Sunday, May 5, 2024

Chad Daybell Trial: Detective Vince Kaaiakamanu Finishes His Testimoney.

 
It was Day 11 of the Chad Daybell trial and Detective Vince Kaaiakamanu was back on the stand.

Blake published a PowerPoint that Vince put together from investigating Alex's Google searches.

October 8th, 2019, the day before the attempted shooting of Tammy Daybell. - Alex Cox Googled “the 100-yard drop to 200 and 100 to 300.” Vince explained "During shooting and sighting in your rifle with your scope, depending on how far you're out in yardage, a lot of times you will dial in that scope to a precise point of impact of your bullet. The drop of your bullet the further you're out. The drop of the bullet tends to go down a little bit."

Vince confirmed that it was a 6.5 grindle specifically that Alex searched for information for. He also confirmed that the rifle recovered from Alex's apartment was a 6.5 grindle.

October 9th, 2019- Alex searched for uppers or ARs, muzzle energy break of a 6.5 grindle and frog sizing of frog tog pants.

Vince said that there were some frog tog pants purchased that day from Sportsman's Wearhouse in Idaho Falls. He also confirmed that a device belonging to Alex was at the Sportsman's Wearhouse that day and that the Frog Tog pants were black.

October 10th, 2019- Alex searched for how an AR responds to cold weather, if an AR responds in cold weather, Hornady one shot, shooting in cold weather, how to prep your AR to shoot in cold weather and if mag rang shrinks in cold weather.

Vince testified that that part of Idaho where Tammy lived was generally cold. He said that he Googled the temperature for the day of Tammy's shooting, and it was 26 degrees Celsius.

October 12th, 2019- Alex searched how to attach a ghillie suit, a cover to a ghillie suit, if a 6.5 grindle will shoot through a windshield, the penetration through a Dodge Dakota 2008, Dodge Dakota steel body thickness, the thickness of the doors and how thick a 22 gauge still is.

Vince said that a ghillie suit is used a lot in the military. It is a cover that snipers can use while they are in the weeds, the brush and the trees so they are not seen.

Vince said that Tammy and Chad had a 2004 Dodge Dakota registered to them.

Blake asked Vince if he also looked at some shooting range records. Blake admitted financial records from gun range. She asked Vince if he was able to determine if Alex had been at that gun range. He said yes and that Alex signed in as C. Quint on the sign-up sheets. Vince said that CPQUINT was on Alex's license plate on his Ford F-150 truck. Vince said that Alex was there five times from October 7th to October 15th, 2019.

Vince reminded the court that Tammy was shot at on October 9th and was pronounce dead on October 19th, 2019.

Blake admitted an Affidavit of records from Tammy’s phone. Tammy sent Mark Daybell an email on October 13th, 2019. Vince read the first paragraph into the record.

" I think I was a bit shocked because I just said what do you think you were doing? Then I noticed the rifle is actually a paintball gun it had a hopper on top. The guy started pulling the trigger and I could hear the clicking and whooshing sound of an empty paintball gun. He stayed standing by the back of the car just pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at him for some reason. I just kept asking him what he thought he was doing. At that point I was actually more annoyed than scared because he was standing between me, and the door and he didn't step towards me or even say anything. The scared part came after when my brain thought of things that could have happened."

Vince then read the last sentence of the second paragraph.

"Well, Thursday night though I didn't go to Zumba because I was quite understandably did not want to be out after dark alone."

Blake asked Vince if in the first paragraph Tammy referred to the rifle as a paintball gun. He said correct. Vince confirmed that Tammy referenced a hopper. He also confirmed that Tammy said that he kept pulling the trigger. Blake asked if Vince could see where Tammy said she was scared. Vince said yes.

Blake published a photo of the 6.5 grindle that was found inside Alex’s apartment. Vince confirmed that had a large scope on top that could be mistaken for a hopper.

