The People v. Kouri Richins | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[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 with the happy American
[Music] 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's 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 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 Cory 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 moscon 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 Cory immediately called 911 and at
the dispatcher's instructions performed CPR when First Responders arrived they started working on Eric but it was too
too 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 2019 at a
local Home Depot back then Corey was a cashier Eric worked in construction and was a frequent customer I heard that he
wanted her 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 Teri to me Mee 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 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 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 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 scoris is the 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 had 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 Corey's family thinks Eric had taken something he didn't know was laced with fentanyl 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 Cory 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 him 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 Cory 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 right 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 Corey'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
home where police found Eric richens 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 Utah mother has been charged with
murder Cory was charged with aggravated murder and taken into custody court documents allege 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 H and there was no fentanyl that was found
on any glasswar 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 they're 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 to 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 scorus 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 Cory 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 alleged 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 scoris Cory 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
Cory's attorney Sky Lazaro strongly disputes any allegations her client forged Eric's signature mishandled
finances or stole from Eric as for the claim Corey 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
fentanyl and he says Eric's family believes it wasn't the first time Corey 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 two 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 Lazaro
says Corey used financing from a group of investers 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 was 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 Cory 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 why 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 Cory 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 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 corer 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 Lazaro I cannot imagine how
difficult it was for Corey 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 if you'd step in
front of Britney we'll get you sworn in he asked him about Google searches he says richens 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'Driscoll I was assigned to be the lead
lead detective in this case in April of this year prosecutor Bloodworth questioned detective O'Driscoll about
where richens may have gotten fenol 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'Driscoll 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'Driscoll testified that CL told him she purchased 15 to 30 fenyl pills and then sold them to richen
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'Driscoll 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 swi but there was more we to now shift to a
second drug buy detective O'Driscoll 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'Driscoll said c 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'Driscoll 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 odris
lozaro 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 CR essentially how dire of a situation she's incorrect 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'Driscoll said he saw no text messages where richens allegedly ask CL
for drugs we didn't find any it 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 received 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.com as Cory Rich's bond hearing
came to a close her attorney Sky Lazaro was hopeful her client would be granted bail this is a case in which there
doesn't appear to be any Smoking Gun these cases are generally more favorable to the defense good morning the
prosecution closed its case to deny Rich's bail with a victim impact statement from Eric's sister Amy I'm
here today to represent my brother Eric Eugene richens Eric is gone and I am brokenhearted none of our Lives will
ever be the same Eric died under horrendous circumstances I am tormented at the thought of what he endured
please do not allow Corey to hurt Eric's memory our family friends and Community
anymore we have been through [Music] enough judge Richard morazzi spent very little time making his decision richens
would remain in custody the circumstances of this case weigh soundly against granting pre-trial release of
any kind Rich's family was disappointed they say her time in jail while waiting for her trial has taken its toll I hear
her on the phone I hear her sobbing in September 2023 Rich and's family says she had a medical emergency
in custody while taking prescription medications and needed to be rushed to the hospital what did she say happened
to her that they gave her the wrong medicine and it caused a seizure richens made a full recovery but while she was
away jail officials say they found this hand Written Letter in her cell that was
never sent the document later filed in the court record has become known for the word scrolled at the top of the page
walk the dog prosecutors say it's from richens to her mother I take care of her 16-year-old dog MH and her thing is be
sure you walk her she's so worried about this dog in November 2023 prosecutors filed this motion asking the court for a
no contact order to deny rich and access to her mother and brother in the motion
they say the letter is evidence of witness tampering they say richens gives her mother instructions on what her
brother Ronnie should say in court the letter instructs Lisa Darden to induce the defendant's brother Ronald Darden to
testify falsely the motion states to me this letter is an attempt to get a witness to testify to something that
isn't True by spoon feeding the witness the testimony that he's supposed to give
in the letter richens writes that her defense will need to establish that Eric bought drugs while traveling abroad we
need some kind of connection here's what I'm thinking but you have to talk to Ronnie he would probably have to testify
to this in the letter it appears that she's laying out a little bit of her defense for example your name is brought
