FBI agent and the Powlowski’s take the stand in Chad Daybell’s Murder Trial

BOISE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — An FBI Special Agent and more family members took the stand in Boise for day 17 of Chad Daybell’s murder trial at the Ada County Courthouse.

Testimony began Monday, May 6, with FBI Special Agent Steven Daniels, who is a member of the Evidence Response Team. Daniels described how his team searched Daybell’s Rexburg property where the bodies of 7-year-old J.J. Vallow, and his sister 16-year-old Tylee Ryan were discovered buried.

Defense Attorney John Prior asks Agent Daniels how his team was able to determine where to start looking near what was marked as a pet cemetery.

“I initially designated an area of the pet cemetery. There was the dog statue that was an indicator, and then in front of the dog statue there were several depressions which could be an indicator or burials,” Daniels testified. “So I kind of made a square area or perimeter and called that the initial pet cemetery.”

Daniels describes the wooden planks and stones laid over J.J.’s plastic body, and upon digging deeper, the team realized they had found the boy’s burial site.

After morning recess Lori Vallow’s niece, Melani Pawlowski took the stand and testified that she was close to her aunt Lori and that she had met Chad Daybell in November 2018. Melani said that she had grown close to Chad through Lori and started to call him “dad” and reached out to both for guidance and advice.

Melanie was asked by Prosecutor Lindsey Blake if she recalled teachings from Chad and Lori about light and dark souls.

“What I remember, um, Chad was said to have a gift to spiritually discern and he could see light and dark, or if a person had good intentions. But he could see through and had that gift,” Melani testified.

Blake then asked Melani if there was a special tool that Chad would use to help him discern light and dark souls.

“He had a pendent or necklace, something to that effect that he could, um, like a pendulum kind of thing where he could get an answer to something he wanted to know,” Melani told the court.

Melani also testified that Chad and Lori told her Rexburg Police Det. Ray Hermosillo and Det. Dave Hope were dark souls.

Melani moved to Rexburg the first week of Nov. 2019, and she was also living there when the children were declared missing, Chad told Melani that Madison County was not safe and that she needed to move away.

“Melani: Isn’t Rexburg the place of safety when all things happen?

Chad: Yeah, but there’s been lots of prophecies about major turmoil there. The quake is going to sweep through Rexburg. So, where we’re at, I had a vision of 2nd East where McDonald’s is and everything, just chaos, people starving, fighting, so there still a stretch of bad times coming to Rexburg before the city of light.”

Melani’s husband Ian Powlowski took the stand and testified about Chad’s marital blessing to them over Zoom, which he found odd. And gave a narrative of the phone calls, as he was secretly recording them.

Ian testified that Chad and Lori never once indicated that they knew where the children were, and never assisted law enforcement in their search for Tylee and J.J.

Chad Daybell is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his former wife Tammy Daybell, as well as J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, plus faces charges of grand theft and insurance fraud. If found guilty by the jury, he could face the death penalty.

Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty and sentenced last year to multiple life sentences and is currently in Maricopa County, Arizona where she faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder for the death of her former husband Charles Vallow, and for the attempted murder of her niece’s former husband Brandon Boudreaux.

Court resumes again on Tuesday and the proceedings are livestreamed via Judge Steven Boyce’s YouTube Channel.

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