UT - Kouri Richins, 33, Author, wife, mom, charged in husband’s unexpected death last year, May 2023 #3

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Video of KRichins' hearing in Judge Mrazik's courtroom, August 8, 2024:

Kouri Richins Judge Throws Out Defense’s Motion to Kick Prosecutors Off Case​

The judge for accused husband killer Kouri Richins denied the defense’s motion to toss the lead prosecutors off the case. Richins’ former attorneys filed the motion claiming the prosecutors had listened to privileged communication between Richins and her attorneys. Judge Richard Mzarik said there was no evidence of the accusations. Richins is currently awaiting trial for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins, in which she allegedly poisoned a Moscow Mule with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl.
 
Thursday, August 15th:
*Motions Hearing (Civil case) (@ 1:30pm MT) - UT - *Eric Eugene Richins (39) poisoned with a lethal dose of fentanyl by wife on Mar. 3, 2022 in Kamas. - *Kouri Darden Richins (33/now 34) arrested (5/8/23) & charged (6/5/23) with 2nd degree aggravated murder & 3 counts of possession of drugs with intent to distribute. [These charges were dismissed on 3/25/24-see recharges]. Re-charged (3/25/24) with 2 counts of 1st degree criminal homicide aggravated murder (DV), 2 counts of 2nd degree distribution of a controlled substance, 2 counts of 2nd degree mortgage fraud (Iron Bridge Financial & Boomerrang Finance), 2 counts of 2nd degree insurance fraud & 2 counts of 3rd degree forgery. Held without bond. Bond denied (6/12/23). DA will not seek DP (8/18/23). 3rd Judicial District Court Summit County
Civil case [#221200316]: After Kouri failed to show evidence she complied with the agreement, Justice Court Judge Brendan McCullagh found Kouri guilty of the assault on 5/13/24.
*Civil case vs Katie Richins Benson. Property dispute.
Third District court Judge Richard Mrazik presiding. Prosecutors Patricia Cassell & Brad Bloodworth & Defense attorneys Kathy Nester & Wendy Lewis.
Case & court info from 6/5/23 thru 6/21/24 reference post #214 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ted-death-last-year-may-2023-3.711978/page-11

8/5/24 Update: Civil case: Motions hearing on 8/8/24 @ 1:3pm, to disqualify the prosecution, Motions hearing on 8/15/24 @ 1:30pm (Civil case) & preliminary hearings from 8/26 to 8/28/24 @ 9:30am.
8/8/24 Update: Judge Richard Mrazik quickly denied the Defense Motion to dismiss/disqualify the prosecution team after finding no violations, no intrusion & no evidence that the prosecution listened to client attorney privileged information (Motion predates Richin's new counsel). Richen's current defense team was in agreement with all said by the Judge but this was not the end for the issue for the Prosecutor. The Prosecution appears adamant that she wants it on the record the allegations by the prior defense team were speculative at best & bad faith at worst case. Prosecution alleges the defense also caused delay to the case by these false allegations & wants the Court to rule, as a record of law (on the record), that the prior defense counsels allegations were false and/or made in bad faith. The Judge does not agree to render such decision & more importantly, doesn't think it's necessary based on the Court's ruling to deny the defense Motion. The current defense goes on record that they have nothing to add on the matter. New Issue-prior defense team also alleged the jail refused to allow a notebook exchange between defendant & defense attorney without reading the entire notebook. The Court denies this Motion-- citing no evidence the jail read the notebook but only scanned the notebook, which is proper. Judge Mrazik set 8/19/24 as an open date for status hearing & next preliminary hearings from 8/26 thru 8/28/24.
 
I just need to say that I read the preliminary hearing briefing that @Seattle1 mentioned upthread for the first time earlier this week and was STUNNED by the amount of information provided in this document! Especially the text messages that were recovered.

05.13.2024 13th May 2024 States Bench Brief Preliminary Hearing.pdf


drive.google.com
drive.google.com

Here’s some of the information that I found the most compelling —

OCTOBER 1, 2020
Eric learned that KR took out the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) on his house from a bank representative — on a random day that he just so happened to go into the bank — as well as opened and maxed out two credit cards

OCTOBER 13, 2020
Eric consulted a divorce lawyer and an estate planning lawyer (less than two weeks after he learned about the HELOC and credit cards)

OCTOBER 14, 2020
KR texted her best friend:

KR: “Idk what to do… if he thinks I owe him money then that’s fine, I’ll pay whatever he thinks and then I’m out!!! It’s getting a little out of hand!”

