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

[Luna20]

Yes. The interplay of phone activity.

I don't see how the Defense can overcome the corroboration.

JMO

Great! I will tune in for the recap. Thanks Meg.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Ramos asks if other things can be done to try and locate whether the three gifs could be track. Ramos suggests you could contact the person on the other end of the message. Kotrodimos says he could have done that

Hey, Ramos, if you want to know where the images went, JUST ASK YOUR CLIENT!

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

3:55 p.m. Ramos asks if the three gifs are tied together. Kotrodimos does not know. Ramos asks Kotrodimos to explain epoch time when it comes to cell phones. Kotrodimos says he’s not familiar enough with it to testify on the stand. Ramos says epoch time is the number of seconds that has elapsed since Jan. 1, 1970. That’s how phones have registered the information. Kotrodimos says it’s a programming reason.



3:53 p.m. Ramos asks where the gifs were in the phone. They were in an SMS database. Ramos asks about cache. Kotrodimos says they are folders where the system stores data. Ramos asks if there are certain things in our phones that we can’t access. That’s true.


3:47 p.m. Back from break. Ramos says he’s going to begin by diving into the PNG files. Ramos asks about the time and date of one of the files. He pulls out his cell phone and says he’s going to text his son three gifs and another item. “If you were to get my phone and put it in your system, extract it and analyze it, would all of those be the same time date and time down to the second?” Kotrodimos says they could.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

Futilely fighting so hard against those images only shows they know how damning they are.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Interesting to me that the digital forensics expert Kotrodimos doesn't have an iPhone. Seems like Ramos is an Apple FanBoy so they didn't agree on this, either. And then they laughed. Again. Today was a ball of laughs I swear. I understand they're doing their jobs but the lightheartedness of today I disliked very much.

 

[Kemug]

Once one of you has found out what American jails for the rich are like, can you please post it here? I don't want to sully my search records!

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Does anybody know what the long IRS phone call was about?

 

[Luna20]

Interesting to me that the digital forensics expert Kotrodimos doesn't have an iPhone. Seems like Ramos is an Apple FanBoy so they didn't agree on this, either. And then they laughed. Again. Today was a ball of laughs I swear. I understand they're doing their jobs but the lightheartedness of today I disliked very much.

Agree, I haven’t seen that much jovial testimony since the Depp trial.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Does anybody know what the long IRS phone call was about?

I once spent 4 hours on hold with the IRS. Put the speaker phone on and walked on the treadmill and did dishes. Multiple times they have disconnected me after I had waited an hour or more or transferred me and lost the call. Phone records don't show when you're on hold during the call length.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Does anybody know what the long IRS phone call was about?

I guess I'm surprised she doesn't have an accountant or "the help" deal with things like this if it were for her business.

I honestly think it was another one of her random questions she wanted answered (like with Dr Christensen.) Like... what is my tax liability for a deceased spouse... or what happens if within a tax period I become widowed and therefore Head of Household... something selfish like that!

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

I guess I'm surprised she doesn't have an accountant or "the help" deal with things like this if it were for her business.

I honestly think it was another one of her random questions she wanted answered (like with Dr Christensen.) Like... what is my tax liability for a deceased spouse... or what happens if within a tax period I become widowed and therefore Head of Household... something selfish like that!

How about, "How much is my social security benefit for each of my children when their father dies?"
see Lori Vallow
LOL my apologies, she didn't call the IRS for that, she would have called SS

 

[cujenn81]

Futilely fighting so hard against those images only shows they know how damning they are.

Exactly! And they’ve been fighting them tooth and nail from day one. They tried to get the last slide of the prosecution’s opening statement thrown out before the trial even began. What was on that slide? Those three images.

 

[cujenn81]

Does anybody know what the long IRS phone call was about?

I found this in an old article.

Kouri Richins timeline: Utah grief author mom accused of poisoning husband

Kouri Richins allegedly spiked Eric Richins’ drink with fentanyl and then wrote a children’s book on grief after he died. Records reveal changes in life insurance policies before his death and estate battles after it.

www.nbcnews.com

The day before her husband died, prosecutors said she talked to a money lender to whom she owed at least $1.8 million and had a lengthy telephone call with the IRS. The document alleged that she had outstanding state and federal tax liabilities totaling $189,840 and also owed her husband at least $514,346.

 

[Kemug]

How about, "How much is my social security benefit for each of my children when their father dies?"
see Lori Vallow

Preferably the call should be made by the boyfriend though

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Exactly! And they’ve been fighting them tooth and nail from day one. They tried to get the last slide of the prosecution’s opening statement thrown out before the trial even began. What was on that slide? Those three images.

These are the gifs (HILARIOUSLY pronounced by Ramos as JIF like the peanut butter) found that kouri accessed less than 6 hours after her husband's death!!!!! Can you imagine having time for meme tomfoolery?!?! Hours after your husband dies? Katie sister of Eric said she couldn't even figure out what she'd be feeding her kids that day.