Blake talked about how Alex Googled drilling a baffle to make a suppressor. Vince said that a suppressor is a device that can be screwed onto the end of rifles, handguns and mini guns, that will make the bullet coming out quiet. He said that sometimes people make homemade suppressors where they have to drill holes.

Blake admitted a close-up photo of the rifle. Vince said that "It is threaded and sometimes you can get muzzle breaks on there or you can take a muzzle break of and put a suppressor on there."

Vince testified that a device associated with Alex went around the Daybell residence the afternoon of the “attempted shooting” of Tammy. And later that day the same device was at the Sportsman's Wearhouse.

Vince testified that there were no paintball guns located at Alex's apartment.

Blake talked about Geofencing. Vince testified that the Geofencing data that he gathered showed Alex's device was at the Salem church, which was 2.6 miles from Chad's house, on October 18th, 2019, at 10:07pm to 10:45pm. He said that the device then shut off and when it came back on it was 11:53pm it was 7 miles south of the church.

Blake asked Vince who was the person who saw Tammy last besides Chad. Vince said Tammy's son Garth. Vince testified that Garth was at work at the Haunted Mill until 1am the next morning.

Vince testified that Chad's devices did not show up that night at either location. Vince said that Chad had told the police that he had been home that night.

Blake talked about the emails that Charles had sent to Tammy and Chad. Vince said that the email to Tammy had been sent on June 29, 2019, to her school address telling her he had information about an affair going on. Vince said that Charles didn't give too much information but did include his phone number for her to call him. Vince said that he was never able to confirm if Tammy had contacted Charles.

Vince said that on the same day that Charles sent Tammy the email, he sent Chad an email as well telling him that he knew what was going on between him and Lori and Chad needed to tell Tammy or Charles was going to expose him. Charles said that he was also aware that Lori had sent Chad some dance videos of her and that was inappropriate.

Vince testified that in his investigation he learned that Chad and Lori got married on November 5th, 2019, just three days after Tammy's funeral.

Blake had no further questions.

Prior was up for the cross. Prior displayed the email Tammy had sent to Mark about the shooting incident. Prior talked about Reagan Price lived “kiddy-corner” to the Daybell house. Price reported that someone snatched her dog earlier the week of the attempted shooting. 

Prior asked Vince where the attempted shooting took place in relation to the Daybell house, which was behind her car and next to the garage.

Prior had Vince read a line from the email.

"Then I noticed the rifle was actually a paintball gun, it had a hopper on top." 

Vince testified that he knew the difference between a paintball hopper and a rifle scope. Prior claimed that it would be very difficult to confuse a hopper and a rifle scope. Vince disagreed and said that someone who didn't not know the difference could make that confusion.

Prior said that Tammy Googled photos of paintball guns and pointed out the one she saw the night of the incident. Vince said that he did not know about that because it was not included in police reports.

The court took a break. When they returned Prior asked Vince to read from the email again.

"I think I was a bit in shock because I just said, 'What do you think you are doing' then I noticed the rifle was actually a paintball gun, it had a hopper on top."

Prior said the next line said, "The guy started pulling the trigger and I could hear the clicking and the 'whooshing sound' of an empty paintball gun." Vince said that was correct.


Prior read more.
"He stayed there standing by the back of the car, just pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at me. For some reason I just kept asking him what he thought he was doing."

Prior suggested that because Tammy was at close range to the man, she would have known what was being pointed at her. Vince said in daylight yes.

Vince agreed that unless they had the weapon, they wouldn't know exactly what it was.

Prior said that an AR, even with a suppressor, would make a noise loud and that Garth and Chad would have heard it go off. Vince said it depended on the type of round used.

Prior read another line.

"They suspect that it was a bipolar teenager who lives down the street and walks around a lot."

Vince agreed that it is unclear who the "we" in the email was.

Prior asked Vince if he was aware of a bipolar teenager contacting people in the neighborhood. Vince said he was not. 

Prior read another line.

