Medical examiner and neighbors testify on Day 14 of Chad Daybell’s murder trial
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - Testimony resumed on Day 14 in the Chad Daybell murder trial.
Utah Medical Examiner Erick Christensen was first on the stand Wednesday morning. He was the forensic pathologist who did the autopsy on Tammy Daybell after her body was exhumed.
Christensen said if he had responded to the scene, he would have done an autopsy because Tammy was young and there was no medical explanation as to why she died.
Christensen talked about the bloody foam coming out of Tammy’s mouth, and the bruising on Tammy’s arms and chest. He marked an exhibit showing the location but not the size of the bruises on Tammy’s arms.
The jury was then shown graphic pictures of those bruises during the autopsy.
When those photos were shown, Chad looked at them, pointed things out, talked to his attorney, and took notes.
On the stand Wednesday afternoon were husband and wife Todd and Alice Gilbert. They were friends of Chad and Tammy's from Salem.
Todd said the February before Tammy's death, Chad told him she wouldn't live very much longer. “On the way out, he says. I don't know if I should say this to you, but I feel like I should tell you that Tammy’s mission is going to come to an end or her life mission before her 50th birthday,” Todd said.
Alice said that they were shocked to hear about Tammy's death and surprised at how quickly the funeral was held. “I needed to see her, so my husband and I went to the funeral in Springfield. I needed to see her to the casket,” Alice said.
They also told the jury about a conversation they had with Chad less than a week after Tammy's death. “And he said that he found the woman he was going to marry. We were absolutely stunned when he said that,” Alice said.
“Then he seemed a little hesitant. He says I need to tell you something. And he says I have a girlfriend. And, of course, we about fell on the floor,” Todd said.
Then just about a week later, they met Lori for the first time in the Rexburg temple. She was with Chad. And then a couple of days after that, Chad brought Lori to their house for a visit.
“It was awkward,” Alice said. “And when you say it was awkward, did you make observations of Chad and Lori's interactions?” asked the prosecutor. “Yes, they were very affectionate with each other, more than I had ever seen, Chad. It was very affectionate with her,” Alice responded.
“And one thing we felt was strange, I seen Chad rubbing her leg and I thought to myself, that's kind of odd. Your first wife has died within a week and a half and you're carrying on kind of like a teenager sitting there that's first in love. So I thought it was odd,” Todd said.
During that conversation, Lori told them her husband had died of a heart attack in December, and Chad added that Lori had a daughter that had died. This was before anyone knew that the children were missing. Chad again visited after Lori had been arrested and asked if he could live with them and if they would put their house up to pay for Lori's bond to get out of jail. They ultimately said no.
“When he came in, he was quite upset and he said he had to get her out of jail and that it was he cried and He said it was just killing her to be in jail. And could we put our house up for bond,” Alice said. “During your conversation with Chad regarding the bond, do you recall anything about the comment previously made about Lori’s daughter dying coming up?” the prosecutor asked. “Yes, because I asked him, how many daughters does Lori have? And he said, one. And I said, well, when we met you, you told me she had a daughter that passed away. And he said, no, I didn't,” Alice said.
When they found out about Tylee being missing, they again asked Chad about it. “I’m asking you some questions. So I asked him, where are the children? And I asked him where is Tylee? I said, you know, she's a teenager. So I said, Doesn't she want a life and come out and say, I'm the missing girl, I want a job and a life and a boyfriend? And he just said she didn't like people and she didn't like me,” Alice said.
Linda Larsen is following the trial for us and will have more on Wednesday's testimony at 5p and 5:30p tonight.
