PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Prosecutors portrayed a Utah mother and children’s book author as a money-hungry murderer on Monday, the first day in the case. murder trial Meanwhile, her defense team urged jurors not to make a decision before hearing her side of the story.
Cory Richins, 35, faces many challenges. felony She is accused of killing her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl at their home in the suburbs of the Park City ski resort in March 2022. She vehemently denied the charges.
Prosecutors allege that the Moscow Mule cocktail she drank was spiked with five times the lethal dose of synthetic opioids. She is also accused of trying to poison him with a poison on Valentine’s Day a month ago. sandwich with fentanyl According to court documents, this caused him to break out in hives and lose consciousness.
After Eric Richens’ death, Cori Richens self-published a children’s book about grief to help her young son and other children cope with the loss of a parent.
As arguments in the case began Monday, Ms. Richins sat next to her defense team, wearing a black blazer and white blouse and taking notes on a legal pad.
Summit County Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors that Richens was $4.5 million in debt and mistakenly believed she would inherit more than $4 million if her husband died. Prosecutors claim she was planning a future with another man she was dating.
“The evidence will prove that Kuri Richens murdered Eric for money and a fresh start in life,” Bloodworth said. “Above all, she wanted his money to perpetuate her facade of privilege, wealth, and success.”
Approximately $2 million life insurance policy
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester began her opening statement by playing a recording of Richins’ 911 call the night her husband died. Richins sobbed hysterically during the call and seemed unable to answer the dispatcher’s questions.
“It was the sound of a wife becoming a widow,” Nestor said.
Eric Richins had Lyme disease and was addicted to painkillers, Nester said. She suggested he may have overdosed.
However, Eric Richens’ sister Katie Richens-Benson testified that her mother was a drug and alcohol counselor. Richins Benson said her mother instilled in her siblings the dangers of drug use from an early age.
The trial is scheduled to run until March 26, and dozens of people hoping to watch the trial took up lawn chairs outside the courthouse from 4 a.m., four and a half hours before the trial began.
Witnesses likely to be called to testify include a housekeeper who claims to have sold fentanyl to Richens three times, and a man with whom Richens allegedly had an affair.
Richins faces nearly 30 charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, forgery, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud. The murder charge alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
In the months leading up to her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published a picture book, Are You with Me? The story of a father with angel wings watching over his young son after he dies. This book could play a key role in helping prosecutors frame Eric Richins’ death as a premeditated murder with an elaborate cover-up. Bloodworth told jurors on Monday how Richens advertised on local television and radio stations.
Prosecutors allege that in the years before her husband’s death, Ms. Richens took out numerous life insurance policies on Eric Richens without his knowledge and received a total of nearly $2 million in insurance proceeds. Court documents say she has a negative bank account balance, owes more than $1.8 million to lenders, and is facing a lawsuit from her creditors.
Ms Bloodworth showed the jury a series of text messages between Kuri Richens and Robert Josh Grossman, with whom she had an affair. She texted Grossman about her dreams of leaving her husband, making millions from the divorce, and one day marrying Grossman.
Bloodworth also showed screenshots of Richins’ internet search history, including “Utah Women’s Prison,” “Luxury Prisons for the Rich in America,” and “Can Police Force Lie Detector Tests?”
Empty pill bottle and marijuana gummies
The state’s key witness, housekeeper Carmen Lauber, told detectives that she sold up to 90 blue-green fentanyl pills that she obtained from a dealer. Lauber has not been charged in connection with the incident, and detectives said she was granted immunity.
The defense argued Monday that Lauber did not actually give Richins the fentanyl and was motivated to lie for legal protection. Nothing was found in Richins’ home, and the housekeeper’s dealer said Richins was in prison and in detox from drug use when he told detectives he sold fentanyl to Lauber in 2023. He then said in an affidavit that he only sold her the opioid OxyContin.
Nester showed jurors a photo of an empty pill bottle on Eric’s nightstand the night he died and a bag containing marijuana gummies that Eric was known to have regularly used. She said he was dependent on painkillers and had asked his wife to procure opioids for him.
According to their lawyer, the couple had had a tough year and were both considering divorce, but they went to marriage counseling and decided to stay together. She said they were happy and celebrating closing a real estate deal on the night of his death.