Chad Daybell Trial, Day 5: State uses financial records to establish murder timeline

BOISE, Idaho (ABC4) — While Chad Daybell is on trial for murder, there is also a financial aspect to his charges, and both he and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell are accused of using death benefits from the victims.

The prosecution called Rexburg Police Det. Sgt. Chuck Kunsaitis to the stand this morning to start reviewing financial documents for the jury. In doing so, the prosecutors appeared to be showing how that money was being moved around and how it could help prove the timeline of the murders of Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan.

CONTEXT: Timeline of Daybell case

Kunsaitis walked through a number of accounts, including bank accounts, loan accounts and credit card accounts. All the accounts were associated with Lori Daybell, but many were joint accounts with her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, her daughter, Tylee Ryan, and her brother, Alex Cox. The defense confirmed with Kunsaitis that Lori and Chad, even when married, never shared a joint account.

Letter to a realtor

In one of the morning’s most interesting pieces of evidence, Kunsaitis testified about an email investigators found that Chad Daybell sent to a realtor in Hawaii. In November 2019, Chad and Lori flew to Hawaii to get married, just days after Chad’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell died and was laid to rest.

While there, court exhibits show Chad Daybell sent a letter to a Hawaiian realtor inquiring about a property for lease. In that document, Daybell told the realtor that only he and Lori would live on the property and the pair had “no pets or children.” Kunsaitis and prosecutors pointed out that this email, sent Nov. 11, 2019, came as investigators were still trying to find Tylee and JJ. Kunsaitis said he didn’t get a copy of the email until Feb. 2020.

Lori Vallow Daybell’s financials

Financial documents shared by the state showed that Lori, Tylee and JJ were all receiving Social Security death benefits. Tylee received benefits after the death of her father, Joseph Ryan, while Lori and JJ received benefits after the death of Charles Vallow.

Lori and Tylee had a joint bank account, and the documents show that around the time Tylee Ryan was believed to be murdered, Lori Daybell had contacted the Social Security Administration and moved Tylee’s regular benefit deposits to her own account. Within days of Tylee’s death, Lori is also shown to have emptied Tylee’s bank accounts into her own.

Kunsaitis showed that, normally, Tylee’s bank transactions occurred at “brick-and-mortar” locations, such as gas stations and fast food restaurants. Very few transactions were done online.

A later witness, Michael Douglass, testified that Colby Ryan, Lori’s oldest son, reached out on Sept. 8 asking Tylee for money, which was a regular occurrence. He said Tylee responded by saying she couldn’t Venmo him because their mom gets her money now.

Daybell trial comes to brief halt over discussion on whether prosecutor can be called as witness

The financial documents also, in a roundabout way, provide some insight into when Lori and Chad began their affair. Credit card documents showed flights paid for by Lori’s credit card for Chad’s airfare while she was still married to Charles Vallow. The documents also show how Chad and Lori flew to Hawaii to get married very shortly after Charles Vallow’s death.

The defense asked Kunsaitis if he knew what the flights were for, to which he replied no, and suggested that they could have been for business purposes, as Chad worked as he often spoke at events. However, Wood asked Kunsaitis if he knew of Chad and Lori having a business together, to which he replied no. And followed up with the question of whether they were in a relationship together, to which he replied yes.

The defense also asked what the purpose of placing Charles Vallow’s death on the timeline was if Chad was not implicated in his death, even going as far as to suggest he placed it on the exhibit for a reaction from the jury, to which the prosecutors objected and the judge sustained.

Alex Cox’s finances

Documents also showed a joint credit card between Lori and her brother, Alex Cox. When Lori and her family moved from Arizona to Idaho in 2019, documents show that Cox took out a $21,000 loan for supposed medical needs. Documents from Alex Cox’s bank records show he never spent any money on medical needs. Documents did show, however, that he started purchasing firearms and firearm-related items with a credit card account he shared with Lori.

The defense asked Kunsaitis if he was suggesting this was the only time Cox looked at firearms, to which he replied “no.”

Cox was also unemployed at the time he took out the loan, and Kunsaitis testified that it never appeared that Cox had another job. Cox supposedly quit his job when the Vallows moved from Arizona to Idaho and had no known income leading up to his death.

Chad Daybell’s accounts

While the state did submit some of Chad Daybell’s financial documents as evidence, Kunsaitis largely testified that he handed those documents over to FBI Forensic Accountant Michael Douglass, who testified in the afternoon portion of the meeting.

Douglass discussed several instances in early to mid-2019 when Lori purchased flights for Chad or when he purchased pre-paid phones. In December, the investigation into the missing children was announced by the Rexburg Police Department, and Douglass said Chad subsequently sent $1,000 to three of his older children. On Jan. 3, 2020, investigators searched his property for the first time and Chad transferred $1,500 to his middle son.

On June 9, the day investigators searched again and found the bodies of Tylee and JJ, Chad transferred a total of $26,000 to three of his children around 9:50 a.m.

The court adjourned before the defense could cross-examine Douglass.

Airline and prescription records

Kunsaitis testified to following many of the case’s players via travel records on airlines and by prescriptions they may have had filled. Kunsaitis said at one point, detectives thought JJ and Tylee could be in a Montana compound, though that lead didn’t turn up anything.

Kunsaitis noted that Lori flew under both the name Lori Ryan (from her previous marriage to Joseph Ryan) and as Lori Vallow numerous times. Her son, JJ, also flew under Both JJ Ryan and JJ Vallow on numerous occasions.

In one trip, taken after Tylee is believed to have died, Lori and her niece, Melanie Boudreaux Palowski, flew to Kansas City, Mo. While they were there, Lori was shown to have used Tylee’s phone, even though there is no record of Tylee having traveled with them.

The court will reconvene tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. and go until 3:30 p.m. ABC4 will continue to livestream the proceedings online.

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