(Eric clearly confronted KR about the information he’d recently learned and shared that he’d met with a divorce attorney the previous day.)

BF: “How much did you take out?”

KR: “A lot!”

BF: “How long do you think it would take you to pay him back?”

KR: “$250k it will take me a couple of months until my investments pay out… So I just gotta be top notch careful! He’s totally going to I feel like and then *advertiser censored* will hit the fan. And there’s nothing more important to me than the boys and making sure custody is always going to be at least 50/50 and if he digs and digs and finds something I don’t want him hiring some expensive attorney to fight for the kids or something….”

NOVEMBER 3, 2020
Eric formed the Eric Richins Living Trust – and placed his estate under the control of his sister Katie – and transferred his partnership interest to his Trust and designated the Trust (AKA Katie) the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy (without telling KR)

JUNE 29, 2021

KR emailed Iron Bridge Mortgage Fund, a hard money lender, an altered account statement in support of an application for a $346,000 loan. The altered statement contained the header of KRR’s May 2021 account statement and the body/substance of C&E’s (Eric’s business) May 2021 account statement to make it appear that her account balance was $210,898.61 (when it was actually $15,609.93).

A representative emailed KR in regards to her concerns about KR’s low credit score and credit card delinquencies. KR told the representative: “...everything is paid off now it just probably hasn’t been updated. I recently learned about all of this as well LOL and then my husband decided to explain to me this was his doing a while ago… We are in the process of separation for one of many reasons but this is one of them to keep it short and sweet LOL… it’s been crazy to say the least!”

(Can you even believe the nerve of this woman!!!!)

AUGUST 2, 2021

KR repeated her earlier actions with Iron Bridge Mortgage with another hard money lender, Boomerang Capital Partners – by submitting an altered bank statement to support a loan application for $454,750. The altered statement contained the header of KRR’s June 2021 account statement and the body/substance of C&E’s June 2021 account statement to make it appear that her account balance was $702,831.96 (when it was actually $15,339.12)!!!

DECEMBER 7, 2021
KR booked a 5-night, all inclusive, romantic stay at SECRETS St. Martin Resort and Spa for herself and her paramour for April 2022 (a month after Eric’s death)

!%#*!!!!!!!

JANUARY 12, 2022

KR deposited a $4,750 check into her bank account from the Gordon Law Group notated as a retainer refund

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

KR texted her paramour: “I have a crazy dream! You quit your job.. I divorce and come up with millions and millions.. we buy midway and live in the guest house and rent out the huge house as a big event center! $15,000 a day like they charge down the road. maybe $12,000 to stay competitive and we will just run the event ‘center’ as our daily job! And hang out every day? Raise some kids.. have a little farm? Deal?”

MARCH 2, 2022
(the day before she kills her husband)


9:12 AM - KR texted her paramour: “I just can’t even believe this!! I want to celebrate with you!!! Well Friday.. when it’s officially closed recorded and we’re done. Love you love, love you! Thank you for always being my support, shoulder and rock. I need you. All the time. Some things I just could never do without your encouragement. You have no idea how much I appreciate you!!”

MARCH 3, 2022
KR owed lenders approximately $3.1 million and her business account balance was -$5,734.55. She was days away from closing on an additional $3,259,850 in debt to purchase a partially completed property that would require millions of dollars to complete (millions of dollars she didn’t have). Eric’s estate was worth an estimated 5 million (his life was insured for over $2 million and his interest in C&E was covered by a $2 million buy-sell agreement).

Unbeknownst to KR, she wouldn’t be seeing any of his estate money.

MARCH 4, 2022

The medical examiner did not find THC in Eric’s blood or gastric fluid. (KR told LE on scene that he’d taken a THC gummy and we all know from the “Walk the Dog” letter that she planned to argue that his THC gummies must’ve had fentanyl in them.)

