lori Vallow Daybell has uncovered numerous disturbing details related to the death of Tammy Daybell, who Lori stands accused of murdering, along with her two children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down seven shocking revelations about Tammy Daybell’s death.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Chat called me the morning that she passed away. Do you recall what he told you? He told me that she had been really sick. And that she'd been coughing all night, and she'd gone to, you had gotten up and with a coughing fit around midnight, 1 o'clock, and had gone back to sleep. And he was awakened by her that morning when she rolled out of bed dead. Did that make any sense to you?

No. In some incredible new testimony in the Lori Vallo-Daybell murder trial, we learned details surrounding the death of Tammy. Daybell, the first wife of Laurie's husband, Chad Daybell. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We are learning so many details in the Lori Valo Daybel trial, things that we didn't necessarily know beforehand. Of course, this is the case of the Idaho mother facing murder and conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft charges, a connection with the deaths of two of her children, seven-year-old JJ Valo, 16-year-old Tiley Ryan, as well

is 49-year-old Tammy Daybell, the first wife of Chad Daybell, Lori's current husband and co-defendant. We can't forget that the kids' bodies were found buried on his property, and he himself has been charged with the actual first-degree murder of his wife, Tammy. And that is exactly what we want to talk about right now. Some of the biggest revelations about Tammy Daybell's death. Now, let's remember this. When she died back on October 19, 2019, It was only the month prior when Tiley and JJ were last seen, and then two weeks after Tammy's death, Chad and Lori get married in Hawaii. Her death was originally ruled as natural.

But after everything happened with the kids, her body was exhumed, and now prosecutors say that she died from asphyxiation, losing oxygen, asphyxiation at the hands of another. Okay, let's actually start with some details before her death. And specifically, I'm talking about the testimony of Samantha, William, This is Tammy Daybell's sister. Listen to her described Tammy's last visit that was quite eerie. When she came to visit in October, was that a normal visit? No, it was out of the blue.

Did anyone come with her? No, she came by herself, and that was unusual because Tammy didn't like to travel alone. Did she tell you why she came down to visit? Chad told her that she needed to come visit her family. Was she able to see all of the siblings? No, it was me and my mom and dad. Did Tammy ever indicate to you that she had suspicion that Chad was having an affair? No, she never said anything about it.

I don't, if she did have any inkling, I think he probably brushed it away. Did you notice any change in her? and Chad and Tammy's relationship? Yes, they stayed with us the first week in June of 2019, and something seemed off. They were very awkward at our house, and Chad wouldn't converse with my husband like they normally do. It just seemed really strange, and we weren't sure what was going on.

Were there any other instances where things seemed a little off? Yes. In my birthday in July, Tammy showed up at my front door to give me my birthday present. I didn't even know they were in town, and he stayed in the car the whole time with it running. So she literally stood in my house for five minutes to talk, and then they just left it. He didn't even bother to come in and say anything. It was really weird. And that was of 2019? Yes. Had you and Chad had any kind of a falling out? No. We were never quite sure what Tammy knew about Chad's affair with Lori. So the fact that her sister says she had no idea is important. It's important because I've seen reporting that Tammy was Chad's ex-wife or his former wife.

No, no, no, no, no. By all accounts, Tammy was none the wiser. She thought she was in a happy marriage, which makes this allegation that Chad killed her and Lori conspired in her killing even more. chilling. And then the idea that Chad wanted Tammy to visit his sister supports the narrative that he knew she was going to die, right? There was testimony in this trial that Chad made comments predicting Tammy's death. So his strange behavior around Samantha is very curious as well. But is Tammy in bad health? Was she fighting a disease? What may be laid up to her death. Well, let's listen to Tammy's friend, Alice Gilbert, talk about Tammy Daybell's well-being,

and then the odd behavior and statements of Chad Daybell after his wife's death. And when you would see Tammy, did you notice her slow down at all? No. Did you notice any change in her activity level prior to her death? No, in fact, I think it increased. Did she ever complain? complained you about any health issues? No. Did you ever see Tammy have any shaking fits? No. Did you ever see Tammy faint?

No. Did she ever tell you that she did? No. At some point, did you learn, or excuse, let me back up, How did you learn about Tammy's death? The morning of the 19th, 7 o'clock, Emma called me on the phone, and she was just sobbing, and she told me that her mother had died, and I said, what?

