Funeral director, real estate broker take the stand in Chad Daybell trial

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — In day 12 of the Chad Daybell murder trial, Steven Shultz, funeral director and embalmer for two Springville, Utah mortuaries and previously Chad Daybell’s neighbor, and Ron Arnold, a Salem, Idaho real estate broker and friend of Chad Daybell, took the stand.

Shultz, who worked in the child support enforcement division in Utah for 25 years, as well as a funeral director and embalmer at two Springville mortuaries, took the stand to recount the events leading up to and following Tammy Daybell’s death.

Shultz said he knew Tammy and the Daybell children “very well,” as he lived two doors down from the Daybell family for nine years and attended the same church as them. Shultz said Chad had also worked in the funeral industry with him as a sexton — a person who looks after a church and churchyard, sometimes acting as bell-ringer and formerly as a gravedigger.

In October of 2019, Shultz learned of Tammy’s death.

“This was a good family,” Shultz said. “The Daybells were a solid rock in our community … I thought highly of them.”

Shultz went to Rexburg, Idaho to go to the Daybells’ home. When Shultz asked Chad what had happened, Chad allegedly replied that Tammy had been having difficulty breathing, the pair had gone to bed that night, and Chad woke up to Tammy deceased on the floor.

Chad allegedly told Shultz that the county coroner had come before Shultz’ arrival and said it appeared Tammy may have died of an embolism.

But something struck a chord with Shultz at the time.

Shultz said Chad wanted to have a funeral service as soon as possible and that he did not want to have an autopsy done, allegedly telling Shultz, “Let’s get this done as quickly as we can … I don’t want to drag this out.”

Shultz noted multiple reasons why he found this to be concerning, saying that there is normally a three or four-day period after death to prepare everything — death certificates, programs, church setups, time to let people know, and so forth.

Shultz went on to say that there was a “business-like” atmosphere about the way Chad was handling it, in addition to the fact that many people choose to have an autopsy done to “satisfy their curiosity.”

“I’m always really wary of things like ‘I don’t want to have an autopsy … I don’t want to drag this out,’” Shultz said in court. “There were already red flags prior to Tammy’s passing. There was suspicion, concern … Something wasn’t sitting well with me.”

The defense then asked, “You thought of Chad as a brother, right?” to which Shultz replied, “Yes, I did.” The defense also pointed to the fact that Shultz had said that Chad was a good person, “but” — asking what was the “but” in reference to?

Shultz pointed to what he called the red flags. “All the red flags. The doomsday thing — he got involved in a group. Most of this was from Jason who had conversations with him. He had a date of the second coming, when that would happen. Also of the catastrophes that would follow. White tents in a city being developed for the chosen, the elected people. Those things maybe gave me suspicion when I noticed things being rushed. Those were the red flags,” Shultz said.

After Shultz’ questioning concluded, the state brought Ron Arnold, a real estate broker out of Salem, Idaho to the stand.

Arnold said that after Tammy’s death, he had been in contact with Chad about possibly developing a second house on the property — the reason being that Chad allegedly did not feel comfortable sleeping in the home anymore.

“We had talked about splitting his property and putting another home on it. We determined the lot was too small … He still wanted to put another home on it,” Arnold said. He also claimed Chad asked about the fastest way it could be done, and that he needed a place where he and Lori Vallow could live.

Lori was incarcerated at the time, her children missing.

When Arnold asked Chad about the missing children, Chad allegedly told Arnold that they were okay, and that when everything came out, people will learn that everything is just fine.

The state asked Arnold: “Based on what you know now, do you think that there may have been a different reason that he wanted to put a home on that property?”

Arnold replied yes — referring to the excavation of land where evidence had been buried.

Of note, the state brought another on the stand — Craig Dennis Duff — a friend of Chad’s. Duff said that on the Saturday following Tammy’s funeral, the two had had lunch together.

During the lunch, Chad allegedly told Duff that one of the “miracles” that had occurred was the fact that Chad had gotten all of Tammy’s passwords a week before she passed away.

To stay updated on the Chad Daybell murder trial, which resumes Monday, April 29, visit ABC4’s page dedicated to the trial here.