Hidden True Crime - Key Evidence NEVER Tested?! | Kouri Richins Day 3 Full Trial Recap

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Day three of the Kouri Richins trial was unexpectedly short — but not before one stray comment triggered an immediate sidebar and a direct instruction to the jury to “put it out of their minds.” In this episode, we break down the moment a reference to “jail calls” prompted the defense to move to strike it, why the judge stepped in, and whether it could realistically impact the trial. We also unpack the cross-examination of crime scene tech Chelsea Gipson, including what was never photographed, what was never tested — most notably the hydrocodone bottle — and why that detail could become a key defense talking point. Even on a short day, the strategic moves inside that courtroom mattered. Sponsors: Gusto: Try Gusto today at https://gusto.com/HIDDEN and get three months free when you run your first payroll. About Hidden True Crime What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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wealthfront.com. Clients were paid $1,000 for their testimonials, creating a conflict of interest. Howcomes vary. 3.3% base API why as of January 30th, 2026, is representative variable and earned on funds swept to program banks. 0.65% new client boost for three months on up to $150,000. Direct deposit $1,000 a month and fund an investing account for a 0.25% increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC member FINRA SIPC, not a bank. Hello, hello, live early today. Why? Because, well, it was a short day in court, but an unexpected comment in day three of the Corey Richens trial sparked an immediate sidebar. And it raised questions. The jury raised questions. The jury was told to, yeah, just put to the side. Just ignore.

You didn't hear that. So welcome back to day three of the Corey Richens trial. And even though today was unexpectedly a lot shorter than we all expected, it still delivered a moment you can't ignore. And if you're new here, I'm Lauren Matthias. And we have covered this case from the very beginning, hidden to your crime is where you're going to find the most detail trial recap's, backstory as well to get caught up fast. So subscribe and turn on notifications because we are live every day of testimony. And today, one stray phrase could matter more than it seems. We'll get into it. And we'll also get into what the evidence tech admitted about what was never tested. And why, in my opinion, that detail could become a defense talking point. So today,

again, really short due to some unexpected circumstances. And that is why, again, we're live a little bit earlier than planned. So I hope those notifications work for you. Hit that bell. There were a lot of empty seats as well in the gallery today, I noticed. It just wasn't like the same vibe as days one and two. In fact, day one, completely full. I heard the people were out in the morning lined up. Not everyone could even get in. Day two, some more empty seats. Day three, it was really sparse in there. But day three started back with the cross-examination of Chelsea Gibson. That's where we left off yesterday. That's the crime scene technician. Defense attorney Kathy Nestor explained that in simple terms, Gibson was basically the case's evidence lady, right? Everything collected in this case went

through her. She logged where items were found. When they were found, who found them, photographed everything in place, packaged items so they couldn't be tampered with, kept the log secure, secured the scenes, and made sure everything was handled properly. Gibson explained that all evidence was stored in a locked evidence room. Only certain people had access, and they had to sign in and out using a key card. And if anyone needed to look at an item, it was Gibson that had to check it in and out.

So during the trial, she is the one who brings physical evidence into court so the jury can see it, which we saw some of yesterday with the prescription bottles, right? There are exceptions to the type of evidence. evidence gives and handles, though, things like blood, bodily fluids and tissue samples were not maintained by her. Those were stored by the medical examiner's office or the labs where they were sent. And one piece of evidence she collected was the 911 call. Oh, the 911 call, right? I always want to hear

the 911 call. I think we all want to hear the 911 call in this case. And it had been booked into evidence on a USB drive. Nestor then moved to admit the 911 recording into evidence. I was on the edge of my seat going, okay, 911 call time. But the state objected on hearsay. So Judge Marazic then called the attorneys up and after a long sidebar, Nestor shifted gears. She started asking how 911 calls are collected and preserved and who Gibson received that call from. So we started to get into procedure again. How is this handled? How does it go through evidence? Gibson said she didn't remember specifically, but typically the 911 calls came from the dispatch center. Makes sense. A supervisor would then download the call and a deputy would usually drop it into an evidence locker. And once it was

