LIVE UPDATES: Detective, cell phone expert testify on day 6 of Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial

Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one charge of conspiracy to commit the murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband. Nate Eaton is live in the courtroom with updates. Please excuse any typos. Times listed below are in Mountain Standard Time, so they are an hour behind Idaho. (Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time.) The most recent updates are at the top.

2:28 p.m. We are in recess until tomorrow. Join me at 8 p.m. MT for “Courtroom Insider” tonight on the East Idaho News YouTube channel.

2:27 p.m. Jury has no questions. Judge tells jurors we are breaking early for the day. Schedule for Wednesday and Thursday is 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Judge dismisses jury.

2:26 p.m. Werther says the device “clearly departed the scene well before the 911 call.” Either the shooting happened much later than we were told or the device and the person bearing it, Ms. Vallow, left well before the 911 call was made, he says.

2:25 p.m. Werther says this was what he was asked to figure out: “Does it appear that this device, as I had been told, had been traveling with Ms. Vallow or does it appear not to be the case?”

2:23 p.m. Lori has no more questions. Treena will now re-direct. Asks about when he went to the Tru Hilton and picked up Charles’ property, “did you ever review anything from his laptop?” Werther says he was provided with extractions at one point and believes he reviewed them. That data was not in the PowerPoint. He did not review data from Charles’ iPad.

2:22 p.m. Lori asks Werther if he went to Lauren’s Life Academy at any point. He did not. Lori asks if he was able to identify JJ in the front seat of the car at Burger King. “I wouldn’t say that I could identify him.” He wrote juvenile passenger with short brown hair in his report.

2:21 p.m. Lori asks how he spent compiling data before finalizing his report. Werther explains the process he went through to complete his report but he didn’t log how many hours he spent on it.

2:20 p.m. Werther says he wasn’t heavily involved in the investigation after he looked at the location data on Charles’ phone. Years later, he was asked to incorporate his data into an overall analysis after he was more familiar with the processes, etc.

2:18 p.m. Lori asks Werther about calling her on July 12. She reviews what the conversation was about – that Lori had the hotel key and someone would come and get it.

2:16 p.m. Lori asks Werther if he stayed with Det. Coons the entire time. “I’m not confident how much I was there helping as I was observing.” Werther says he didn’t perform any particular tasks. He was mainly observing.

2:15 p.m. Lori asks if Werther became aware of the $2 million life insurance policy “Charles had on me.” Werther is not aware of that. Lori asks if Werther came across threatening text messages from Charles to Lori. Werther is not aware of the contents of the phone – he was only looking at location data.

2:14 p.m. Lori asks if the items are documented. He says they are. Everything is written down. Nothing was left in the hotel room and all the items were taken into custody.

2:14 p.m. Lori asks if the electronic devices were on or off. He says he didn’t check the condition of the electronics, but did not alter anything. Werther is asked how long he was at the hotel room. He doesn’t recall.

2:12 p.m. Lori changes direction and begins asking about what was found in Charles’ hotel room. Werther didn’t personally inventory the items, he packaged them and took them back to the station.

2:11 p.m. Lori asks about something found in the phone – a scheduled phone date with Nancy Jo Hancock on July 11. Lori goes through and lists a few other dates that were found in Charles’ phone. Treena objects based on relevance. Judge sustains. Treena asks for a sidebar. Judge says no – the objection is sustained. Lori says this is relevant. Judge says it isn’t.

2:10 p.m. Lori noted that Werther pulled out some things he found during his investigation. Werther says if he finds something he believes may be relevant, he pulls it out. He then lets the detectives know that there might be information to help the case – or maybe not.

2:09 p.m. Lori asks if Werther learned Charles sent someone $1,000. Treena objects on relevance. Sustained. Lori asks Werther’s role in going through the data on her husband’s phone. He says there was concerns about the timeline and he went through the location data of the phone.

2:08 p.m. Lori asks about a woman Charles was going to meet at the airport. Treena objects based on relevance. Judge sustains. Lori argues that it’s relevant to what’s going on in June and July. Judge stands by the objection. Lori asks Werther if he learned who the woman was. Objection. Sustained.

