Good morning ladies and gentlemen, as an introduction I'm John Prior, I'm the defense attorney for Mr. Daybell, and I'm from Meridian, Idaho. I'm an attorney from Meridian, Idaho, here on the west side of the state. I want to talk to you a little bit today. At my age, video presentations are not something that would come easy to me, so I'm just going to talk to you a little bit about my view of the case, and the facts and evidence. And what's important are facts and evidence. I think that when we went through the jury selection process, we talked about facts, and we talked about evidence. The judge gave you an instruction I talked to you a little bit about, you take into consideration the facts of this case, and not be distracted by other things. Don't be distracted by speculation. Don't be distracted by guesses, or assumptions, or hunches. It all comes down to facts and evidence. So I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the facts and evidence of this case. Chad Daybell and I'm learning this, and I've had some time to learn about this because it didn't come natural to me, but Chad Daybell went on what's called a mission early on in his life, and I guess what a mission is – I'm not familiar with that – but I guess what a mission is, is they go away to a location, and they talk to people about their religious beliefs. And Chad's faith, that was important, was part of his faith, and when they return from these missions, they start the process of moving on with their lives. And when Chad got back from doing his mission in New Jersey, he met Tammy Daybell.
Another fact that I discovered and you'll hear a little bit about is that Chad had an extended engagement. Had an extended – by his faith standards – romance before they got married. Chad and Tammy dated for approximately six months. And what I understand is by their nature, six months is an extended dating process before you end up getting married. So after six months they got married. They were married in Utah. And proceeded then to have children. They had five children. Now all five adult children. At some point they moved back here to Idaho. Or moved to Idaho. And they started a small publishing company. And you'll hear testimony that the publishing company was predominantly run by Tammy. Tammy managed it. Tammy was the brains behind the company. And Tammy basically took the reins and did everything that was necessary to do this publishing company. It was a small publishing company. A very small publishing company. What they did is basically publish books. Chad would write these books. And he would write these books about his religious experiences. In his faith he had certain beliefs that he practiced. When he went on his mission. When he read his interpretation of the books that he used for his faith. He started writing books about things that were consistent with his faith. Things like premonitions. We've all heard of premonitions. It's about being able to predict things. It's about being able to see things happening. Some people believe in that. Some people don't. Some people have personally experienced that, but I haven't.
But he writes about his premonitions. He writes about good and evil. And what it means to be good and what it means to be evil. He writes about dark and light. He writes about subjects that are a little darker, like death. And maybe the coming of the end of things and when his savior, in his mind his is going to come back and maybe there will be some kind of redemption of some sort. But his books cover a lot of subjects like that, and they're always like fiction. In other words, he was writing these books about theories and things that came into his head. And he would write these stories. But he also wrote children's books. And he wrote books for teenagers. And he wrote these books about adventures and some crazy ideas about things that kids and teenagers get involved in. In about October of 2018, Chad was going out and he was invited by one of the witnesses that you'll hear in this case to speak about his books. And this was not uncommon. He would travel and he would be asked to say, come and talk about some of the things that you believe in. He talked about his premonitions, his life experiences. You're going to hear testimony about that. And he was invited on one particular occasion in late October. And he attended this. And while he was there trying to sell his books, like most of us who are business people, the focus of these meetings really was for Chad to try to get his books published. Because that's how he made a living. And he was there in one of his booths trying to promote his books. He laid them out there. And this beautifully stunning woman named Lori Vallow comes up. And she starts giving him a lot of attention. And she pursued him. And she encouraged him. You'll hear testimony that she went so far as to [?] behind the booth and sort of help him in trying to sell some of his books.
