LORI VALLOW & CHAD DAYBELL

Attorney Of Vallow Daybell’s third husband Joe Ryan describes bitter custody battle

Mar 27, 2021, 12:04 AM | Updated: Apr 26, 2023, 2:20 pm

SALT LAKE CITY — The attorney who represented Joeseph Ryan during his bitter custody battle with Lori VallowDaybell over Tylee Ryan shared new details into Chad Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s wedding ceremony in Hawaii.

“She’s a mean person. She just didn’t want him to see his kid,” said Keith Taniguchi, who was Joe Ryan’s attorney during his bitter custody battle with Lori Vallow over their daughter Tylee Ryan back in 2007.

“The way I recall it, the court was erring on the side of caution and there was no evidence whatsoever that Joe had ever done anything,” Taniguchi said.

Taniguchi said Vallow accused Joe Ryan of sexually abusing Tylee Ryan and her brother Colby Ryan.

“They took his bed, they took his clothes — they took everything out of the room and they were trying to find DNA and they didn’t find anything after an extensive forensic analysis so they never even charged him,” Taniguchi said.

But Joe Ryan lost equal custody.

“I thought that was wrong,” Taniguchi said.

Ryan died quietly in Arizona, from what was ruled a heart attack.

“The only thing that’s on the wall was pictures of his daughter,” Taniguchi said. “I think they gave him like a pauper’s burial.”

The tragic end was a long shot from the shiny beginning as Vallow’s third husband.

“He was very handsome and she was beautiful — they looked like a Hollywood couple,” Taniguchi said.

He added Ryan told him about his wedding to Vallow.

“I even remember it when he told me that he got married in Hawaii,” Taniguchi said.

An eerie resemblance to her wedding with Vallow’s fifth husband, Chad Daybell.

KSL spoke with the wedding planners that were hired by Vallow and Daybell. They declined to do an on-camera interview, but on condition of anonymity, said Daybell reached out a couple of days before the wedding for a quick ceremony and picked the most affordable wedding package — $720 for a ceremony with just the two of them, a sparkling cider toast and the pictures.

The marriage is registered with the state, along with a permit from the beach.

“Later on when I found out that Chad and her got married, I says, ‘Wow, this is just … I don’t think this is coincidental,” Taniguchi said.

Vallow picked the location at Anini Beach Park, saying she had lived on Kauai before. Religion and their children were never mentioned, so the minister figured they were “new agers.” Vallow referred to Daybell as a famous author multiple times.

“I think it’s part of her cultish behavior, there is something to it,” Taniguchi said. “Probably some connection in her head.”

The minister said Vallow looked like more like a “giddy-teenage bride than a mature woman.” After news broke of the missing children, the minister felt so disturbed he went to therapy for several months.

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Attorney Of Vallow Daybell’s third husband Joe Ryan describes bitter custody battle