2:07 p.m. Lori begins by asking the report Werther completed. Lori says there are some interesting “contrasting” things in his report. “You made a note of his daily text message of love and devotion to me. Do you remember that?” Werther does not remember. “You also made a note of the interactions with women he was attempting to date.” Werther remembers that.

2:06 p.m. Treena has no further questions. Lori will now cross-examine.

2:05 p.m. Werther did not look at any other days. This was the only day he researched because there were concerns about the timeline on that day. A woman’s phone just went off and was told phones need to stay off or people will asked to leave the courtroom.

2:03 p.m. Charles’ iPhone returns to the house between 2:43-3:11 p.m. to return the device to detectives.

2:02 p.m. At 2:18 p.m., Lori called Valley of the Sun Mortuary.

2:01 p.m. Charles’, Alex and Lori’s phones are in the area of Alex’s house between 1:42 and 2:07 p.m. Lori calls Det. Ynclan’s phone at 2:07 p.m.

2 p.m. We are now streaming video from the trial here.

1:58 p.m. We now see Charles’ phone movement in the noon hour. The device was on the move. Lori’s device was also in the same area.

1:57 p.m. We now see the police body camera footage at 8:48 a.m. of Lori and Tylee showing up at the scene. Charles’ phone was back on the scene at this time.

1:55 p.m. We need a copy of the CAD report that the call came into dispatch at 8:36 a.m. The report was a shooting. At 8:49 a.m., Charles’ phone was moving south and arrived in the neighborhood.

1:54 p.m. The phone gets to Lauren’s Life Academy between 8:17-8:33 a.m. Charles’ phone then goes south between 8:33-8:35. Alex calls 911 at 8:35 a.m.

1:51 p.m. The phone then goes to Walgreen’s and arrives at 8:16 a.m. It was at the store “for a while.”

1:49 p.m. The vehicle leaves at 7:56 a.m. Charles’ iPhone moves north. Alex called Lori at 8:06 a.m.

1:48 p.m. The receipt matched the time and order of Lori’s visit in the drive-thru. Here is the video:

1:47 p.m. We see the video of Lori in the drive-thru at Burger King. It’s 7:54 a.m.

1:44 p.m. We now see Charles’ iPhone near Burger King between 7:52 and 7:56. If it helps, I drove this route a few weeks ago. Here’s that video:

1:43 p.m. The 911 call was at 8:36 a.m. The last outgoing communication from Charles’ phone was at 7:37 a.m. A text message. Between 7:37-7:49, the phone was in the general area of the house. At 7:50, the device leaves the area. At 7:52, Alex calls Lori’s phone.

1:41 p.m. We are now looking at Charles Vallow’s phone at 7:16 a.m. It was at the Tru Hilton hotel. There seem to be some technical issues and Werther says they may need a different machine, but continues with his tefimony. Between 7:16-7:31, Charles’ phone moves from the Hilton the house where Lori is.

1:39 p.m. You can zoom in on certain parts of the map and different times can be pulled up.

1:38 p.m. Next slide shows an example of what the mapping will look like. It’s not specific evidence – just an example. There is a Google map with different color area showing approximately when the events took place.

1:36 p.m. Werther shows a slide explaining coverage areas and how radio frequencies from cell phones are measured.

1:33 p.m. Werther says Lori’s pins from her first phone will be in purple, Lori’s second phone will be in blue and Alex’s will be green. Lori had a T Mobile and Verizon phone, Alex had a Verizon phone.

1:32 p.m. The third slide shows the data for Alex Cox’s phone. The next slide shows locations extracted from Charles’ phone.

1:31 p.m. The first phone was registered to Charles Vallow. The second phone is a T-Mobile phone registered to Lori Vallow.

1:30 p.m. Extraction was done on three phones. We see the first slide which refers to information taken from a Verizon phone number. There is a list of files that were extracted from the phone.

1:27 p.m. Jurors are being brought in. Treena continues questioning Det. Werther. He is about to go through his geolocation cell phone Powerpoint report.

