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20/20 - Season 2026 Episode 11 -Murder She Wrote: The Kouri Richins Trial
Transcript
00:00:14no matter if it's a parent a sibling or friend talking about loss with kids can be a tricky
00:00:20subject joining us now is author of are you with me Corey origins and Corey I want to start with
00:00:26your story what happened in your personal life so my husband passed away unexpectedly last year he
00:00:33was 39 it completely took us all by shock we have three little boys ten nine and six and it's
00:00:41only
00:00:41been a year how did you go from processing death to I need to write a book and help others
00:00:46you know
00:00:47I just watched the struggle that my kids were going through and trying to find something that
00:00:53we could use to cope at nights nights are the hardest it seems like for everybody when you
00:00:57know dealing with anything but I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night I was reading
00:01:05in
00:01:05it and I remember I just was in tears and and I thought like this is perfect for your family
00:01:09it
00:01:09just seemed perfect and so I I was just baffled at how she even had the time to do that
00:01:15and it's you
00:01:16know explaining to my kids just because he's not present here with us that doesn't mean he his
00:01:22presence isn't here with us and he's doing these things with us viewers at home what they saw in
00:01:29that interview was this bereaved young woman who tragically lost her husband like dad is still here
00:01:35it's just in a different way but this would be just the beginning of the story and boy was there
00:01:40a
00:01:40lot more coming their way okay tell me exactly what happened okay I can I need you to take a
00:02:09deep breath
00:02:09what's going on it's a little after three in the morning and Cory Richards calls 911 saying her
00:02:17husband Eric is not breathing and is cold to the touch okay we're gonna can you do CPR you don't
00:02:29know
00:02:29I'm gonna tell you how to are you willing to do CPR yeah okay one two three four one two
00:02:39three four count
00:02:40out loud so I can hear you I'm counting with you one one three four officers are dispatched of the
00:02:47scene
00:02:48paramedics and firefighters are already there when they arrive in those first few moments of the police
00:02:54body worn camera you are watching this life or death moment unfold law enforcement is trying to make
00:03:01sense of it all inside the bedroom you can see law enforcement trying to help Eric Richards he is on
00:03:09his
00:03:09back on the ground he has no pulse he's not breathing and they're using a CPR machine so you can
00:03:16hear this sort of
00:03:17rhythmic sound what's your first name let's let them do their work in there it's what happened today
00:03:38when we when you say we were fine what what time did you see him when he was alert
00:03:50hours earlier they were celebrating a big financial win for her real estate business she mentions it had a
00:03:57cocktail before bed she mentions that her son has night terrors and that she'd been asleep with him
00:04:03when I sleep with my kids I wake up and I go back in my own bed where are your
00:04:08children now
00:04:21at one point the you know officer asked if she would like to call anybody and she mentioned she wants
00:04:27to
00:04:27call her mom I got a call it was Cory said mom you need to come up here I said
00:04:48something's happened she
00:04:49said Eric does he have any medical conditions or anything like that he has Lyme's disease Lyme's disease
00:05:05but I mean nothing major so they're asking questions like does he have any you know health ailments no
00:05:12heart problems or anything like that so while she's talking to the officer she says that sometimes he takes a
00:05:19gummy to sleep but she also tells him she's not sure whether he took one that night it's like a
00:05:25gummy
00:05:25other than like a THC gummy okay I see you have any history of illicit drug use or anything no
00:05:34no
00:05:37as I pull in the driveway three cops come running at me asking who I am I went running through
00:05:44the house
00:05:44to get to Cory and it was just devastating she was in total shock I had no idea not only
00:05:52as a mother
00:05:53what to do for her but as a person how to help a person in shock I went and talked
00:06:07to the boys and
00:06:08they're just they're just confused they're not crying because they don't know what's going on they
00:06:12just know a lot of cops are there Cory Richard's mother Lisa Darden says that he got weekly allergy
00:06:19shots and maybe that has something to do with his medical condition he didn't look good last night
00:06:37I had seen him that day and I said oh my god what is wrong with you you look horrible
00:06:43for a moment
00:06:45the deputy walks away from Cory Richard's and you can see a conversation between him another officer and
00:06:50an EMT the amount of blood was sort of surprising to the paramedic and this leads to the initial
00:07:13hypothesis of an aneurysm my husband's active he didn't just die in his sleep this is insane Eric was
00:07:22very athletic you would never expect an aneurysm but that's what they're telling us they don't know
00:07:31they're saying an aneurysm and um you just can't believe he's gone in the body cam footage you
00:07:37actually hear Eric's sister Katie before you see her she's moaning and she's screaming out and it's
00:07:52raw guttural pain that you hear when you've just learned that someone you love has died in the video
00:08:00you see Katie take Korean Eric's young boys upstairs and away from the turmoil but at one point Katie even
00:08:10can hardly breathe at three fifty eight a.m. Eric Richards is officially declared dead but it's also noted that
00:08:35he appears to have been
00:08:36dead for quite some time before they arrived at the residence the next thing is our detective in our
00:08:42medical exam is going to respond to the location they're going to do their investigation and document
00:08:49everything and then most likely because of his age and his health and everything else most likely the
00:08:58county coroner's office has an obligation a legal requirement really to investigate forensically any
00:09:05unexpected death whenever you have a young man like this who dies mysteriously you can bet they're
00:09:13going to do an autopsy this is the night of a tragic end but the beginning of a mystery that
00:09:20will take
00:09:35the night that Eric died Corey says that they were celebrating they were celebrating what was going to be her
00:09:45most ambitious purchase yet for her real estate business
00:09:52a distressed mansion in midway Utah that she hoped to buy for millions flip it and sell it for millions
00:10:01more
00:10:01she was so excited about it and the possibilities for it this was a very big moment for Corey Richens
00:10:11Corey grew up working for her aunt's cleaning company cleaning the toilets of the rich people who lived in mansions
00:10:20in Park City
00:10:21Corey would dream that one day she would be the one that owned the mansions and not the one cleaning
00:10:28the toilets
00:10:29this was Corey's moment to say look I did it I made something of myself and now I'm on the
00:10:36other side
00:10:40Corey grew up in a family that moved a lot
00:10:43my parents worked construction so we would move every two three months growing up we weren't poor by any stretch
00:10:50but we weren't we weren't wealthy by any stretch either my parents did what they had to do to get
00:10:55by
00:10:57when she got to junior high her family really made a home in Heber City Utah it's also part of
00:11:04Summit County
00:11:05it's a beautiful mountain town and there she finds a really close group of girlfriends
00:11:13we just had a really good core group of friends and I mean the text we'd get every weekend was
00:11:19hey where's the party at
00:11:21and then we also played sports and then we were in the same classes together and we just kind of
00:11:26evolved from there
00:11:28she's on the cheer team in high school she's playing tennis and she seems to have really found a home
00:11:35and belonging
00:11:37she was a tough cookie anybody said anything wrong about us you could you know kind of always count on
00:11:43Corey to handle it
00:11:45Corey and Eric met when Corey was working at a Home Depot
00:11:49Home Depot paid the best it was brand new it was in Park City and it paid really well for
