LIVE UPDATES | Shovel and pickaxe seized from Daybell’s house shown to jury on day 16 of trial

LIVE UPDATES FROM THE CHAD DAYBELL TRIAL

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Please excuse the typos. These are live updates from the courtroom.

EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC DETAILS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS STORY. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

1:52 p.m. Daniels says the shovel seems dirty and was a tool they were interested in from the scene. The two pieces of evidence are removed from the courtroom. Boyce says we will now break until Monday. Join me tonight on ‘Courtroom Insider’ at 6:30 p.m. MDT.

1:49 p.m. Daniels unwraps the pick and holds it up in front of the jury. Daniels says the pick was dirty. Daniels unwraps the next exhibit. It’s a shovel.

1:47 p.m. All tools were turned over the Rexburg Police Department. Wood moves to admit some physical evidence. A police officer and deputy bring in tools. Daniels approaches the table wearing gloves and will testify holding a microphone.

1:45 p.m. Wood displays more photos showing tools in the garage.

1:44 p.m. A photo of two shovels taken as evidence is shown on the screen. Other tools were also taken: a saw, clippers, an ax – tool that could have been used “to do something to our human remains that were found,” Daniels says.

1:42 p.m. We now see an image of shovels and other tools that were taken into evidence. “These are the tools most likely used in the burial,” Daniels says. There is now a solo photo of a pickaxe. There was debris on the blade of the pick and other black marks.

1:37 p.m. The next few photos show tools lined up in the garage. After a brief sidebar, Boyce says there will be no afternoon break today but court will dismiss in about 30 minutes. There are no more graphic pictures today so everything will now be displayed on the big screen.

1:35 p.m. Wood displays a photo. Daniels describes it as the garage/barn on Daybell’s property. Daniels was interested in what tools could be used to bury someone.

1:32 p.m. The backhoe went a little deeper and wider in the burial site to make sure police had everything. Once the backhoe was done, the animal remains were put back in and the area was filled up with dirt.

1:31 p.m. An anthropologist went through the remains once they were all removed. Daniels describes a photos of some bricks that were found at the burial site.

1:28 p.m. Daniels describes close up photos of the melted green bucket and the skull. When the team went into the ground to remove the remains, they fell apart, according to Daniels. He says everything fell to pieces and they picked them up and put them into a body bag.

1:26 p.m. The next photo shows a melted green bucket. At the bottom of the picture is Tylee’s skull. “The oil on the top side – there was a harder substance to it that made it difficult for us to excavate.” Daniels believe it could have been concrete so a backhoe was brought in to move it.

1:24 p.m. Daniels describes orange stakes that were set up around Tylee’s burial site. This photo shows one of the wooden sifters.

1:23 p.m. The next picture shows charring pink flesh, Daniels says. Daniels describes the following photo of what the scene looked like on June 10.

1:21 p.m. The next photo shows pieces of Tylee. “These were the first pieces that we were able to say, ‘These are human remains.'” Crews started to wrap up for the day and the remains went to the coroner. Jurors are closely looking at the monitors in front of them and some are taking notes.

1:19 p.m. Daniels describes the next photo which shows charred flesh. Shovels, rakes and a variety of other smaller tools were used at this point.

1:17 p.m. By this point, police had already found JJ’s burial site. Hand tools were brought in at this point. The next photo shows a large white piece of bone. This was Tylee’s burial site.

1:15 p.m. Daniels describes the next photo. It shows one of two vertebrae found at the scene. Daniels says around this time, there was a smell of human decomposition.

1:12 p.m. Boyce says graphic photos will now be shown. The jury, prosecution and defense will see the images but the public and livestream will not.

1:11 p.m. We now see an image of part of the pet cemetery. Dog and cat remains were found in the general area. The spot was processed by hand going layer-by-layer. The dog and cat remains were removed. A backhoe was brought in to go deeper. Tylee’s burial site was just north of the pet cemetery site.

1:07 p.m. Wood displays the chain on the big screen to the jury. The chain says Pura Vida. The team found the chain while sifting through soil. Wood displays the charm on the screen. Wood shows a photo of Tylee and in the picture, Tylee is wearing the chain with charm.

1:03 p.m. Daniels is wearing rubber gloves. He opens the exhibit and we learn the piece of evidence is the necklace chain. The other exhibit is the charm found at the fire pit.