Screenshot of state's evidence from Day1 of trial aired by East Idaho News.

 

[Niner]

Tuesday, March 3rd:
*Trial continues (Day 7) (@ 8:30am 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 35) arrested (5/8/23) & charged (6/5/23) & arraigned (8/27/24) 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 1 count of 1st degree criminal homicide aggravated murder (DV), 2 counts of 2nd degree distribution of a controlled substance [charges dismissed 11/12/24], 1 count of attempted aggravated urder, 2 counts of 2nd degree mortgage fraud (Iron Bridge Financial & Boomerang Finance), 2 counts of 2nd degree insurance fraud & 2 counts of 3rd degree forgery. Plead not guilty (8/27/24). Held without bond. Bond denied (6/12/23). Bond denied (11/18/25). DA will not seek DP (2/20/26).
*Charged (6/27/25) with 5 counts of mortgage fraud, 5 counts of forgery, 7 counts of issuing a bad check, 7 counts of money laundering, 1 count of communications fraud & 1 count of a pattern of unlawful activity. 3rd Judicial District Court Summit County
Jury selection began on 2/10/26 & ended on 2/11/26. Jury consists of 8 jurors [2 women & 6 men] & 4 alternates [4 women].
Murder Trial began on 2/23/26 [thru 3/26/26]. Court in session from Mondays to Thursdays.
Third District Court Summit County Judge Richard Mrazik presiding. Prosecutors Lindsay Chervenask, Fred Burmester & Summit County Deputy Attorney Brad Bloodworth & Defense attorneys Kathy Nester & Wendy Lewis & Alex Ramos.
Case & court info from 6/5/23 thru 2/2/26 & Jury Selection Day 1-2 (2/10-2/11//26) & thru 2/18/26 r& Trial Day 1-5 (2/23-2/27/26) reference post #1899 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ted-death-last-year-may-2023-3.711978/page-95
3/2/26 Monday, Trial Day 6: State witness: Dr. Erik Christensen, [former] State of Utah chief medical examiner (since July, 2016, retired in 2024). He supervised Dr. Ulmer. After 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 ^ read its transcript today. The state played the recording & transcript for the jury. It’s nine minutes long.
*The state admitted a recording of an interview by LE {Sgt. Todd Davis] with Robert Crozier. They played the recording, a 13 minute recording of Crozier being interviewed by LE on May 4, 2023. Crozier “might” be re-subpoena & brought back in.
State witnesses continued: Molly Crosswhite, a realtor [who purchased the 'small Midway home' from Kouri on January 26, 2022]. Allison Wright, C&E Stone Masonry [who knew Eric since junior high school. Allison's husband was Eric's business partner].
*A juror notified the Court that she knows the realtor witness. Defense asks for Motion for mistrial. Judge denies motion to dismiss. Will take up the juror dismissal in the morning.
State witnesses continued: Summit County Sheriff's Office Detective Jeff O'Driscoll [owner of M20 Solutions; certified by cellebrite. He collected Carmen Lauber’s phone and helped get it processed]. Chris Kotrodimos, digital forensics expert [has examined phones & records related to Kouri, Eric, Carmen Lauber, Robert Crozier & Robert Grossman]. Trial continues on Tuesday, 3/3/26.

 

[Tortoise]

Oh dear. How far from the bed to the light switch?

4:20 p.m. Ramos asks what Kotrodimos did to validate the information that was presented to him from Cellebrite regarding the distance traveled of the phones. Kotrodimos says he did nothing to validate it – the information was there.

<snip>

4:39 p.m. Chervenak says Apple puts a lot of money into their activity data because users want it to be accurate and reliable. Kotrodimos says that’s correct. Kotrodimos asks if he’s activity data from Apple in other cases has been accurate. He says it has.

<snip>

4:44 p.m. [...] Ramos asks if Kotrodimos made any efforts to validate if the information he had was up to Apple standards. He did not.


-----

Crime scene investigator Chelsea Gipson's testimony - day 2 (timestamp in link below from 8:20:35)

Distance from master bedroom to kitchen - 55 feet 2 inches

Distance from master bedroom to front door - a little over 36 feet


Data from Kouri's phone -

3:06:50 am - phone unlocked (28 secs)

3:07:04 am - speaker activation

3:07:18 am - phone locked

3:08:10 am - device starts to travel 243 feet

3:10:37 am - phone unlocked (1 min 40 secs)

3:12:17 am - phone locked

3:15:59 am - phone unlocked (37 secs)

3:16:36 am - phone locked

3:19:07 am - phone unlocked (28 secs)

3:19:35 am - phone locked

3:19:39 am - phone unlocked (3 secs)

3:19:42 am - phone locked

3:21:05 am - calls 911

3:21:32 am - device starts to travel 135 feet

3:22:12 am - receiver activation (phone held up to ear - 1 min 7 secs after call start)



link to Chris Kotrodimos' testimony

link to day 2