00:11:56cashiers
00:11:57he was coming into the Home Depot a lot because of his stone masonry business and they hit it off
00:12:03and started talking
00:12:03and people remember you know sparks flying and instant chemistry
00:12:09he was significantly older than her she just thought the world of Eric Eric was it
00:12:18Eric grew up in Bountiful Utah went to high school at Woods Cross
00:12:26the Richens owned a cattle ranching in Summit County and he grew up working on this ranch his sisters rode
00:12:35horses they had animals they were outdoorsmen Eric was one of three children with two sisters Amy and Katie
00:12:44and he was very close to his mother who had died in 2018 Eric grew up a member of the
00:12:51Church of Jesus
00:12:52Christ of Latter-day Saints also known as the Mormon Church his dad shares that it was one of the
00:12:57most
00:12:57important things that they wanted to instill in their children was faith and religion so much so that
00:13:05Eric went on a two-year mission for the church to Mexico City and then came back and started his
00:13:13stonemasonry business Eric was a very dynamic individual he worked hard but he also played
00:13:21hard he had ATVs he camped he explored Eric was a big-time hunter go to Africa big trophy hunting
00:13:31stuff
00:13:35they began dating Corey became pregnant with their first child and they married soon after the marriage
00:13:43is a backyard ceremony family and friends gather Corey is about to walk down the aisle and Eric's mother
00:13:51present her with a supreme and the pre-nup says that his stonemasonry business belongs to him and that the
00:14:01only way that she would benefit from that business would be if he were to die while they are married
00:14:07Corey was pretty distraught over it but ultimately she signed it and she loved Eric she wanted to marry
00:14:13Eric so she went along to get along I guess I don't think it's a secret that Eric's family or
00:14:21at least
00:14:21parts of Eric's family didn't approve of Corey it was a rough start at the beginning and once that got
00:14:27passed I mean they had a good wedding Corey and Eric ended up having three boys in four years she
00:14:38planned that she was a planner and that was her plan Corey was everything you'd probably want as a mom
00:14:44she loved her boys her boys are her her world and when she wasn't working she was with her kids
00:14:51from
00:14:52boy scout leader to soccer to you name it she's involved in everything Eric really he was a dedicated
00:15:01dad he was a soccer coach for the boys my last memory of Eric was me in their living room
00:15:09playing
00:15:09soccer with his son you know and Eric was sitting in his chair like sitting back like this giggling
00:15:16while his son kicked my ass in soccer you know and he was really proud of it
00:15:22Eric's business has become incredibly successful it's a million dollar business C&E masonry and they
00:15:29have a very affluent life they're taking trips together my first cruise is with them they would
00:15:36go out to fancy restaurants yeah they had money to spend at the beginning of all Corey stayed home with
00:15:45the children but at some point Corey wanted more and she started a real estate business in 2019 Corey
00:15:53starts Kay Richland's Realty which is her home flipping business that first year Corey buys and resells
00:16:00a property to a family that says they found their dream home that's whose homeowners me and him and me
00:16:08and him and me
00:16:11just two years later Corey is managing 15 renovation projects
00:16:20Corey's making a very good living it's expanding quickly she's buying a lot of properties and by
00:16:26all accounts it is very successful this looks like the all-american perfect family a beautiful home
00:16:36a beautiful family beautiful children and two thriving businesses what's your first name nobody ever
00:16:45thought Eric was gonna die of course Eric richens a dedicated father has provided for his children
00:16:51but this grieving widow is about to discover her future won't be quite what she thought Eric's sister
00:17:00Amy says this home isn't yours they're screaming back and forth I stepped in between the two of them
00:17:21I learned the news about Eric passing on March 4th through a phone call
00:17:26why what happened what could have caused it it was just surreal
00:17:33and just the day before Corey says that she and Eric were toasting the purchase
00:17:38of her dream property a 2.9 million dollar mansion
00:17:45and just hours later Eric would be dead Eric was beloved in the community and many people come and
00:17:53gather at the family home to sort of celebrate his life there were just constant people coming in and
00:18:00out of the house paying their condolences we were just you know reminiscing about Eric we were all just
00:18:07there to support Corey keep the boys occupied keep their minds sort of off of you know what happened
00:18:13we were literally talking about Eric the entire night and reason dancing and listening to his favorite songs
00:18:22one of our friends is shotgunning a beer
00:18:26and it's not the way everybody else may celebrate but that's how we did it because that's what Eric would
00:18:32have done with us at one point you know they're playing music and Cody Johnson's till you can't
00:18:46I mean it's an incredible song with a very obvious meaning live until you can't you know and to know
00:18:53that we just lost somebody so suddenly it put it put things in perspective
00:18:58yeah if you got a chance take it
00:19:02Corey's dancing with her three sons and Eric's sister Amy films the dance
00:19:07and there was this light that kind of projected around them and she's like I swear Eric's dancing
00:19:11with them right now like she it was special and it's this real moment of sort of solidarity
00:19:16between the two families but that solidarity appears to be short-lived
00:19:26the morning after that gathering there is a dispute an argument between Corey and Eric's sister Amy
00:19:35Corey realizes that Eric's will is in a safe she seemed a little adamant about getting that will
00:19:43and she was pretty positive that it was in the safe but she didn't know what the combination was
00:19:49Eric Richen's sister Amy is at the house and a locksmith shows up to access the safe
00:19:57you just hear like this blood hurtling scream as I ran out into the garage and Amy had seen
00:20:07a sign on a truck that said locksmith or something she flipped out and told Corey you know you're not
00:20:13supposed to be getting into the safe and then Amy drops a bomb she tells Corey that Eric had secretly
00:20:21set up his trust and will and Corey was largely cut out they're screaming back and forth I stepped in
00:20:29between the two of them eventually the police showed up in the midst of all of this um Corey wants
00:20:38to
00:20:38fact check what's going on and they call the estate planner so the estate planner ends up confirming to
00:20:44Corey that right around 2020 Eric had created an estate and that his sister Katie was in charge of
00:20:53that and the executor he makes his sons the beneficiary of the trust he puts the the house in the
00:20:59trust
00:21:01and that's when those words of it's not your home came out and Corey's like it is my house I've
00:21:06lived here
00:21:06for 10 years you know what are you talking about Amy told authorities that Corey punched her in the
00:21:11face in the neck Corey is then arrested and charged with assault she ends up pleading no contest but she
00:21:17is found guilty of assault to think this is happening two days after Eric's death and then these two
00:21:24families have to see each other again at Eric's funeral
00:21:30the funeral
00:21:31the funeral itself I think went off very well but you could already see the
00:21:36animosity between the two families it's contentious
00:21:41oh the funeral was incredibly uncomfortable Corey stood in one and then her fam his family
00:21:46stood in like another area yeah it was a very obvious divide immediately and they wouldn't talk to each other
00:21:53there really wasn't much reference to Corey there wasn't a lot of love going on over the top lavish
00:22:01casket it was like a horse and buggy it was grand it was very country it was just the most
00:22:06uncomfortable
00:22:06funeral I've ever been at his 40th birthday was just a couple weeks after the funeral like his clothes had
00:22:12already been taken down and she wasn't wearing her wedding ring and I thought that was a little odd
