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.
12:02 p.m. The court is taking a lunch break, and will return at 12:40 p.m MST.
12:02 p.m. Wright says she remained close with Kouri and her family after Eric’s death. Nestor asks if her husband accompanied Kouri to court hearings, and she confirms that. The court has released Wright, but she may be recalled.
12 p.m. Nestor asks if it’s because Eric and Wright’s husband had a falling out. She says yes but it was temporary. She agrees that the falling out was because her husband provided information to law enforcement about a hunting violation that Eric may have committed. Wright is then asked about her job, and she says she does the accounts and booking for her husband company, that used to be owned by Eric Richins, C & E Stone Masonry Home.
11:57 a.m. Wright says she doesn’t remember when she became aware of Eric’s supposed affair. Nestor asks for a “ballpark” estimate. Wright says she thinks she heard of it twice, and doesn’t remember when she learned about it. Nestor asks if she knew about it during the Costa rica conversation with Kouri, and she says she doesn’t believe so. Wright says they stopped going on vacation with the Richins because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of family life. Nestor asks if it’s because Eric and Wright’s husband had a falling out.
11:53 a.m. The defense is cross-examining. Nestor asks if there was a reason for the discussion in Costa Rica. Wright says she can’t remember. Nestor asked if it was because Kouri believed Eric was having an affair with his coworker. Wright says she did not speak to Kouri about that in Costa Rica. Kouri made a face toward Wright that looked like she was surprised by that answer.
11:48 a.m. Wright is back on the stand, and the jury is back in the courtroom. Wright says their husbands were not with them, and Kouri told her that things were “difficult at home.” Kouri said she felt “trapped” and told her about a prenuptial agreement. Wright says Kouri said it would be difficult to leave Eric, because she would not end up in a good financial position, and the kids might prefer staying with him because he would have more money. Wright says Kouri feared how she would be represented by him in the community. “I felt for her. It was a hard conversation. I knew that things had been hard since their youngest child was born.”
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. Nestor 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 in 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 a drug dealer.
10:31 a.m. Burmester is asking follow up questions. Christensen says it was an online video call meeting, but he doesn’t remember who all was there. This happened the day before Kouri called Dr. Christensen. Christensen says there were no traces of any other illicit drugs other than fentanyl in Eric’s blood. He says there is no way to definitively know if Eric was a long time fentanyl user. The witness has been released.
10:28 a.m. Ramos says something unusual occurred in the investigation; he received communication from multiple law enforcement officers, and was invited to a meeting to discuss the case, where the DEA and prosecutors were involved. Christensen says this happens, but is not common. Ramos is done with his questioning.
10:25 a.m. Attorneys are back in their seats. Christensen says he is not aware of hair follicle tests being done in an autopsy for drug testing, because they are tasked with what’s at hand, not what has happened in the past. Ramos asks if he had sent out a hair follicle test, if he would’ve used the results in his determination of the manner of death. He says yes, it would be part of it.
10:22 a.m. Christensen says he did not contact law enforcement about Eric’s blood results, because he didn’t see anything concerning. Ramos reminds Christensen that Kouri told him that she was not aware that Eric had been using fentanyl in the phone call recording heard earlier. Attorneys are now taking a sidebar.
10:21 a.m. Ramos asks Christensen about things he wishes he would’ve done. He says literature suggests you could learn more if you test urine, which is not something medical examiner’s offices usually do. They often test blood. He says you an also test eye fluid, and the liver to understand what happened. Ramos asks about hair follicles. Christensen says with drug use, it’s used to evaluate the use over time.
10:15 a.m. Ramos asks Christensen about the port mortem comments. He says he doesn’t remember the specific numbers about Eric’s overdose. Christensen says there is no set level or number for when illicit drugs become fatal, it is different for everyone, but there is a “fixed fatal threshold.”
10:11 a.m. Christensen is describing what a counterfeit pill is. He says it is when people press their own pills that look similar to legitimate prescriptions. He says oxycodone pills that are almost completely made of fentanyl are very common.
10:07 a.m. Ramos asks Christensen about the allergen-like reactions that someone could have from fentanyl. He asks if someone is allergic to an opioid, if that allergy can disappear? Christensen says it can fluctuate, and the responses can go away. He says Eric’s body did not have hives. Ramos asks about “the pills” that would have fentanyl traces, and the defense objects.