1:02 p.m. A deputy wearing gloves brings in the pieces of evidence. They are given to John Prior for inspection and then taken to Daniels on the witness stand.

1:01 p.m. Some physical evidence will now be brought into the courtroom.

12:59 p.m. The charm was moved and put on a piece of paper next to a placard marked with #1.

12:58 p.m. The next photo shows the silver charm that was collected in the fire pit. “This was one of the first pieces of evidence we collected on June 9,” Daniels says. The charm was found just outside of the grid perimeter. The next picture is a closer view of the charm.

12:56 p.m. A picture of the fire pit with soil and rocks removed is now shown. The next image is a metal necklace-type chain found in the fire pit. Possible bone fragments and other items were found in the fire pit.

12:53 p.m. We see a photo of exactly what the fire pit looked like on June 9. Daniels says the fire pit was processed layer by layer. Then began by removing limbs and then went through each layer one at a time. A tarp was put down and wooden sifters were brought in sort through the soil.

12:51 p.m. Law enforcement found a dog statue on the property and noticed some depressions in the ground underneath. We see an image of the grids police made on the property.

12:48 a.m. The next satellite image is a close up of the fire pit. The location of Tylee’s grave is noted, along with the spot where her charm was found.

12:47 p.m. We now see a satellite image of the property. Daniels points out the fire pit and the area near the tree, where they had telephone pings. Law enforcement did not exactly where the pet cemetery was located on the property.

12:45 p.m. The next photo shows the view out of the kitchen window. You can see the barn and beyond the barn is Tylee Ryan’s burial site and the fire pit. Now we see an image of the property taken from one of the bedrooms at the house.

12:43 p.m. The next slide shows a photo taken from the second story window looking toward a tree. JJ’s remains were found under the tree. There was a trailer parked near the tree – it was a law enforcement trailer. Another photo from the second story shows the view of the property from the other direction.

12:41 p.m. Two deputies just set up a table in front of the jury. They are in their seats and Daniels is on the stand. We see a photo of Chad’s house with a vehicle parked in the driveway.

12:36 p.m. Back in the courtroom. Larry Woodcock just passed out mints to several people in the gallery. Kay is not here today.

11:46 a.m. We are going to break for lunch while the tech issues get sorted out. Be back at 12:30 p.m.

11:41 a.m. Wood is having some technical difficulties. Prior asks for a sidebar. He gets up to meet with Boyce and Blake as court tech people go to assist Wood.

11:39 a.m. The first slide on the screen shows key locations in and around the city of Rexburg – including the Salem Church, Daybell property, Walmart, BYU-I Idaho library and Lori’s apartment.

11:37 a.m. Wood asks to admit the exhibit Daniels prepared. It’s the key points from all the scans, measurements, etc. The exhibit is a summary of his findings.

11:34 a.m. A pharaoh scanner was also used to measure and scan things on the property. Over 40 scans were performed on the property. The data they collected was voluminous.

11:32 a.m. Daniels created an interactive exhibit detailing the work they did on Chad’s property. He describes what a total station device is – a measuring device that sits on a tripod while using a laser for point-to-point measuring.

11:30 a.m. All of the photos were taken the day law enforcement searched Chad’s property for JJ and Tylee.

11:26 a.m. Sidebar is over, Wood moves to admit several photos.

11:20 a.m. Wood asks for a brief sidebar.

11:17 a.m. Two ERT members were assigned to assess the fire pit. They had a text message talking about burying something in the pet cemetery so Daniels needed to figure out where the pet cemetery was. They also had a few telephone pings on the property from Sept. 2019 showing where people were on the property.

11:16 a.m. Eight ERT members were on the site. They were each assigned roles and responsibilities prior to arrival. Someone started a crime scene log, another began taking photos of the crime scene and Daniels started an administrative log of the scene. He also did a walk thru of the property.

11:14 a.m. Daniels worked with other FBI departments and the Rexburg Police Department while planning the search of Chad’s property. They came up with a search strategy and got satellite imagery of the property. They arrived on the property around 7 a.m. on June 9, 2020.

11:12 a.m. Daniels describes the extensive training he completed to be part of the ERT. Since 2001, he has helped recover human remains in many cases. When he left ERT, he was the senior team leader in the Salt Lake office. He was the senior team leader in the search for JJ and Tylee.

11:08 a.m. Daniels was part of the Evidence Response Team (ERT) for the FBI. He has worked for the FBI for 26 years. He left the ERT one year ago.

