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

[arielilane]

10:38 a.m. Bloodworth asks if they can have five minutes before showing the jury a 13 minute recording of Crozier being interviewed by law enforcement in May of 2023. Says he “drank a lot of coffee.” The judge agrees, and says Crozier can be recalled for further testimony, even though he was already released from his subpoena. Court is now taking a ten minute break.


10:36 a.m. Defense says they didn’t get to question Crozier about a video of him speaking with law enforcement. Judge Mrazik says they can have a discussion about admitting the video of Crazier’s side of the discussion. Mrazik says he will instruct jurors to only consider law enforcement half of the video conversation, to provide context about why Crozier is responding.

10:32 a.m. The jury is taking a restroom break, but attorneys are arguing about the May 4, 2020 interview. Defense is objecting to the video, saying it’s hearsay between law enforcement officers, and Robert Crozier, a drug dealer.

LIVE UPDATES | Day 6 of Kouri Richins murder trial - East Idaho News

Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three boys, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022. She is on trial in Summit County, Utah, on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery. Today is the sixth day of the trial. It is scheduled...

www.eastidahonews.com

 

[arielilane]

10:58 am. Court is back in session. The state is admitting a recording of an interview by law enforcement with Robert Crozier. They are playing the recording.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[arielilane]

Today is the sixth day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin each day at 8:30 a.m. East Idaho News will be posting live written updates all day. Please excuse typos. You can watch the livestream here. The most recent updates are at the top of this page.

11:05 a.m. Davis says officers have already spoken to Lauber and Nicole, and downloaded their phone records. Crozier says he knows who Nicole is. Davis says Nicole messaged Lauber on Feb. 25, a year before this recording, and told her she could buy “blues” from Crozier.


11:02 a.m. Sergeant Todd Davis tells Crozier, who was in custody at the time of this recording, that they want to talk to him about a transaction he made a year before at a Maverik gas station in Draper with a woman named Carmen Lauber. Davis says Crozier sold her “blues” and someone died because of it.

10:58 am. Court is back in session. The state is admitting a recording of an interview by law enforcement with Robert Crozier. They are playing the recording. Mrazik instructs the jury not to take any other participant in the recording’s side of the conversation, other than Crozier, for the truth when deliberating.


10:38 a.m. Bloodworth asks if they can have five minutes before showing the jury a 13 minute recording of Crozier being interviewed by law enforcement in May of 2023. Says he “drank a lot of coffee.” The judge agrees, and says Crozier can be recalled for further testimony, even though he was already released from his subpoena. Court is now taking a ten-minute break.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[Megnut]

Oh, RC lied.

Palm my face. Not.

Damning interview.

He remembers the transactions, he corroborates CL's testimony.

Bad day for KR.

JMO

 

[MarciB]

Underhanded too because any testing would have shown nothing but THC, if it even registered.

JMO

defense trying to deflect

 

[arielilane]

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three boys, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022. She is on trial in Summit County, Utah, on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery.

Today is the sixth day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin each day at 8:30 a.m. East Idaho News will be posting live written updates all day. Please excuse typos. You can watch the livestream here. The most recent updates are at the top of this page.

11:13 a.m. Crozier says Lauber was “always in a hurry” during their exchanges. The officer reminds Crozier that they are “not there to jam him up or anything” and that they just want to corroborate information through him. Crozier asks if “both them b****** gave (law enforcement my name?” And laughs.


11:11 a.m. Crozier says she was with an older guy, in his sixties, and he thinks they were in a white truck the first time they met. Crozier says she also bought drugs from him a second time, but says he didn’t remember how much she bought. He says he only spoke with her twice. He says he knows Nicole through a man named Cam.

11:08 a.m. Crozier says he didn’t know anyone had died because of the drugs. He tells the sergeant that he talked to Lauber a few times, and that she probably paid him around $500 or $600. Crozier says he lost the phone he communicated with Lauber on. He says Lauber asked for blues for a friend that wanted them.


11:05 a.m. Davis says officers have already spoken to Lauber and Nicole, and downloaded their phone records. Crozier says he knows who Nicole is. Davis says Nicole messaged Lauber on Feb. 25, a year before this recording, and told her she could buy “blues” from Crozier.

 

[arielilane]

We are back. They're playing an interview for the jury with Robert Crozier from May 2023.

Judge to jury - You may consider Mr. Crozier's side of the interview as much weight as you'd like; but not law enforcement questioning.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028530456812208547

 

[arielilane]

"I didn't know anyone died, you know what I mean?" - Crozier to investigators on May 4, 2023.

Crozier says he doesn't remember where he got the pills from; the pills he sold to Carmen Lauber at the Maverik in Draper in February, 2022 (twice).




NEXT WITNESS: Molly Crosswhite, who purchased the 'small Midway home' from Kouri Richins in January 2022.

Crosswhite, a realtor, rented the home. Home was unoccupied between late January and March of 2022.


