In opening statements Monday, defense attorney Kathy Nester said the six hours surrounding Eric Richins’ death late March 3 and early March 4, 2022, are essentially a black box.
His wife Kouri Richins is charged with his murder, attempted murder and financial crimes. She’s pleaded not guilty.
Her attorney said no witness will be able to say exactly what happened the night Eric Richins died by a fentanyl overdose.
“[Prosecutors are] going to spend weeks in this trial trying to convince you that Kouri had reasons to kill her husband, because they can't show you that she did kill her husband,” Nester told the jury.
Summit County prosecutors say Richins poisoned her husband with a lethal amount of fentanyl.
Tuesday Dr. Pam Ulmer, a state medical examiner at the time, testified that her autopsy of Eric Richins found fentanyl in his stomach and blood, and that she ultimately decided it was a lethal amount.
Two days into the trial, prosecutors haven't explained how Kouri Richins would have administered the fentanyl to her husband, other than orally.
Her attorneys have mentioned numerous times cups in the sink were never tested nor taken as evidence when authorities arrived the day Eric Richins died.
“The nanny ended up putting them in the dishwasher the next morning, and they still had fluid in them,” Nester said.
The defense has said investigators have searched the family home in Francis as many as 10 times over the past four years, including as recently as two weeks before trial.
Tuesday’s hearing concluded with prosecutors taking the jury through the Richins home with 3D images that investigators created during some of the searches.
They used crime scene technician Chelsea Gipson’s testimony to admit items including four cell phones, various THC edibles, prescription medications and tweezers into evidence.
They also have a host of financial documents, cell phone data, text messages and other evidence they think will prove Kouri Richins is guilty in the death of her husband. Chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth shared some of her phone searches during opening statements.
“‘If someone is poisoned,’” he said for the jury, “‘what does it go down on the death certificate as?’ ‘Can cops force you to do a lie detector test?’ ‘Women, Utah, prison.’ ‘Luxury prisons for the rich in America.’”
Bloodworth said Kouri Richins knew she was being investigated for her husband's murder when those searches were made on her phone.
The state is also expected to present text messages between Richins and an alleged boyfriend, which it says speak to Richins’ unhappiness in her marriage and motive.
The jury will hear from Kouri Richins’ housekeeper, who is expected to testify that she sold Richins fentanyl.
The murder trial is scheduled to last five weeks until March 27.
Gipson’s testimony continues with a cross-examination Wednesday morning.