11:07 a.m. Next witness is FBI Special Agent Steve Daniels.

11:05 a.m. Wood asks if any of Gibb’s or Warwick’s kids were found on Chad’s property. Stubbs says no. Wood has nothing further.

11:03 a.m. Prior has no further questions. Wood has some re-direct. Wood asks if Melanie Gibb or David Warwick showed up in the geofence. Stubbs says no. Wood asks about the tap and trace and why one wasn’t done on Melanie Gibb. Stubbs says Gibb was cooperating with police.

11:02 a.m. Wood asks Stubbs why people research malachite. Stubbs says it has to do with spirituality or other things.

11 a.m. Wood just objected to one of Prior’s questions, Boyce overruled the objection and Prior started to ask about question. Boyce said, “Mr. Prior! When I make a ruling, don’t ask another question. The witness can answer.”

10:56 a.m. Stubbs says Rob Wood was present during the search of Lori Vallow’s apartment. Prior asks about Stubbs tapping phone calls. Stubbs says no – a tap is to listen someone. They did not listen to anyone. Stubbs appears visibly annoyed as he answers these questions.

10:55 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs how many calls he made to Chad Daybell about JJ. Stubbs personally did not make any. There was no warrant to search Chad’s home at the time. Prior asks Stubbs if he ever found a message from Chad to Lori that said, “Let’s kill the kids.” Stubbs did not.

10:53 a.m. Stubbs made the comment “not not” after the visit to Lori’s apartment. That phrase is used in law enforcement meaning turn off the body cameras. Stubbs says it allowed officers to state their opinions without having them recorded.

10:51 a.m. Prior says David and Melanie were at Lori’s house when JJ was last seen alive. Prior asks Stubbs if he agrees that Lori was “very convincing.” Stubbs disagrees. Prior talks about Stubbs not taking action to keep Lori from fleeing during both visits to her apartment. Stubbs says they had not established JJ was not Melanie Gibb at that time so they had no reason to detail her.

10:50 a.m. Prior asks if Stubbs ever looked at Melanie Gibb’s phone records. Stubbs says no. He asks if Stubbs looked at David Warwick’s phone records. Stubbs says no.

10:48 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs about Lori saying she was going to move to live with Melanie. He asks about Lori saying Melanie and JJ were at “Frozen 2.” Prior asks Stubbs if he looked into the possibility that Lori was moving to live with Melanie. Stubbs says they were looking into that possibility.

10:46 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs about trying to reach Melanie Gibb and says that Gibb lied to officers. Stubbs says he wasn’t involved in that part of the investigate.

10:45 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs if he is aware Chad Daybell is not implicated in the attempted murder of Brandon. Stubbs is aware.

10:43 a.m. Prior asks that because Lori Vallow’s apartment was vacated, that doesn’t mean Chad Daybell’s home was vacated. Stubbs says they didn’t search Chad’s house – they searched Lori’s.

10:42 a.m. Prior asks if Stubbs found any evidence that tickets to Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm were purchased. Stubbs says he didn’t personally investigate that aspect of the case but is aware of a trip.

10:40 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs if he recognizes the photos. Stubbs says he was involved in searching a different apartment and doesn’t personally recall seeing the items in the photos.

10:38 a.m. Prior asks Stubbs to review 15 photos on a computer. Stubbs looks over them.

10:36 a.m. Prior asks for clarification about who was living in which apartment in Rexburg. Prior asks if Stubbs went through the garages during his search. He says yes.

10:34 a.m. John Prior will now question Stubbs. He asks about Universal Time in adjusting cellular data. Stubbs says UTC is a standard time and depending on where you are at in the world, it’s UTC plus or minus hours. In Rexburg, it’s UTS -6 or -7 depending on daylight saving.

10:30 a.m. The next photo is of Chad and Lori looking into each other’s eyes. Another photo shows their malachite rings. Another image is of Lori’s ring on her left hand. Now we see a picture of Chad’s ring. The next picture is of Chad and Lori standing in front of the LDS temple in Hawaii. Wood has no further questions.

10:28 a.m. We are back in the courtroom. Wood publishes a photo of Lori and Chad on the beach with a wedding officiant on the beach. The next image is of Chad holding Lori in his arms on the beach as they kiss. The next photo is Lori doing the hula with Chad playing a ukulele.

