Court will resume this morning
in the trial of Laurie Valo de
Bell after it had to end early
yesterday because one of the led
prosecutors had a death in the family.
Valo was accused of murder,
conspiracy to commit murder and
also Grand Theft in the deaths
of her two kids, JJ and Ty Lee,
and also her husband's late wif,
Tammy de Bell. Her husband, Cha,
is also charged in these murder.
He's being tried separately.
Wednesday was the third day that
jurors heard from witnesses
and saw evidence multiple.
Law enforcement officers took the stand,
and Morgan Romero gives a full
recap of what happened on day e.
Tuesday was filled with heavy testimony
and evidence around how law enforcement
found Ty Lee Ryan and JJ Valo's bodies,
leaving many in the courtroom,
including some jurors distraugh.
Wednesday brought more testimony
from the lead detective in the ,
Ray or Macio, with Rexburg PD as
the Defense Cross examined him.
This is a photograph of of
the burial spot where the.
Rocks had been removed already, right?
Hermisio was part of the team that found
the children's bodies buried ind
Day Bell's backyard on June 9th, 2021.
Of Laurie Valle's defense attor,
John Thomas asked Hermisio specs
about who was at the burial site and who
found Ty Lee's skull and teeth there.
Were you the one that recovered?
No, Sir. Who was The Who was
the one that recovered those?
I don't recall who exactly
it was it recovered them.
OK, how did you come to the knowledge
that there were some that were found?
Because I was there on scene.
But you don't know who who found
them and you don't know when thy
when they were found? No, Sir. e
prosecution then questioned Hero
again in a process called redir.
Yesterday, Defense Counsel asked
you about a conversation that
led you to take steps to get
a warrant, correct? Correct.
And you mentioned a Melanie Gib.
Correct, that's correct.
What was the conversation that d
you to contacting Melanie Gibb?
When Lori Valo was contacted by Lieutenant
Ron Ball and Detective Dave Stu,
she stated that JJ Valo was
with Melanie Gibb in Arizona.
Immediately we attempted to call Melanie
and she didn't answer the phone.
They went back to the residence,
made contact again with Lori
Valo and she stated that JJ.
Wanted to go see a movie Frozen2
and that Melanie Gibb had taken
JJ to the movie to see Frozen 2.
So that's why they weren't
answering the cell phone.
And to your knowledge, were you able,
were you or other law enforcement able to get
into contact with Melanie Gibb eventually?
Yes, we were. OK and did she have JJ?
No, she did not.
And is that what led you to geta
warrant the next day? That's correct.
Throughout testimony, Valo was taking notes.
All right. The state can
call its next witness.
Thank you, your honor.
The state will call Lieutenant
Jared Wilmore. Wilmore
is a captain over the Madison Cy
Jail and monitors phone calls ad
video visits within the jail.
The prosecution played the phone call
between Lori and Chad on June 9.
This is a call from and paid foy
Lori and emanate at Madison County Jail
when Chad told her police
were searching his property.
So we'll see what counts, fires,
what?
Yeah. Right.
Right.
The prosecution then called
its last witness of the day
now calls Joe Powell,
a Lieutenant with the Fremont
County Sheriff's Office.
Powell went over how he got
involved in the investigation ad
today Bell's wife Tammy's death.
He said police in Arizona called
him to help them track down the
car scene when Brandon Boudreau,
Valo's nieces Exhusband,
was shot at in Arizona.
Boudreaux believes Valo's broth,
Alex Cox, did it.
Lieutenant Powell said he startd
uncovering more about Cox and V,
who had just moved to Rexburg,
as well as their connection with Daybell.
Powell testified he worked
with other law enforcement to
dig up Tammy Daybell's body.
In December of 2019,
about three months after she di.
As a result of
your investigation, was a decisn
made to exhume Tamra Daybell's .
What facts for you played into
the decision to exhume her?
She was healthy her age.
There was no sign of heart or blood pressure.
Again, your Honor, I'm going to check.
He's sitting out talking
about her medical diagnosis.
That's overruled.
In continued answer,
and with her husband being
with another lady so soon after
prosecutors revealed for
the first time this week.
Tammy died by asphyxiation on Wednesday.
The courtroom was shown photos f
Tammy's body when the casket was opened.
During cross examination,
Valo's defense asked if he was aware of
where Laurie Valo was when Tammy died.
Would it surprise you to know
that she was in Hawaii? No, oka,
no further questions, your hono.
As we've reported,
Valo says she has an alibi in te
deaths of Tammy Ty Lee and JJ.
She claims she wasn't there
when they all died.
Valo says she was in her Rexburg
apartment with other people
while her children were murdered
at Cox's neighboring apartment.
One of the lead prosecutors in
this case lost a family member,
so by 10:45 AM Wednesday,
court adjourned for the day.
In the trial will pick back
up this morning at 8:30
and also the judge announced
on Wednesday trial will not be
held this Monday, the 17th. Now
if you want even more behind the
scenes coverage of the trial,
you can check out our YouTube
and KTVB plus streaming show.
It's called Lori Valo inside the courtroom.
The latest episode is about opeg
arguments and the first two witnesses
called to the stand this week. r
live updates from the trial,
just check out our website
throughout the next two months.
And for all of our coverage,
scan the QR code on your screenr
check out our website ktvb.com,
the app or KTVB plus.