00:22:16I mean it was it wasn't even a month
00:22:22as the months passed Corey filed a civil lawsuit against Eric's sister Katie disputing the trust
00:22:28and Corey seems to continue to adjust to life as a single mother and a businesswoman
00:22:34Corey talks a lot about how important routine is to getting through the process of grief and so
00:22:40you know usually at night time this is when you read to your children and she was saying that they
00:22:44looked for something to read they would answer some of these questions and she found nothing
00:22:48she said I have looked everywhere and I can't find a book on grieving for children
00:22:55she said I wonder if I could write one
00:23:00Corey Richens self-published a book called are you with me
00:23:05the first part of the book is actually written from the child's perspective the little boy who's
00:23:10wondering if his dad is with him Corey actually used a ghostwriter in order to to create this book
00:23:17are you at my soccer game when I scored that goal for you I looked for you in the crowd
00:23:23but you weren't
00:23:24there did you see it and then later on in the book it switches to the deceased father's perspective and
00:23:32he
00:23:32sort of starts saying yes I am with you I am with you when you scored that goal for me
00:23:37you couldn't hear
00:23:38me cheer for you but I yelled and clapped as loud as I could just like always Corey dedicates the
00:23:44book
00:23:44to my amazing husband and a wonderful father and then there is a drawing of the family of five who
00:23:50see
00:23:51Corey and Eric together with their three children and the dog I will forever love you my sweet baby
00:23:57until we see each other again yes I am with you
00:24:03in March 2023 Corey Richens goes on these local radio and tv stations talking about the book
00:24:13start from at two and good morning happy Friday everybody thank you for tuning in we got an email
00:24:18wrote into the station it was Corey saying that she had just written what she believed to be was the
00:24:24first book for kids about coping with grief and that she would love the chance to share that on Good
00:24:30Things Utah my kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that
00:24:37we've experienced last year and to make sense and process I'm sure yes exactly exactly what a shock
00:24:45this must be for this poor woman my heart went out to her I'm new to all of this so
00:24:50kind of doing
00:24:51you know research and reading books and things to try and understand you know not only how to grieve as
00:24:58a widow as a wife but also you know with my kids how to help them how to help them
00:25:04understand what
00:25:04just happened but the big shock happened a couple of days later when we get an anonymous email and
00:25:11there's just one line and it's an all capital letters with many exclamation marks at the end and
00:25:15it says you know she killed her husband
00:25:26thank you Corey thank you while Corey has moved on with her life and is promoting her children's book
00:25:33about coping with grief authorities have been digging into the circumstances surrounding Eric's death
00:25:41were you first on your name we were second and there was blood before you a little bit coming
00:25:45out as soon as we start doing compressions originally it was one of the EMTs on scene
00:25:49who suggests that maybe Eric had an aneurysm i wonder if he had an aneurysm or something with all the
00:25:57blood
00:25:57and i think that made a lot of sense to the family on scene right then because what else would
00:26:01it be
00:26:02that would make a healthy 39 year old man all of a sudden stop breathing in the middle of the
00:26:07night
00:26:08so law enforcement says that there will be an autopsy they think it might have been an aneurysm but
00:26:13they don't know for the people that knew Eric the autopsy was absolutely shocking the initial
00:26:20autopsy report comes back and it's drug intoxication fentanyl as the cause of death
00:26:28five times he announced fentanyl that could kill anyone
00:26:32Eric did not do drugs not to my understanding you know and Corey was saying the same thing so
00:26:38it was just baffling they also found that it was not medical grade fentanyl so this is nothing that
00:26:44was prescribed by a doctor this would have been you know drugs off the street the type of drugs that
00:26:49you
00:26:50would procure on a corner and don't necessarily know the origins of
00:26:55the autopsy report jump starts a criminal investigation because this is not a natural
00:27:00death this is either an accidental overdose or someone killed Eric now police officers realize
00:27:08they have to find the origin of the drug police get a search warrant to search the rich and home
00:27:14for illegal drugs investigators go in they seize Corey's electronics Eric's electronics and they search
00:27:22the house for anything that could possibly have traces of fentanyl but they don't find any fentanyl
00:27:29during this search Corey is stopped by then lead detective jamie woody and at that moment
00:27:35Corey says what everybody else is saying that Eric doesn't do drugs that she's shocked by the cause of death
00:27:43Corey richens talks to the chief medical examiner and essentially has a bunch of questions and she
00:27:48goes down a list of the various items that were found in the stomach contents the third one the acetyl
00:27:55that's i don't know how you say that acetyl fentanyl yeah that's just a variant of fentanyl that is
00:28:01usually only present in the setting of illicitly manufactured fentanyl illicit manufactured like a pharmacy
00:28:11no no no like fentanyl that's manufactured by drug cartels as opposed to by pharmaceutical companies
00:28:17oh good lord it's pretty clear she's kind of reading from the report and asking individual questions
00:28:23about each part i was just trying to figure out you know if we found out anything new definitely you
00:28:29know death from fentanyl intoxication and we still don't know how we got it into him yeah i mean is
00:28:36that
00:28:37anything you could ever find out when the toxicology report comes back eric's family comes forward to
00:28:45law enforcement and says well we have some concerns about the toxicology report eric didn't do drugs
00:28:51the richens family was immediately suspicious that corey had a role in eric's death
00:28:58according to eric's family while it seemed like corey and eric were flying high
00:29:04when he died it was a very different reality eric discovered actually in 2020 that corey had taken
00:29:15out a loan to help her business and did so without telling him corey had taken out a 250 000
00:29:22line of
00:29:23credit against the home which eric solely owned and had no idea about that made them all start to
00:29:30be very concerned with corey's financial situation and that is actually what caused him to change the
00:29:36trust because he wanted to make sure his children were taken care of the family says that when eric
00:29:41finds out he visits a divorce attorney i think it's like how can you deceive your spouse like that when
00:29:48you own a home the idea that you're going to take out a line of credit that they're never going
00:29:53to
00:29:53realize this and you're somehow going to go out and spend 250 000 and they're just never going to
00:29:59get that that's what was going on behind the scenes it's pretty shocking
00:30:05they end up going to counseling and they do not separate but there is this idea you know she's
00:30:12lied about their finances even if there's the facade of things being good within the marriage
00:30:17there's still a real permanent rift between the couple and the trust that's been broken there
00:30:23but as it turns out allegations of financial crimes are not the only evidence investigators are uncovering
00:30:38a year after eric's death corey's finances are not looking good
00:30:43at all she thought she was going to be getting an inheritance and now the weight of her debt is
00:30:50bearing down on her she's in a lot of trouble here she owes a lot of money millions and millions
00:30:56of
00:30:56dollars it was hard for her that year financially and emotionally her kids you know were crying at
00:31:04night because their dad is gone and she has eric's family who are blaming her for his death
00:31:13emotionally she kind of seemed like she's hanging on by a thread corey was also trying to run this