"His theory is that the crazy dog lady brought her husband back to steal the dog again. They had parked down the road and had snuck through the cow fields and he was going to cut through our front yard."

Prior read another line.

"When I pulled up and startled him, he didn't know what to do so he panicked and tried to menace me with his not real gun."

Prior said that it was clear that Tammy knew that the gun was not real.

Prior read more.

"So, then he ran back across the field, which would explain why he ran across the side of the house. I never heard a car and could never find anywhere."

"It is actually a pretty good theory."

Prior asked Vince if he talked to Reagan or Matt Price. He said yes. He also agreed that the alleged dog incident happened the same day that Tammy was shot at.

Prior had Vince read a line from the email.

"Honestly, I just kept wondering what kind of person walks around with a ski mask on carrying an empty paintball gun. Bipolar doesn't mean you want to hurt people, so I am leaning more towards Matt's theory. The guy didn't try to rob me or even really hurt me. On Thursday night though, I didn't go to Zumba because quite understandably I did not want to be out after dark alone."

Prior played the call twice to dispatch that Tammy placed about the shooting. 

Prior said that the call spoke for itself. Vince said “Yes. Having a rifle and shooting at her.”

Prior then published a photo of a paintball gun. He said that someone can clearly see the hopper. Vince said if they are clearly able to see it.

Prior had Vince read part of the Facebook post Tammy had written about the attempted shooting.

"Something really weird just happened, and I want you to know so you can watch out. I had gotten home and parked in our front driveway. As I was getting stuff out of the back seat, a guy wearing a ski mask was suddenly standing by the back of my car with a paintball gun. He shot at me several times, although I don’t think it was loaded."

Prior points out that Tammy never included the words “gun” or “rifle”.

Prior displayed and exhibit that showed Tammy searched paintball guns and airsoft guns on October 10th at 9:29pm. Vince said that he did not see in police reports anything about that search.

Prior said only Tammy and the gunman were present for the incident and Tammy would have been the only person to identify the instrument.

Blake asked Vince if he knew what Tammy’s knowledge of guns was. He said that he had no way of knowing that, as he never spoke to her directly.

Prior published Alex's Google history again. Vince confirmed that Alex had he visited the Freemont County gun range October 7th to the 16th. Vince said that Alex had also visited gun ranges in other cities. Prior said that Alex had a habit of visiting gun ranges. He also alleged that Alex had been Googling guns as early as 2017. Vince said that he was not aware of those searches.

Prior asked Vince if he was aware of the incidents involving Brandon Boudreaux and Charles Vallow. He said yes. Prior said it is alleged that Alex shot at Brandon from a distance and at close range at Charles and killed him. Vince agreed. Prior stated that Chad was not implicated in those incidents. Vince agreed.

Alex searched “drop for 100-200 yards.” Prior said that the driveway was around 30 feet, which is 10 yards.

Prior asked Vince if there was an indication that Alex had purchased a hunting license. He said that he was not aware but acknowledged that it would have been hunting season. He also agreed that a grindle could be used for hunting as wells as a ghillie suit.

Alex Search for preparing an AR for cold weather. Prior said that October would have been a cold time to go hunting. Vince agreed. Prior mentioned the search that Alex did for bullets that could go through car doors and windshields.

Prior said that it looked like Alex had been planning to shoot a Dodge Dakota and to do harm to whomever was driving it. Vince said yes. Prior tried to insinuate that Chad was Alex's target, not Tammy.

Prior published a copy of a police report written by Vince.  Vince confirmed that he had went through all the information from Tammy’s email account and included all the information in his report he felt relevant. Some of what he found relevant was emails between Tammy and Mark while he was on his mission as well as messages between Tammy and her other children. 

In his report Vince said that it was clear that Chad was messaging and using Tammy's email. He also said that there was evidence that Tammy and the kids had knowledge that Chad believed in light and dark people.

Prior read and excerpt from Vince's report.