9:55 a.m. Morning recess. Back in 20 minutes.

9:50 a.m. Wood asks Stubbs about a flash drive he found. On the drive were several photos of Chad and Lori’s wedding from Nov. 5, 2019. Stubbs used forensic software to search the flash drive so the original content was not disturbed. Stubbs found that photos of Chad, Tammy, their kids, Chad and Tammy’s courtship to their marriage to their kids being born – “basically a family album” – had all been deleted.

9:48 a.m. Stubbs searched the search history of Chad.daybell@gmail.com. On Sept. 8, 2019, the user of the account looked up what the wind direction was going to be on Sept. 9. “We believe on the 9th, Tylee’s body was burned and buried in the fire pit behind Chad’s house.”

9:46 a.m. On Sept. 20, the user searched the definition of possessed. On Sept. 30, the user looked up how to remove the back seat of a Jeep and then watched a video about how to do it. Two days later, a gray Jeep Wrangler with Texas license plates was used to shoot at Brandon in Arizona. It was the same Jeep found in Rexburg.

9:43 a.m. Nothing new was discovered by the independent expert. Wood asks Stubbs about some of things found during his search. He looked at the lollytime account. “A few brought me concern,” he says. On Aug. 25, the user of lollytime looked up “wedding rings made of malachite” and visited websites about rings. The user tried to purchase two rings – an 11.5 size and 4.2 size. The total was $808. The credit card failed and the purchase was declined.

9:42 a.m. Police received information on the ten devices. Stubbs says an independent expert was brought in to for an outsider’s perspective on the devices.

9:40 a.m. Google did not respond. Stubbs got a hold of someone at the company and was told 12 devices was too broad. Google suggested police narrow their search. They lessened the request by two and asked for details on ten devices.

9:38 a.m. Stubbs says officers narrowed everything down to 12 devices of interest. Police requested warrants on the 12 devices to find out who they belonged to.

9:35 a.m. If someone had their Google location turned off, they would not show up in the geolocation search.

9:33 a.m. Stubbs wanted to find anyone who had spent significant time in or near Chad’s property and Lori’s apartment on critical dates. They wanted to see if there was anyone else officers should be investigating.

9:30 a.m. The kids were found on Chad’s property on June 9, 2020. Additional warrants were issued after this time. Police wanted to bring specialized equipment on the property to get cell phone signal strengths.

9:28 a.m. Police found a notebook in the Hawaii vehicle that had pages of email accounts and passwords. Police worked to obtain warrants on the accounts.

9:25 a.m. Police can obtain evidence from an actual phone and other evidence from phone carriers. Apps also keep a lot of information that wouldn’t be on the device.

9:23 a.m. Police also obtained a warrant on Melani Boudreaux’s phone. As Melani was being interviewed by police in Rexburg, Stubbs obtained her phone. This was in early 2020 before Tylee and JJ were found.

9:21 a.m. Stubbs says forensic software is always slightly behind a phone. Whenever a phone comes out with new technology, the software engineers have to upgrade their systems. Just because you physically have the phone and software, it doesn’t mean you can automatically get into the device.

9:18 a.m. Stubbs says the information they get back from Google or Verizon can be thousands of pages. He says it’s impossible for one person to go through all the data – especially in a short time frame when officers were trying to find the kids. Stubbs worked with the FBI and other agencies to go through all the info.

9:16 a.m. The devices tracked to Kauai, Hawaii. Investigators went to Hawaii and located Chad and Lori. A warrant was obtained to gather evidence from their vehicle and townhouse. Ten electronic devices were taken from their rental car.

9:15 a.m. Wood asks Stubbs why they were looking at Chad Daybell’s location. He responds, “Lori and Chad were married. We couldn’t get a hold of either one of them. We couldn’t get any straight answers from either one. We couldn’t get information on where the children were.

9:12 a.m. Stubbs requested a tap-and-trace warrant on the devices as they searched for JJ and Tylee. Verizon sent police live data as the phones were on the move. It allowed officers to see where the device was in real time.

9:10 a.m. Stubbs says nobody returned to the apartments after Nov. 27. The landlords went in to clean the units and found two electronic devices that were turned over to police. Police issued a warrant on those devices.

9:08 a.m. Stubbs says, “We were still in the process of trying to locate children. JJ and Tylee.” He gets choked up, pauses and says, “Sorry.” He goes on to say that a Verizon bill was found in a Sugar City PO Box. The bill had several numbers listed for Lori, Tylee, Alex and Charles.