1:26 p.m. We are back in the courtroom. Judge Beresky just walked in. State says there is a witness issue this afternoon. Det. Nathan Duncan was supposed to testify this afternoon but he has gone home sick. Det. Werther will be the last witness today.

12:04 p.m. Lunch recess. Back in 90 minutes.

12:02 p.m. Treena moves to admit other cell phone activity, data and records. She asks Werther if he tried to verify the accuracy of cell phone info. by comparing it to other sources. Like looking at Charles’ data and going to Burger King to see if the times match.

11:59 a.m. Werther reviewed cell phone tower data from Lori’s T-mobile phone activity. Search warrants were obtained on her phone, Charles’ phone and Alex’s phone.

11:57 a.m. Treena moves to admit evidence: cell phone records, data points, etc.

11:55 a.m. We now see the receipt from Walgreens that shows two pairs of flip-flops were purchased. Werther created a PowerPoint presentation of GPS data from Charles’ phone from July 11, 2019.

11:52 a.m. Werther went to 7 CVS stores, so he decided to call Walgreen’s. Chuckles in the courtroom. Werther called and gave a general description of Lori, what she purchased, etc. Werther then went to Walgreens and obtained surveillance footage and a receipt for Lori’s purchase.

11:51 a.m. Charles had his GPS location data on. It shows where the device is but does not say who has the device. After Werther received the GPS data, he realized Lori may have gone to Walgreen’s, not CVS.

11:49 a.m. Werther was originally told Lori went to a CVS to get flipflops. He tried to get video from several CVS locations but couldn’t find any. Werther extracted GPS data from Charles’ phone.

11:47 a.m. Treena shows the hotel receipt on the screen. Werther and Det. Moffatt went into Charles’ room. They gathered up his laptop and other items that were impounded by the Chandler Police Department.

11:45 a.m. Treena asks Werther about getting Charles’ Hilton key card from Lori. Treena moves to admit the receipt from Charles’ hotel stay.

11:43 a.m. Here is the receipt.

11:41 a.m. Werther was concerned because the 911 call was made at 8:36 a.m., yet Lori was in the Burger King drive-thru at 7:54 a.m. Lori had told investigators she left the house right after Charles was shot. Werther asked Burger King for a receipt from Lori’s purchase. Treena moves to admit evidence.

11:40 a.m. Werther asked Burger King to see the live view of their surveillance cameras. He checked to make sure the date and timestamp was accurate. It was correct. Werther watched the video and saw Lori Vallow go through the drive-thru in the red rental car at 7:54 a.m.

11:37 a.m. Werther says the timeline didn’t make sense – the fact Lori could leave the house, go to Burger King, drive seven miles to JJ’s school and then drive back in about 12 minutes given traffic.

11:35 a.m. Werther says the 911 call was placed at 8:36 a.m. Police arrived at the scene around 8:41-8:42 a.m. Lori was seen on body camera at the scene at 8:48 a.m. Werther knew all this before he went to Burger King to request surveillance video.

11:34 a.m. Werther also learned Charles had been staying at the Tru Hilton hotel. Lori told Werther she had Charles’ hotel key that she had found in his wallet. Lori said she had his wallet.

11:32 a.m. The next day, Werther became more involved in the investigation. He offered to reach out to get JJ Vallow’s personal information – his DOB, age, etc. as JJ was the son of the deceased victim. Werther made no contact with Lori on July 11. On July 12, he called Lori. The call was recorded and he obtained the contact information for JJ. He learned where JJ attended school and confirmed Lori had gone to Burger King before taking JJ to school.

11:31 a.m. Treena asks Werther how he became involved in the investigation on July 11, 2019. He went out to the scene and was shadowing Det. Coons as an observer. He wasn’t personally conducting the scene investigation.

11:30 a.m. Back in the courtroom. Det. Werther is on the stand and begins by talking about his experience mapping GPS cell phone data. He has taken classes over the years.

11:15 a.m. We are taking a break and will resume in 10-15 minutes.