"During the chats Mark's camera was not working and Tammy informed him that his camera was cursed, and dad was removing it. In more chats Mark asked if anything was found for notable in him when he was body coded."

Prior read another excerpt from the report.

"Tammy responds 'You has a lot of weapons, negative cords and curses, plus trapped emotions. We cleared out quite a bit, we'll do that more regularly for you.'"

Prior said that "we cleared it out" meant Tammy and Chad did it together. Vince agreed.

Prior read more.

"Another chat Chad said 'Mom and I taught 10-year-old Sunday school yesterday. Canyon Scott's actions confirmed he is a 4.2 dark. I will enjoy watching his growth to the world terror and domination.'"

"Emma said 'I like Canyon though.'"

"Tammy and Chad replied 'Unfortunately, he's already influencing Will Dalling.'"

"Mark says 'I like Jose also.'"

"Mary says 'Darkness is interesting.'"

"Tammy and Chad both say 'Maybe they are influencing you too. They are charming.'"

Court took a break, when they returned Prior continued to go over Vince's report. Prior had Vince read an email from Julie Rowe to Tammy dated March 12th, 2019.

"Chad, I met with the stake president last night and he has requested we stop publishing all my books. I told him I do not have the rights to the books and that my publisher has all the rights. He asked me to contact you to request that we stop publishing. He has asked me to copy him on this email and send him your reply, yep. He also said he is going to contact your stake president. Julie."

Vince explained that a Stake president is president over the wards. Prior asked Vince, why a Stake president would interject himself in the publishing of books. Vince didn't know.

Prior read the next email which was from Tammy to Mark on March 31st 2019. 

"Dad and Garth doing a C25K (couch to 5k) with me." 

Prior then basically called Chad a couch potato. He then read more of the email.

"We've done the first week twice because quite frankly I didn't feel ready to move on to the second week, but it should be good for us. OK, good for me. I have to say, I admire you for running track. Starting from nothing is not easy."

Prior then read an email from April 14th, 2019, from Tammy to Mark.

"I tripped over the duck gate on Saturday and landed hard on my right hand and the bucket of eggs I was carrying. It hurt so bad, I just lay in the driveway and cried. But I got up and cleaned up the egg mess with my left hand and went in the house to find dad. Luckily, I seemed to have only bruised it. Of course, dad blessed it, so it may have been worse."

Vince said during the investigation it was said that Tammy had a hurt wrist and that she was taking medication for it. He said that instead of a possible fainting spell, she had tripped over a duck gate.

Prior read another email from Tammy to Mark. This one from April 28th, 2019.

"Dad is in Houston and won't be back until Monday night, so you will just have to talk to me until tomorrow."

Vince said that the email correlated with some of the other records that showed Chad was in Houston and Tammy was home alone.

Prior read an email to Mark saying that she hadn't sleep well since Chad was gone.

Prior then read and email from June 30th, 2019, from Tammy to Mark about Chad shooting a raccoon at their house.

"Another adventure we had this week involves a raccoon. Last year we had skunks, this year a raccoon. We thought that stray cats were getting into the cat food but nope, Garth saw it one night and it was a raccoon. We borrowed a little trap from Matt Price, but when Garth went out to check it that night the raccoon ran up the tree by the trap. It was huge. No way it was going to fit in the trap, it was larger than Chase and had really long teeth. Garth kept his flashlight on it and called us in the house. Dad got his gun, shot it out of the tree, then shot it again as it tried to run across the yard. We now have a raccoon buried in the compost heap. Something else got into a cat food a couple of nights ago, so we borrowed a larger trap from Matt. We didn't catch anything last night, so we'll see if we get anything tonight. If we do get anything, Matt asked us not to shoot it because he has a friend who'll use whatever we catch to train dogs. Joel Nickle told me that they have a couple of raccoons and skunks they've been trying to trap, and some coyotes have been eating chickens at houses over by Jordan Grahams house. In all it's been a crazy year with wildlife."

