The 35-year-old Utah mother, Kouri Richins, is facing trial for the death of her husband, Eric Richins, who died of a lethal overdose of Fentanyl that was in his Moscow Mule in 2022. She has been charged with aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, and other financial crimes. 

In the latest days of trial, prosecutors played the 911 call during trial that Kouri Richins made after discovering her husband was lying lifeless in their bed, cold to the touch. Kouri’s husband, Eric Richins, was found dead in the couple’s home, and it was deemed an overdose on Fentanyl, but Kouri is the only one who has testified that her husband used illicit drugs.

Eric Richins’s Business Partner Testifies

Cody Wright, Eric Richin’s business partner, testified against Kouri’s claims, stating he was not aware of any illicit or prescription drugs that Eric was taking, and in fact found him to power through illnesses and injuries. Wright said he knew Eric suffered from COVID and Lyme Disease but was not known to take medication for it.

On Valentine’s Day in 2022, Wright said Eric called him with ‘fear and urgency’ in his voice. The only other times he had heard him sound like that were when his mother had passed away and when he rear-ended a car and thought the driver had died upon impact. So, it was quite concerning, and prosecutors allege that Eric was ill that day because Kouri made an initial attempt to poison him.

Kouri Richins’s defense attempts to impeach Wright’s trial testimony as it does not corroborate his initial statement, where he said he heard Eric was known to pop pain pills and ‘red devils,’ also known as Sudafed. It also supports their theory that Eric had a known drug problem, and his wife did not poison him. 

The judge barred their attempt and allowed Wright’s testimony. He drew a distinction between pain pills, prescription pills, and illicit drugs, ruling against the defense’s suggestion that Wright’s initial statement meant Eric was abusing illicit drugs.

When defense attorney Kathryn Nester cross-examined Wright, he agreed that Eric’s call to him on Valentine’s Day was not concerning enough to take action and take him to a hospital or the doctor. 

Wright also testified that Eric enjoyed hunting and allegedly violated hunting laws when he killed an elk, but cooperated with authorities. Eric was banned for a period of time from hunting in the States, so he went to Mexico to do so, which is when the defense argues he obtained the illicit drugs that killed him.

Life Insurance Policy

A forensic document examiner was called to the stand to testify to Eric’s life insurance policy. Prosecutors have been consistently arguing that Kouri Richins killed her husband for financial gain. She was in a major amount of debt, and allegedly took out a life insurance policy on Eric before taking him out. 

Matthew Throckmorton confirmed in the trial that the signature on the policy was not Eric’s, suggesting it was someone else’s. Defense did not deny that the signature was not Eric’s, but rather suggested Eric gave his wife permission to sign the document for him, and would be unable to prove it since one of the parties is deceased.

Reasonable Suspicion

The lead detective in the case, Jayme Woody, said the night they received word of Eric’s death, Eric told Amy Richins Kouri threatened to kill him. Woody was aware of this alleged conversation before entering the home.

Eric’s family hired a private investigator to look into his death because they strongly believed that Kouri was the mastermind behind his death. Todd Gabler examined the call records of the couple and found a high volume of calls between Kouri and their former housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who allegedly sold illicit drugs to Kouri on multiple occasions.

Heated Cross With Private Investigator 

When Gabler testified on Monday, the cross-examination became intense when Kouri’ Richins’s defense accused him of working with the police. Gabler denied their claims and said he had not received any help gathering evidence for the civil suit against Kouri.

It has been suggested multiple times by several people that Kouri was unfaithful to her husband and was having an affair with one of her co-workers for the houses she flips. However, the defense suggested that Eric was also unfaithful, and Gabler conceded that while they may not have had a good marriage, there was no evidence to point to that he was involved in other romantic relationships.

Instead of accepting defeat, Nester pressed harder, pointing to a text that Eric sent to his best friend, Bryce Knudsen, saying, “Kouri and I are starting an open relationship tonight. So I told her I’m taking you home.” She weakly argued this was an example of sexting, and Eric was engaged in extramarital affairs just as much as Kouri.

“It’s a joke,” Gabler testified. “I don’t understand this to be sexting. I think you’re wrong about that. These are two friends joking with each other. That’s what I’m reading here.” Nester continued her argument, insisting there were other texts to suggest it was more than friends joking around. There were several texts shown that the two discussed oral and anal sex.

Potential Life Sentence

As the trial continues for the remainder of the week, the inevitable is looming over Kouri Richins as she faces life in prison for the murder of her husband. She pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains her innocence in relation to her husband’s death, but does not deny the other allegations outright.