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

[arielilane]

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

10:04 a.m. We now see an exhibit showing a purchase timeline showing a purchase timeline of K. Richins Realty. It shows how many homes Kouri purchased over the years.




10:02 a.m. Sidebar is over. We see Kouri’s personal bank account statement from April 2019. It shows that on March 29, there was a deposit of $60,000 in the account. The money came from the TCF National Bank account check made out to Eric Richins.

10 a.m. Bloodworth moves to admit another exhibit. Nester objects. Judge asks attorneys to approach the bench for sidebar. White noise is played in courtroom.

9:57 a.m. Bloodworth admits an exhibit showing a $60,000 check from TCF National Bank made payable to Eric Richins on March 22, 2019.

9:55 a.m. Money was used from the HELOC to pay for rehab projects. There was no evidence or sign that Eric ever withdrew any money from the HELOC – it was always Kouri, Karrington says.


9:52 a.m. Bloodworth admits an exhibit showing the balance limit on the HELOC loan. At the time of Eric’s death, the loan was over its limit of $250,000. The payments on the account were interest-only payments with the exception of one payment made of $50,000 in October 2020.






9:48 a.m. Judge will allow the exhibit in. We see the home equity line of credit agreement on the screen. It outlines the terms of the loan. Eric Richins is the borrower. The credit limit on the loan is $250,000. The borrower is signed as Eric Richins and it’s signed by Kouri Richins.

 

[arielilane]

Jury is seeing the 'purchase timeline' introduced by prosecution and created by Brooke Karrington; showing the amount of projects from 2019 - 2022.


"Managing growth is really challenging and managing this kind of exponential growth is challenging for any kind of business," said Karrington.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028879711557042362

 

[Megnut]

I wonder how much ER actually knew about her debt. It baffles me to see how Kouri could be that bad with money and she never thought she should stop what she was doing.

Like a gambler, she thought she could win it back. More and more projects, more lines of credit, a runaway business model.

But to see how she thought ER's LIFE was something she could LIQUIDATE for her own purposes, it's just so damn cold.

JMO

 

[arielilane]

I didnt realize a defendant would have three or four public defenders. Is that typical for Utah?

 

[scorpio24]

I wonder how much ER actually knew about her debt. It baffles me to see how Kouri could be that bad with money and she never thought she should stop what she was doing.

She was desperate to be wildly successful very quickly. She was essentially in a time crunch to be a millionaire (which is the lifestyle she wanted to keep.) The marriage was failing. The prenup was looming. Had he known about the extent of the debt, I believe he would have divorced her.

But I don't think I could fathom my own spouse putting himself (or us) in this financial situation. At least, not to this extent. Or maybe he didn't want to know. Because of his kids.

MOO

 

[icerink47]

It’s shocking how someone publicly positioned as a grief-support advocate can simultaneously face charges for intentionally causing the very loss they were supposedly addressing. Raises a lot of questions about public perception versus private actions and how quickly narratives can be manipulated.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

And unfortunately, some would contend, myself included, that an ‘unskilled’ and ‘unsavvy’ individual with poor business skills used the death of another individual. To pay for their own ineptitude. So unnecessary. And unfortunate. MOO

 

[arielilane]

Quick break here in court.

Seat brought in as an extension of the media row for a financial crimes investigator to sit in; take notes.

Keep in mind, Kouri has two insurance fraud and forgery involved in this trial along with the agg murder & attempted murder charges.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028882779652673676

 

[arielilane]

Court in recess until 10:40 am MT and 12:40 pm ET

 

[arielilane]

10:23 a.m. We are now taking a morning recess until 10:40 a.m.


10:18 a.m. Bloodworth brings up one more example – the Millcreek house. She bought it for $650,000. Borrowed money for the home three times. She was $228,000 in the hole. She had expenses on the home, including closing costs and interest, and ended up losing around $-155,000. She lost “at least that, maybe more.”

10:16 a.m. Bloodworth uses one home as an example to explain how the chart works – how much Kouri paid, how much she spent on rehab, and what she ended up selling the home for. She ended up making around $47,000 in profit, but “so much of the HELOC funds were used for this property,” Karrington says.

10:13 a.m. Sidebar over. Karrington says going through all of Kouri’s financials was a “sorting exercise.” In 2021, there was $400,000 of expenses that went to vendors or subcontractors, but Karrington couldn’t tell what specific homes that money went to. Many of the checks Kouri wrote included the name of the property the money was for.