Prior read another email from Tammy to Mark on July 7th, 2019.

"Here is the second raccoon, the first one was shot. Garth said this one is smaller than the first one. I like how the kittens are looking at him too."

Prior published two photos, one was of Chad and Tammy, and one was of a raccoon in a trap.

Prior read more of the email.

"Dad has lost a lot of weight, he doesn't seem to each much anymore and he is exercising."

Prior read another email.

"Dad is speaking to a small group on Sunday night and at a girls' camp on Monday night. He flies home on Tuesday."

Vince confirms that that email was in reference to the meeting at Lori's house with Gibb and the other ladies.

Prior then reads an email from September 15th, 2019, from Tammy to Mark about Tammy not feeling well.

"This was taken on Saturday. Joe planted potatoes in his garden. I had been sick in bed all day with a really bad cold, but I put on a hat and went and posed for this picture. So, it looks like I am a real Idahoan, but I went right back to bed after we took it. I'm still sick today and my nose won't stop running. I will go to work tomorrow though because I am helping with testing and getting sub work would be more trouble than it was worth."

Prior read, "Your mom came to visit us Friday night and Saturday morning. Under orders from Grandma Cooper, I'll let her tell the story."

Vince said that was from Mark's grandpa, Ron Douglas, to Mark. He said that through the investigation he learned that Tammy did not drive very far alone. Vince said so it was unusual for Tammy to drive to Utah, which was 3 and a half hours away, by herself. The email was from October 6th, 2019.

"I went down to Springville by myself October 6. I drove there by myself and then drove home by myself. I am a big girl now. I can tell you more about this in a bit."

Vince testified that he spoke with Officer Greenhalgh about her investigation into Tammy’s unattended death. and that nothing suspicious was reported.

Prior was finished with his questioning.

Blake was up for the re-direct. She asked Vince who rated people light or dark. Vince said it was Chad. Blake said that Chad had rated some 12-year-old children as dark. Blake asked Vince if they are alive. He said he hoped so. Blake asked him if those children stood between Chad and Lori being involved. Vince said no.

Blake said that in Tammy's emails she told her Mark she had not been sleeping well with Chad gone. Blake pointed out that Chad was in Houston with Lori at that time.

Blake talked about how in the emails about the raccoon it appeared it was shot at night. Vince agreed. Blake asked Vince if he recalled seeing an email from Tammy to Mark about a raccoon in September of 2019. He said he did not.

Blake then talked about the email in August of 2019 about Chad being at a Girls' camp. Blake asked Vince if Chad was at a girls' camp. Vince said that he was at a conference at Lori's house.

Blake talked about Tammy's email from September 15th, 2019, saying that she had a cold. Blake asked Vince if there was any similar email in October of that year saying she was sick. Vince said no.

Blake then talked about the emails from Tammy and her father Ron to Mark on October 6th, 2019, where Tammy had visited Ron. Blake asked Vince if he learned through his investigation who had encouraged Tammy to go visit. Vince said yes, Chad did.

Blake then talked about the attempted shooting of Tammy. Blake said that Regan had said that that day a lady had tried to steal her dog. Vince agreed. Blake asked Vince if Regan had saying about the lady having a firearm. Vince said no. Blake asked Vince if Regan had mentioned that the lady was all in black. Vince said no.

Blake asked Vince how many driveways were at the Daybell residents. Vince said there was two and that the back driveway was much longer compared to the one in front.

Blake said that the attempted shooting of Tammy took place a little after 9pm. She asked Vince if it was dark then. Vince said that it was around dusk.

Blake asked Vince if he knew how familiar Tammy was with guns. Vince said he had no idea.

Vince said that he was not surprised deputy did not search the internet for photos of paintball guns with Tammy.

Blake said that Tammy had Googled paintball and airsoft guns. Blake asked Vince if she ever produced a photo saying that it as the one that had been used to shoot at her. Vince said no.