up Eric told Ronnie he gets pain pills and fantinel for Mexico almost like she's laying out a case MH saying tell
Ronnie richens goes on to write Ronnie should have texts from Eric talking about getting high as well reward this
however he needs to to make the point just include it all the connection has to be made with Mexico and drugs is she
giving you instruction in this letter I don't know I don't know one way or another um
most of that unfortunately I can't speak about the things that are in the letter
are true things and everybody who's in her Circle already knew this but Corey has a different
explanation she says the letter is fiction in separate phone calls from jail that were recorded and later
entered into the court record she told her mother and Ronnie that the letter was part of a book she's been writing
and that it's private the judge denied the motion for no contact saying the state had failed to prove witness
tampering it isn't witness tampering cuz it didn't go anywhere and it was never communicated to
anyone as the families wait for the trial they say their focus is on Eric and Corey's Three
Sons the family is concerned about the boys that's the main focus the boys that's who's important here right now
both families say they hope to gain custody the boys are currently living with a member of Eric's family Lisa says
they're only allowed to speak to their mother twice a week on a video call just heart-wrenching as to what they're going
through Lisa Ronnie and DJ have been denied private visits with the kids B Lisa says she does what she can to
support them and attends all their Sports practices and the reason I can do that it's a public place I can't be
stopped from going there I still get to see him I still get a hug and kiss and that keeps me
going besides the criminal case which could carry a sentence of 25 years to life there are multiple ongoing civil
cases regarding the fate of Eric's estate both sides believe the other is after the money both families are
concerned about the boys you could say that you could say that I wouldn't we believe that the defendant's family is
concerned about the money that they can get whoever ends up with the boys ends ups with the money that's all they want
it's not right until that's resolved both families are waiting for the trial to start and are hoping for a verdict
that delivers their version of Justice what is the family doing to stay strong now you know the family has the family
they have each other they feel like the state has put together a good case and they're going to stay United and and
support each other no matter what happens in this case she's innocent she's been thrown in jail over something
that she hasn't committed are you both confident that Corey will be found not guilty Lisa I am 100% 100% she'll be
[Music] out they were given life sentences for their notorious crime what did these
parents do to deserve that now they're hoping new evidence could reopen the case My Hope in the case is that they'll
finally walk out of prison have the Menendez brothers been punished enough 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming
on Paramount [Music] [Applause] [Music] plus hello everyone I'm an marie green and welcome back to postmortem this week
we're talking about Corey richens and you may H she wrote a book on Grief to help her children cope with their dad's
death after an apparent accidental fenel overdose she wrote the book about a year
after he passed away but then a month after that the case took a turn Corey was the one charged with his alleged
murder so joining me now to take us behind the scenes of this case are 48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales and
producer Betsy Schuler hi Emory hey we're happy to be here so this case got a lot of attention in part because of a
children's book that Corey wrote about grieving the death of her husband Eric who died in March of 2022 yeah I mean it
was that was the the headline that captivated I think the the nation's attention you know just weeks before
she's arrested she's goes on good things Utah local TV show and you know that she's on to talk about this book and how
to you know help her children learn how to cope with grief um interesting now now though some viewers at the time
thought she seemed a little cold a little bit emotionless while talking about her husband's death and what the
family was going through uh it could be though also that she might have been just a little bit nervous being on
television it's hard to say you know what she was feeling in that moment um but you know it's interesting to look
back on that interview now than knowing that she would be charged with his murder yeah cuz I think the headline was
she's on TV you know out there as the grieving wife and then turns around and gets arrested right it's one of those
cases of perhaps Everything Is Not What It Seems right and that's a theme that comes up a lot in some of these 48 hours
so one of the things that really stood out to me has to do with the families they both have access to the same series
of facts essentially but they interpret them completely differently they have different stories to explain what
happened Eric is the victim his family believes that that he was poisoned deliberately poisoned that his wife
Corey put a lethal amount of fentanyl in a drink she told police they had a drink
the night he died and according to to Corey's family you know we talked to to Lisa dard and her mother as well as her
two brothers Corey said she poured Erica a Moscow Mule earlier that evening to celebrate what was then considered a big
real estate deal that she had done she purchased a mansion in Utah so after she has this celebratory drink with Eric she
then said that you know the couple went to bed her 9-year-old son uh suffers from nightmares so she went to comfort
her 9-year-old son when she went back to bed she said she found Eric cold and unresponsive according to Corey's mom
she called 911 immediately and so their version of events is this was an accident and that
Eric perhaps took something that he didn't know was laced with fentanyl um Corey's family they have all said that
Eric liked to take a gummy before going to bed um a THC laced gummy yeah they say that he could have accidentally
taken a gummy um that he didn't know had fentanyl in it um and obviously that's very very different than what Eric's
family thinks so in a way it's no surprise that both families come to different conclusions based on what they
know about the relationship and you know what happened the night before but how did investigators close the case because
they come to the conclusion that Eric's death uh because of a lethal Joseph finel was a deliberate act they arrest
Corey they charge her with her husband's alleged murder what was it that brought them to
that conclusion well a lot of that has to do with Eric's family pushing investigators to get Corey looked into
they claimed that Eric had had warned them and told them you know if something happens to me Corey is to blame and as
we report in the hour you know Eric's family actually believes that she tried to poison him on two other occasions
there is no proof of that but the family's claims are included in a court filing against Corey yeah and this
investigation took months you know she didn't get arrested um um till about a year later so you know the police took
