Chilling find in 'cult mum's garage as 'zombie kids' murder trial gets underway
As the trial for 'cult mum' Lori Vallow Daybell gets into full swing, a detective has revealed in court the chilling discoveries made in her apartment and garage.
Lori Vallow Daybell is facing murder charges related to the deaths of her daughter Tylee, 16, adopted son JJ, seven, and husband Chad Daybell's former wife Tammy Daybell, 49.
The mum of three's Idaho home and garage were searched, Detective Ray Hermosillo told the jury on Tuesday, April 11. It was during this search a number of chilling items were found.
The detective for Rexburg Police Department explained how toys and items belonging to JJ were found, including prescription medication.
He also spoke of how several guns were apparently found in the garage, along with several army knives and empty magazines for a number of weapons.
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Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing in Rexburg, Idaho., on March 6, 2020 (AP)Detective Hermosillo was the only witness to take to the stand on Tuesday, in a day which saw gruesome photos of the dead children being shown to the court.
JJ's gandfather Larry Woodcock was seen sobbing in his seat in the courtroom gallery as evidence was shown and discussed.
Hunt for missing children
Grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock were close to their grandson, and grew worried in November 2019 after not having contact with the boy for months.
They contacted police, who launched a search for JJ and his sister Tylee. It was during the initial search for signs of the children at the Idaho townhome that Lori Vallow Daybell told police JJ was staying with her friend, Melani Gibbs, in Arizona.
Courtroom sketch of Kay Woodcock, grandmother of JJ, the first witness to take the stand during the murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell (AP)Under duress from the couple, Gibbs told police that she had JJ there with her. However, she later questioned Lori Vallow Daybell and husband Chad Daybell as to why she had been asked to lie to police - recording the conversation as her suspicions grew.
JJ and Tylee were last seen in September 2019, in a photograph obtained by police showing them at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park along with Vallow Daybell and her brother, Alex Cox.
The pair were officially declared missing in December 2019, but it wasn't until June the following year that their remains were uncovered.
Shocking and gruesome discoveries
Police had obtained a second search warrant to investigate Chad Daybell's Salem property, where they came across JJ and Tylees remains in the garden.
Speaking of the investigation into Vallow Daybell's home, Hermosillo told the court: "There were things of that nature in the garage that caught our eye."
Photos shown to the court displayed the contents found in a tub, located inside the garage, including a camouflage suit, gun magazines and even silencers.
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Hermosillo confirmed there was also "a lot of ammunition in that specific tub".
A picture of Tylee Ryan (L) and J.J. Vallow is seen on a fence opposite the property where their bodies were found in 2020 (Getty Images)Along with this, police found two rifles, one with a silencer, a number of knives, a handgun, a Halloween mask, rope, further silencers, duct tape and a cell phone.
In the house, detectives came across between three and five prepardness bags and emergency kits, Hazmat suits and a contract signed by Vallow Daybell for a storage unit.
Property belonging to Vallow Daybell's deceased brother, Alex Cox, were also discovered on the property.
Cox shot and killed Vallow Daybell's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019, dying himself later that year due to natural causes before being charged and tried with the murder.
As a result of the death of her fourth husband, Vallow Daybell is also facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder in the state of Arizona, with Cox named as a conspirator.
Both Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, and despite initially being set to be tried together, a judge decided to sever the cases and try them separately. Vallow Daybell's trial began this month, April 2023, with Chad Daybell's trial still months away.
Hermosillo explained how the investigation began with a call from a law enforcement agency in Arizona asking for help to track down a vehicle suspected in an attempted shooting.
Aerial photo shows investigators searching Chad Daybell's Salem, Idaho, residence for human remains (AP)He also explained the condition of the children's bodies when they were discovered eight months after their disappearance.
During the first day of the trial, Monday April 10, Freemont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake described how Tylee's body had been burned, leaving behind only "a mass of bone and tissue" as well as some DNA on a pickaxe and shovel.
JJ's hands and head had been bound with duct tape, with his body having been wrapped in rubbish bags.
Hermosillo described: "We started finding burnt flesh, decomposing bones. The smell was so bad we had to take turns digging.