10:04 a.m. Christensen says he does not have any concern about the cause of the death of Eric. Burmester is done with his questioning. Christensen is now being cross examined by Alex Ramos. Christensen says he received a call from law enforcement the day before he had a phone call with Kouri.
10:02 a.m. Burmester asks about pseudo-allergic reactions to opioids. Christensen says it does exist, similar to a peanut allergy. Opiates don’t elicit an allergic response, but some people have an “allergic-like” reaction. Some people can get hies, and similar allergy responses.
9:58 a.m. Christensen says nobody was eating fentanyl until counterfeit “street” pills appeared. Burmester asks Christensen if there were any injection sites on Eric, he says no. Christensen says some people become tolerant of opioids and take very large amounts, and not have the same effect as someone who doesn’t take it all the time. He says there was nothing to suggest Eric was a chronic user, due to the information they had at the time.
9:55 a.m. The recording is finished. Christensen says over the last 20 years, fentanyl deaths have increased significantly. He says almost all fentanyl deaths were due to prescription fentanyl being used incorrectly.
9:52 a.m. Kouri says she had no indication that Eric was using alcohol, and laughs. “It’s something for me to try and figure out, I guess.”
9:52 a.m. Kouri asks about Seroquel, an anti-psychotic medication that was found in Eric’s blood. Christensen says there was a lot found in his blood, but it doesn’t “mean very much.”
9:47 a.m. Kouri is asking Christensen questions about the substances found in Eric’s body after his death. Christensen tells Kouri that Eric’s overdose was probably taken orally or injected. He says people can die from even half the amount of fentanyl that was in his blood.
9:44 a.m. After Dr. Ulmer’s retirement, Christensen says he received a call from Kouri, but missed it. He later called her back. He says he listened to a recording of the call and read its transcript today. The state has asked to bring up the recording and transcript for the jury. It’s nine minutes long. We are hearing the recording between Dr. Christensen and Kouri.
9:42 a.m. Christensen says there is suggestive evidence that Eric ingested fentanyl orally, but there is no way to definitely know that. He says in a case where a person is believed to have smoked fentanyl and overdosed, you may see evidence of burns on their fingers or drug paraphernalia like tin foil nearby.
9:37 a.m. Christensen says essentially any opioid can make you drowsy, but fentanyl is much more potent than morphine, about 100 times more so. He says intravenous drug use can cause someone to die very quickly, but there is usually some level of metabolizing the drugs in the body before the person dies.
9:33 a.m. Christensen is now discussing the different ways people can ingest fentanyl. Injecting a liquid form, swallowing, etc. He says once it gets into the blood, it’s distributed throughout the body, and alters the way you think, can make you groggy or less than normally responsive. It’s lethal effects are effects on your breathing, and can cause death.
9:30 a.m. Christensen says he is an expert in forensic pathology. He is asked about how to determine the cause and the manner of a death. Richins seems to be taking lots of notes. Christensen says that he decided Eric Richins death was undetermined, but clarifies he was not the person to sign the death certificate, Dr. Ulmer was. He says at the time, they did not know if Eric overdosed on his own, or if someone had given him the drugs.
9:27 a.m The state has called Erik Christensen to the stand. He was the chief medical examiner for the State of Utah since July 2016, until his recent retirement. He supervised Dr. Ulmer.
9:22 a.m. Court is back in session. EastIdahoNews.com reporter Kaitlyn Hart here. I’ll be taking over the updates for Nate this morning, but he will be back a little later today.
8:43 a.m. Court is in recess for an undetermined period of time while these issues get worked out.
8:39 a.m. Defense and prosecution debating over a video transcript. It’s a 13-minute video. Judge asking prosecution to provide the video with a running transcript to the defense. Dr. Christensen and the video were two of the first things the prosecution wanted to present this morning.
8:36 a.m. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis objects to another witness the prosecution plans to call today – Lt. Davis. She says they added Davis to the witness list late last week and did not give enough notice. Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth says they are calling David to authenticate a video.
8:31 a.m. It’s day 6 of the Kouri Richins trial. So far the prosecution has called 21 witnesses. Defense attorney Alex Ramos is voicing concern that his team has not had an issue to consult with Dr. Christensen, a witness the prosecution plans to call. Defense says they have tried to reach him, but they never heard back from him. Judge Richard Mrazik says they can change order of witnesses today to allow defense time to chat with Christensen.
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...
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