00:31:19business that she was doing and she just seemed really stressed out one of corey's biggest financial
00:31:26burdens was this mansion she had purchased a luxurious piece of property on the most beautiful land
00:31:37she buys it for close to three million dollars but at this point the mansion is far from finished
00:31:45corey richens commissioned this youtube video of the house construction it even included a virtual
00:31:51view of the planned luxe amenities corey had talked about turning the midway mansion into an event space where
00:32:00people could have weddings it needed a lot of work estimated to be a couple million corey is allegedly
00:32:08making all of this work through hard money loans and these are loans that are short term they cost more
00:32:15they tend to be riskier but corey didn't have money from eric's estate to help and eventually lost the
00:32:22mansion to foreclosure the fallout from corey's financial strain allegedly ends up harming one of
00:32:30her best friends a woman named chelsea barney corey's been helping her best friend buy a home her first home
00:32:39so she says look i'll get the loan you'll sign the deed the home will be yours and you can
00:32:45pay the
00:32:45mortgage each month she was a waitress and a manager at a restaurant and she had saved all of her
00:32:51tip
00:32:51money for years she gave corey 45 000 as a down payment she was always on time with her payment
00:33:00and so
00:33:00when all of a sudden she was getting notices that her home might be in trouble she called and asked
00:33:06for a
00:33:07copy of the deed essentially chelsea had found out that the deed was never properly filed with the county
00:33:13she never was the owner of the home the house is foreclosed on chelsea and her family are evicted and
00:33:23to add insult to injury all this money she saved up to buy this home it's gone
00:33:31and there's another family who also say their dealings with corey did not end well
00:33:37we just bought a house taryn and alec wright buy this home for their family it's been remodeled
00:33:46there's a view of the mountains it has a gray yard but once they were in that home they discovered
00:33:53a
00:33:53major problem they claim they find mold in the walls and they say there was water coming in and that
00:34:01everyone in the family got sick nosebleeds asthma really unpleasant stuff
00:34:10corey denied that she had any knowledge of any problems with the home and that the home had been
00:34:16inspected prior to their closing on it the rights filed a lawsuit and told 2020 they lost their house
00:34:24to foreclosure saying they've been financially ruined by the cost of a long-term temporary rental
00:34:29while still paying for that home meanwhile there are people who are starting to say out loud what
00:34:37only a few knew that eric had gotten ill in the past and he suspected corey was behind it eric
00:34:46and corey
00:34:47were on a trip to greece in 2019 they're out having dinner one night and everyone is ordering drinks eric
00:34:54had just recently got lyme's disease from a hunting trip he's taking medication for it on that
00:35:01medication you're not allowed to have alcohol it would make you very very sick eric ordered a virgin
00:35:06drink when they brought it over he tasted it and said that he thought that there was alcohol in it
00:35:14he started not feeling well and they ran up to the hotel room he called his sister katie and told
00:35:21her
00:35:21that he thought that corey had tried to poison him i don't believe eric said that i don't believe
00:35:29he ever said that they were in a restaurant when he got sick so the only one serving him was
00:35:34a waitress
00:35:38then actually on valentine's day of 2022 so only weeks before his death corey had ordered a sandwich
00:35:46from a local diner the server answered the phone and a to-go order was placed a bald mountain bagel
00:35:53sandwich which is just a toasted bagel with bacon egg and cheese avocado and sliced tomato and 12 minutes
00:36:02later corey came in and picked it up and paid for it when she left the sandwich form she left
00:36:09a note
00:36:10basically just saying happy valentine's day i love you after just a single bite eric seemed to believe
00:36:18he was having an allergic reaction he used his son's epipen took some benadryl and went to sleep
00:36:24and when he woke up he texted friends you almost lost me this time i think she might have poisoned
00:36:30me
00:36:31and police are about to learn just where that poison could be coming from
00:36:40and police are about to learn just a little bit more about to learn just a little bit more about
00:36:46please speed corey came to me about a year after she said her husband had died all she had said
00:36:52was
00:36:52that he passed away and she was ready for some new family photos so she wanted to get her hair
00:37:00done to
00:37:00look cute in the pictures with her sons i was really impressed with how she was handling that situation with
00:37:07her little boys and how much she was doing with her life corey spent five or six hours in my
00:37:15chair we
00:37:15did a full color on her and then we did her extension install after that i think she ended up
00:37:20spending around
00:37:21twenty nine hundred dollars
00:37:32it's been a year since eric richen's death and corey is moving on with life but eric's family however is
00:37:40frustrated they say they're not seeing progress in the investigation and they're dealing with the back
00:37:45and forth lawsuits over the estate so they decide to hire a private investigator this pi pulls phone
00:37:55records looks at thousands of text messages pulls electronics gets cell phone data so when the private
00:38:02investigator gets into these phone records he discovers that there are essentially three people
00:38:07that corey is communicating with all the time one is eric the other is her mother and the third person
00:38:15is a woman named carmen lauber this is between the months right before and right after eric richens dies
00:38:24so why is corey talking to carmen lauber so much
00:38:30carmen worked for my sister cleaning houses and cleaning the fix and flips and corey would call
00:38:35and say hey i need you to go to this address clean this house this woman has a has a
00:38:40checkered past
00:38:40including a whole bunch of drug stuff with the information that the private investigators gathered
00:38:46he's forwarding all of that to the summit county sheriff's office a new lead detective is put on the
00:38:52case detective jeff odriscoll and his theory is to start over start fresh carmen is in a court ordered
00:39:01drug program and detective o driscoll takes the opportunity to search her trash he finds drug
00:39:08paraphernalia and that's a violation now he's got probable cause to search her home not only do they
00:39:16find enough evidence to bring drug charges they find a gun and she's not allowed to have one since
00:39:22she's a convicted felon and they notice something that stops them in their tracks they're looking at a
00:39:27wall full of inspirational sayings that she's posted and they see taped to a mirror a copy of eric's
00:39:35obituary
00:39:38at this point they really zeroed in on corey as being you know the prime suspect to eric's passing
00:39:44and they need somebody to kind of connect those dots without carmen police really didn't have much
00:39:49of a case so can carmen tell them if corey had any connection to the fentanyl write down something
00:39:58as far as you remember it right now and then we can work on the details as we continue to
00:40:04talk about
00:40:04it as we check phone records as we you know do all of our our part our side to corroborate
00:40:10what you're
00:40:10saying right okay and that's fine because you know what we want to make sure we get the right
00:40:20story so the way you're remembering it is you know is all you can give us you can't make something
00:40:25up that you don't remember right she tells police that not only has corey asked her to get fentanyl
00:40:31but she did so on two separate occasions and she even said things like the first batch wasn't strong
00:40:37enough the thought was insinuated that she wanted you to get something that somebody could die from
00:40:44i know one thing that when we got one it wasn't dark enough i mean i don't even know how
00:40:51i'm really
00:40:52old carmen explained she got one set of drugs sometime in february and then was asked to get
