Chad Daybell trial: Tammy's homicide detailed by retired Utah medical examiner

PHOENIX - The jury in the Chad Daybell murder trial was back in court Wednesday, marking day 14 of the trial.

He's the Idaho man who is charged with taking part in murdering both Arizona children of his current wife, Lori Vallow. He's also accused of murdering his previous wife, Tammy Daybell.

Lori has already been convicted and sentenced to life for the murders of her kids, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, as well as Tammy Daybell. Her children were found on Chad's Idaho property in June 2020.

If you've been following this case, you probably remember that Tammy's death back in October 2019 wasn't initially considered suspicious, and no autopsy was conducted. Her body was exhumed from a Utah grave to determine her exact cause of death.

Chad organized a quick funeral service in Utah just days after Tammy’s death, four hours away from their home in Idaho.

Dr. Erik Christensen, former chief medical examiner in Utah, says bruising on Tammy’s arms happened minutes to hours before she died of asphyixa and the manner determined to be a homicide. He also told the court that Tammy could have been restrained by someone while another person suffocated her.

Next, Daybell's former neighbors testified, recalling Lori's kids missing at the time. Chad asked them to put their home up for bond money, so he could bail Lori out of jail after she was arrested on charges of child abandonment.

"I asked him, ‘Where are the children?’ I asked him, ’Where’s Tylee?’ She’s a teenager, so I said, ‘Doesn’t she want a life?' Come out and say, ‘I’m the missing girl. I want a job and a life and boyfriend.' He just said, ‘She didn’t like people and she didn’t like me,'" said Alice Gilbert, witness and a former neighbor of Chad.

When Chad first introduced his neighbors Lori, he allegedly told them that Lori had a daughter who had passed away. The witnesses say he later denied that story.