11:13 a.m. Judge explains what happened at the sidebar. During the sidebar, Lori says she wanted to ask questions about Ynclan observing her in the previous trial, on social media, on interviews, etc. Judge advised Lori that she may not want to open the door. Defendant said she would move on from that line of questioning. During the second sidebar, juror questions were discussed.

11:09 a.m. Next witness: Det. Aeriel Werther from Chandler Police. He is witness #18. There are some technical issues. Judge sending jury out for a short break.

11:05 a.m. Judge proceeds to ask questions of the jury. “Was the rental car ever searched?” “I believe so but not sure.” “If the defendant and the daughter were interviewed as witnesses, why were they left with a victim advocate? Were they considered victims or witnesses?” Ynclan says there are employees who can help families with death investigations. “Although they might not be classified under state law as victims, our victim services can help families during death investigations.” Another question: “Did Lori express concerns about police talking with Tylee at time of the interview?” She did not. “Does law enforcement have to advice interviewees they are being audio or video recorded?” They do not. There is no expectation of privacy at the police station. No further questions.

10:59 a.m. Treena asks Ynclan if, when she interviewed Lori, she was aware of what was happening in the days leading up to the shooting with text messages, iCloud account, etc. “If you had been privy to all of this, would you have interviewed her differently and followed up more?” Ynclan says yes, she would have. Ynclan was going off of what Lori told her because it was an initial interview. Treena has no further questions. There are some juror questions.

10:58 a.m. Treena asks Ynclan if, the day of the shooting, she understood all the facts of the case. Ynclan did not know everything – including the 47 minute lapse from the time the shooting happened to when 911 was called.

10:56 a.m. Treena asks about Ynclan’s interview with the defendant. “Is it normal for you to offer drinks or allow them to use the restroom?” Ynclan says it’s normal and there is nothing unusual about that. Treena asks if the defendant told her that she and Charles argued about the phone prior to Tylee being involved. Correct.

10:53 a.m. Treena goes over a few more timeline issues from that morning – when the shooting was called in, etc. Treena asks about Lori’s unusual behavior that day. “We’re driving and she’s just kind of chattering in the car and, given what was going in the situation and how she was acting, it was just odd to me.”

10:51 a.m. Lori instead said, “I already know because I was here.” Ynclan was surprised Lori knew. Now they needed to interview Tylee and Lori as witnesses. Treena asks how old Tylee was. 16 or 17, Ynclan says. Tylee was put in a separate room because you want to interview people separately because there could be influence from one person to the other. You want someone to share their own experience.

10:49 a.m. Treena asks about the death notification that Ynclan attempted to make. Ynclan says Lori and Tylee were both in a larger van – 10-12 passenger type van. Ynclan says you open the side door to get into the rear portion of the van. Ynclan says she opened the door and was trying to get Lori to come out of the van to speak outside of Tylee’s presence. “I felt it was more appropriate if I was about to tell somebody a family member died to deliver it to her. Typically then we will try to formulate a plan as to how we are going to tell children what happened.”

10:48 a.m. Treena says, “You were asked about being calm that day. Had your husband just been shot? In your own home? With children present?” Ynclan says no. Treena says, “Would it be difficult to compare yourself to the defendant’s behavior that day?” Ynclan says it would not be a good comparison.

10:47 a.m. Treena asks about Lori’s demeanor that day. “Did Lori Vallow’s behavior stand out to you?” “It did.” “Why?” “Based on what was going on, that we had a homicide, her husband had been shot and killed, her brother shot him, her children were partially present for this event….her demeanor seemed odd based on what was going on at the house that day.”

10:46 a.m. Lori asks if it’s correct that they voluntarily handed over Charles’ phone when asked. Ynclan said yes, she handed it over. Lori asks if she was ever not cooperative with police. Ynclan says she was cooperative with her. Lori has nothing further. Treena will now re-direct.

10:45 a.m. Lori asks if it was explained to her and Tylee if they could leave at any point. Ynclan says no. Lori asks if she asked to go to the ladies room at one point. “I believe so,” Ynclan says. Lori asks if they answered all the questions asked my police. “I believe so.”