logged, it stayed secure. She said she had no reason to believe it had been tampered with. And I'm listening to this thinking, okay, okay, we're going to get to the 911 call here. This is all worth it. Nestor told the court, the 911 call, though, would be revisited later in the trial. So that's that. Then Nestor asked whether Gibson had been downloading calls between Corey and her family on a weekly basis. Okay, interesting. We're still talking about calls and now we're talking technically about jailhouse calls between Corey and her family. This is interesting. So she's asking if she's been downloading calls between Corey and her family on a weekly basis. Okay. And then Gibson responded Gibson responded, this is important.

Quote, are you talking about jail calls? And immediately Nestor asked that that be stricken and requested another sidebar. And I really don't think the defense wanted the jury hearing that Corey had been in custody all this time. That's generally not a good look, right? Here is a clip of that comment. Take a listen to this. Were you downloading calls between Corey Richens and her family? Are you talking about jail calls?

Your Honor, moved to strike and need to approach. So after another lengthy sidebar, Judge Morazik addressed the jury. He explained that sometimes legal issues require private discussions and instructed them not to speculate about whether the defendant was or had been in custody. He made it clear they cannot consider that for any reason. So in other words, jury, forget that, ignore your questions, don't consider it. And I actually wanted to share a comment I saw after court today because while jurors cannot speculate, we can speculate here and talk about this here, I wanted to share a comment I saw after court today

on our hidden chew crime channel that really got me thinking about some things the defense might try to say. So David says the defense is trying for a mistrial now because the jury isn't supposed to know that she was in jail due to the reference of jail calls to her family. It is absurd because no reasonable person on the jury could believe she was not in jail as this is a murder trial. I see the witch, not the girl, referencing David, I caught what you did there with the opening statements. I see the witch, not the girl. And now I'm going to go eat. A gummy. I hope that gummy was good, David. But you made a really good point. And I agree. I mean, it's a murder trial. Yes, she's in street clothes. Yes, we want to present her as maybe out on bail. That's fair. She has been in jail for over a thousand days in Summit County Jail. So while I do think it's fair that the jury probably thinks that she has been behind bars, I think it's also fair for them to maybe question. Maybe she is at on Bond, right?

Maybe she was out. Maybe she is ankle monitor, right? But that was interesting. I was interesting. So, yeah, jail calls. Jail calls. That was it. That was it.

I definitely can see why people think the defense might at least attempt that argument. But personally, I don't see it working. Just a few seconds after the sidebar, Nester brought the topic back up herself. Only this time she referred to the calls as homewave calls. That's a good way. Home wave calls. Okay.

Not jailhouse calls. Let's refer to them as home wave calls. Let's listen really quickly to how we reworded and rephrase this. There was a time where you downloaded homewave calls. Is that correct? Yes. Right. And those calls, when you would download them, you preserved those calls in the same way that you did all the other evidence, right?

Correct. So it was kept in the evidence locker, no one could tamper with it or alter it. Correct. And some of those calls that were transcripts made. Were you involved in the making of the transcripts of those calls? No, I was not. Okay, thank you. So now that we're referring to jailhouse calls as HomeWave calls, and Nestor didn't explain what that meant, I decided to look it up. And HomeWave is a company that works with jails and prisons to provide video visits and monitored phone calls for inmates. So instead of in-person visits, people in custody communicate with family and friends

through scheduled video calls or recorded phone calls on that platform. And I also think that's interesting because now that we're talking about video calls in jail, the jury doesn't know that, but we do. We also can realize that this might also have to do with the walk the dog letter, which was something that, you know, the prosecution wants to rely on because it implies that Corey is maybe witness tampering and the defense wants to avoid.