00:40:57stronger stuff and then got another dose of drugs a second time around so carmen's facing prosecution
00:41:04and years of prison time the only exception to that and the only thing that they're willing
00:41:11to kind of help you out with is if you can help us out with us and by so he
00:41:17means like give us the
00:41:19details that will ensure corey is convicted of murder oh my god this is a serious case
00:41:31carmen you got carmen who's looking at 25 years to life for drug charges and gun charges she's going
00:41:38to tell the cops whatever they want to hear and they're making a plea deal the goal is to convict
00:41:45corey
00:41:46for an aggravated murder these parallel drug investigations those aren't priorities carmen says
00:41:52her dealer was robert crozier he's already in custody for other drug crimes and he's also detoxing
00:42:01he says that he and carmen would meet at a gas station where he would sell her the drugs
00:42:07carmen says she would hide the drugs at one of the houses corey was trying to flip
00:42:13crozier says it wasn't a regular thing yeah i met her just two times i think i talked about another
00:42:19a couple more times after but just to see you know what i mean hey you know somebody's spending
00:42:25you know what i mean you know five six hundred bucks is is that what they're doing around five
00:42:29or six hundred bucks it's not just the drug sales themselves it's the timing there were you know 30
00:42:39text messages exchanged between carmen and corey on valentine's day 2022 the day of that infamous sandwich
00:42:45and the other day is february 26 which is right before eric's death now law enforcement has the drug
00:42:57link through carmen and they have the financial information corey richards was in massive death
00:43:04she was trying to funnel money back into her own real estate and house flipping business you add this
00:43:11all up and it's finally enough for police to make their move a woman who wrote a children's book about
00:43:17grief after the death of her husband now faces charges for his murder corey richards is charged with
00:43:24one count of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of narcotics with intention to distribute
00:43:31i woke up in the morning to headlines of utah mom and children's grief book author
00:43:40arrested and charged with murder it was shocking it was unbelievable
00:43:45i just couldn't fathom it like not not corey you know why why her like it just became this huge
00:43:53story because she wrote that children's book they are trying to ruin and convict an innocent mother
00:44:01the simplest answer is often the correct one is most likely an accidental overdose i will take
00:44:08it to my grave that corey did not do this i too believe it's an accidental overdose
00:44:16for corey richards she's either victim or killer there is nothing in between
00:44:20is she a widow who had lost her husband and the father of her children tragically
00:44:25or did she plan this all out to get from under some massive debt
00:44:29in my experience money and love are two of the most powerful motivators for a murder now police know
00:44:38about the money and there may be a romantic angle as well if corey wasn't with eric on valentine's day
00:44:46and she wasn't who was she with
00:45:01my kids and i kind of wrote this book on the different
00:45:05different emotions and grieving processes that we've experienced last year and to make sense and
00:45:12process i'm sure right now we have the arrest of a utah mom who wrote a children's book about grief
00:45:19after her husband's death she has now been charged with killing him i'm new to all of this as a
00:45:27widow as
00:45:27as a wife but also you know with my kids i'm thinking she's just powering through she's trying her best
00:45:35maybe not to cry maybe not to get too emotional toxicology report found five times a lethal dosage
00:45:42of fentanyl in his system this last page particularly poignant i will forever love you my sweet baby
00:45:51until we see each other again yes i am with you written as though it's in the father's words
00:45:59for their boys you are an amazing woman and we thank you for being vulnerable and sharing this
00:46:06and touching the lives of others thank you i really appreciate being here thank you guys thank you all
00:46:12right gtu is back with state prosecutors say they do have enough evidence against corey richens to
00:46:17proceed with a trial the imminent charge of murder allegedly at this point but still naturally you're
00:46:25thinking can i believe what she said on may 8 2023 corey is arrested and charged with the aggravated
00:46:33murder of her husband as well as several counts of possession of illicit drugs with the intent to
00:46:40distribute finding that out was such a shock i mean talking about this now it still blows my
00:46:47mind this could all very well be the perfect crime a storybook ending where she thought she
00:46:56couldn't get caught it's a story that resonates because it's sort of this idea that she's two very
00:47:03different people a jekyll and hyde situation she was so empathetic at first glance and then the story
00:47:12becomes much more sinister in a june 2023 hearing where corey's going to find out if she makes bail or
00:47:21not
00:47:21she appears in street clothes but she is in shackles and she has this look of confidence on her face
00:47:30almost
00:47:30as if she thinks this is still going to go her way prosecutors call three witnesses to testify as to
00:47:41why corey richens should not be released pending prosecution the defendant came to the door and wrote
00:47:48a check from her business for thirteen hundred dollars for the purchase of the fentanyl the initial
00:47:55bail hearing had a forensic accountant going into her finances it went over the phone records and some
00:48:00of her searches on her phone after her husband's death during the bail hearing the cell phone expert
00:48:06presented evidence that prosecutors said was a sign of consciousness of guilt consciousness of guilt
00:48:12can be virtually anything that a criminal defendant does that is consistent with them understanding
00:48:18that they're guilty some of the more interesting internet searches included luxury prisons for the rich
00:48:25in america can cops uncover deleted messages iphone if someone is poisoned what does it go down on the
00:48:36death certificate as and finally what is a lethal dose of fentanyl those internet searches did not come
00:48:45until after corey had been given a search warrant that was executed on her home that search warrant laid
00:48:52out that they believed that eric had died from a lethal dose of fentanyl that she had murdered him with
00:49:00it and so you know to now say well she searched it so it's the consciousness of guilt i think
00:49:07it's human
00:49:07nature someone hands you something and says hey we think you poisoned them with fentanyl and you're like i don't
00:49:13even know what a lethal dose of fentanyl is what do we do we google search prosecutors argue that the
00:49:19motivation behind eric richards death is that corey richards was in massive debt being bad with money
00:49:26does not make you a murderer the defense makes the argument that the prosecution has no case because they
00:49:32have no way of showing how the drugs ultimately got into eric's system they went through the home and they
00:49:38found absolutely no forensic evidence to substantiate their allegation that she must have given eric fentanyl
00:49:46in this drink but perhaps the most compelling argument was made by eric's sister amy richens during her
00:49:55victim's impact statement eric was a family man who always strove to be the absolute best father and
00:50:02husband i go through the terrible sequence of events i wonder when he realized he was in mortal danger
00:50:09this last year has been a living hell for our family we have watched as corey has paraded around
00:50:16portraying herself as a grieving widow and victim while trying to profit from the death of my brother
00:50:22but the circumstances of this case weigh soundly against granting pretrial release of any kind
00:50:31since corey was arrested she's been held in the summit county jail
00:50:36corey not only has been separated from her children at this point she lost custody of her children
00:50:43the state of utah takes her kids away even though she's presumed innocent
00:50:47because utah has a law that allows the court to do that when one spouse is suspected of causing the
