Idaho accused child killer Lori Vallow Daybell created immediate suspicions, dead victim's sister testifies

A dead victim's sister testified Friday that she had suspicions about Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho woman accused of killing her sibling three years ago.

Samantha Gwilliam, the sister of Tammy Daybell, told a Boise courtroom that she wondered why her former brother-in-law Chad Daybell, remarried just weeks after Tammy supposedly died unexpectedly in her sleep in October 2019.

"You don’t get married four weeks after you just buried your wife of almost 30 years," Gwilliam testified she asked Chad Daybell upon learning he married the then-Lori Vallow, according to East Idaho News. "You just don’t do that."

An autopsy would later reveal Tammy Daybell's death was a homicide and she died from asphyxiation. Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, are accused of murdering Tammy Daybell and Vallow Daybell's two youngest kids, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, in 2019.

The kids' discarded bodies were discovered by authorities in Chad Daybell's backyard near a "pet cemetery," in June 2020. Vallow Daybell could face life in prison if convicted, while Chad Daybell, who is being tried separately, could face the death penalty if he's convicted.

A gripping and gruesome week of testimony against Lori Vallow Daybell

Gwilliam taking the stand on behalf of her late sister Friday wrapped up a gory week of testimony. On Tuesday, Vallow Daybell's older sister tearfully testified that her sibling's dead kids were "thrown away like garbage," and a forensic pathologist gruesome's details on Wednesday said Vallow Daybell's kids were found in plastic bags and also "charred and burned."

"This paints a graphic and horrible picture of what was done to these kids," said Rachel Juarez, a Los Angeles-based attorney and a judge on the TV court show, "Hot Bench." "This is really going to leave an impact on the jury. These children didn't die peacefully."

Prosecutors allege that Vallow Daybell and her husband practiced apocalyptic and doomsday-driven religious beliefs as part of a plan to kill the kids and Tammy Daybell, a school teacher. Two weeks ago, an ex-best friend testified that Vallow Daybell thought her kids were 'zombies.'

Vallow Daybell's trial has been the subject of national fascination and scrutiny. The former all-American mom and Mrs. Texas beauty pageant winner was the subject of a Netflix docuseries that depicted her downfall after better times, including winning $17,500 in 2004 on the popular TV game show, "Wheel of Fortune."

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Tammy Daybell looked 'very healthy' prior to death, sister testifies

Gwilliam testified about Tammy Daybell's health and said her sister previously suffered from depression a few years before her death.

But, two weeks before Daybell's death, Gwilliam said her sister looked "very healthy. She did not look sick at all," East Idaho News reported.

Gwilliam said she spoke with her sister the last time she was ill. During a visit with Tammy Daybell two weeks before she died in October 2019, Gwilliam said her sister never mentioned she felt sick.

Gwilliam testified that Chad Daybell told her that Tammy Daybell had died peacefully in her sleep on October 19, 2019, because she had been sick, according to KTVB-TV.

A county coroner, Brenda Dye, who also testified on Friday said she found Tammy Daybell dead at her house. Dye told prosecutors that Chad Daybell said that Tammy Daybell "had been feeling really off lately – like she wasn’t in her body," East Idaho News reported.

Dye testified that Chad Daybell said Tammy Daybell had been having some fainting episodes including one at a temple where she passed out on the floor.

Chad Daybell said Tammy Daybell had very low blood pressure and wouldn’t go to the doctors, Dye testified, adding that Chad Daybell told her that Tammy Daybell tried to treat everything naturally.

Dye testified that the initial cause of Tammy Daybell's death was ruled as a pulmonary edema, which is a buildup of fluids in the lungs, even though no autopsy was conducted, KTVB-TV reported. Tammy Daybell's body would be exhumed in Utah, where Chad Daybell had her buried, for a formal autopsy in December 2019, Dye testified.

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Tammy Daybell's sister disputes Chad Daybell's account of wife's health

However, Gwilliam disputed Chad Daybell's cause of her sister's death and testified that her sister seemed very healthy and even wanted to run in a race, East Idaho News reported.

Gwilliam also testified that Chad Daybell had her sister's funeral three days after her death. Gwillam said she asked Chad Daybell why it was happening so quickly and he said that Tammy Daybell would want to avoid the fuss.

Gwilliam also testified she asked Chad Daybell why he was burying her sister in Springville, Utah, rather than in Rexburg, Idaho, where Chad and Tammy Daybell and their kids lived.

"(Chad Daybell) said that he thought it would be better if she was down there because it’s cold in Rexburg, and they wouldn’t get to visit her as much," Gwilliam testified, according to East Idaho News.

Gwilliam says some family members weren’t able to come to the funeral because it happened so quickly. Gwilliam also testified she noticed the summer before her sister died, Chad Daybell seemed "more distant" and was acting very different.

"We didn’t know what was going on," Gwilliam said.

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Tammy Daybell's sister grew immediately suspicious after learning about Lori Vallow Daybell

Gwilliam later testified that her family learned that Chad Daybell remarried two weeks after Tammy Daybell's death, "and we were devastated," East Idaho News reported.

Chad Daybell told Gwilliam that his new wife’s name was Lori Ryan, and her previous husband, Charles Vallow, died from a heart attack.

"They were both grieving the passing of spouses," Gwilliam testified. "As any good sister did, I went to the internet to see who this woman was. I discovered (Lori’s) name was tied to Vallow, and it brought up newspaper articles about a man in Arizona who had been shot in his own home by his brother-in-law."

After discovering Charles Vallow was fatally shot by Alex Cox, Vallow Daybell's brother, Gwilliam testified that she took that information to her husband, and told him, 'I think this is the same woman who he married. He did not die of a heart attack.'"

Gwilliam said she saw an obituary for Charles Vallow and a comment Kay Woodcock, JJ Vallow's grandmother, left that said, "We will take care of JJ," East Idaho News reported.

After learning Vallow Daybell had kids, Gwilliam testified that she asked Chad Daybell: "Please tell me about this woman you replaced my sister with?"

Gwilliam said Chad Daybell said his new wife had "a hard life," and they were trying to stay away from "the stigma of what had happened to her," East Idaho News reported.

Gwilliam testified she asked Chad Daybell if he and his new wife would be raising the kids together.

"He told me no," Gwilliam testified. "There’s no children and they were going to be empty nesters."

When Gwilliam testified she spoke to Chad Daybell in December 2019, she said he and Lori Vallow were likely living off insurance money.

"He told us she had lots of money," said Gwilliam said, who added that Chad Daybell never came around to visit the family after his new marriage, KTVB-TV reported.

Prosecutors claim that the couple's bizarre strategy was part of a plot to steal social security funds and insurance money.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lori Vallow Daybell trial update: victim's sister testifies