The 911 recording captured KR counting as if she was performing chest compressions. She also told her best friend and wrote in a journal that she “began CPR/compressions until the EMT arrived and they immediately took over”. However, the first responder on scene said KR wasn’t performing CPR when they arrived and there was no evidence CPR had been attempted.

MID-MARCH 2022
KR and her paramour drove into the Uinta mountains, parked, and sat in KR’s vehicle to talk. She asked him if he’d killed anyone while serving in Iraq and then asked him how it made him feel.

MARCH 20, 2022
KR texted her paramour a link to the SECRETS webpage and asked: “Are we there yet? Can’t wait!!!!!!!”
(17 days after her husband died.)


BY APRIL 16, 2022 (3 days after LE first informed KR that Eric died of a fentanyl overdose), KR accessed website articles with the following titles:

“Utah State Prison - Timpanogos Women’s Facility”

“What Happens to Deleted Messages?”

“Cause of Death Usually Does Not Impact Life Insurance Payment”

“How Do Police and Forensic Analysts Recover Deleted Data From Phones?”

“Signs of Being Under Federal Investigation”

MAY 8, 2023 (the day KR was arrested)
KR asked her mother if she or her brother had contacted WITNESS 4 (her fentanyl supplier and one time house cleaner) since her arrest to ask her “What the hell?”

MAY 31, 2023
KR’s mom texted KR: “[Witness 3] running his mouth”
(Witness 3 is the first person KR asked about finding her some drugs and who turned her down.)


I have seen some pretty DUMB criminals in my day, but KR is almost unbelievably stupid. She is toast.
 
I just need to say that I read the preliminary hearing briefing that @Seattle1 mentioned upthread for the first time earlier this week and was STUNNED by the amount of information provided in this document! Especially the text messages that were recovered.

05.13.2024 13th May 2024 States Bench Brief Preliminary Hearing.pdf


drive.google.com
drive.google.com

Here’s some of the information that I found the most compelling —

OCTOBER 1, 2020
Eric learned that KR took out the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) on his house from a bank representative — on a random day that he just so happened to go into the bank — as well as opened and maxed out two credit cards

OCTOBER 13, 2020
Eric consulted a divorce lawyer and an estate planning lawyer (less than two weeks after he learned about the HELOC and credit cards)

OCTOBER 14, 2020
KR texted her best friend:

KR: “Idk what to do… if he thinks I owe him money then that’s fine, I’ll pay whatever he thinks and then I’m out!!! It’s getting a little out of hand!”

(Eric clearly confronted KR about the information he’d recently learned and shared that he’d met with a divorce attorney the previous day.)

BF: “How much did you take out?”

KR: “A lot!”

BF: “How long do you think it would take you to pay him back?”

KR: “$250k it will take me a couple of months until my investments pay out… So I just gotta be top notch careful! He’s totally going to I feel like and then *advertiser censored* will hit the fan. And there’s nothing more important to me than the boys and making sure custody is always going to be at least 50/50 and if he digs and digs and finds something I don’t want him hiring some expensive attorney to fight for the kids or something….”

NOVEMBER 3, 2020
Eric formed the Eric Richins Living Trust – and placed his estate under the control of his sister Katie – and transferred his partnership interest to his Trust and designated the Trust (AKA Katie) the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy (without telling KR)

JUNE 29, 2021

KR emailed Iron Bridge Mortgage Fund, a hard money lender, an altered account statement in support of an application for a $346,000 loan. The altered statement contained the header of KRR’s May 2021 account statement and the body/substance of C&E’s (Eric’s business) May 2021 account statement to make it appear that her account balance was $210,898.61 (when it was actually $15,609.93).

A representative emailed KR in regards to her concerns about KR’s low credit score and credit card delinquencies. KR told the representative: “...everything is paid off now it just probably hasn’t been updated. I recently learned about all of this as well LOL and then my husband decided to explain to me this was his doing a while ago… We are in the process of separation for one of many reasons but this is one of them to keep it short and sweet LOL… it’s been crazy to say the least!”

(Can you even believe the nerve of this woman!!!!)

AUGUST 2, 2021

KR repeated her earlier actions with Iron Bridge Mortgage with another hard money lender, Boomerang Capital Partners – by submitting an altered bank statement to support a loan application for $454,750. The altered statement contained the header of KRR’s June 2021 account statement and the body/substance of C&E’s June 2021 account statement to make it appear that her account balance was $702,831.96 (when it was actually $15,339.12)!!!

