In my experience, including actually handling murder cases (& RICO cases, controlled substance cases, etc) covering multiple states and being worked by federal agencies that consent searches are used frequently. They are lawful and Constitutional. They in no way would harm the state's case if they were appropriately conducted.
When I was teaching criminal law and procedure to future members of LE, SW requirements and their exceptions, including consent searches were extensively taught.
I had a murder case and the FBI recovered a shirt worn by one of the defendants with blood splatter from the victim through a consent search that occurred two states away from the murder scene. It was a key piece of evidence in the trial. In that case the court ruled in pre-trial proceedings that defendant whose shirt it was had standing to challenge the consent search, but that the state had proven the consent was lawful under the standards. The evidence was allowed into trial and was one of the factors that lead to a conviction.
The FBI, CBI and CCSO all understand SW law and the exceptions to SW's, especially the consent exception. In my experience they use it when they can. The sheriff is a former narcotics detective from Denver, he knows the lawful parameters of a consent search and has likely conducted many of them during his time on duty...IMO
The first SW was confirmed be LE. IMO they could have specifically confirmed the other searches as being conducted pursuant to a SW. To my knnowledge they only confirmed "searches" and not the existence of a SW for those searches.
And this is why a probable cause search warrant was issued in the second search of the Morphew property, IMO.
I understand the inferences being drawn here on WS to cast more suspicion on the spouse of the missing person. However, in Court you do not have to infer whether a search was conducted pursuant to a SW or not. These are cold hard facts. A SW either exists or does not and a search was conducted pursuant to a well recognized exception to the SW requirement. In that case it would up to the state to prove the exception was lawful.
IMO consent is the easiest exception to prove and that is why it is the most widely used exception to exception to the SW requirement used by LE....IMO.