Chad Daybell trial: Lori Vallow's niece, Melani Pawlowski, testifies
PHOENIX - Key witnesses related to Lori Vallow took the stand in the Chad Daybell trial on May 6.
Daybell is married to Vallow who was found guilty last year of killing her two kids who she moved from Arizona to Idaho. Daybell is accused of murdering the children and his first wife.
On Monday, Vallow’s niece, Melani Pawlowski, who did not testify in her trial last year, spoke at Daybell's trial. The prosecution also revealed bombshell recordings that were used to help investigators.
It’s been a year since Pawlowski's aunt was found guilty of killing her kids JJ and Tylee, as well as conspiring in the murder of her romantic rival, Tammy Daybell.
On day 17 of Daybell’s trial, Pawlowski testified against Vallow's co-defendant and husband, recalling how she didn’t see JJ and Tylee during a visit to Idaho in September 2019.
"I think she said that the nanny was helping with JJ and I don’t think Tylee at the time needed a babysitter. I think she was old enough to be independent," Pawlowski said.
Pawlowski says religious beliefs in identifying light and dark spirits came from Daybell, which is why spiritual gatherings known as castings were done.
"That person would pass away because this darkness was too much," Pawlowski explained.
Documents FOX 10 obtained in 2020 via emails between Daybell and Vallow show they believed they were married in a past life with seven children, two of them being JJ and Melani.
When police investigated the disappearance of Vallow's kids, they convinced Melani’s new husband to wear a wire in December 2019.
A recording of a phone call between Pawlowski, Vallow and Dyabell was played in court for the first time.
Pawlowski: "Isn’t Rexburg the place of safety when all things happen?"
Daybell: "Yeah, but there’s been a lot of prophecies about major turmoil there. The plague is going to sweep through Rexburg. Civil unrest. I had a vision of where McDonald's is just chaos. People starving, fighting, so there is still a stretch of bad times coming to Rexburg before the city of light."
Another call is recorded on December 12, 2019, the day Vallow's brother Alex Cox died. It's also the day after Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed for a death investigation.
Prosecutors say Cox is a co-conspirator in the case.
This time, Vallow reassures Pawlowski and her new husband, Ian, about their calling after Daybell gives them a patriarchal blessing.
"The lord is coming soon, and we are his warriors, and he’s cleaning and purifying the earth and preparing it for his coming. He's asked us to do so and you are both a part of that number one team, and it’s our job, and we will do it. He will come and rule and reign in majesty of power and might and everything will be glorious and there will be no more tears and no more pain," Vallow said.
According to these recordings, Vallow and Daybell saw law enforcement as the opposition and considered some of them dark.
Several months later, authorities discovered the remains of JJ and Tylee on the Daybell property.