And we don't even know how that's going to play in this trial. Anyway, Gibson testified, though, that some of Corey's calls had been turned into transcripts, but she wasn't the one who prepared them. Now it's true that not everyone would recognize the name, Homewave, but some jurors might, right? Also, it's just what is a home wave call? And we've already, I'm certain that they might speculate what it is. And by using that term herself, especially after moving to strike Gibson's comment, Nestor essentially reintroduced the idea that Corey was in jail, in my opinion. Even if the term home wave went over most jurors' heads,

the key point is that the defense brought it up again on their own. And because of that, I have a hard time believing a mistrial would be granted over a witness briefly mentioning jail house calls, jail calls, when the defense essentially reinforced the same information moments later. It also struck me as a little odd that Nestor brought up those calls in the first place, only to then immediately change the subject. Maybe she was just trying to lay foundation to introduce the transcripts later on. But even so, she was the one who opened the door to that topic, right? Gibson wasn't volunteering information. She was asking a clarifying question, which is fair for when it seduce you, if they want to answer the question properly.

What are you referring to? Are you referring to jail calls? I think it's fair. And that seemed to happen several times today. Gibson repeatedly had to ask for clarification about what dates Nestor was referring to or which search warrant she meant. So when Nestor asked whether she had downloaded Corey's phone calls. It made sense for Gibson to clarify whether she meant jail calls. Nestor's questions were honestly often vague about timing and context. So Gibson asking for specifics was logical, in my opinion. I mean, not like she was trying to introduce anything improper or prejudicial. But after that, Nestor walked through the timeline of the night Eric died. And Gibson and said when she arrived, EMTs had already stopped CPR and Eric, so she knew that it was going

to be a death scene. So she was there to assist Detective Woody with documenting the bedroom and helped with whatever she needed in gathering evidence. Nestor showed a photo of the master bedroom. Eric was laying in the ground with a sheet on top of him and a sheet underneath him, which had been used to pull him off the bed. Here's that photo. Yesterday, one of the EMTs had said it seemed unusual that Eric had been pulled off the end of the bed, right? We heard that. So now we can look at this photo more closely.

It's a solemn photo, isn't it? It's so sad to look at. But honestly, though, I just want to point out, I thought about how tight that space must have been. if Eric had been sleeping on the side closest to the wall, right? That's tight. It wouldn't have been easy to perform CPR there, right? So whether Corey actually attempted CPR or not, we don't know, but it would have been difficult for paramedics to access him between the bed and the wall.

So I can see why someone might pull him toward the end of the bed to get him onto a flat surface. If he had been sleeping on the other side, it probably would have made more sense to pull him off the side like the EMT described as more standard. Gibson reiterated that dispatch instructed Corey to perform CPR and said he needed to be on a flat surface. And because Eric was heavy and essentially dead weight, literally dead weight, she had been told to pull him off the bed using the sheet underneath him. That sheet was collected into evidence. and by the way that sheet also had some blood on it and when asked why that that sheet was kept Gibson said because it was where he died on that was a quote because it was where he died on a heartbreaking heartbreaking so before we go on we're going to actually talk about nestor

presenting a photo of the nightstand with a wallet on top of it But first, I just want to thank our sponsors who are making these nightly live trial recaps possible. And I want to share one of our sponsor's messages now. Small business life is exciting until you're buried in payroll forms, tax deadline, spreadsheets, and trying to keep track of who was paid and when. There were definitely moments where I thought there has to be an easier way to handle this. And that's where Gusto comes in. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use.

So you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere. It handles things like automatic payroll, tax filing, simple direct deposits, benefits, and even unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price, no hidden fees, no surprises. It saves time with built-in tools for offer letters, onboarding, and more. Try Gusto today at gusto.com. hidden and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash hidden. One more time, gusto.com slash hidden. All right. So back to this wallet. Because Nestor then presented a photo of the nightstand with a wallet on top. She asked how it got there. And Gibson, evidence lady, as they refer to her,

Gibson believed the wallet had originally been in the kitchen and then was later placed on the nightstand. So Nestor questioned whether placing the wallet there could have altered or contaminated anything underneath it, like residue. Gibson said simply placing something on top would not alter any residue underneath. It seemed like Nestor honestly was hinting at those small white specks. She had pointed out on the wallet yesterday. Remember the white specks? and it was asked to the witness, what are the white specks?

