Chad Daybell trial: FBI investigator testifies against so-called 'doomsday prophet'

PHOENIX - May 14 marked Day 23 of Chad Daybell’s capital murder trial, and more evidence was presented against the self-proclaimed prophet accused of killing two Arizona kids and his first wife.

On Tuesday, a special investigator for the FBI took the stand, mainly focusing on not only Daybell, but his late brother-in-law by way of Lori Vallow, Alex Cox.

Cox used to live in Gilbert, and is named as a co-conspirator in the triple murder case. The FBI tracked his cell phone device, looking at data from September through October 2019. Yellowstone National Park was the last place Cox's 16-year-old niece, Tylee Ryan, was seen alive publicly.

Meanwhile, a photo recovered from Vallow’s iCloud shows Tylee, her brother Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, and Cox on Sept. 8, 2019. Cox’s cell phone later pinged in the Daybell backyard the next morning, for a total of two hours. After he left Daybell’s home, Cox went to a Del Taco, and Daybell sent a text to his first wife Tammy, which showed the jury both men were together on the property at some point.

The FBI special investigator read the text out in court.

"The text message read, ‘well, I’ve had an interesting morning. I felt I should burn all the limb debris by the fire pit before it got too soaked by the upcoming storms. While I did so, I spotted a big raccoon along the fence. I hurried and got my gun, and he was still walking along. I got close enough that one shot did the trick. He’s now in our pet cemetery. Fun times,'" said Rick Wright.

Cox’s phone also pinged on the property the morning after JJ was last seen alive just two weeks later. Both children’s remains were discovered in June 2020, and authorities never found raccoon remains in the yard.

As for Cox, he died in December 2019 of natural causes.