10:12 a.m. Bloodworth asks Karrington why she didn’t use the documents Kouri prepared for her accountants about the properties. Karrington says, “Because they were incorrect.” Nester objects. Judge holding sidebar with Nester and Bloodworth.

10:07 a.m. We see an exhibit showing the property transactions. They show the purchase price of the home, closing costs, net proceeds at time of sale. We also see rehab expenses. Karrington compiled reports like this for each property.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

Updated at 10:25 am, March 3, 2026

 

[Justice101]

Maybe she didn't think they'd test for or find fentanyl. For sure she didn't probably know they could determine street fentanyl vs pharmacy fentanyl.

She never thought they'd look at her, look at her finances, look at her acquisition of drugs.

She's not half as smart as she thought she was.

JMO

I don't think she thought she could outsmart them.

I think she knew she was in a hopeless situation and knew that Eric would soon find out (he already knew) and did not see any way out at all.

She hatched a half-baked plan to kill him without shooting him. A plan to poison him and say he was a drug user.

She did not realize ALL THE OTHER CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE that was there (forgeries, fraud, getting the fentanyl that she thought she had deleted the messages therefore the proof., etc.) that would PILE UP and eventually convict her (my opinion).

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028888366222327896

 

[Justice101]

Like a gambler, she thought she could win it back. More and more projects, more lines of credit, a runaway business model.

But to see how she thought ER's LIFE was something she could LIQUIDATE for her own purposes, it's just so damn cold.

JMO

That is it in a nutshell. She was out of control and was doubling down with that last purchase.. the mansion.

She felt she had no way out but to kill him and take all of his money.

In reality, this would have almost solved nothing and she would have been back in huge debt even with a payout from her husbands death in probably a couple of more years.

The problem was her.

 

[gucci2times]

Maybe a dumb question but can someone explain to me why she’s digging herself into a bigger debt hole with the goal of making a lot of money?

Is she just dumb and believes the saying “it takes money to make money”? Did the debt just start to multiply quickly and she got in over her head trying to stop an overflowing bathtub with the faucet still on? So she started stealing and eventually it got so out of hand that something drastic had to be done?

If the motive for killing Eric was to get rich without him…wouldn’t the money from life insurance/estate just go to paying debts and leave her broke at the end?

IMO she should have just embezzled a small nest egg or calculated spousal support…

 

[arielilane]

Maybe a dumb question but can someone explain to me why she’s digging herself into a bigger debt hole with the goal of making a lot of money?

Is she just dumb and believes the saying “it takes money to make money”? Did the debt just start to multiply quickly and she got in over her head trying to stop an overflowing bathtub with the faucet still on? So she started stealing and eventually it got so out of hand that something drastic had to be done?

If the motive for killing Eric was to get rich without him…wouldn’t the money from life insurance/estate just go to paying debts and leave her broke at the end?

IMO she should have just embezzled a small nest egg or calculated spousal support…

She is just dumb. moo

 

[MarciB]

Like a gambler, she thought she could win it back. More and more projects, more lines of credit, a runaway business model.

But to see how she thought ER's LIFE was something she could LIQUIDATE for her own purposes, it's just so damn cold.

JMO

that's a good point. seems like a lot more risk taking than the usual house flipping

 

[arielilane]

10:43 a.m. The attorneys are discussing the Barney property. In June 2021, Kouri submitted a bank statement to get a loan showing a certain bank balance, Bloodworth says. But the actual bank statement shows a different balance. Defense objects to having the information brought in.


10:40 a.m. Back in the courtroom. Kouri Richins is wearing ankle shackles that are not visible to the jury. Attorneys arguing an issue outside the presence of the jury regarding one of the homes Kouri purchased.

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com​

 

[arielilane]

Bring in the jury

 

[Megnut]

The Defense is of course objecting vehemently to much of this financial testimony, especially, forgery, misrepresentation, deceit, etc.

Trying to argue that, just because she did bad stuff with money, doesn't make her a murderer.

True.

It's just that the bad stuff with money exposes her motive for that very murder.

JMO

 

[tlcya]

very prejudicial this financial testimony. But the probative value going to motive far outweighs that prejudicial nature. I really like this judge. Relatable, not intimidating but still commanding of respect. Weighs his decisions carefully.