Time for a cross from Wendy Lewis.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028535128264417433

 

[arielilane]

11:18 a.m. Crosswhite says she never moved into the house, but rented it out. Her renters moved in on March 30, 2022. Their lease began March 1. The house was not occupied between January 26, and March 1. She says the locks on the doors were the same the whole time. Before Crosswhite bought the home, she says Kouri did a renovation on it.


11:16 a.m. The recording ends. Bloodworth calls his next witness, Molly Crosswhite, a woman who bought a home from Kouri on January 26, 2022.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[arielilane]

11:22 a.m. Bloodworth is done with his questions, Lewis is now cross-examining, and shows Crosswhite the purchase agreement, that shows the date she agreed to purchase was January 14, 2022. Crosswhite says she closed on the home on January 26, and did a walk through of the home before closing. She says the home was staged while they were trying to sell it. Before the final walkthrough, all of the furniture had been removed. She says she doesn’t remember exactly what was still there, but that she wanted the home to be fully vacated, but there was “debris and old cars” on the property.

LIVE UPDATES | Day 6 of Kouri Richins murder trial - East Idaho News

Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three boys, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022. She is on trial in Summit County, Utah, on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery. Today is the sixth day of the trial. It is scheduled...

www.eastidahonews.com

 

[Megnut]

Look at the micro-aggression on KR's face, staring down the witness, the woman who bought the house from her.

Wow.

Daggers.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

More corroboration. Key was accessible, just like CL said, as directed by KR.

JMO

 

[arielilane]

NEXT WITNESS: Allison Wright, C&E Stone Masonry, who knew Eric Richins since junior high school. Allison's husband was Eric Richins' business partner.

You can watch LIVE here:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028537651649978437

 

[Megnut]

On second thought, that IS a goose egg IMO (on KR's forehead).

Interesting.

JMO

 

[arielilane]

11:29 a.m. Lewis is done with her cross-examination, and the witness has been released. Chervenak calls Allison Wright to the stand. Wright works at a masonry company. She says she knew Eric Richins from junior high, as he was a friend of her sisters. They also went to high school together. Her husband was his business partner. She says she also knows Kouri, and met her when she was dating Eric.


11:25 a.m. Crosswhite says she was not given the key at the closing, but that it was left at the house in a hidden spot near the front door for contractors. She says she is not sure if the contractors left the house locked. Crosswhite says she never talked with Kouri directly, and only talked to her real estate agent.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[tlcya]

LMAO Nester is very worried about Allison's testimony about prenup and fearful about finances should the couple divorce. Major objection on the record for appeal about letting the state present this witness.

 

[Megnut]

Defense is whining again. Do not want this witness to be able to talk about KR's statements three years prior to ER's death.

Judge: it IS relevant.

Judge: witness shows that KR was aware of the prenup and how it would affect her.

Defense then wants her testimony limited, to exclude conversations of divorce, trapped in marriage etc.

Judge delineated all the ways this testimony is probative, and not prejudicial.

BAM.

JMO

 

[arielilane]

11:41 a.m. Judge Mrazik disagrees, and says the discussion is relevant because it shows that Kouri had awareness of what she believed were the financial consequences of if she was to divorce her husband. He says it also shows that she was aware that her children could want to live with their dad instead of with her. Court is taking a ten minute break.


11:38 a.m. Wright has been asked to wait in the lobby while the state and defense discuss her testimony. Lewis says the testimony should not be allowed to happen in front of the jury, because it was three years before Eric’s death. She tells the judge it should not be allowed, because there is no allegation in the discussion that she was planning to murder her husband three years in advance, and calls it “prejudicial.”


11:35 a.m. Wright says Kouri told her about issues in her marriage and how she felt “trapped.” Kouri told her about a pre-nuptial agreement and explained that she was trapped financially because Eric would benefit from the pre-nup, while she would not. She stated she was worried that the kids would go with Eric if she ended their marriage. Wright says she admires that Kouri got a master’s degree, is motivated and hard-working, and wanted to be financially independent.


11:32 a.m. Chervanek shows Wright returned checks from the masonry’s banking account. Wright says ini February 2019, she and her husband took a vacation with Kouri and Eric. On the vacation, Wright says Kouri spoke with her about life and kids. The defense has objected, and are taking a sidebar. The jury has been asked to leave the room.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[Megnut]

Judge's response was brilliant. Man can he rule on the spot, reasoned, articulate.

He showed all the ways that KR was aware what divorce could cost her, including taking positive steps to mitigate that (like getting a master's).

Finances
Standard of living
ER maintaining his while hers would drop off
Children preferring his standard of living

It's coming into focus.

KR wanted out, but divorce was not acceptable to her. Murder was.

JMO

 

[cujenn81]

Look at the micro-aggression on KR's face, staring down the witness, the woman who bought the house from her.

Wow.

Daggers.

JMO

Yeah there’s no way the jury isn’t noticing her hateful glares.