And she said, what happened? And she said, she died in her sleep. I'm an object to hearsay. This is all hearsay. At some point, did someone take that? the phone from Emma? Chad did. And what did Chad tell you? He told me not to tell anybody and to wait for about an hour. And I said, well, I need to call the bishop. And he said, no, don't call. But I still did. Did you make observations of Chad when you arrived? Yes, he met us at the

door and he gave me a hug and all the children were there and their spouses except for Mark and the children were stunned

they were all on the couch and chairs and they could hardly speak they were stunned at this but um Chad was not stunned. He was

had to tell us I said what happened and he said well we think she died of an embolism and he said that her legs were hanging over the bed and that she fell out of the bed and that she got up at midnight and

vomited and and the kids didn't say anything and they were I think they were too stunned to talk. Did it surprise you to hear Chad's explanation of her death? Yes, because I had just seen her Wednesday. I had just talked to her on Wednesday.

And how did she seem on Wednesday? Fine. She was fine. Did she complain to you at all that day of any health issues? No. Did you ever hear have a coughing fit around that time? No.

After initially going to the Davelle residence, what else did you do that morning? So I asked him if they had breakfast and they said no. And my husband and I said, well, we'll go get you breakfast. And as we stood up to go, Chad told me that the funeral is going to be on Tuesday and Memorial on Wednesday.

And I was really surprised. And I looked at him. I said, oh, did you plan this? Because, you know, sometimes a husband and wife will say if I die before you, I want, you know, a grave site or do this. I said, do you plan this? And he said, no. But I knew somebody planned it. Him allegedly telling Gilbert to not immediately say Tammy died.

Strange. Chad not being stunned And almost like he was prepared for this Strange The fact that Tammy was healthy By all accounts and died in the way that Chad described Strange These are all allegations

But still strange And the reports at the time Were that Chad refused to have an autopsy performed on Tammy That he had her funeral relatively quickly after her death And as I mentioned He married Lori two weeks later

And the Fremont County coroner took the stand and explained a little bit why Tammy's death was originally classified as natural, but it might not make so much sense. Did Chad request an autopsy? No. Did he make any indication to you regarding the autopsy? No. Do you issue a death certificate, or excuse me, do you issue death certificates?

I sign off on them. So you sign off on them to be submitted to the state? Yes, on the cause of death, yes. Did you, in fact, do that on a death certificate for Tamara Debel? Yes. Do you recall what you indicated the cause of death to be? Cause was pulmonary edema due to syncopal episodes with seizure-like activity and the manner natural.

And again, that was based on, excuse me, let me back up. Was that based in large part on information Chad DeVell provided you? Yes, and also a daughter gave me some medical history background on her. And do you know if an autopsy was ultimately performed on Tamara Daybill? Yes, it was. Do you know if there was an exhumation? Yes. Did you, in fact, attend the exhumation?

Yes. Did you also attend the autopsy? Yes. Do you know who conducted the autopsy? A medical examiner from the Utah. Morg. And you didn't, and you did attend that? Yes.

Do you know what the findings of the medical examiner were? Yes. What did they find the manner of death to be? Asphyxiation, suffocation. And was that the cause or the manner? That was the cause. Do you know what they determined the manner to be? The manner was homicide.

So they determined the manner to be homicide? Yes. And the cause to be asphyxiation? Yes. Do you have any reason to refute the findings of that autopsy? No. So Tammy Daybell dies, and it's now determined after exhuming her body that she died from someone asphyxating her to death.

It's horrible. It's horrible. But who did this? How did they do this? let's go back to Fremont County Coroner Brenda Dye. While everyone said that Tammy was healthy, and there were no reports indicating otherwise, we learned that Chad Daybell's alleged version of Tammy's health,

his wife, was very different. As part of your investigation while you were unseen, did you ask Chad for more information regarding Tammy's health? Yes. Did he, in fact, provide that? Yes. What did he tell you? He said that she had been feeling really off lately, like she wasn't in her body, that she had had some syncopal episodes, which is fainting.

One specific time was at the temple. As she was kneeling at the altar, when she went to stand up, she passed out on the floor. He also stated she had very low blood pressure, so I asked if she had seen a doctor for that or been treated for that. He said that she didn't go to doctors very often. She tried to treat everything naturally with oils and natural supplements. He said that she had fallen a few times by the Sinkapal episodes. Do you recall if he told you anything about Tammy having shaking fits? Yes, when I observed the blood tinged, the pink sputum coming from her mouth,

I started to question what that could be from. I asked if she had any seizure-like activity when she had the syncopal episodes. He did say that when she had those episodes. her legs would shake, and she did have some convulsions. And did he tell you about the shaking fits prior to you mentioning seizures? No. So he continued to provide additional information based on things you would mention. Yes.