00:50:54death of the other spouse and it's while she's in jail that authorities make what appears to be
00:51:00a stunning discovery deputies did what's called tossing her cell where they go in they essentially
00:51:05perform a search and they found a letter that the prosecution believed to be very very significant in
00:51:10the case
00:51:17in the case
00:51:20since her arrest corey richens the aspiring writer is being held in utah summit county jail
00:51:26and she's at it again during a sweep of corey's cell an officer uncovers a four-page letter at the
00:51:36top
00:51:36of the first page it says walk the dog with an exclamation point and prosecutors argue that this letter
00:51:43is a message for corey's mother to relay to her brother ronnie what he needs to say to help get
00:51:49her off
00:51:49it reads in part here's what i'm thinking but you have to talk to ronnie he would probably have to
00:51:55testify to this
00:51:56eric told ronnie he gets pain pills and fentanyl from mexico from the workers at the ranch
00:52:03reword this however he needs to make the point with mexico and drugs
00:52:09prosecutors say this is evidence of witness tampering of influencing a person's testimony
00:52:13that could potentially take the stand in her case and providing a story that is alternative
00:52:18to how eric had gone to mexico and possibly obtained drugs while there
00:52:24of course that's hugely significant from the perspective of detectives and the prosecution
00:52:31i mean she just explained to me that it was some fairy tale book that was loosely based on what's
00:52:37going on but there's a whole bunch of stuff in there that makes it very obvious that it's not true
00:52:42corey has always maintained that the walk the dog letter was part of a greater manuscript
00:52:47not only was it attorney-client communication it was also attorney work product is this damaging does
00:52:56she admit that she committed murder in it absolutely not so the question becomes whether a jury will see
00:53:02this as corey insists as a fictional manuscript or further evidence of her guilt first with the death
00:53:10of her husband and this children's book are you with me and now with this four-page letter you see
00:53:16corey writing herself into the plot it is corey's own written word that prosecutors keep coming
00:53:22back to as evidence that she is in fact at the center of this the camis mom accused of killing
00:53:28her
00:53:28husband and then writing a children's book about grief is facing more criminal charges so in march
00:53:342024 the prosecution amended their complaint to include an allegation of attempted murder this is the attempted
00:53:40murder charge for the poisoned valentine's day sandwich that eric ate just weeks before his death
00:53:47eric supposedly saying that he thinks his wife is trying to poison him it's just it's absolutely absurd
00:53:54and the heat is about to be turned up even higher on corey with all the media coverage on her
00:53:59case
00:54:00someone was watching and that someone reached out to eric richard's family wanting to clear a guilty
00:54:06conscience that someone is 41 year old josh grossman who corey had hired as a handyman at
00:54:14a home that she was renovating authorities learned that grossman and corey had been carrying on a
00:54:20years-long affair according to investigators the lovers texted almost daily i want you today every day not
00:54:28just sexually but physically mentally every day when i wake up i do want a future together
00:54:35so in addition to the financial motive here we also have a totally separate motive and that is
00:54:40she's having an affair where she's repeatedly communicating with this man talking about how much
00:54:45she wants to be with him and how much she loves him among the frequent text exchanges in february of
00:54:512022 corey wrote if he could just go away and you could just be here life would be so perfect
00:54:59i love
00:54:59you you know i'll acknowledge the timing of of the texts are not ideal you know is this evidence of
00:55:09murder
00:55:10no um but is it one of those things that may weigh in the back of a juror's mind when
00:55:17they're thinking
00:55:18about how to weigh all this other evidence i think that absolutely becomes the case
00:55:24we're following breaking news out of summit county for you the judge granted a request from the defense
00:55:30team to withdraw from her case suddenly defense attorney sky lazaro withdraws from the case
00:55:36signing a conflict of interest involving her law firm and this preliminary hearing is a critical right
00:55:42that every single replacing lazaro is public defender kathy nestor and co-counsel wendy lewis
00:55:49together the defense attorneys have more than 30 years of experience whenever legal counsel changes in
00:55:56a case this will heavily stall any sort of outcome because now a new attorney has to come on
00:56:03build a rapport with corey and learn the case inside out
00:56:07in may 2024 just days after her new lawyers are appointed corey makes her first public statement
00:56:13in an audio recording released to abc news the world has yet to hear who i really am what i've
00:56:19really done or what i really didn't do what i've really done is protect eric at all costs what i
00:56:24really
00:56:24didn't do is murder my husband i could not and would not ever do that to eric or anyone for
00:56:34that matter
00:56:35i'm asking the world to give me a chance and corey richens will have that chance in court while the
00:56:42narcotics charges were dropped she has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges including two counts
00:56:48of insurance fraud one of those charges alleges that corey took out a life insurance policy
00:56:54on eric without his knowledge when you throw in a financial motive that's big that's huge that
00:57:03she needed eric richens dead that's financial motive is massive it's big but then you throw in an affair
00:57:13you throw in a love story now you're talking multiple motives the state first has to prove that he
00:57:21was murdered you know that's step one and they've got to be able from the jury i mean i want
00:57:28to know
00:57:28how you know you can't just say he died she was there it must have been her you know because
00:57:34she had
00:57:35an affair they're gonna have a hard time connecting those dots all eyes on utah this morning as the corey
00:57:43richens murder trial begins the murder trial of corey richens is now underway nearly three years
00:57:56after her arrest corey richens is in court right now for day one of that trial will be inside of
00:58:01that
00:58:01courtroom all week bringing you the latest i knew that this trial would be big i didn't know it was
00:58:08going to be this big this story just in a quiet community that doesn't have things like this
00:58:15happening is obviously a pretty big deal this is a small courthouse sort of off the beaten path
00:58:22in the beautiful mountains of utah near park city utah most people expect that there will be 12 people
00:58:29on a jury but in this case there were eight jury members six men two women my name is laura
00:58:36and i was
00:58:36the jury foreperson in the corey richens murder trial before being selected as a juror i had heard or
00:58:46read just a couple headlines but i never really looked at stories i really knew nothing about the case
00:58:55corey looks nervous she's worried she doesn't have that same confidence she did a few years ago
00:59:03while the situation appears tough for corey she still has her supporters i'll be in the courtroom
00:59:09right there with her with her family supporting her every second every minute every day as long as
00:59:14it takes she will beat this mark my words all right we'll now proceed with opening statements
00:59:22the prosecutor brad bloodworth is very direct he gets right to business in opening statements the
00:59:29prosecutor had a laundry list of motives as to why corey would have killed her husband
00:59:37the evidence will prove that on the day that eric died corey richens owed over four and a half
00:59:45million dollars to over 20 different lenders that corey richens was chronically unhappy in her marriage
00:59:53that corey richens murdered eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life
01:00:05on the defense side they start with someone else's voice corey's voice the 911 call she made
01:00:12the night eric died
