DNA found on shovel and pickaxe seized from Daybell property was a positive match to Tylee Ryan

BOISE, Idaho — The morning testimony was centered around forensics evidence indicating tools were used to strike the bones of Tylee Ryan, and testimony on DNA tests proving the remains found on the Daybell property belonged to JJ Vallow and Tylee.

The afternoon further provided testimony that DNA belonging to Tylee was found on several tools seized at the Daybell property. There were also latent prints identified as belonging to Alex Cox found in the materials found with JJ's remains.

RELATED: Coroner reveals causes of death for JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan

Before ending for the day, Tammy Daybell's sister, Samantha Gwilliam, was called to the stand.

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Court opened this morning with continued testimony from FBI Forensics Pathologist Dr. Angi Christensen, and picked up where yesterday left off, describing bones, fragments and trauma noted when she examined the remains of Tylee Ryan.

Upon cross-examination, the defense explores Christensen's testimony that what she observed was not consistent with dismemberment. She states that she has only performed a limited number of dismemberment cases in her career.

Sketch by Lisa Cheney

The defense presses Christensen to identify what tools she would say were used causing trauma to the bones. She testifies this is not her area of expertise and offered no answers.

Finally she testifies that the examination of Tylee's remains took her about a month.

The prosecution asks one follow-up question of Christensen, clarifying that "sharp trauma" is made by something with a small surface area, versus "blunt trauma" which is caused by something with a larger surface area.

The state has no further questions, and the witness is excused.

NEXT WITNESS

The state calls Douglas Halepaska, another forensics examiner for the FBI in Virginia. His expertise are in firearms and tool marks.

He first explains his background, and then the process that his lab practices when evidence arrives. He explains that when two objects come together, the harder of the two is referred to as the "tool" and the softer as the "tool mark". Halepaska confirms that he also used silicon-based material to make castings in this case.

The examination by this specialist took place between February 2021 and October 2021.

Reviewing photos of the examination, Halepaska testifies that he identified damaged areas on the bones he associated with stabbing and chopping-type actions, though was unable to identify any specific characteristics of the tool that may have caused the damage. He did state that one of the fracture lines on the hip bone appears to be axe-like.

A large photograph was shown to the court displaying all the bones, hip, sacrum, spine/vertebrae and highlighting the damage caused by tool marks. There appears to be a large amount of stabbing and chopping, and Halepaska says marks could be made by any number of tools, but did not identify any one specifically.

Cross-examination begins with the defense confirming education and experience of the witness.

sketch by Lisa Cheney

When questioning begins about the tools, Halepaska testifies that none of the tools seized from the Daybell property were provided for testing, though that would have been helpful. He confirms that his examination was only on skeletal remains, no flesh or skin.

The defense asks how the difference between stabbing and chopping is determined, and the witness explains stabbing is indicated when marks show force was used in a very narrow area, while chopping is evident when force is applied over a long-access area.

Questioning has been completed by both the defense and prosecution, and Halepask is excused.

NEXT WITNESS

Retired Idaho State Police chemist David Sincerbeaux is called to the stand and sworn in. Sincerbeaux worked as an analytical chemist in the ISP lab analyzing fire debris and drugs. He testifies he has examined tens of thousands of items impacted by fire over the course of his career.

Sincerbeaux was only asked to recall that he tested a small can that contained decomposing flesh and other debris police collected on the Daybell property, and testified that the can contained gasoline.

The defense asks what Sincerbeaux was testing for when he examined the can, he testifies that he was looking for any ignitable liquids. He also confirms the contents of the can contained a mixture of flesh and debris (like mud and other things) that were tested.

A few more questions were asked to describe the procedures followed for the testing, and the witness was excused.

NEXT WITNESS

The state calls Idaho State Police Lab Manager Rylene Nowlin who has experience testing thousands of DNA samples and testifies to what DNA is, how samples are obtained, and how they test for it.

Nowlin testifies about samples she was given said to belong to JJ and some from Tylee for testing. Testing confirmed nearly 100% that Lori Vallow was the mother of the sample from Tylee's remains. Testing also confirm that Dennis Trehan (JJ's biological father) was a match to sample from JJ's remains.

