Coroner could not pinpoint manner of Tylee Ryan’s killing from destroyed remains
Apr 26, 2023, 1:03 PM | Updated: 2:57 pm
Freshly fallen snow blankets a memorial to Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow on a neighbor’s fence just across the street from Chad Daybell’s property in Salem, Idaho, on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Spenser Heaps/Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps/Deseret News)
NOTE: This story contains details about a killing and autopsy that may disturb some readers. Read with discretion.
BOISE, Idaho — The coroner testifying in the murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell said the cause of her daughter Tylee Ryan’s death was homicide, but her remains were so destroyed that the manner of that death could not be determined.
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Tylee was Vallow Daybell’s daughter with her third husband, Joseph Ryan. She was also a caretaker of her adoptive brother JJ Vallow, both killed. They were last seen alive together in Yellowstone National Park in 2019 before their bodies were discovered buried on the property of Chad Daybell on June 9, 2020.
Dr. Garth Warren, an Idaho forensic pathologist, took the stand Wednesday morning and first testified about the autopsy of JJ, and then was asked questions by the prosecution of Tylee.
The prosecution, early in Warren’s testimony, asked him to explain the difference between “cause of death” and “manner of death.” Tylee’s body was dismembered and burned to the point that law enforcement investigators who were recovering the remains weren’t clear they had recovered a body until a skull was found under a melted plastic bucket.
His science-based testimony of the treatment of a human body was likely shocking and gruesome in Wednesday’s courtroom for the jury and family members of the victim. The jury winced when shown some of the photos entered into evidence with testimony Wednesday.
Previously, pictures of the autopsy were shown in the courtroom and in the overflow room in opening arguments, but Wednesday, after a sidebar, Judge Steven Boyce ruled that they would only be shown to the jury and defendant. It is not known why a previously open public trial was limited. No recording devices or photos have been allowed in the courtroom.
Media observers in the courtroom noted more members of the general public Wednesday than previously observed, though no official headcount exists and the court is open to a reservation system. KSL TV or its media partners, including KSL.com, Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio have maintained a shared presence in the courtroom for the entire trial and will continue to do so. Reporting remains independent for each entity though information has been shared.
Warren testified that the cause of Tylee’s death was homicide, but that he couldn’t pinpoint the manner of death. He said there was no evidence to support that Tylee was alive when she was burned.
Tylee’s autopsy stood in stark contrast to JJ’s. Warren testified that JJ’s body was wrapped in plastic but intact enough that he observed bruising he believed happened before his death; Tylee’s remains were delivered to him in multiple bags and her autopsy took several days instead of four hours as for JJ’s.
“Amongst the debris of the dismembered body, I was able to find the heart,” Warren said.
He said he X-rayed her melted remains to find projectiles, like possible knife blades, but there weren’t any. He was able to do toxicology testing and found a positive result for Ibuprofen.
The victims’ families were in the courtroom Wednesday, as they have been throughout the trial.
KSL TV or its media partners, including KSL.com, Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio have maintained a shared presence in the courtroom for the entire trial and will continue to do so. Reporting remains independent for each entity though some information and observations have been shared.