01:00:14and he's not breathing
01:00:27those were the sounds of a wife becoming a widow
01:00:33the defense urged the jurors to focus on the six hours leading up to eric's death and not
01:00:41the six years prior so those six hours somewhere in that time eric richens died somewhere in that
01:00:52time he ingested a fatal dose of fentanyl what you're never going to hear is how that fentanyl got inside
01:00:59of him because there's zero evidence of that the witnesses that the state started with were powerful
01:01:07your honor the state calls katie richens benson they called eric's sister katie to the stand
01:01:15that you received a phone call about eric
01:01:18yes it was early in the morning who called you my dad did
01:01:25what did he say
01:01:30this is not easy he was screaming and crying it said eric's not breathing eric's not breathing
01:01:46the state needs to convince the jury that corey purchased that lethal dose of fentanyl
01:01:52with the intention to kill
01:01:56when carmen takes the stand
01:01:59all eyes are on her she makes or breaks this case for the state please proceed
01:02:05thank you sir remember carmen lauber was facing a lot of trouble with the law but now she's
01:02:10testifying with immunity she made a deal with prosecutors if she tells the truth about how
01:02:14corey richens purchased fentanyl from her she's pretty much getting a out of jail free pass for her
01:02:21testimony she comes clean the first part of her testimony is essentially carmen lauber laying out all
01:02:29of her sins for the entire world have you ever sold drugs yes do you have a criminal history
01:02:37involving drugs yes carmen became very emotional on the stand and yes she was given a deal for her
01:02:44testimony but if you believe her she insists that isn't the only reason that she's doing this she
01:02:51she says she's trying to right a wrong for her role in all of this did you ask cory richens
01:02:58about eric's death
01:02:59yes i did what did you ask i said please tell me these pills were not for him when they
01:03:05had mentioned that
01:03:06that it was from an overdose um that hit hard
01:03:16only for the fact that if that's what happened i needed to step up and take accountability
01:03:24of my part in this that happened and what i was asked for
01:03:33defense attorneys love witnesses like carmen because she has a criminal record they are going
01:03:40to go after her on her credibility especially about the drug charges and you lied about it yes all right
01:03:48that's what addicts do when you're using that's true addicts lie all right active addicts next the
01:03:54state calls the person they say put those drugs in carmen's hands robert crozier remember he's the
01:04:02one prosecutors say solder the fentanyl that killed eric we selling pills in late 2021 and early 2022
01:04:11selling broxies then yes but on cross-examination the defense points out that he had changed his story
01:04:18and is now saying those pills weren't fentanyl when you initially agreed
01:04:24detectives that you might have sold fentanyl you were high you were coming down and you don't
01:04:28remember saying that specifically that is correct yes all this testimony was crucial for attempting to
01:04:35piece together the how but what was really mind-blowing was the why and that testimony came from corey's
01:04:43longtime friends becky lloyd is someone that was a friend of corey and eric in someone that ended up
01:04:52working at cne masonry becky testifies that there was an evening in december during christmas time that
01:05:04corey and becky started talking and having a bit of a heart to heart she talked about how she was
01:05:10feeling trapped she was feeling like there wasn't an easy way forward out of the marriage and she said
01:05:16in many ways it would be better if he were uh if he were dead
01:05:25corey's lawyers pounce challenging becky's memory a couple of weeks after eric died you gave an
01:05:31interview about this conversation you and corey had yes and isn't it fair that in that first
01:05:37interview you never mentioned anything about saying it would be better off if eric was dead did you i don't
01:05:43recall you don't recall i don't recall okay your honor the state calls ali staking's ali staking is
01:05:52called to the stand this is corey's best friend someone she's known since middle school i've known i
01:05:59was going to take the stand for four years now and it's been a nightmare there was a lot of
01:06:06emotions
01:06:06and walking in the courtroom and then um seeing corey it felt like i was about to betray her going
01:06:12on the stand and i didn't like that feeling are you one of her best friends yes yeah i was
01:06:20yeah when
01:06:21i was asked on the stand if she was my best friend or not like it's i don't know because
01:06:27i'm now learning
01:06:28a completely different side of this person that i knew and loved my you know for the last 20 years
01:06:35allie should be a strong witness for the prosecution they want her to tell the jury
01:06:40about a conversation she had with eric about that infamous valentine's day sandwich but it sort of
01:06:46backfires on them he said that he thought that um corey had tried to poison him but it was more
01:06:54of a
01:06:55funny story it was it was like an allergic reaction is what we had thought it was we were all
01:07:00laughing
01:07:00and that past laughter has now turned to loss i wish i could say it was nice to see my
01:07:06friend
01:07:06but i miss my friend but that's things are different now having your best friend take the
01:07:15stand is one thing your honor the state called robert josh grossman but when your ex-lover walks
01:07:21into the courtroom well that's just a whole other level mr grossman you need a minute or two i don't
01:07:27know
01:07:31what i need
01:07:33please have a seat mr bloodworth the state's next witness please the most anticipated witness the
01:07:41state is about to call it's a bombshell your honor the state calls robert josh grossman
01:07:48josh grossman is the man that corey was having an affair with she said she was in love with him
01:07:54and he's the one who wrote those text messages to corey do you solemnly swear the testimony you're
01:08:01about to give in the matter before the court to be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
01:08:04truth subject to the pains and penalties of perjury the swearing in of a witness is usually a pretty
01:08:10routine thing in a courtroom but not this one while he's being sworn in they're asking if he's going to
01:08:16be honest he doesn't know how to answer it sir i've never seen this moment before where the judge
01:08:28has to explain what he needs to do mr grossman do you understand the difference between what's true
01:08:35and what's not true i do and then josh says okay i understand yes i'm going to be honest in
01:08:40my answers
01:08:41and right away josh has our attention sir do you know corey richard i do and why did you move
01:08:50to utah
01:08:52to work with her help her flip houses josh is quiet he has this southern accent he's a redhead like
01:09:03eric
01:09:03he served in the military including combat in iraq eric came from an affluent ranching family and josh
01:09:10was a man from south carolina who was essentially couch surfing she took care of me you know i lived
01:09:17for free she did she gave me money whenever i needed it i just you know i liked her so
01:09:25i'd work for free
01:09:28his body is slouched he fidgets during that time that you were romantically involved with miss richens
01:09:37did you love her yes during that time did you feel that she loved you i think she did
01:09:49so this of course gives prosecutors more than just a financial incentive for eric's death the prosecution
01:09:57introduced a series of text messages between josh and corey they put them up on the screen for a
01:10:05painfully long period of quiet time allowing everybody to read them they were sad they were
01:10:13very corny at times he said you know i tend to fall head over heels in love with someone corey
01:10:20seemed a
01:10:21little less authentic like he she was kind of bleeding him up i want to know everything about
01:10:27you it's part of being in love there's something specific you want to know i will be up all night
01:10:34wondering babe the text ranged from poetic confessions of love almost had like a middle school
01:10:43feeling about it i love you i love talking to you being with you i don't have that in my
