Chapter 1: What were the charges against Kouri Richins?
We, the jury, unanimously find that the defendant, Corey Richens, is guilty of aggravated murder. There is a verdict in the trial of Utah Children's book author Corey Richens, who had been charged with murder and attempted murder of her husband, Eric, in 2022, along with insurance fraud and forgery.
Corey Richens was found guilty on all five counts as Eric's sisters and father watched emotionally and reacted emotionally to the decision in court. I'm 48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales, and this is 48 Hours inside the Corey Richens trial.
Now, the state of Utah alleged that Corey Richens poisoned Eric with a lethal dose of fentanyl served in a Moscow mule back in March of 2022 after previously attempting to poison him via a sandwich on Valentine's Day of that same year. Before her arrest in 2023, she published a children's book about grief to help her kids mourn the loss of their father.
Here with me to discuss the verdict and the trial is Sky Lazaro, a defense attorney who represented Corey Richens before the trial. But she was there inside the Summit County courtroom for closing arguments. So, Sky, the decision really came down after just a few hours once the jury went to deliberate. What was your reaction to then hearing the verdict?
Chapter 2: How did the jury reach their verdict in the Richins trial?
And were you surprised? I was surprised by how quickly the jury came back. Really, there was a lot of evidence that was presented in this case. And just, you know, from experience, I somewhat expected the jury to go back, probably do a little bit of deliberation with the few hours they had. go home, get some rest, and then come back the next day.
So the defense did make the decision not to call any witnesses and not to put Corey Richens on the stand. Was any of that a mistake, in your opinion, as a defense attorney? You hate to Monday morning quarterback what somebody else does in trial. This is really difficult work, and these are decisions that you make in real time. I understand why they did not.
Chapter 3: What was the significance of the closing arguments in the trial?
The state actually held back some evidence, I think because they expected Corey to probably testify and for the defense to put on a defense. And the strategy really becomes, do we put on what we have and is what we have enough to make a difference? Because what you do, the state gets a rebuttal in these cases. So the state then gets to come back because it's their burden of proof.
and put on even more evidence or more character evidence. So really, it gives them one more chance to send the jury back to deliberate or listen to closing arguments, having heard even more negative things about your client. It's always a really, really hard decision to make. You never know which one's right. You second guess everything you do.
especially when you get a conviction, then you really question it.
Chapter 4: What evidence did the prosecution present about the murder motive?
But in this case, I think the state, to their credit, did a really, really good job of painting a picture of Corey Richens, that someone who's capable of murder and who did commit it. Let's talk about the murder and attempted murder charges. And here's prosecutor Brad Bloodworth during his closing arguments talking about the motive here. And the motive in this case truly was money.
You know, Corey was in over her head in debt with her house flipping business. Eric's estate was worth over $4 million, including a life insurance policy, which the prosecution alleged that Corey forged to sign over to her name. Let's take a listen to Bloodworth in his closings.
The substance here happened to have been fentanyl, could have been any part of the illicit street drug that she bought, happened to be fentanyl that she administered in a Moscow mill and a shot or a shot. But we know that's how she administered it because it was in his belly. We know it was a lethal amount.
Chapter 5: How did the defense challenge the prosecution's case?
The death certificate, fentanyl killed him, that's the substance, lethal amount, can be as small as 3 nanograms per milliliter, and in this case he had 15. Five times what can be a lethal amount. That, by the way, is not an accident. That amount of fentanyl shows that Corey Richens wanted Eric not only dead, but good and dead. Well, that was Brad Bledworth from the prosecution.
Now here is defense attorney Wendy Lewis. She insisted that the prosecution did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Okay, so they have to prove that Corey Richens intentionally or knowingly caused the death of Eric Richens. The state has not proven this. They haven't even proven that she obtained fentanyl.
Chapter 6: What role did witness Carmen Lauber play in the trial?
They have not proven where the pills ended up or how Eric took them. Stace stood up here and argued, well, it really doesn't matter what drug she purchased. As long as it was an illicit street drug, it absolutely matters. Because what did he die of? He died of fentanyl. There was no oxycodone in his system. There was no other drug in his system.
they must prove that she purchased and gave him fentanyl. So Sky, the defense really leaned into the fact that the prosecution couldn't 100% prove that Corey was the one who procured the fentanyl and put it into that Moscow mule. The defense made the case that Eric Richens was a recreational drug user, that he used to take gummies with a THC at night to help him sleep.
Chapter 7: How did Kouri Richins' children's book impact public perception?
Perhaps he got it a tainted supply of THC gummies with fentanyl in it. So in your mind, the defense did not present that as strong enough evidence to the jury? I think with the jury's decision, it's clear that that it wasn't presented strong enough, that there wasn't enough follow up, that they didn't they didn't they put it on through cross examination.
But maybe looking back at what should we have done differently or should we have put on a defense? Maybe those are the people you try to put on. Now, according to the prosecution, the key witness here is Carmen Lauber.
She was a woman who worked with Corey Richens as a cleaning person, but also had a criminal history in dealing drugs and also admitted on the stand to having used drugs and having a past with drug abuse, although she claimed she's clean now. But Lauber said that Corey had come to her on four different occasions asking for drugs from her. saying this was all for an investor.
Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes of Kouri Richins' sentencing?
And then Corey apparently asked Carmen Lauber for something even stronger than the painkiller that she had received in the past. Carmen talks about her contact here when it came to buying those drugs. Take a listen. He said he had a buddy that had some fentanyl pills. What time did you do it?
I had texted Corey back and told her that I had a friend that could get them, but they were fentanyl pills. So you told Corey you had a friend, a hookup for fentanyl pills? Yes. How did Corey Richardson respond? She said, okay, go ahead and get them. So did you go ahead and get them? Yes.
So, Skye, I know Carmen Lauber is somewhat of a tough witness when it comes to the prosecution, because even though she is the key witness here, she also has this history with drugs. And she also seems to be, according to the defense's side, changing her story on multiple occasions, right? Yes. That's correct.
The state really had a lot to overcome when you pin your entire case on someone like Carmen Lauber. We look back at the investigation and we look at the interviews that were done. And she does say that she sold Corey drugs, but that wasn't fentanyl. And it wasn't until several interviews later that When the state investigator is really pushing on her, this is your get out of jail free card.
And remember, she's on probation for first degree felony drug charges at the time. Those carry a potential sentence of five years to life in prison. So this is serious. And that was played during the course of the trial. They're looking to pull your drug court deal and ask for seven years on your two firsts.
Five years for the first, the one felony, and then a 40% portion for the second for seven years. The only exception to that and the only thing that they're willing to kind of help you out with is if you can help us out with this. And I want to talk about how the defense also went after Carmen Lauber's testimony. You know, they presented her with stacks of binders.
I'm going to ask you to refer to these as we talk. These are the transcripts of the interviews that you did in April and May of 2023. So in presenting those binders, it seems she's presenting the situation to Lauber as this is all your testimony over the time. And look how much it's changed. Right, Skye? That's exactly what they did. And they went after her personally. pretty harshly.
I think at times she almost came across as sympathetic, which didn't help the defense either. Because up to this point in the interview, you've said no fentanyl. I don't deal in fentanyl. I didn't get her fentanyl. I got her Roxie's. I got her Roxie's. Oh, she asked for Michael Jackson drugs. Oh, I guess I got her fentanyl. How else would fentanyl be in my head? Right.
That's what's happened up to this point. Correct. And the only person up to this point who has put the word fentanyl in your head are these detectives, correct? Ms. Lauber, you're on the stand. At that point, they are the ones that told you it was fentanyl. They're the ones that told me that Eric passed away from fentanyl.
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