The People v. Kouri Richins | Full Episode

[Music] [Music] it's a small town it's Rural America in every way this is the family next door very connected very loving very bonded they spent a lot of time together the happy American couple Eric ran a successful contracting business he was involved in his boys sports [Music] activities he was very good to the boys and he taught those boys so much Cory was a real estate agent that also would buy and fix up and flip homes she was smart she was Savvy she knew how to connect she was absolutely in love with Eric and absolutely in love with her boys Eric and Corey were probably at the best place they've ever been in their marriage and seemed genuinely happy with each other they had it all I mean it was one happy family at 3:00 in the morning I got a phone call and it was Corey and she said get up here Something's Happened to Eric he went to sleep and never woke up she was a complete wreck she's sitting on the couch she's just balling were they giving you a sense of how he may have passed um so the paramedics said aneurism so we were all believing aneurism I had saw him the day before he looked horrible he said my chest hurts so the last time you're seeing him alive you don't think he looked very good right the lead detective and a another officer came to her house and said they were going to close the case they're done it's an accidental overdose they communicated that erad died of a fentanyl overdose in the weeks and months after Eric's passing how would you describe Corey her State of Mind emotionally how was she handling things it probably took her 2 months to go back in her own bedroom it was devastating to her she rites a children's book she did this to help her work through the feelings with her children the book I think was 100% beneficial to the boys then you can take a s a Rel leave it's over we're done we can start living again and then I got a phone call Cory was just arrested in Salt Lake a Summit County woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief following her husband's death now accused of being the one that actually killed him I think she felt that this would be treated as an accidental overdose and nobody was going to be the wiser he told his family if I die you need to take a look at her because I think she's trying to kill me they're going to have to prove that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to him and unless they can connect those dots they're going to have a hard time proving murder in this case [Music] [Music] in the early morning hours of March 4th 20122 Lisa Darden was attempting to console her daughter 31-year-old Corey richens she was brought out on the floor just sobbing Corey had just learned from emergency Personnel that her husband Eric was dead she was tore up her brothers Ronnie and DJ were also there she was a complete wreck I just started crying according to Lisa that night Cory had poured Eric a drink to celebrate a new opportunity at her real estate business the purchase of this Mansion she told me she made him a Moscow Mule that's a drink made with vodka and ginger beer she said they went to bed about 9 9:15 she went and laid with Ash ashon the 9-year-old has always had major nightmares and when she went back to get in her bed he was cold she went to push on him and he didn't respond it was after 3 a. m. and Lisa says Corey immediately called 911 and at the dispatcher's instructions performed CPR when First Responders arrived they started working on Eric but it was too to late it's just unbelievable you're in shock that something like that you know could happen it was those First Responders who initially suspected Eric had died of an aneurysm the father of three young sons was just 39 how are the boys did the boys know what was happening they knew something was happening and they could see the ambulances and cops coming in very distraught they all just sat there on the couch and just cried together the sad scene was a far cry from the happy family they once were Cory and Eric met in 2009 at a local Home Depot back then Cory was a cashier Eric worked in construction and was a frequent customer I heard that he wanted a number for a long time and was kind of afraid to go get it so he had to have a friend run in and go get it from her Eric asked her out and they hit it off when Cory said I'm dating this guy what did you think uh Cory was Terri IED me meet me oh really why because I'm the big brother and tough yeah yeah but DJ and Ronnie say Eric fit right in I thought he's a great [Music] guy in 2013 Corey and Eric got married and had the boys first Carter then Ashton and finally Weston Lisa says fatherhood came easily to Eric he taught those boys so much they idolized our father and he idolized the boys as [Music] well Cory's family got to know the richens including Eric's two sisters Katie and Amy they'd come up uh for birthdays here and there and we're all very friendly eventually Eric started a stonemasonry business and Corey started her own real estate company buying houses fixing them up and selling them for profit Greg Hall was her marketing director and good friend Cory had something that a lot of people don't a lot of times you find an individual that is intelligent but no common sense her common sense and no intelligence she had both she was a brilliant young lady how many houses would she have on average that she was working on or trying to flip at one time yeah I would say on average three so it was kind of a constant rotation of buying a home fixing it up selling it yes and Eric's business continued to flourish they both live very well and they both bought and spent what they wanted in their spare time Eric loved to hunt and together they traveled the world it sounds like on the surface Eric and Corey seemed to have it all would you say that was so I would say that yes I don't know that I can even begin to overstate how close this family was this was a huge loss Greg scores is the spok spokesman for Eric's family he was this beautiful son and and brother and to have that taken away from you I I can't imagine much worse than that not long after Eric's funeral an autopsy revealed the cause of his death it wasn't an aneurysm it was a lethal dose of fentanyl fentanyl is many many times more potent than oxies and the other pain medications that we typically use it's a very dangerous drug but how did fenel get into Eric's system Cory's family