This week could be pivotal in the Lori Vallow Daybell trial
May 8, 2023, 7:30 AM
FILE: Lori Vallow, aka Lori Daybell, appears in court in Kauai, Hawaii, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. (Pool photograph)
(Pool photograph)
BOISE, Idaho– Monday could mark another bombshell day in the Lori Vallow Daybell trial, as the lead FBI investigator gets ready to explain what their team found in Vallow Daybell’s iCloud accounts that could show what she knew about the murders of her two children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
Former Special Agent Douglas Hart initially took the stand Friday as the prosecution laid out his involvement in the investigation.
As a supervisor, he oversaw every aspect of the case and said, for all intents and purposes, he was the FBI case agent on the investigation.
He’s expected to explain Monday what they discovered in the more than 100,000 data points they looked through from two iCloud accounts belonging to Vallow Daybell. He said the accounts were active until November 2019.
Hart testified Friday that they found communications between Vallow Daybell and her now husband, Chad Daybell, about her two children.
“There were several communications regarding Tylee and JJ that were relevant to their deaths. They discussed their deaths,” he said.
Hart said they found that Chad and Lori referenced Lori’s late husband Charles Vallow and Tammy Daybell and that “The exact words they used were ‘obstacles.’”
As former Special Agent Hart prepares to expand upon some of those specific communications Monday, the prosecution appears to be working toward an end game in the case.
Last week, a DNA analyst revealed that a piece of hair found on the duct tape used to bind JJ before his burial belonged to Vallow Daybell. Audrey Barattiero, one of Vallow Daybell’s former friends, testified that Vallow Daybell threatened to kill her.
If the prosecution rests this week, the trial will pivot to the defense.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald said at the beginning of the trial that he wasn’t sure if Vallow Daybell would testify. It’s unclear how many witnesses the defense team plans to call to testify.