some of this information that the family told them and did what seems to be a thorough investigation but it wasn't a
knee-jerk reaction to what the family said it doesn't seem you know it's interesting we talked to um Corey's
attorney as well and for every point that Eric's family makes sky Lazaro her attorney has a Counterpoint for example
you know even though the family said you know there had been two other occasions
of alleged poisoning nobody called police Sky points out nobody filed reports on previous instances of of any
poisoning so there's really no direct evidence there it's only really circumstantial evidence pointing to Cory
at this point yeah and as Sky told us there doesn't seem to be a Smoking Gun so to speak right so according to a
court filing Corey was under a significant amount of debt she had this real estate business where she was
flipping homes uh Eric's family says all of the debt was Corey's actual motive for killing her husband so here's Greg
scordis the spokesman for Eric's family she was in way over her head she needed some money in a hurry it was a
significant amount of money scorus 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 I thought that was so interesting that they made that
agreement before they got married cuz I thought when you're in the business of real estate it is kind of like you go
into debt in order to get out of debt it's half of is is about debt management yeah I mean that's exactly what um
Corey's family and her attorney told us you know if one house is $2 million she'd
essentially automatically carry $2 million of debt so they don't make much of this point um because they say it was
just normal business for her MH also her attorney points out that she had other investors it's not like she's taking on
this debt alone you know you take on debt and you pay it back when the house sells and hopefully for profit yeah
exactly you try to get it done and uh then you collect the money and then you you start all over again with another
sort of sounds soy it is yeah I know that's why there's like all these shows on TV where everyone's doing it but I
digress um but so at the time of Eric's death there were six life insurance policies on him according to that Court
filing six life insurance policies that sounds like a lot I mean how did the defense explain that yeah it does it
does seem like a lot um the one point that Cory's attorney Sky Lazaro had was most of these were policies that had
been in place for Years also one of the policies was for Eric's um stonemasonry business so you know that's how she
counters that you know one is his business the others are as you acrew wealth in life you know your
circumstances change you have to reup your policy or you take out supplemental policies but Eric's family says no these
are all red flags all of these policies amount to Cory trying to profit once he died right and you know though most of
these insurance policies had been taken out sort of years before you know we've seen the court documents that there was
one that was not right the documents say that Corey took out yet another life insurance policy worth an additional 100
Grand it was taken out just two months before Eric died and there's a question about the signature the prosecutors um
in court documents they say that Corey forged Eric sign in order to get this policy right and the defense will say
you know that Corey did not Forge his signature when it goes to trial I think that's where the handwriting experts and
all the forensic experts might come in you know the other thing that um her attorney Sky Lazaro told us was that for
most of these policies Eric had to sit for a medical exam so you know he would know these were were taken out and so
that sort of goes to did she or did she not Forge his signature H so one of the things that really
surprised me about how this story unfolded is just how immediately Eric's family starts zeroing
in on Corey why was Eric's family so quick to believe that she would be guilty of something like this well first
of all we would have loved to have asked Eric's family that question um according
to their spokesman um Greg scoris you know the marriage wasn't going well um according to Cory's family there were
some bumps in the road but they had worked things out and were doing really well before Eric's death so again you
know two very conflicting stories but yet you've got this trust that was formed for the kids that Eric never told
Corey about and we only find out about that and she only found out about it once he died right so maybe we'll hear
more about their marriage during a trial but what is particular L unique about this hour is that this case has not gone
to trial so we're going to take a bit of a break but after the break we're going
to talk about that we're going to talk about the difficulty when it comes to covering a pre-trial
[Music] case welcome back everyone all right let's get into this how difficult is it
covering a pre-trial case compared to covering a case that's already gone to trial it's really difficult we we did
have some things working for us on this case there were a lot of documents filed
into the court record that were available to us so we were able to report on what those filings said you
know we also were able to at least speak with somebody on both sides but it's it's it's hard but the other thing that
worked in our favor is there were pre-trial hearings for example her bail hearing where it seemed almost like it
played out as a mini trial and you had evidence presented on both sides of the case so that was very helpful in
constructing this hour I was surprised at how open Corey's mom was because obviously one of the concerns when you
haven't gone to trial yet is that you're going to say something that's going to taint the trial I think she wanted to
tell her story and I I think the brothers wanted to tell their story because at least from what they said it
felt like they hadn't had a chance to do that so I think they were really open to
the opportunity was there an attempt to talk to Eric's family yeah we did reach out um to Eric's family uh through their
spokesperson Greg scoris and um we really you know were hoping to talk to his family but it seems that they're not
quite ready to talk to us yet so a big problem for the prosecution though going to trial will be proving
murder when all the evidence against Cory richens really seems circumstantial can the prosecution actually prove that
there was fenel in that Moscow Mule yeah I mean that would be the Smoking Gun right there yeah um we don't know for
sure if they tested the actual glass so Corey had told police she gave Eric a Moscow Mule that night but they didn't
take any items out of the home that night they searched the home officially about 2 weeks later they did take some
items and they didn't find fentanyl on any of those some of those were drinking glasses and other things but there's no
way to know for sure if that actual glass had been tested really the only you know way to connect Corey to fenel
really comes down to a woman named Carmen lobber who Corey had employed to be a house cleaner for her real estate
business you know she was somebody who had a history a criminal history with drug charges she's a convicted felon and