believes his recreational drug use could be to blame nearly every day they say Eric would take a gummy with THC the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana it was always just just to relax at the end of the day and according to Ronnie Eric did not always get the gummies from reputable sources just about every trip that I been on with him he'd buy just from someone off the street Lisa says Eric also sometimes took pain pills hey do you have any pain pills hey can you call and get hook me up he certainly wasn't an opioid or an illegal drug user Cory's family thinks Eric had taken something he didn't know was laced with fenel and that his death was a tragic accident Eric's family strongly disputes this claim he didn't die of a self-inflicted drug overdose Eric's family wondered if Cory may have been involved they said this doesn't smell right no question the family thought that right from the beginning in the months following her husband's tragic death Corey richen struggled to find her footing on her own and to navigate Life as a single mom Cory was still completely distraught even now she's never had time to grieve she's doing her best to move on she didn't know of a way of doing that Cory's brother Ronnie says it was also hard for the couple's three young Sons the boys it's so hard for them they losted out a little bit cuz they couldn't quite understand what was going on and they needed some help and Cory needed some help eventually Cory found a way to turn her grief into action in March 2023 one year after Eric's death Corey came up with the idea to write that children's book about coping with loss are you with me she promoted it on a local TV show Good Things Utah I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night and so you know I was like let's just St one the self-published book follows the story of a child who lost his father but is remind it his presence still exists all around in the book Eric is portrayed as an angel who is always close by yes I am with you on Christmas Corey writes you can't see my smile but it's there I'm here and we're together like Dad is still here it's just in a different way Cory's mother Lisa says writing the book was therapeutic I think the book was a great it helped them it helped them all her family says it finally seemed as though Cory and the boys would be able to move forward it seemed to make the boys really happy while the family was working to get back on track police had been investigating Eric's death and just weeks after Cory's appearance on TV to promote her book new 10 this has been a talker all day today a Summit County woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief following her husband's death now accused of being the one that actually killed him on May 8th 2023 Corey The Grieving wife this is the homor police found Eric Rich's dead was now the prime suspect in her husband's death you must have been in a panic I was shocked she can't be arrested a Utah mother has been charged with murder Cory was charged with aggravated murder and taken into custody court documents alleg she committed homicide by the administration of a poison Greg scoris the spokesman for Eric's family suspects Corey put a lethal dose of fentanyl in the drink she made Eric that night the Moscow Mule the dosage that he was given that night was of such a high level that no person could have survived it Sky Lazaro is her attorney did police ever test the glass that she gave Eric this cocktail in They seized a number of items from the home uh and there was no fentanyl that was found on any glassware Cory's family says they struggle to make sense of the charges Corey denies any involvement in her husband's death for anybody who knows Corey just knows she could not have done this she'd never do this Lisa says her daughter and son-in-law had a great relationship nobody's perfect but pretty close and like many couples that have disagreements they were able to overcome their differences he didn't want Cory to work he wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom and she's very independent and that wasn't going to happen another issue says Cory's brother Ronnie was the amount of time Eric spent away on hunting trips sometimes four or five months a year it just kind of irked her because that this his biggest passion his life is hunting and she might want him home a little bit more and so you know they might get in a fight about that and then according to Cory's mother Lisa there was alleged infidelity on Eric's part she says she heard about it first from Corey and then from Eric it was a text about trust how I trusted him as a son-in-law as a father as a husband and how could he do this Cory's family says the couple went to counseling determined to work through their issues scoris who denied Eric ever cheated on Corey says Eric had a different reason for wanting to make his marriage work he was going to do whatever he could to make it work because he he lived for those boys he would have done anything for those boys let's let's go to counseling let's try to keep the family together scoris says at one point Eric had considered divorce But ultimately decided against it he says to protect the boys in case the relationship didn't work out Eric put his estate into a secret trust without telling Corey and named his sister Katie in charge but in the months leading up to Eric's death Ronnie says the couple seemed better than ever how are they doing as a couple as a family yeah fantastic they were um probably one of the best spots I've ever seen them in in quite some time everyone's having fun laughing joking you know it's it seemed really great to me so why would Cory want Eric dead court documents allege a life insurance payout might have been a motive scorda says Eric's family agrees this is a cold harded greed at the time of Eric's death there were at least six life insurance policies on him totaling nearly $3 million court documents alleg that in January 2022 two months before Eric died Corey forged Eric's signature to get yet another policy worth an additional $100,000 Cory is also accused in court documents of stealing from Eric's personal accounts and misappropriating monies distributed from Eric Rich's business dating back years according to scorus Corey didn't just want the money she desperately needed it court documents allege her house flipping business was drowning in nearly $2 million of debt