Chad Daybell didn’t steal money from wife’s dead children
Apr 17, 2024, 9:00 PM
Chad Daybell and attorney John Prior on day five of his murder trial on April 17, 2024. (Ada County)
(Ada County)
BOISE, Idaho — On the fifth day of the Chad Daybell murder trial Wednesday, the courtroom’s focus turned to an alleged plot to steal money meant for Colby Ryan‘s two murdered children.
Chad Daybell is charged with murdering Joshua “JJ” Vallow, Tylee Ryan, plus his wife Tammy Daybell, and is facing counts of conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft by deception for the two kids, and insurance fraud on Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policies.
A Rexburg Police Detective and an FBI forensic accountant took the stand Wednesday, laying down almost identical bank paper trails and timelines showing Vallow Daybell swindled Social Security benefits that were meant for JJ and Tylee, after they were murdered.
READ MORE: Judge bars prosecutor from taking stand in Chad Daybell trial
The prosecution questioned additional evidence regarding Daybell, possibly linking him to the crime of conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft by deception that Vallow Daybell was already convicted of.
Collecting Social Security of murdered children
The first of the two witnesses to take the stand Wednesday was Detective Sergeant Chuck Kunsaitis with the Investigations Division at Rexburg Police Department.
Prosecutor Rob Wood spent the whole morning admitting numerous documents into evidence, sifting through financial statements and bank transactions for Vallow Daybell, Tylee, Alex Cox, and Daybell. Most of the focus stayed on Tylee and Vallow Daybell’s financial paper trails.
The court also dug into text messages, emails, and travel itineraries connected to Daybell.
Kunsaitis originally investigated JJ and Tylee’s disappearance in 2019, and explained what he discovered as he tried to locate the children.
Going through Tylee’s financial history before and after she went missing, he said they found Vallow Daybell switched the direct deposit of Tylee’s Social Security benefits from Tylee’s account to Vallow Daybell’s own bank account, and began collecting her daughter’s money on Aug. 18, 2019.
“Was there anything significant about that to you?” Wood asked.
“We learned that, our investigation, we believe that Tylee was killed 10 days later,” Det. Kunsaitis answered.
He also explained how Tylee’s bank card from a joint account with her mother was used after the teen’s death, as well as her Venmo account.
In going through JJ’s Social Security benefits after the murder of his adopted father and Lori Vallow’s late husband, Charles Vallow, Kunsaitis explained how they could see those started coming in around mid-September.
Read the full story from KSL TV here.