10:44 a.m. Lori asks if she was fully cooperative with police. “You were cooperative in interviews with me.” Lori asks if they did what was instructed. “In your interview with me, you were cooperative.” Lori asks if she and Tylee knew they were not in custody. “I believe so.”

10:42 a.m. Lori is back at the lectern and asks Ynclan if she was aware Lori ran outside without shoes. “Yes, kind of,” Ynclan says. Lori asks if she learned Lori stopped at Walgreens to buy flip flops. Ynclan says Lori told her that. Lori asks if Ynclan verified that. “I did not. That was a different detective.” Lori asks how hot it was on July 11, 2019. “July in Arizona? I’d say it was probably warm.” Lori asks if it would have been difficult to walk JJ to his class on hot pavement without shoes on. Treena objects on relevance. Judge agrees – says jury can make their own conclusion as to how hot it could be in July in Arizona.

10:39 a.m. There seem to be technical issues with the headphones so Lori, her paralegal and the prosector approach the judge’s bench. We don’t know what they are saying.

10:37 a.m. Lori asks Ynclan if she has ever seen her not calm. Treena objects. Judge tells Lori to lay foundation. Lori asks for a sidebar to ask the judge a question. White noise is played and the headphones go on.

10:35 a.m. Lori asks Ynclan if she verified they went to Burger King. Ynclan is aware – says Lori told her that. Lori asks if she has seen the receipt from Burger King. Ynclan has not. Lori asks Ynclan if she is aware Lori also ordered two bottles of water. Ynclan says she is not aware. Lori says, “Are you aware of when people in stressful situation, it makes you thirsty?” Treena objects. Judge overrules. Ynclan says, “It can.” Lori asks if when someone is in fight-or-flight mode, can they get thirsty. Treena objects. Judge sustains. Lori asks if she was offered apple juice at the station because she had high adrenaline. Ynclan says she normally offers drinks to people.

10:34 a.m. We are live with video now here.

10:33 a.m. Lori asks if Ynclan learned JJ had autism. Ynclan says yes, Lori told her that and Ynclan spoke with JJ’s school. Lori asks when. Ynclan says during the course of the investigation she contacted the school in reference to when he attended and what services the school provides.

10:31 a.m. Lori asks if Ynclan is aware the entire altercation at the house only lasted a few minutes. Ynclan says that would be a fair assessment. Lori suggests it was less than two minutes. Ynclan says “we discussed that it probably happened in a relatively short amount of time” and did not talk about specific minutes.

10:30 a.m. Lori asks if Ynclan gives input on news releases. Ynclan says sometimes, but the Public Information Officer can just release it. Lori asks if, in this case, the PIO just put it out. Ynclan has no idea.

10:29 a.m. Lori asks if Ynclan spoke with Moffatt, who had interviewed Alex. Lori asks if she is aware of a press release that went out from the Chandler Police Department later that day. Ynclan is not aware.

10:28 a.m. Lori asks if people were monitoring the interview rooms. Supervisors can monitor from their desks but these particular rooms don’t have monitoring capabilities. After the interviews were done, Lori asks who decided to send them home. Ynclan says she decided to drive them back. Lori asks who gave authorization to release them. Ynclan says she did. Lori asks if she needed to talk to a supervior. Ynclan says no.

10:26 a.m. Lori asks about being taken into three different rooms at the police station. They were different interview rooms. Lori asks if supervisors were there.

10:24 a.m. Lori asks Ynclan if she is aware Charles had a $2 million life insurance policy on her. Ynclan says she was aware of a life insurance policy but she did not review anything related to life insurance.

10:23 a.m. Lori asks if Ynclan is aware of the reason Lori had two phones at the time. “Did you ask me?” “No, I wasn’t aware you had two phones.” Lori asks if Ynclan ever learned that Charles stole her phones so she had to replace them. Treena objects. Judge sustains. Lori says, “Your honor, it’s all part of the investigation.” Judge says the objection from prosecution is sustained.