yeah she was in way over her head she needed some money in a hurry it was a significant amount of money scoris says a premarital agreement stipulated Corey had given up claim to Eric's business assets except that if husband should die prior to wife while the two are lawfully married he was worth much more to her dad than divorced she felt that there was easy money and fast money to be made by not having her husband around anymore Corey's attorney Sky Lazaro strongly disputes any allegations her client forged Eric's signature mishandled finances or stole from Eric as for the claim Cory was in debt and needed the money she says that's simply not true she was in the business of flipping houses this is what they did Lazaro says taking on debt from lines of credit was part of how the business of flipping houses worked and the money would be paid back when a home sold it's not as if she had all these conventional loans that she owed people money on it sure it looks like a large number but we're talking about business transactions with people who she did business with Eric and Corey sat down every month and did the bills together at all times Eric knew what was going in and what was coming out Lisa says Eric not only knew about the finances but he was also very supportive of Cory's new business opportunities like the purchase of the Mansion they were celebrating the night he died Eric saying let's have a shot come on let's celebrate Cory it was that night sortis says Eric's family believes Cory gave him the Moscow Mule laced with fenel and he says Eric's family believes it wasn't the first time Cory had tried to poison her husband the time he died wasn't the first time we believe that she tried to kill [Music] him what do you think happened to Eric richens chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and [Music] X just outside Salt Lake City in the shadow of Utah's wasach mountains home to fame ski resorts including Park city is the property that Corey richens was planning on flipping the deal she and Eric were celebrating the night he died says her attorney Sky Lazaro it's a decently good siiz home Lazaro showed us the nearly 10 acre estate where are we give us a sense of why this is significant real estate so this is the Heber Valley uh right over the hill is Park City all the major ski areas uh and then to the right is Deer Creek Reservoir so this really sits between major recreational areas it looks ginormous it's massive the 20,000 ft mansion and its 4,000 ft Guest House were originally built in 2017 but never finished the project was abandoned for 2 years until Corey discovered it I think this was kind of her dream when she got into this idea of flipping houses was to be able to do properties like this lazara says Corey used financing from a group of investors to make an offer on the house for $3.

9 million the plan was to develop this turn it into a recreational Hot Spot given this is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and hopefully sell it at a profit how much did she think she could make off of this house her and Eric sat down with an accountant one time and he said if you can get it done and stay under budget you could walk away with $12 million wow that's a that's a big turn yeah from 3. 9 to 12 million yes there's a lot of excitement I remember how excited she was Greg Hall worked with Corey he says it was a solid investment it would have been a real easy flip they would have had to to sit on that for long as far as you know Eric was on board with this plan 100% but that's not what Eric's family remembers says their spokesman Greg scoris I don't think he was ever in favor of that he was on board with supporting his wife that doesn't mean he agreed with it in fact the house is mentioned in this legal filing containing notes from an investigator who interviewed Eric's family after his death they said Eric and his wife were arguing about about buying the property and that wasn't all Eric's family told investigators according to that same filing they made numerous allegations against Corey including that they suspected his wife had something to do with his death they advised he warned them that if anything happened to him she was to blame they also told investigators they believed Cory had tried to poison Eric before on two separate occasions according to the filing Eric's family said the first attempted poisoning was in 2019 when Eric and Corey and six friends were on vacation in Greece they said Eric became violently ill after Corey gave him a drink Ronnie says he heard it was all a misunderstanding Eric was on medication and that medication you're not allowed to drink on he asked the waitress uh to bring a a virgin drink a drink without alcohol she didn't do it it made him very very sick Cory called his doctor figured out what to do and later that night he was back and and fine everyone that was there will tell you the exact same thing according to that same filing the second time Eric's family said Corey tried to poison Eric was the month before Eric died on Valentine's Day 2022 they said his wife brought him a sandwich which after one bite Eric broke into hives and couldn't breathe Cory's family denied she ever tried to poison him they ordered a sandwich and the sandwich was bad he went and took a nap and then went and coached one of his child's games aside from an assertion by the family uh there doesn't seem to be anything else out there that supports that Eric's family also called into question Corey's behavior following her husband's death according to court documents Eric's family told investigators two days after Eric died Corey punched Eric's sister Amy in the neck and face when Amy tried to stop her from opening a safe they said contained between 125,000 and $165,000 cash there was an argument that broke out and Eric's sister said that she owns the house everything is put into a trust and she owns the house remember Eric had created that trust and kept it secret from Corey when they were going through those marital problems until Eric's death Cory knew nothing about the trust according to court documents if Eric had any sort of documents he'd have them in the safe so she went in to go see what was in there Amy came after Corey and you know Cory defended herself the two of them started pushing and I was standing in the middle of them all they did was push both of them were trying to swing over the top of me so the