They Searched Her Home Eight Times. The First Time, They Found Nothing.

Chelsea Gibson, the lead crime scene investigation technician for the Summit County Sheriff's Office, took the stand Tuesday afternoon and walked the jury through something I don't think most people are ready for.

Eight searches. Over nearly three years. The same house. The same tech. Every time, she found something new.

But the first time? The morning Eric Richins was found dead? She found nothing.

The Morning Of

March 4, 2022. Gibson arrived at 282 Willow Court around 6:30 AM. Eric Richins, 39, was dead. She walked through the master bedroom, the bathroom, documented what was there. No drugs. No paraphernalia. No vape pens. No baggies. Nothing that screamed "this man died of an overdose."

Everyone left by 8:29 AM.

Think about that. A man is dead in his bed, and within two hours, officers have cleared the scene. At that point, there was no autopsy. No toxicology. Nobody knew what killed Eric Richins. And based on what was visible in that house, nothing pointed to foul play.

Then the Warrants Started

April 13, 2022. Investigators came back with a search warrant. Now Gibson is pulling items out of bathroom cabinets, going through closets, opening drawers. This time? THC gummies hidden in the bathroom cabinet. A quetiapine prescription in Kouri Richins' name.

May 8, 2023. They came back again. More THC gummies, this time tucked inside a jacket pocket in the closet. Another stash in a kitchen cabinet.

November 7, 2024. Another search warrant. More items recovered.

Eight visits total over nearly three years. Each time, Gibson was documenting, photographing, collecting. Each time, the picture of what was inside that house got more detailed.

The Matterport Scans

Gibson's team created 3D scans of the home using Matterport software. The jury watched a virtual walkthrough of 282 Willow Court, moving room to room like an indoor Google Street View. Gibson provided measurements that matter: 55 feet 2 inches from the master bedroom to the kitchen. Over 36 feet from the master bedroom to the front door.

Those distances will come up again. Count on it. When the prosecution starts arguing about what Kouri Richins did and didn't do that night, the physical layout of that house is going to be central.

The Phone

Gibson assisted Detective O'Driscoll with a forensic download of a blue iPhone found in a dresser drawer. Using Cellebrite software, they extracted the contents after obtaining the PIN code.

The defense filed a motion to suppress everything from that phone. Judge Mrazik denied it.

That phone contained internet searches about how to delete messages, about poison, about what prisons are like. We already heard about those searches during opening statements. Now the jury knows the chain of custody for how that evidence was obtained, and the judge has ruled it admissible.

What the Defense Is Looking At

Gibson's cross examination was deferred to Day 3. The defense has overnight to prepare, and there are real questions to ask here.

Why was the initial search so brief? Officers arrived, walked through, and left within two hours. If Eric Richins died under circumstances that warranted a call to law enforcement, should the scene have been processed more thoroughly from the start?

The chain of custody across eight searches spanning three years is another target. Every time you go back to a house that people have been living in, the question of what was there on Day 1 versus what was there on Day 400 becomes harder to answer.

And the hidden gummy locations. The prosecution sees evidence of concealment. But the defense could argue those items were always there, in ordinary storage spots, and only seem suspicious now because investigators were looking for something to find.

The Bigger Picture

Gibson's testimony is foundational. She's the person who touched the evidence. She's the one who photographed it, bagged it, logged it. Every piece of physical evidence the prosecution introduces in this trial passed through her hands at some point.

The prosecution used her testimony to establish that nothing in plain sight the morning Eric died pointed to drug use. That matters when the defense is arguing he may have accidentally overdosed. If he was using, where was the evidence?

But the defense gets their shot tomorrow. And the gap between "nothing visible at 6:30 AM" and "drugs hidden throughout the house" is territory both sides are going to fight over for the rest of this trial.

▶ WATCH THE FULL TESTIMONY Prosecutors Call the Tech Who Searched Kouri Richins' Home Eight Times

Cross examination continues Day 3. I'll be covering it live.