She obviously had an interest and maybe she thought that he was this publisher, and maybe she had an opinion, you'll hear testimony about that. And then after the seminar, there was a length of time where there was no contact between the two of them. A month and a half, two months. And during that time, Chad Daybell went on his day-to-day life. He'd been married to Tammy for some 29 years. Has no remarkable background of any kind. I think the testimony will show you, I think he had a speeding ticket in 2005. But Lori Vallow was a different story. Lori Vallow was someone who, right out of high school, married her first husband. You'll hear testimony about this. That marriage was very short-lived. Very short-lived. She then married husband number two a few years later. And again, very short-lived marriage. And there's some testimony and indication that there were some problems with the marriage that caused the breakup. But the concern seems to be, the theme seems to be that Lori's brother, Alex, you're going to hear about Alex Cox. Alex Cox was Lori's protector. Alex Cox would do anything and everything to protect, aid, and assist Lori Vallow with whatever her endeavors. Without unbridled question. Anything. And if Alex Cox even perceived that there was a problem, Alex Cox would act. You'll hear testimony that in 2007, I believe it was August of 2007, Lori Vallow had finished up going through her third marriage with Joseph Ryan. It was a tumultuous, you'll hear testimony that it was a tumultuous marriage. A terrible marriage. Lori Vallow made accusations against Joseph Ryan of abusing their child, Tylee. Yes, the same Tylee.
And during one of the visits in 2007, folks, I want to tell you, you'll hear testimony, but in 2007, Chad Daybell didn't even know Lori Vallow existed. But Alex Cox, after one of the exchanges and visitations with Tylee, Alex Cox approached Joseph Ryan had shot him with a taser and assaulted him. He as eventually charged with aggravated assault, was eventually put in jail and had this on his record. And there is representation in the facts which suggest that at the time Joseph Ryan feared for his life. This was a serious situation. But it set the pattern of what we're dealing with with Alex Cox. Whenever there was a problem or a threat to Lori Vallow, and you'll hear testimony, that Alex Cox came to the rescue. That Alex Cox would run without even questioning to do whatecer was necessary to solve Lori Vallow's problems. We're going to fast forward then to 2019. Lori Vallow was still married to Charles Vallow. The prosecuting attorney mentioned this. Yes, Chad Daybell at that point, coming in January, February, started to have communications with Lori Vallow. And yes, folks, it turned into an inappropriate relationship. 2019 forward. And yes, he was engaging in discussions. He was engaging in contact with her. All of the things that prosecutors talked about in terms of a relationship. But subsequent to the seriousness of this relationship getting rolling, Alex Cox was at a visitation in 2019 with Charles Vallow. And Lori Vallow was there. Tylee Ryan was there. JJ was there. They were all present. And during that altercation and that supposed visit much like with Joseph Ryan, Alex Cox took out a gun and shot Charles Vallow. And then after calling 9-1-1, he then finished the job and walked up to him at close range and finished him off. Now you're going to hear testimony that in some way Chad Daybell is implicated in that and you're going to hear further testimony that he was not. You're going to hear testimony and see documentation that suggests that the prosecuting attorney upon review of this, indicated that there is no likelihood of connection for Chad Daybell. You're going to hear testimony that Chad Daybell had nothing to do with the execution by Alex Cox, [of] Charles Vallow.
And the same for Brandon Boudreaux. You will hear that Chad Daybell is not being pursued or any involvement in the Brandon Boudreaux attempted murder. Those occurred, and those are separate, as well as the Charles Vallow. So what we have is we have a situation where someone who's 29 years old, Chad Daybell, 29 years of marriage with Tammy Daybell, no discernible issues in his life. And then Lori Daybell comes in the picture, Miss Texas. You'll hear testimony about this beautiful, vivacious woman, very sexual person, and very manipulative. And she knows how to get what she wants. And she drew Chad Daybell into a relationship, and an unfortunate relationship t hat Chad fell into. After that, things started rolling. And issues started happening. Eventually, yes, there was a murder. And there was a burial. And you've heard discussion about the backyard of Chad Daybell. Well we have a 4 and 1⁄2 acre farm in Fremont County, Iowa. And you'll hear testimony that the body of JJ Vallow was discovered behind an irrigation pond and a tree, out in the pasture. So technically, yes, maybe in the backyard, but more accurately described as the pasture, hidden behind a tree. You're going to hear testimony that also in the middle of this pasture was a raspberry patch – former raspberry patch – that was then turned into a place for them to bury the cats, the dogs, and all of the animals on the farm. Again, out in the pasture in the field, and not in the backyard. You'll hear testimony about that. You're going to hear about the four experts that I'm going to bring forward.