she becomes is and is going to be a a key witness in in what will be the trial the prosecution has to prove that Corey
got drugs so Carmen lber according to the prosecution is that link right and so they call her CL in the hour but
there's like a huge problem with her and it has to do with her credibility right
right uh you know Sky Lazaro uh Cory's defense attorney believes that c was coerced by police that she changed her
story every time uh that she was questioned and interviewed by investigators um you know it'll come
down to was there a text exchange between CL Carmen lber and Corey um there's no proof of an exchange right
now but I think that'll come down down to cell phone forensics again that will all come to play in a trial um so did
you try to get in contact with C at all we did we we tried to reach out to her um a couple of times and we didn't get
any response um so there's another damning piece of evidence against Corey and it's
the Google searches right she made them on her cell phone including you know searches about the lethal dose of fenel
a search about whether the FBI can recover deleted text messages but attorney Lazaro says that Corey made
those searches after Eric was already dead and S she sort of argues that makes them irrelevant but how do they know
that for sure well she says that these were searches that Corey was doing based on what she was being accused of um and
they know that it was after Eric died because the first police search where they tested some of the stuff from the
house was weeks after Eric died at that point they took Corey's phone so Corey had to get a second phone police did a
second search of the house when Corey was arrested a year later and these Google searches were found on that phone
H okay but there was certainly some very interesting searches and I think that's
going to be a big part of the trial for example you know one of the things that Corey um searched for according to court
filings and according to the testimony we heard in that bail hearing is how long does life insurance companies take
to pay um if someone is poisoned what does it go down on the death certificate um you know and of course
what is a lethal dose of feny that will be a red flag to to many yeah I mean these Google searches you know on the
surface don't sound good right um so Corey's been in jail since her arrest last May jail officials found a letter
in her cell in which prosecutors say that she's instructing her brother on how to testify asking him to make a
connection between Eric buying pain pills from Mexico Corey says that the letter was part of a fictional book that
she was writing but her mother told you something different what did her mom have have to say yeah it's it's
interesting in that letter um there is you know conflicting explanations really from from what Corey's family is telling
us her brother Ronnie said he didn't want to talk about the he couldn't talk about the specifics because it's you
know it's a court document now but Lisa and DJ her other brother said that you know everything in the letter is true
however according to recorded phone calls um in in jail Corey talks to her mom and Ronnie and says you know the
letter is actually part of a book that she's writing so you know it's interesting to hear all these different
points this is another headline grabbing piece of this story and the question is
whether or not it's witness tampering because is she instructing her brother Ronnie on on what he should say and
where possible drugs were purchased in Mexico and trying to link that to to Eric I'm glad you explain that Natalie
because when I heard about the letter I thought to myself well what's wrong with
that we should mention too that the court ultimately decided there wasn't enough evidence to prove witness
tampering why did Greg scoris find the letter so problematic so here's what Greg scoris says is the problem with the
letter not necessarily that you know Cory's saying hey remember to say this this and this the way she word certain
parts and we detail some of that in the hour really seems like she's saying you have to say this so that's a distinction
that he points out um so Natalie you actually visited this like enormous house that Corey was
attempting to purchase um before Eric's death it's like what it's 20,000 square feet or something like that yeah I mean
it is huge and the property it's right there at the base of Park City so it would be viewed as you know probably a
pretty valuable piece of property and house um the guest house in itself was I want to say a near 4,000 square ft which
is you know larger than most people's homes which is crazy to think about what makes this house important is it is sort
of at the center of the of the argument here because Corey according to her family and her attorney this was her
dream right this was like the big project that was you know going to take her business to the next level they say
Eric was excited about it but according to court documents Eric's family says they were arguing about this and that
Eric wasn't on board with this let's hear a clip from Sky Lazaro and Lisa Darden about the house 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
wow it's a that's a big turn yeah you know Sky Lazaro her defense attorney describes it is is really sort of this
wasted opportunity that in in some ways is sort of a metaphor of what ends up becoming this relationship there was so
much going for it and then this tragedy struck and then now you have what it is this dilapitated mess of a house um
eventually it did sell but uh for for much less than what even Corey paid for it wow this this really
is a tragic story do we have any idea when it may be going to trial so what we're hearing from Cory's attorney is
that there's still preliminary hearing and that she expects the trial to be sometime next year MH right at the end
of the hour we get a little bit of an update on the three boys do we have any idea how they're doing we know they're
with a member of Eric's family at the moment and that both sides say they they want custody of the kids and
Cory's family you know they say that they haven't had much interaction with the boys that they have you know not
been able to really see them except Corey's mother says she has gone to their sporting events because it's
public property so she she can be there to support the young boys but again it's
these children sadly are caught in the middle of these two feuding amilies and you know you just hope for a positive
outcome for for the young boys which I think both sides it's one one area where both families can come together on is
the well-being of those three children yeah um well Natalie and Betsy this is obviously a to be continued 48 Hours um
because I'm sure you're going to follow up as the case unfolds as it goes to trial but it was really great talking
about one of these kind of rip from the headline cas pces and to learn just how much has unfolded before we even get to
the the trial stage so thank you so much guys thank you thanks for having us as per usual join us next Tuesday for
another postmortem and watch 48 Hours of course it's Saturdays 10 9 Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount plus and
if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your
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Apple podcast [Music]