"Eventually, we uncovered bits and pieces of Tylee, whome we assumed was Tylee, that had been burned. There were pieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh that were faling apart."
JJ's body was reportedly found in varied states of decomposition, wearing pyjamas and a Pull-Ups diaper, which were soaked from his rotting corpse, according to Hermosillo.
Vallow Daybell asks to be excused due to graphic evidence
At one point during the day, Vallow Daybell's defense attorneys asked the judge if she could be excused from the rest od the day's testimony. They said the graphic evidence that was to be shown would be detrimental to her already fraught mental health.
Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce has ordered Vallow Daybell to undergo mental health treatment twice, after finding her incompitent to assist in her own defense at various points since she was arrested.
Boyce rejected this request, saying her presence in the courtroom was necessary to ensure a fair trial for all involved.
Courtroom sketch, from left, depicts Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood, Lori Vallow Daybell and defense attorney Jim Archibald during opening statements of Vallow Daybell's murder trial (AP)Evidence which followed was graphic in nature, including a series of photos showing the children's remains as they were excavated from Daybell's property along with pictures taken during the autopsies.
One image showed JJ wearing red pyjamas and socks, duct tape covering his mouth, with his arms and legs bound together.
His arms were visibly bruised, Hermosillo said, and his boy had partially decomoposed.
Black plastic covered his remains, which were found buried near a tree on Daybell's property.
Tylee's remains were destroyed and burned, packed into a melted green bucket and buried at a different location on the property, according to Hermosillo. He was asked by prosecutors to describe pieces of the remains as they were shown in a series of images.
Annie Cushing, former sister-in-law of Lori Vallow Daybell, walks out of the Ada County Courthouse as Vallow Daybell's murder trial continues in Boise, Idaho (AP)It wasn't just JJ's grandfather who was present at the trial in Boise. Several other family members were also there, including Tylee's aunt, Annie Cushing, who was at the courthouse with her eldest daughter, Tylee's cousin. Charles Vallow's adult sons also attended.
On the first day of the trial, Monday April 10, prosecutors worked to paint Vallow Daybell as a woman who would do anything to remove obstacles in her relationship with Chad Daybell - including her own kids.
While still married to Charles Vallow, Vallow Daybell met Chad Daybell - a religious author whose fictional books focused on the apocalypse, and featured beliefs based off those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
Fascination with 'doomsday cult' teachings
After meeting Daybell, Vallow Daybell reportedly became fixated with him and his 'doomsday cult' teachings. She was enthralled by the belief system and it has been said she became increasingly fixated on a newfound "purpose" with Chad.
The 'doomsday cult' belief system is a key aspect of a complex case. Friends and family interviewed by police in relation to the deaths have talked about the belief system, and what went on.
As many as 10 people were thought to be part of the loose religious group, who apparently met to pray, drive out evil spirits and seek revelations from "beyond the spiritual veil".
A police report had said the couple believed in reincarnation, and that Ms Vallow Daybell was in fact a "Goddess" sent to bring the second coming of Christ.
Chad Daybell appears during a court hearing in St. Anthony, Idaho, Aug. 4, 2020 (AP)The Daybells reportedly used a special scoring system to determine whether people were good or evil. Each person was assigned a number to indicate how many times they had lived before, as well as whether they had made contact with God or Satan.
Teachings referred to people as "light" or "dark", with a gradiant in between. It also referenced "zombies" - people who had died and their bodies had been possessed by evil spirits, according to a police report.
The group would spend time praying to try and eradicate the zombies, and believed if they were successful the possessed person would physically die - freeing their soul from "limbo".
Blake said they eventually began teaching friends that once the evil spirits were strong enough, people became a "zombie" and the only way to free them was to kill them.
'Cult' mom Lori Vallow and husband Chad DaybellFriends of Vallow Daybell are expected to testify that she said the children and Tammy Daybell were "dark" before their deaths, according to Blake.
At least one friend told police that Vallow Daybell called both children "zombies" before they disappeared, according to police records.
"The common theme was the body has to be destroyed," Blake said. "The defendant and Chad used their self-proclaimed religious teachings to justify their actions to others - their actions from affair to murder."
The trial continues.
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