Blake asked Vince if there were various types of paintball guns. Vince said yes. 

Blake then published a photo. The top gun is the Grindle that was seized from Alex's apartment. And the bottom gun is an example of a Tipmen paintball gun with a hopper on the top and a collapsable stock on the back and then the barrel.

Blake showed a close-up again of the grindle's barrel, which is similar to the paintball gun's barrel. 

Blake pointed out that Alex was near the Daybell residence on the day that Tammy was shot at as well as the night before Tammy was pronounced dead. Vince agreed.

Blake asked Vince to compare the sounds of a paintball gun and a misfiring AR with a suppressor. He said there are different sounds, depending on the cause of the misfire.

Blake asked Vince if there were any police reports filed around the time of the attempted shooting of a bipolar neighbor brandishing a gun of any kind. Vince said no.

Blake had Vince read part of the Facebook post Tammy had written about the attempted shooting.

"Something really weird just happened, and I want you to know so you can watch out."

Blake then read part of the email Tammy sent Mark Daybell on October 13th, 2019. 

"The scared part came after when my brain thought of things that could have happened."

Blake then read, "I didn't go to Zumba because quite understandably I did not want to be out after dark alone."

Blake asked Vince if those statements indicated someone scared by something that has happened.

Blake read, "The guy started pulling the trigger and I could hear the clicking and whooshing sound of an empty paintball gun. He was standing by the back of the car just pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at me."

Blake asked Vince if this indicated that someone more than pointing a gun. Vince said yes.

Blake asked Vince if he recalled in Tammy's call to dispatch where she said that someone had pointed a gun at her and was just shooting. Vince couldn't recall, so the call to dispatch was played again.

Blake asked Vince if he heard where Tammy said, "'Holding a gun like he had a rifle and shooting at me, but nothing came out.'" Vince said that he did. Blake asked him if that sounded like something more than someone pointing a gun. Vince said yes.

Blake then talked about the searches that Alex had done and how Prior had said it was hunting season. Blake then asked Vince if shooting through the windshield or the door of a Dodge Dakota had anything to do with hunting. Vince said no.

Blake asked Vince if he learned though his investigation if Chad had deemed Alex as Lori's protector. Vince said yes Chad had.

Blake asked Vince if after Charles was shot and killed on July 11th of 2019, did Lori and Chad maintain a relationship. Vince said yes. Blake said that we saw in an email how Chad had been visiting Lori in August of 2019, just three weeks after Charles had been killed by Alex. Vince agreed. Blake asked Vince if that led him to believe that Chad was scared of Alex. Vince said no. Blake asked Vince if he believe that Chad was scared of Lori. Vince said no. Blake asked Vince if Chad had reported to the Freemont police that he was afraid of anyone or that if anyone had tried to shoot at him. He said no.

Blake asked Vince what he learned through the investigation was the connection between Tammy and Alex. Vince said that Chad was the connection.

Blake had no further questions.

Prior was up for a limited re-cross. Prior said if someone was trying to hurt someone at close range, they would use a pistol or shotgun. Vince said that rifles could be used at close range.

Prior said the fact that Alex had looked into shooting through the Dodge Dakota showed his target was likely someone in the Daybell family. Vince agreed.

Prior had no further questions.


The court took a break. When they came back Sugar-Salem School District technology director Spencer Cook was next on the stand. He is in charge of all electronics for the district including emails.

Wixom asked Cook if he recalled receiving requests from police to retrieve an email from Charles Vallow to Tammy Daybell. He said yes. Wixom asked Cook to read a portion of the email.

"Tammy, my name is Charles Vallow. I have some vital and disturbing information regarding your husband and my wife, Lori. This is your work email, so I will have to wait and send you the evidence that is very disturbing."

Cook testified that he found the email in Tammy's deleted folder and that Charles' email had been put into the blocked category in Google. Cook said so any future emails from Charles would have been blocked.

Wixom had no further questions and Prior declined to cross.

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