10:22 a.m. Lori asks Ynclan if she ever requested that she turn her phone over. Ynclan says she did not. She did not ask for Tylee’s phone either. Lori asks if Ynclan ever saw the the threatening messages from Charles to her. Ynclan says she has not reviewed the reports or downloads from any of the phones.

10:21 a.m. Lori asks about the threatening text messages on the phone and if Ynclan looked at the messages on the phone. Ynclan says she did not. Lori asks if she was cooperative all that day. Ynclan says yes. Lori asks if Tylee was cooperative. “I believe so.” Lori asks if Alex was cooperative. Ynclan doesn’t know. She did not interview or talk with him.

10:20 a.m. Lori begins by asking Ynclan about the chain of custody of Charles’ phone. Lori asks how long from when Ynclan left the house to when it went into Computer Crimes Division. She says about 20 minutes. Lori asks if Ynclan used the passcode to access the phone. Ynclan did not. She did not do an exam on the phone.

10:19 a.m. We will have video from today in about 10 minutes. Here is the link.

10:17 a.m. Det. Casandra Ynclan is back on the stand. Jurors will be brought in. Treena State also plans to call Ariel Werther today. He testified in Lori’s Idaho case here and Chad’s Idaho case here.

10:15 a.m. Jeff White, Lori’s investigator, just walked in. The judge asks him if he spoke with Zach Cox and what relevant information he could have related to the trial. White says they spoke about his father and about information that is relevant to Charles. Judge asks if Zach has been served a subpoena. Jeff says, “As far as I know.” Judge says, “We will see if he actually gets served and shows up at court. If he doesn’t, it’s not an issue I need to deal with.” If he does, judge says they will need to work it out to see if Zach can even testify.

10:13 a.m. Judge asks for more specifics. Treena Kay says she spoke with Zach Cox and he had no idea why he would be called as a witness.

10:10 a.m. Another witness – Ashlynn Rynd. Lori says she has not been found or served. Gabril Bonilla has not been served. Lori is unsure if Barry Cox has been served. Judge says she’s out of time for these witnesses as the state is resting on Thursday or Monday, at the latest. Even if they are found and served to testify, Judge needs to know what relevant information they have to the case. State would need to interview them within the next day or so, but they could still be excluded because it’s late. Lori asks about Zach Cox and what relevant information he has. “He was with my brother Adam Cox that day, on the 11th, and had communication with Adam and Charles that day and prior to that.

10:08 a.m. Judge is now reviewing Lori’s witness list with her. First name – Vaisia Itaiahau., Tylee’s friend. Judge asks if they have found Vaisia. Lori says she needs to check with her investigator. Next witness – Gabriel Bonilla, the former bishop for Charles and Lori. Judge asks if he has been served with subpoena. Lori says they will look it up.

10:07 a.m. Judge now discussing a video that Summer Shiflet and Janis Cox have watched. The state wants testimony about the video precluded from the trial. Lori wants it included. Judge says unless the video comes in and someone lays foundation, witnesses can’t testify about what they saw in the video.

10:06 a.m. Judge tells Lori he is expecting her not to ask the type of questions to law enforcement as to why the investigation took so long or what was happening with the investigation. If Lori wants to ask those questions, she needs to ask to take a break and speak with the judge.

10:05 a.m. Judge asks Lori if she just signed a stack of subpoenas or knows who she even subpoenaed. She says she believes she knows. Judge says for the next trial, Lori needs to pay more attention.

10:04 a.m. Treena Kay says she became aware that Larry Woodcock was served with a subpoena in Louisiana and his next of kin victim rights were violated because the subpoena included his address and personal information. Treena asks Judge Justin Beresky to seal the subpoena. Judge agrees. Lori says Larry Woodcock was not intended to be subpoenaed – it was an oversight. Treena says the subpoena was signed by the defendant. Judge asks Lori how it was an oversight. “I just signed them all. I did not check them. It’s my own fault. I apologize to the family.”

10 a.m. Back in the courtroom. It’s day 6. There are a handful of public seats open but a lot of spectators here again today. Lori Vallow Daybell uust walked in wearing a black jacket and black pants.

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