But as you'll hear from Die, Chad's description of events wasn't quite matching up. In looking at this photo, do you notice anything with regard to the mattress? It's a little off-the-box springs. Do you recall if Chad told you anything as to why it was off-the-box springs? No. And at this point in time, did you move the mattress yourself? No. Based on what you knew and your observations, was anything suspicious to you,

regarding this scene at the time. No. Did you find anything suspicious as to the description of Tammy's body falling out of bed? Yes. What was that? I asked Chad how she could fall out of bed if she was already deceased and how her legs were still wrapped in the covers and the sheets. That's what he stated.

His response was that it was because her legs were wrapped in the sheet. No, he had told me that her legs were wrapped in the sheet, that her head had fallen off the side of the bed, and her left side of the body was hanging off. And I asked how that could happen if she was already deceased. Did Chad provide a response or an answer? He did. He said he must have pulled the top sheet when he rolled over in his sleep,

releasing her because she liked to sleep on the edge of the bed. So the idea of Tammy getting sick, coughing, having this seizure-like event and falling off the bed, it's just not adding up. And that now brings me to the real bombshell of the Tammy Daybell testimony, in my opinion. And that is the testimony of Dr. Eric Christensen. This is the Utah chief medical examiner. He is the person who concluded that Tammy died of asphyxiation at the hands of another. Well, he said that he observed some injuries on Tammy Daybell.

And as you were going through this process with the bruising on Ms. Daybell, were you able to make any determination with regard to the age of the bruising? All of it, all of the sections that we look at under the microscope showed only hemorrhage. They were acute injuries. And would you be able to say if they occurred prior to or after her death? Most likely prior. Certainly you can inflict bruises on an individual who has recently died. If you strike them, drop them, any number of other things.

But once circulation stops, you tend to not have a lot of accumulations. of hemorrhage within the tissues simply because there's no circulation of blood pressure. Bruises inflicted before she died, this certainly looks like an attack. And we didn't quite know this beforehand. There were so many theories as to, you know, how Tammy Daybell might have died, was she poisoned, was she suffocated? So we're definitely getting a fuller picture of what happened. So the injuries were pretty astonishing. But that is not all.

Dr. Christensen also explains something more specific with these injuries. And so those are the sort of the basic things. In addition to having no anatomical abnormalities, no organ pathology, per se, no pneumonia, no other pathologic process that would explain her death. She did also have some injuries on her arms, very non-specific blunt injuries, bruises on her right arm. arm and on her left chest, which were determined to be relatively acute injuries, had happened, you know, within the hours around the time of her death, would be, by their nature, those types of blunt injuries are not specific, but they are certainly consistent with someone being restrained

and would be, you know, consistent with asphyxia as a cause of death as well. now according to this we are learning she was restrained before she died again i'll say it before this is purely the prosecution's case this is an allegation but what an allegation what a piece of testimony the picture of the prosecution's case is starting to become very clear remember we know that chad daybell has been charged with tammy's murder so is it possible he was the one who actually killed her? Was he the one who held her down? Was he the one who suffocated her?

Certainly a plausible theory, given he was in the home with her, had the opportunity, the means to catch her off guard, attack her. Highlighted earlier the kind of questionable, weird comments he made after her death, but also prior to her death,

seemingly predicting she wasn't going to have a long life. If this was the case against Chad Daybell, which, by the way, he is going to be tried at a later date, you can see how the evidence would mount up against him. Then again, could this have been Alex Cox, Lori Valo Debel's deceased brother, who the evidence in this trial is pointing to as the person who killed the children, JJ and Tiley. He's essentially like the henchmen and all this. Could it have been maybe both of them, Alex and Chad?

And how does this all tie back to Lori Vallo Debel? while she was charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of Tammy Davao. And the testimony and the evidence has been showing, or at least trying to show, that she planned to have Tammy shot on a prior occasion, that she married Chad right after Tammy's death. No questions. That she had this close-knit relationship with Chad and her brother.

And I've said it before. I'll say it again. When we talk about conspiracy charges, all you need is an agreement, an agreement to kill, and then one of those people in the agreement, whether it's Chad, whether it's Lori, whether it's Alex Cox, if someone takes an overt step in furtherance of that plot, in that plot to kill, she can be found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. So you can see how prosecutors are making out that case against all of them, including Lori Valadebo.

Now, I am going to leave you with this. One more sad fact. And that is that at the time of this recording today, May 4th, 2023, this is Tammy Daybell's birthday. And she would have been 53 years old. That's all we have for you. You're on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us.

Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.