Vallow Daybell’s sister says she was lied to about Tylee and JJ’s safety

BOISE, Idaho — Lori Vallow Daybell looked at Summer Shiflet, her sister, when she entered the Ada County courtroom in Boise on Tuesday morning.

Shiflet was there to testify on behalf of the prosecution trying Vallow Daybell for the murder of her children, JJ Vallow, 7 and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. The remains of both children were found in Chad Daybell‘s backyard on Jun 9, 2020.

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Reporters in the courtroom said that Vallow Daybell looked at her sister and smiled as Shiftlet took the stand. Shiftlet was in tears for much of her testimony on Tuesday.

Looking sad, and nervous, she told the court that in the past she’d had a close relationship with Vallow Daybell. And, that she trusted her.

“I felt lied to,” she said, when the bodies of Tylee and JJ were found.

 

At this point during testimony, Larry Woodcock, JJ’s grandfather, was reportedly rocking back and forth in his seat. He would not return to the courtroom after a lunchtime break.

The jury was then given a transcript of the recorded telephone call they were about to hear.

The call was between Vallow Daybell and her sister, Summer Shiftlet. And it began with a list of devastating questions.

‘This is not my Lolo that I know and love’

“I’m willing to listen if you’re willing to talk to me,” Shiflet told her sister in a voice described as heavy with tears.

“Did you know they were there? I don’t know how they can be thrown away like garbage!

“You were in Hawaii dancing on the beach while your kids are in the ground,” Shiflet screamed at her sister during the call.

Officials Confirm remains found at daybell home belong to missing Rexburg children

“This is your opinion,” Vallow Daybell said in return.

Shiflet continued by telling Vallow Daybell that she would have taken her kids, and asking why she cut herself off from Shiflet and their mother for four months. While the recording was played for the courtroom, Shiflet looked at Vallow Daybell for a long period of time.

Shiflet’s face appeared to display changing emotions ranging from from sadness to anger to pity, according to KSL NewsRadio court reporter Hugo Rikard Bell, present in Boise.

Vallow Daybell described as protective

Upon cross-examination, Shiflet said she felt that Vallow Daybell was a good and protective mother and that Tylee “adored” Lori. Shiflet also told the court that she never feared for Tylee’s safety around Vallow Daybell and that she couldn’t imagine her sister killing or conspiring to kill her children.

Druing further questioning by prosecutors had Shiflet tearfully said Vallow Daybell had lied to her about her children being safe.

Forensic photographs: The story of Tylee’s death

Whether Vallow Daybell’s children had been safe or not was answered definitively in early June 2020, when special agents from the FBI began methodically digging in Chad Daybell’s backyard in Rexburg, Idaho.

Special Agent Steve Daniels is a senior leader for the FBI’s Evidence Response Team. He led the team as they found and then recovered the remains of Tylee and JJ.

The courtroom was quiet as Daniels set up a display featuring some of the 700 photos of the crime scene taken by the FBI, including a photo of Chad Daybell’s backyard. During this procedure the jury seemed attentive, the accused, indifferent.

Using the photographs, Daniels painted the picture — they first used hand tools and then a backhoe on the first area they believed was a gravesite. They found a vertebrate, Daniels said, their first sign that a human was below.

The next unmistakable sign, Daniels said, was the odor of deteriorating human flesh.  That was combined with an overwhelming smell of accelerant.

Human remains found on Daybell property were missing children, family says

More digging led them to a mass that they thought was hard earth. It was actually Tylee’s body, dismembered, and then burned.

JJ was recovered soon after, but the court was adjourned for the day before Daniels could provide those details.