And these four experts, the first one is going to be Dr. Greg Hampikian. And Dr. Hampikian is a notable local from Boise State University. And Dr. Hampikian is a DNA expert, considered one of the best DNA experts. He's been involved in significant work that he's done, both the defense and for the prosecution. He was involved in, or he led the team, with Amanda Knox in Italy, that got her exonerated because of the DNA evidence. He has substantial experience. And anybody or anyone who knows anything about DNA goes to Dr. Hampikian first, because he is the guy. And Dr. Hampikian is going to talk a little bit about the DNA evidence that was found on the scene. Dr. Hampikian is going to talk about the fingerprint on the plastic that JJ Vallow was discovered in was that of Alex Cox. Dr. Hampikian is going to talk about the hair sample that was found on the plastic of Alex Cox, and that it was Lori Vallow. Dr. Hampikian is going to talk about several, and I mean several, other hairs that were found on the plastic of JJ Vallow. But he's also going to say that there was no DNA evidence, no hair sample of Chad Daybell, on Tylee Ryan, or on JJ Vallow.
You’re then gonna hear from Dr. Raven. Dr. Raven is a forensic pathologist, and she's going to talk a little bit about circumstances surrounding Tammy Daybell. And what Dr. Raven is going to say is that there's no indication that this is either a homicide or any other crime, and that the only conclusion she can come to is you can't determine what the cause of death was. There's no way to determine it. Tammy Daybell was married. You'll hear testimony about that. And then a short time later, the police officers showed up, and they dug her body up after she had been buried, after she was laid to rest, and then continued after the body was pulled out of the ground, and continued to examine it for whatever they were looking for. And what you're going to find is, based on that, Dr. Raven's gonna day you can't determine what the cause of death is. You're going to hear testimony from the Daybell children. From the children themselves. Four of the children, I think. Three or four of the five children will be testifying. They're going to talk about their mother's health struggles. They're going to talk about their mother's use of various medicinal treatments that she would use, oils that she would put on her leg, medicine and different herbs that she would take, and that her mother – that their mother – was suffering from a number of maladies, and that she would refuse to go see a doctor or get treated. And Dr. Raven is going to enlighten you a little bit about some of the circumstances regarding Tammy Daybell.
You're then going to hear from Patrick Eller. He's a forensic digital data examiner. And Patrick Eller is someone who spent his life in the military working for various agencies, and we'll talk a little bit about that, within the government, to do data retrieval and data research. And he's going to talk a little bit about the phone records that are involved in this case. He's going to specifically talk about the travels of Alex Cox, because you are going to hear testimony that Alex Cox went to Chad Daybell's property on the 9th of September. You're going to hear that Alex Cox approached Chad Daybell's property a half a dozen other – five or six – other times. You're going to hear testimony that Alex Cox was there on the 23rd. And you're going to hear where Alex Cox was in a number of other times and places and his whereabouts, and his travels, for about a two, two-and-a-half month period. And Patrick is going to offer you some information and data to support all of that.
And finally, you're going to hear from a forensic anthropologist, and his name is Eric Barling. And Mr. Barling is going to talk to you a little bit about the nature of how the remains of Tylee were burned. Eric Barling is going to talk to you a little bit about the lack of complete skeletal remains, and why, when Tylee was [?] out of the ground, there was not a complete set of skeleton remains. And I think there are a number of pieces of that that were missing. You're going to hear a lot of evidence, and the judge has talked to us a little bit about not making a decision until we hear all of the evidence. And there's a specific jury instruction that talks about that. The jury instruction is, you know, consider all evidence. Listen to the instructions from the court on how you're to proceed. Listen to the arguments of the prosecuting attorney and the defense. And then and only then do you make your decision. And at the conclusion of all that evidence, and at the conclusion of the judge's instructions, the arguments of both of the defense attorneys, I'm going to ask you folks to return the verdict of not guilty. Thank you, folks. Thank you for your time.