There is no cross-examination from the defense, and Nowlin is excused.

NEXT WITNESS

The prosecution calls Katherine Dace, another forensic biologist from the Idaho State Police, who received a lot of the evidence seized from the Daybell property for examination and testing.

Dace confirms that a shovel retrieved was confirmed to have DNA that matched Tylee Ryan on the backside of it. Dace also confirms that material taken from a pickaxe was a match to Tylee.

Dace was not able to test hair found on duct tape, but sent it to another lab. The prosecution has no further questions for the witness.

Cross-examination asks background, education and experience questions, then moves on to ask about the hair and where she found it. Dace confirms that the hair was retrieved from a piece of duct tape.

The defense asks about the DNA and learns through questioning that the tools tested were held in the state lab waiting on permission to test.

State had one quick question on redirect and then Dace was excused.

NEXT WITNESS

Tara Martinez, a forensic scientist in the Idaho State Police lab, is called to the stand. Martinez focus is on latent prints, the unseen prints left behind at crime scenes.

Martinez testified that she was asked to assist in obtaining and collecting fingerprints of JJ Vallow. She acquired fingerprints, footprints and hair samples from Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, and she obtained the fingerprints of Alex Cox from the police in Arizona.

The first focus of questioning was on the duct tape and plastic bags found with JJ's remains. She confirmed that she found some prints that were usable, others were not.

Due to the quality, Martinez was not able to definitively identify the print retrieved from the duct tape. Martinez then testifies that both a fingerprint and a palm print obtained from one of the black plastic bags included in the evidence were identified as belonging to Alex Cox.

The state has no further questions and the defense has nothing for cross. Martinez is excused.

RECALLED WITNESS

The state recalls Rexburg Detective Chuck Kunsaitis.

The prosecution asks Kunsaitis if he was at the Daybell property on June 9 and aided in the recovery of Tylee's remains. Kunsaitis confirms that he was.

Kunsaitis testifies that he had contacted a satellite imagry company that had photographs of the Daybell property, and obtained them from September 2, 2019 and September 9, 2019. Each was taken at precisely 12:32pm.

The photograph from September 9 shows a visibly discolored area (versus the one from September 2) in the area identified as the pet cemetery. This is the area, Kunsaitis says, where they found Tylee's remains.

On cross-examination, the defense asks if they had requested more pictures of the property from the satellite company. The witness responded that they did, but only four were of high resolution, and they were purchased for $1500.

The witness testifies that although he did not see any smoke in the photograph from September 9, that there were clouds obscuring the view of the firepit. He further states that they have not been able to confirm where Tylee's body was burned.

There are no further questions, and Kunsaitis is excused.

September 9 was a day that a phone belonging to Alex Cox had been traced to the Daybell property in the morning. It was also the day that Chad Daybell had texted wife Tammy that he was burning debris. September 9 is the day police suspect Tylee Ryan was killed.

NEXT WITNESS

The prosecution calls Samantha Gwilliam to the stand. Gwilliam is the sister of Tammy Daybell.

The state asks Gwilliam if she had knowledge of the area referred to as the pet cemetery. She confirms she did because her sister had told her about it, and that the police had asked her about it. Gwilliam points to the area of the pet cemetery in a photograph.

She testifies that she and her husband, Jason, had been quite close with Chad and Tammy when they all lived in Utah. And that she had really liked Chad when the couple began dating.

Gwilliam testified that Tammy did not want to move to Idaho, but Chad felt they needed to move there.

She also stated that while the Daybells lived in Utah, Chad worked as part of a cemetery grounds crew and dug graves.

Gwilliam testified that Chad told her that Tammy had a terrible coughing spell the night she died, and he was awoken when Tammy's lifeless body rolled out of the bed.

Gwilliam also testified that Tammy visited her in Utah two weeks before she died and seemed perfectly healthy. Chad had encouraged Tammy to make the trip.

She noted that something in 2019 was different with them, and that during a visit Chad wouldn't speak with Jason. In July, an unannounced visit by Tammy and Chad to bring Gwilliam a birthday gift lasted for only a few minutes, and Chad stayed in the car the entire time.

Gwilliam testifies that her sister have given no indication that Chad was having an affair.

Court has adjourned for the day.