And the response was white specks. I think that that's where she was going, you know, with the white specks, pointing out that maybe there was residue, right? That the wallet affected. But no, Gibson said it did not. I got the impression. She was suggesting that if something like fentanyl had been on the nightstand, putting the wallet there might have contaminated it.

But Gibson said no. She also confirmed that they did lift the wallet and they photographed underneath the wallet. She also said that at the time, she did not open or photograph inside the drawers. So Nestor then brought up the hydrocodone bottle that had been removed from a drawer. And Gibson was aware of it, but did not personally remove it, photograph it, or look inside it. Someone else handled it. And she didn't know whether there were pills inside and she also never recovered that bottle to log into her evidence room. It has remained with the medical examiner's office. In the bathroom, other

medication bottles were found, including minococytes and an antibiotic and quintyapine, which is an antipsychotic, sometimes used off-label for sleep or anxiety. Both of these belonged to Corey. And when asked about the hydrocodone bottle, again, Gibson said she, never tested it. So if there had been fentanyl residue on or inside of this hydrocodone bottle, she wouldn't have known because she was never given the bottle back. All they had in her possession was a photograph of the bottle. So here's a clip of her saying it was never tested. So what happened to the hydrocodone bottle that was sent with the body of the decedent? It's under the the medical examiner's office protocol to keep that until they're done.

So you don't have that bottle? I do not know. So all we have is a picture of that bottle? Correct. So it has never been taken for testing by you to anyone? Correct. So if there was fentanyl residue in that empty pill bottle from 2016, we won't know it because you never took it to be tested, right?

I was never given the bottle, no. Okay. Nestor then asked whether Gibson photographed any part of the kitchen and she said no she never went into the kitchen at all. She took a few photos inside the master closet but not the area where a jacket containing THC gummies was located. Gibson said she noted in her log where some of the gummies were found but didn't photograph those specific spots for the bathroom cabinet where other items were located. and Nestor asked whether the gummies were stored high enough to be out of reach of children. And Gibson said she believed they were. She also confirmed she didn't observe any drug paraphernalia the day that Eric died.

Nestor asked whether illicit drugs could sometimes be stored in old prescription bottles like an expired hydrocodone bottle. And Gibson said yes, and she had seen that in other cases. and in that case, an old prescription bottle could be considered drug paraphernalia if it was used to hold illicit drugs. Take a listen to this. And you mentioned paraphernalia is things that we might be familiar with, which would be like bombs or vape pens or scales or little baggies you would put drugs in or something like that, right? Correct. Things that would store drugs. Correct.

Is it possible that if someone had in your experience when you've been to scenes, have you experienced where people put pills in different bottles than what the bottle actually says they are when there are listed drugs? Are you talking about like prescription bottles? Yes. So if you saw an empty prescription bottle near the body that had expired six years before, could that possibly be paraphernalia? If it was used to store illicit drugs? If it was used to storeless drugs, it could be considered. Okay. Thank you.

One thing that really stood out to me, though, during this testimony about the hydrocodone bottle, Gibson said it was still at the medical examiner's office and had never been tested by the state for anything, including fentanyl. So I want to talk about this because that immediately made me wonders and seeing some things. So if the defense is suggesting that Eric could have stored fentanyl in this hydrocodone bottle, because I think that's what they're trying to imply here, why wouldn't they then request it and have it tested themselves and to see if that's accurate? Because from what I understand about criminal discovery rules, the defense is allowed to inspect and independently test physical evidence if it could be important to the case, right?