DECEMBER 7, 2021
KR booked a 5-night, all inclusive, romantic stay at SECRETS St. Martin Resort and Spa for herself and her paramour for April 2022 (a month after Eric’s death)

!%#*!!!!!!!

JANUARY 12, 2022

KR deposited a $4,750 check into her bank account from the Gordon Law Group notated as a retainer refund

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

KR texted her paramour: “I have a crazy dream! You quit your job.. I divorce and come up with millions and millions.. we buy midway and live in the guest house and rent out the huge house as a big event center! $15,000 a day like they charge down the road. maybe $12,000 to stay competitive and we will just run the event ‘center’ as our daily job! And hang out every day? Raise some kids.. have a little farm? Deal?”

MARCH 2, 2022
(the day before she kills her husband)


9:12 AM - KR texted her paramour: “I just can’t even believe this!! I want to celebrate with you!!! Well Friday.. when it’s officially closed recorded and we’re done. Love you love, love you! Thank you for always being my support, shoulder and rock. I need you. All the time. Some things I just could never do without your encouragement. You have no idea how much I appreciate you!!”

MARCH 3, 2022
KR owed lenders approximately $3.1 million and her business account balance was -$5,734.55. She was days away from closing on an additional $3,259,850 in debt to purchase a partially completed property that would require millions of dollars to complete (millions of dollars she didn’t have). Eric’s estate was worth an estimated 5 million (his life was insured for over $2 million and his interest in C&E was covered by a $2 million buy-sell agreement).

Unbeknownst to KR, she wouldn’t be seeing any of his estate money.

MARCH 4, 2022

The medical examiner did not find THC in Eric’s blood or gastric fluid. (KR told LE on scene that he’d taken a THC gummy and we all know from the “Walk the Dog” letter that she planned to argue that his THC gummies must’ve had fentanyl in them.)

The 911 recording captured KR counting as if she was performing chest compressions. She also told her best friend and wrote in a journal that she “began CPR/compressions until the EMT arrived and they immediately took over”. However, the first responder on scene said KR wasn’t performing CPR when they arrived and there was no evidence CPR had been attempted.

MID-MARCH 2022
KR and her paramour drove into the Uinta mountains, parked, and sat in KR’s vehicle to talk. She asked him if he’d killed anyone while serving in Iraq and then asked him how it made him feel.

MARCH 20, 2022
KR texted her paramour a link to the SECRETS webpage and asked: “Are we there yet? Can’t wait!!!!!!!”
(17 days after her husband died.)


BY APRIL 16, 2022 (3 days after LE first informed KR that Eric died of a fentanyl overdose), KR accessed website articles with the following titles:

“Utah State Prison - Timpanogos Women’s Facility”

“What Happens to Deleted Messages?”

“Cause of Death Usually Does Not Impact Life Insurance Payment”

“How Do Police and Forensic Analysts Recover Deleted Data From Phones?”

“Signs of Being Under Federal Investigation”

MAY 8, 2023 (the day KR was arrested)
KR asked her mother if she or her brother had contacted WITNESS 4 (her fentanyl supplier and one time house cleaner) since her arrest to ask her “What the hell?”

MAY 31, 2023
KR’s mom texted KR: “[Witness 3] running his mouth”
(Witness 3 is the first person KR asked about finding her some drugs and who turned her down.)


I have seen some pretty DUMB criminals in my day, but KR is almost unbelievably stupid. She is toast.
She is definitely toast.
Avocado toast.
With Everything bagel sprinkles.
Over the top DONE.
 
So... any news on her civil case hearing yesterday? Just want to update my notes! :)

I have a "maybe" for a status hearing on 8/19/24 & the preliminary hearings from 8/26 to 8/28.
 
So... any news on her civil case hearing yesterday? Just want to update my notes! :)

I have a "maybe" for a status hearing on 8/19/24 & the preliminary hearings from 8/26 to 8/28.

Nothing in MSM about the civil case on 8/15 which was a virtual Motions Hearing. Also searched the court calendar for the next 30 days for case #220500076 and and had no hits. Sorry.

 

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