narrative that's been pushed that it was poor Amy got assaulted was nonsense the brothers say Amy stormed off and called the police a month later Cory was charged with assault and later pleaded no contest her husband's just passed away she's highly emotional everybody's highly emotional things got a little heated between them two families two very different stories about what they believe happened to Eric but with accusations flying back back and forth what did the evidence show the state has to prove that she did this that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to him she had apparently contacted a drug dealer a known drug dealer in that area and purchased fenel and had done it on more than one occasion all right back have a seat please in June 2023 Cory richens appeared in court before judge Richard morazzi for a bond hearing the issue before the court is whether defended cor richens should continue to be held without bail during the pre-trial period it was the first time since richens had been charged in her husband's death that the public got to see her and for the entire 4our hearing she sat in handcuffs next to her attorney Sky La zaro I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Cory to sit there and listen to everything that was talked about at that hearing to convince the judge why richens should not be released prosecutors Patricia casselle we have three Witnesses Brad Bloodworth detective what was the Sheriff's Office and Joseph Hill presented evidence and called witnesses to make their case richens had poisoned her husband it had all the elements of a mini trial in order for the judge to make a determination to detain someone at a bail hearing the state has to prove substantial evidence prosecutor Joseph Hill Called To The Stand cell phone expert Chris cotos sir if you'd step in front of Britney we'll get you sworn in he asked him about Google searches he says Rich's made on her phone phone were you able to observe uh internet searches on that phone yes those searches which were detailed in court documents included can deleted text messages be retrieved from an iPhone can FBI find deleted messages what is a lethal dose of fenel I don't know that these searches mean as much when you look at the timing of when they're done Lazaro says there's an innocent explanation those searches were conducted after Eric's death I think it's more to answer questions relating to what she was being accused of the state also called to this stand the lead investigator on the case detective Jeff O'Drscoll I was assigned to be the lead lead detective in this case in April of this year prosecutor Bloodworth questioned detective O'Drscoll about where richens may have gotten fenal he specifically asked about an interview the detective conducted with Carmen laber who said she worked for richens she's referred to as cl cl is an associate of the defendant uh she cleaned houses for the defendant's business as well as her personal home at times detective O'Drscoll said CL had a criminal history with drugs at the time of their interview she was on probation for multiple drug distribution charges according to court records she has not been charged in connection with Eric's death in our interviews C told us that in early 20122 the defendant reached out to her either by phone call or text message requesting that she procure fentanyl for what the defendant reported was a investor who had a back injury detective O'Drscoll testified that CL told him she purchased 15 to 30 fenel pills and then sold them to richens seal told us that after purchasing the pills she returned home she said that either later that night or the next day the defendant met her and did a hand-to-hand exchange of pills for cash that transaction says detective O'Drscoll took place on February 11th 2022 3 days before Valentine's Day when according to court documents Eric's family said richens had tried and failed to poison Eric with that sand wi but there was more we to now shift to a second drug buy detective O'Drscoll said CL told him richens contacted her again approximately a week later the defendant reached out to her again by text or or call and said that she wanted some more fentanyl that was stronger than the previous batch this time detective O'Drscoll said seel told him Rich's paid by check and the defendant came to the door and wrote her a check from her business from the defendant's business for $1,300 for the purchase of the fal just a week later Eric was dead we dispute all of those allegations in her cross-examination Lazaro asked detective O'Drscoll if there could have been another reason for that $1,300 check it could very well be that Cory was paying her for cleaning houses correct I don't want to speculate but it could be despite what C said correct okay Lazaro says because Carmen lobber is a convicted felon she's not credible she was on probation at the time I think anytime you have an informant type situation it can call into question the veracity of their statements or the motive for what they're saying in her cross-examination of detective O'Drscoll Lazaro attempted to show how CL might have felt pressured to tell invest ators what they wanted to hear you begin the interview by explaining to CL essentially how dire of a situation she's in corrected I don't have the interview memorized but I know we talked about that yes okay well you told her that she was on probation to drug court for four first-degree felonies correct correct you essentially tell her that she has the potential of doing a considerable amount of state and federal prison time potentially yes this is a common tactic in law enforcement to be able to leverage charges for information Lazaro also asked the detective what evidence there was to back up cl's claims that she had sold fenel to richens because CL is working for the defendant there's communication correct correct but detective O'Drscoll said he saw no text messages where richens allegedly ask CL for drugs we didn't find any was anyone with her that could corroborate that she saw cland Corey drugs not that I know of 48 Hours attempted to contact CL for comment we receive no response they have to prove that she obtained drugs and gave them to her husband and unless they can connect those dots they're going to have a hard time proving murder in this case what do you make of Cory's Google searches for a timeline of the case visit us at 48 [Music] hours.