9:07 a.m. The number was associated with Alex Cox’s email account, two of Lori’s email accounts and one of Chad’s email accounts. Stubbs was able to obtain geolocation data from Alex’s – the homerjmaximus account.

9:06 a.m. Wood asks Stubbs if someone can opt out of geolocation tracking. Stubbs says location services can be turned off and it would prohibit Google from keeping that information.

9:03 a.m. Verizon returned the warrant with names and email addresses associated with Lori’s first number. Stubbs says Google is very good at keeping track of people. Anytime someone uses a Gmail account, Google keeps records of what you do, when you do it and where you are.

9:01 a.m. The first warrant Stubbs wrote was to Verizon for the original phone number associated with Lori Vallow. Stubbs explains many of the warrants on the list were issued before the children were found.

8:59 a.m. Wood asks Stubbs if he ever found evidence that Brandon lived in apartment 174. Stubbs says no. Wood asks to publish an exhibit showing the list of warrants Stubbs obtained.

8:57 a.m. Stubbs mispronounces Brandon’s last name. Wood pauses the video and says, “It appears you mispronounced Brandon’s last name.” Stubbs responds, “I surely did” and many in the courtroom chuckle. JJ Vallow was not found in the apartment. The search grew to include Tylee Ryan.

8:55 a.m. We now see the footage of Stubbs entering Melani’s apartment. There is furniture inside and pictures on the wall. There are items on the counters including electronics and a purse. We see Brandon Boudreaux’s credit cards on the counter and Brandon’s driver’s license.

8:52 a.m. The video is over. Stubbs also walked through apartment 174 – Melani Boudreaux’s apartment. Wood moves to admit body camera footage from her apartment. Wood asks if anything stood out to him. “This particular apartment appeared someone was residing there – clothes were in the closet, there was a car in the garage. Something that struck me as odd as we were searching – I noticed on the counter she had a three ring binder with clear plastic organizers inside. I thought it was off because I knew they were divorced that she had numerous of his credit cards and driver’s license in there.”

8:50 a.m. We now see the two additional bedrooms. In one room there is a bed and in the closet are some coats, an empty box, a fan, a bedspread, and winter clothes in a box. The other bedroom has a bed, three guitar cases with guitars, a duffle bag full of toiletries that appear to belong to a man. The closet is fairly empty except for two swords and empty laundry baskets.

8:47 a.m. Stubbs now walks up the stairs. We see the master bedroom and master bathroom. Lots of hangers in the closet but nothing else. It’s empty. “It made me think that the occupants left in haste,” Stubbs says. There are two small computer desks with a printer. On the printer is a lease agreement for Lori Ryan.

8:44 a.m. Wood plays the video showing Stubbs walking into apartment 175 – Lori’s apartment – on Nov. 27, 2019. He narrates that he’s in the front room. There was some damage to the door from the no-knock entry warrant. There are keys on the counter, an envelope from Amazon to Lori Vallow, food in the pantry. We see Stubbs walking into the garage. There are couches, tables, guns, several totes.

8:42 a.m. Wood begins by asking Stubbs about the search he and officers did of the apartments in Rexburg. This was the first search for JJ. Stubbs was wearing a body camera. Wood moves to admit the video into evidence.

8:40 a.m. Boyce says court will end early today – around 2 p.m.

8:37 a.m. The attorneys have walked back into the courtroom. Wood takes his place at the podium. Boyce is on the bench and jurors are being brought in.

8:31 a.m. Attorneys all leave the courtroom to have a sidebar with Judge Steven Boyce.

8:29 a.m. Chad Daybell just walked into the courtroom with his laptop. He is sitting next to John Prior, his defense attorney. Chad is wearing a light checkered shirt with a yellow tie. Fremont Co. Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake, Dep. Prosecuting Attorney Rocky Wixom and Special Prosecutor Ingrid Batey are at the prosecution table with Wood.

8:27 a.m. Retired Rexburg Det. David Stubbs will be back on the stand first thing this morning. Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood will be questioning him.

8:26 a.m. We are back in the courtroom for day 16 of the trial. There are more people in the gallery than in days past – around 40-50. Many are here for the first time. The deputy goes over the courtroom conduct order – phones must be silenced, no photos, no sunglasses or hats in the courtroom, etc.