01:10:49marriage and i
01:10:50really enjoy my relationship and love for you but you're right we both know this love triangle
01:10:56can't go on forever he looks so uncomfortable as the world reads his private text messages
01:11:05i love you k kind o outgoing you unique r romantic i inches away from signing her divorce papers
01:11:16and falling madly in love with her soulmate too late i have already fallen night there's this moment
01:11:25where he starts crying i'm watching this and wondering what is the jury thinking right now
01:11:32we couldn't talk about it you could see in people's faces in their eyes like oh that was
01:11:40that was heartbreaking josh presented himself as very sincere and genuine sad broken-hearted
01:11:48it was kind of devastating to watch him on the stand the court i think was very patient with him
01:11:53do you need a minute or two i don't know what i mean let's just start with that why don't
01:11:59we take a
01:12:00five pause for a moment
01:12:03the text between josh and corey evolve corey sort of suggesting to josh her dream life which would be
01:12:14to live with him in the guest home of the midway mansion and run a event center together and raise
01:12:23children together i have a crazy dream i divorce and come up with millions and millions we buy midway
01:12:31and live in guest house and rent out the huge house as a big event center fifteen thousand dollars
01:12:40a day raise some kids have a little farm deal you see all of these exchanges and they contextualize what
01:12:49that relationship was and then corey sends her boyfriend a plea in the form of a text and that's
01:12:56less than 48 hours before eric is found dead she texts roughly hang in until friday well what was
01:13:06friday friday was the day eric richens died life is going to be different i promise can i try friday
01:13:15give me a few days hang in there until then please
01:13:22the relationship between josh and corey just fizzled out it was in the weeks after eric passed away
01:13:29he testifies that he and corey take a drive they stop and they sit in her car and talk josh
01:13:36testified
01:13:36that corey asked him a very important question perhaps a very revealing question what sort of
01:13:44did she ask she asked if i had ever killed anybody and was that specific to killed anybody while
01:13:51serving in iraq right did you respond i did did she ask a follow-up question yes sir what was
01:14:02that
01:14:02follow-up question she asked me how it made me feel or something along those lines
01:14:10grossman's dramatic and emotional testimony comes to a close and then something utterly mind-blowing
01:14:18unfolds in the courtroom with the defense team as they are about to present their case
01:14:25ms lewis ms nester what's the plan ready to go who's uh defense counsel's first witness
01:14:39we have just a minute yeah we have we have a couple of options understood
01:14:45the prosecution's case took 13 days and the defense's case was expected to go seven to ten days
01:14:52corey's defense attorneys are whispering to each other back and forth and it seems like
01:14:57they're trying to decide who to call first but that is not what we got
01:15:02you're actually at this time the defense intends to rest
01:15:06they said they were calling no one and also rested it was an absolute shock it was very surprising there
01:15:14so when the defense rested without presenting any witnesses my mouth i think dropped open there
01:15:23has to be another side of the story and we can fill in the little holes and then when they
01:15:29didn't
01:15:29call anyone i was shocked why would coroner richmond's defense rest without calling anyone
01:15:36they may believe the prosecution didn't make out their case that having any witness on the stand
01:15:41would it make sense because they've already won their case do you understand that you have the
01:15:45right to testify at trial yes i do are you following your attorney's advice and waiving your right to
01:15:53testify at trial yes i am prosecution and the defense have presented their closing arguments judge morazic
01:16:03instructs the jury and courts dismissed then on the same day that the trial ends and just
01:16:10within a few hours there's word from the court okay um i just received some news that a verdict is
01:16:20in no way
01:16:24if you feel overcome with emotion just look down we cannot have any outward reaction
01:16:43i told my kids early on that eric had died and my kids were devastated i said along the way
01:16:49sometimes
01:16:50it looks like corey might have done it but you know and then my kids would say well did she
01:16:54and i'd say i
01:16:54i don't i don't think so but it sometimes looks like it there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that
01:17:01that corey is innocent i know my little sister she loves her her boys way too much to to take
01:17:10their
01:17:10father away from them state of utah versus corey richens ms richens is present after deliberating for
01:17:21just under three hours the jury informs the court they've come to an agreement the court has informed
01:17:28that the jury has reached a verdict would you please hand the verdict form to the deputy
01:17:36miss richens please stand count one aggravated murder we the jury unanimously find that the
01:17:49defendant corey richens is guilty of aggravated murder corey richens is found guilty on all counts
01:18:04the entire three hours was constant robust electrifying discussion there were some people who
01:18:12were sort of on the fence with some of the elements like they felt that she was guilty but maybe
01:18:18the
01:18:19state didn't meet the burden and so we focused on what some of those issues were they gave them pause
01:18:26and then we all discussed at length and that helped us kind of come to the conclusion and it helped
01:18:33people jump off the fence to convict a woman of murder was absolutely heartbreaking corey's friend
01:18:42ali staking watched the verdict live online eric was my friend too i didn't choose corey over eric
01:18:52but i'm now i've lost i've lost both of them
01:19:00and she was somebody that meant a lot to me and her family meant a lot to me and they
01:19:03meant a lot to
01:19:04i
01:19:17and that's it's it's a loss nobody wins in this
01:19:25after the verdict is read eric's family and friends gather outside of the courthouse and embrace each
01:19:32other
01:19:41four years ago our family lost the brightest light eric is deeply loved and missed every single day
01:19:48we are grateful to everyone who has worked tirelessly to bring justice for eric our focus
01:19:54is now on honoring eric's life and supporting his voice as we all continue to heal thank you all for
01:20:01being here in a statement to abc news the richens family wrote that the justice system has now fairly
01:20:08run its course and we believe the jury's verdict was just and accurate there is a hole in our family
01:20:14that cannot be filled but now at least we have definitive closure
01:20:22corey richens will return to that courtroom to learn her sentence on may 13th which is no ordinary day
01:20:30that would have been eric richens 44th birthday she faces up to life in prison
01:20:40and her legal troubles are far from over she's facing a whole other criminal indictment with
01:20:47multiple counts of mortgage fraud money laundering forgery bad checks these are serious allegations
01:20:56one of the real tragedies in this case is eric and corey's kids their father tragically passed away
01:21:04their mother's parental rights have been terminated she has forever lost her children those children
01:21:11have been adopted by one of eric's sisters there are three little boys at the heart of this just love
01:21:17they have a lot of love a lot of love surrounding them they're they're great boys and they're gonna
01:21:24they're gonna be fine he was an amazing father brother son nephew person friend he was an amazing
01:21:32person with the most contagious laugh out there i'll remember eric's laugh if i can hear it in my head
01:21:42he needs to be remembered as just a loving dad he had so much more life to live
01:21:50and he wanted so much for his boys i'm gonna remember just how much he loved him
01:22:00and that's our program for tonight thanks for watching i'm david muir and i'm deborah
01:22:04roberts from all of us here at 2020 and abc news good night
01:22:40here we are
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