Kouri Richins wrote a children's book about grief after her husband was found dead of an apparent overdose. Soon after she's charged with his murder.

Watch "The People v. Kouri Richins" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondent Natalie Morales and producer Betsy Shuller on "Post Mortem" as they dig into the headline-grabbing case of Utah mother Kouri Richins, who wrote a book to help her children cope with the death of their father, Eric, and was later charged with murder. They discuss the six life insurance policies that Eric had, the 20,000-square-foot mansion Kouri purchased just after his death, and the potentially incriminating handwritten letter found in her jail cell.

CASE UPDATE: Kouri Richins was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on May 13, 2026. In March, a jury convicted her of murder and other charges in her husband's 2022 death.

00:01 The People v. Kouri Richins 42:00 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/9cz5ql7E?sid=YT

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Corey Richens, accused of murdering her husband Eric, wrote a children's book about grief before being charged with his murder after his fentanyl overdose.

Key points

The Happy Family. Eric and Cory seemed to have it all, living a joyful life with their children.
Murder Accusation. Cory, who wrote a children's book about grief, is now accused of murdering her husband.
The Shocking Truth. An autopsy reveals Eric's death was due to fentanyl, not an aneurysm as initially thought.
Suspicion Grows. Eric's family believes Cory may have been involved in his death, raising serious doubts.
Cory Richens' Bond Hearing. In June 2023, Cory appeared in court for a bond hearing, handcuffed and emotional.
Victim Impact Statement. Amy, Eric's sister, delivered a heart-wrenching statement about her brother's death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This was a huge loss.

Reflecting on the impact of Eric's death on the family.

8:55WatchAug 2, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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