They can file a motion and ask the court for access. So if this bottle potentially supported their theory, why not test it and find out if their theory is accurate, if Eric was indeed maybe storing fentanyl in this bottle of expired hydrocodone? The same question crossed my mind about the alleged residue on the nightstand in the white specs on the wallet. And if they're hinting that those could have been fentanyl, why not have them analyzed? I know the defense doesn't carry the burden of proof, so technically they don't have to prove anything, right? That's not their job, but they are allowed to conduct

their own testing if they believe it helps their case. So that part of me just left me with questions. Like, why aren't they testing it? I'll leave it at that. I mean, are they worried that they won't have their theory anymore? I don't know. I said, I'll leave it at that, and then I told you what I'm wondering. But moving on. Gibson said that the day Eric died, she did not go upstairs or downstairs. She stayed on the main floor.

There was also discussion about alcohol in the home. There was a basement refrigerator with beer and liquor bottles in the basement kitchen. Gibson said, if she had photographed them, the images would have been in her collection but she didn't specifically recall and when asked if she saw cut up limes drink mixes or anything like that she said no and clarified she didn't actually walk into the basement kitchen nestor then moved to the search warrant executed on april 13th 2022 Gibson explained that people are not given advance notice before the warrant is served in fact law enforcement takes extreme steps to make sure that no one gets tipped off before the search occurs.

Gitsen also clarified here that she isn't a sworn officer and does not decide how warrants are executed. The detect does handle that, but she does play a major role in the searches because all evidence comes through her. Nestor asked if there was any reason to believe Corey had been tipped off before the search. The prosecution objected when Nestor used the word,

y'all. she's asking her to be more precise. Like, did y'all, did y'all get tipped off for the search? There was some confusion about whether she meant Gibson specifically or the whole group involved in the search, which is fair. Y'all is sort of like a whole group. It's like, you know, the southern equivalent of you guys, you know, or bros, as my son says. So Judge Marazek asked her to limit questions to Gibson only and Nestor. joke that y'all was part of her southern vocabulary. And she said she'd try to avoid it. But again,

you know, you know, you know, you guys, bros, yeah, probably specify who you're talking to. But in my opinion, if they are going to ban the use of the word y'all, which now we've got a list of banned words, if we're going that direction with some banned words, I think that they should also limit the use of correct? Because there were dozens of those, again, today, correct. I spell it, or we spell it here at Hidantoo Crime, K-R-E-C-T. And a big thank you very much to defense attorney Ramos for never letting me hear the word correct the same way again.

It's now correct. No vowels there, correct. Let's ban that one, too. Y'all, correct. Gibson recalled that there was a briefing before the warrant was executed and believe, leave she attended part of it. Corey wasn't home when the warrant was served and Gibson said she never saw her that day. Corey had been pulled over during that time as well so her truck could be searched, but Gibson wasn't involved in searching the truck or the vehicle in the garage.

Gibson remembered that the day of the search, it was winter, it was cold and snow was on the ground. And that makes sense. Park City, Utah, Deer Valley, Guineath-Paltroski vacation destination. it's cold there. The team stayed at the house for several hours about half of the day. And Nestor also asked about Agent Smoot with the United States Postal Service. He had been present during the search to look for any packages that might have contained drugs or paraphernalia and shipped to the house. And Gibson said he did not find anything like that. Judge Marzik then announced there would be a one-hour recess from 9.30 to 10.30 a.m. And yes, if you heard me correctly, court starts at 8.30, and there's going to be a one-hour recess from 930 to 10-30.

So this has just been an hour here. We're not midday. We're in 930 to 1030 a.m. Because of a scheduling conflict. But when everybody came back, he dismissed for the rest of the day. He said there was an unforeseen emergency unrelated to the case. case. So Chelsea Gibson is expected to return to the stand tomorrow morning at 830am. And yeah, yeah, may justice be served, right? And may we hear that 911 call finally. Until then, we'll see you guys. Bye-bye. Before I switched to wealth front, my APY was probably 0.1. Like, it was a joke. I was literally getting. pennies. Once I switched, chiching. With a wealthfront cash account, earn up to 4.2% APY on your cash.

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