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PARK CITY — Witnesses took the stand in a Park City courthouse on Monday to testify about the investigation of a Kamas woman charged with killing her husband by poisoning him in 2022.
Kouri Richins — who also wrote a children's book about dealing with grief that featured her late husband, Eric Richins, and children — wore a black blazer for the first day of her preliminary hearing. She was often writing and showing notes to her new attorneys.
During the hearing, prosecutors called three witnesses to the stand who testified about evidence showing Kouri Richards purchased illegal fentanyl multiple times in the weeks before her husband died of fentanyl overdose, as well as evidence showing she would profit financially from his death. Witnesses also testified that there may have been romantic affairs going on outside the marriage.
Messages and interviews
Summit County sheriff's detective Jeff O'Driscoll testified about interactions between Kouri Richins and Carmen Lauber, a woman who cleaned homes for Kouri Richins, who he said provided fentanyl to her.
Richins' attorney Wendy Lewis asked him whether he was sure that the fentanyl consumed by Eric Richins that led to his death was the same substance obtained by Kouri Richins through Lauber, and he confirmed he could not be certain.
He said Lauber helped Richins obtain fentanyl on Feb. 11, Feb. 26 and March 9, 2022. Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022.
Lewis said O'Driscoll looked into Kouri Richins' relationship with a man referred to in some court documents as her "paramour," Robert Grossman, and questioned if officers investigated any affairs for Eric Richins or looked at phone records for other suspects.
The officer verified that he had not interviewed any suspects except Kouri Richins but said he tried to keep an open mind for other possible suspects, and investigators did review other electronic devices.
O'Driscoll said his office is continuing to investigate the case, and a search warrant was executed in the last few weeks to retrieve a voice recorder.
Chris Kotrodimos, a retired officer and investigator who testified about phone records in the case during the detention hearing, testified about communications on Lauber's phone and Grossman's phone. He said Kouri Richins began interacting with Grossman in November 2021 and continued communicating with him almost daily, mostly through texts, until after her husband's death.
Kotrodimos also testified about phone activity on Valentine's Day, weeks before Richins' death when she was accused of attempting to murder him. He said Kouri Richins texted Grossman that she was driving to him, with a screenshot of her location and route.
He said Kouri Richins deleted "a lot of data" from her phone, including relevant call logs, texts and internet history.
He testified again about Kouri Richins' smartwatch, which he said was unlocked about 14 minutes before she called 911 at 3:21 a.m. to report her husband's death. He said data from the watch shows she moved about 250 feet shortly after the watch was first unlocked and about 140 feet around the time she called 911.
Financial investigation
Brooke Karrington, a forensic accountant, testified about financial documents she reviewed in the case including bank statements, real property documents and loan documents associated with Kouri and Eric Richins. She was first hired by Eric Richins' family but stopped working for them when she was hired by the county.
She said in Kouri and Eric Richins' premarital agreement, Eric Richins' business would belong to him in a divorce. The only way Kouri Richins would obtain his business, C&E Masonry, was through his death. The company also had an insurance policy that would benefit Eric Richins' business partner on his death, giving him the funds to buy out the company from Kouri Richins.
Karrington spoke in detail about the finances of Kouri Richins' realty business, Richins Realty, which she said began in 2019 and primarily fixed and flipped homes. She said the company had multiple loans from hard money lenders, which have stricter loan terms and a higher interest rate, and owned about 15 homes.
By December 2021, the witness said Kouri Richins was making about 100 payments a month to various lenders, some daily and some weekly.
On March 4, 2022, she said Kouri Richins closed on a property for which she began to purchase a contract the previous December, which Karrington called a "very, very ambitious project." She said the purchase price for the unfinished home was $2.9 million, and Richins had estimated it would take more than that to finish the home.
All of the money for this project was borrowed, Karrington said.
Karrington said on at least six occasions, Kouri Richins used a header for her bank account with a ledger for C&E Masonry, her husband's business account, when applying for a loan. Karrington said although she was turning over properties, she was not gaining money but instead increasing her debt, including getting loans not secured by real property.
She testified that Eric Richins had met with an attorney about a divorce, and the attorneys' notes said he had learned of a home equity line of credit on their home shortly before. She said Eric Richins set up a living trust and a will with that attorney to help his children, of which his sister was the beneficiary rather than Kouri Richins.
What's next?
The hearing will continue on Tuesday morning when Kouri Richins will be given one more opportunity to testify before attorneys give closing arguments. Then, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik is expected to decide whether there is enough evidence to order her to stand trial on each of the charges.
Kouri Richins is charged with aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide, both first-degree felonies; two counts of distributing a controlled substance, two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, all second-degree felonies; and three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
