00:02JURORS ARE NOW HEARING THE STATE'S CASE IN ONE OF THE MOST CLOSELY WATCHED MURDER
00:06TRIALS IN THE COUNTRY, THE CASE OF A UTAH MOTHER AND CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR COREY
00:12RITCHENS. OPENING STATEMENTS BEGAN MONDAY. PROSECUTORS SAY SHE POISONED HER HUSBAND
00:17ERIC RITCHENS WITH A DEADLY DOSE OF FENTANYL, THEN TRIED TO TURN HIS DEATH INTO A FINANCIAL
00:22RESET. SUMMIT COUNTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR BRAD BLOODWORTH TOLD JURORS THE EVIDENCE WILL
00:27SHOW RITCHENS WAS DROWNING IN DEBT AND BELIEVED SHE WOULD INHERIT MORE THAN $4 MILLION IF
00:33HER HUSBAND DIED. THE EVIDENCE WILL PROVE THAT COREY RITCHENS MURDERED ERIC FOR HIS MONEY AND
00:43TO GET A FRESH START AT LIFE. MORE THAN ANYTHING, SHE WANTED HIS MONEY TO PERPETUATE HER FRACADE
00:54OF PRIVILEGE, AFFLUENCE, AND SUCCESS.
01:00PROSECUTORS POINTED TO NEARLY $2 MILLION IN LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES, TEXT MESSAGES WITH
01:05THE MAN THEY SAY SHE WAS SEEING, AND INTERNET SEARCHES RECOVERED FROM HER PHONE, INCLUDING
01:10QUESTIONS ABOUT LUXURY PRISONS. THEY ALSO REFERENCED HER SELF-PUBLISHED CHILDREN'S
01:15BOOK, ARE YOU WITH ME, ABOUT A FATHER WATCHING OVER HIS SON FROM HEAVEN.
01:19BUT THE DEFENSE SAYS THERE'S A MASSIVE HOLE IN THE STATE'S CASE. ATTORNEY CATHERINE
01:24NESTER TOLD JURORS PROSECUTORS STILL CANNOT PROVE HOW FENTANYL ENTERED ERIC RITCHENS' BODY.
01:31AFTER FOUR YEARS OF INVESTIGATION AND FIVE WEEKS OF THIS TRIAL, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE NEVER
01:37GOING TO HEAR? IT'S HOW THAT FENTANYL GOT INSIDE OF HIM, BECAUSE THERE'S ZERO EVIDENCE OF THAT.
01:44CORI RICHENS HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO AGGRAVATED MURDER AND NEARLY THREE DOZEN OTHER CHARGES.
01:50IF CONVICTED, SHE COULD FACE LIFE IN PRISON. TESTIMONY STARTS THIS MORNING.
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