After more than 18 years in prison, an El Paso County District Court issued an order on April 28, 2026 finding that the prosecution violated Deborah Nicholls’ constitutional right to a fair trial by suppressing critical scientific evidence that directly contradicted its arson theory at her trial.
Deb was convicted in a jury trial in 2008 of committing arson with her husband Tim Nicholls. The fire burned their house and killed their three children. Deb Nicholls was at work at the time of the fire. It was only later when a jail house informant told police that Tim confessed to starting the fire and that Deb was in on it. Deb has maintained her innocence for 18 years explains she had lit candles before she left for the night.
The prosecution hid evidence that was sitting in a cardboard box in storage at CBI for 15 years. Only after the defense conducted new chemical testing did CBI review the data and pull the box out of storage, scan it all in and submit it to the defense through the discovery process. The evidence showed that another lab analyst at CBI reviewed the evidence and agreed with the defense expert that there was no accelerant found in any of the samples. This was an accidental fire, not a crime.