LIVE UPDATES | Day 10 of Kouri Richins murder trial

Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three boys, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022. She is on trial in Summit County, Utah, on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery.

Today is the 10th day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin today at 8:30 a.m. East Idaho News will be posting live written updates all day. Please excuse typos. You can watch the livestream here. The most recent updates are at the top of this page.

4:40 p.m. Court is over for the day. Jury does not need to report until 9:30 a.m. because the judge and attorneys need to take care of some legal matters beforehand at 8:30 a.m. Join me tonight on “Courtroom Insider” at 7 p.m. MDT on the East Idaho News YouTube channel. A lot to talk about!

4:37 p.m. Nester is done. Bloodworth asks if there is any evidence of Bryce and Eric engaged in a homosexual affair. Gabler says there is no evidence of that. Bloodworth asks about the guidelines Gabler has to follow when doing his investigation. He says he conducted his investigation within the guidelines he is bound to. No further questions from either side.

4:33 p.m. Nester brings up more texts between Eric and Bryce. Gabler says the messages appear to be jokes. Nester asks about the number of sext messages. Gabler says he doesn’t see it as sexting – these were two friends joking with each other. He says he doesn’t remember all of these messages. Nester asks if he reviewed all of the text messages. He did, but nothing stuck out. Nester asks if they repeatedly talked about having sex acts with each other, oral sex and anal sex. Gabler doesn’t recall, but interprets it as joking.

4:30 p.m. Nester asks about documentation showing Eric talking about an open relationship. She shows a text on the screen for Gabler to review. He says it’s a joke. Nester asks about a text between Eric and a friend, Bryce, that said, “Kouri and I are starting an open relationship tonight, so I told her I’m taking you home.” Nester asks Gabler if he saw sexting between Eric and Bryce. He doesn’t recall – says there were hundreds of thousands of texts, and he can’t recall them all.

4:26 p.m. Nester asks Gabler if he ever made any calls or trips to Mexico. No. Kouri called Gabler on Jan. 19, 2023, and he stopped her – said it would be unethical and inappropriate for him to talk with her without the presence of her lawyer. Gabler then contacted her lawyer. Gabler says Kouri was very angry that he had contacted one of her business associates. After that initial call, Gabler made repeated requests to talk with Kouri. Nester asks if he’s aware that the trust is seeking over $10 million from Kouri for the wrongful death of Eric. Gabler says he didn’t know that – it’s irrelevant to him.

4:23 p.m. Nester refers to an invoice record from Verizon. Nester asks about a call Eric made on Feb. 14, 2022, at 12:23 p.m.

4:20 p.m. Nester asks about some fentanyl cases in Summit County around the time Eric died. He found no relationship to the Richins case.

4:18 p.m. Nester asks if Gabler found evidence of Eric sexting with people other than Kouri. He doesn’t recall that. Gabler did investigate allegations of an affair regarding Eric. Nester says that’s not what she asks. She repeats and asks if he found evidence of sexting. He says he isn’t sure what she means by sexting, so the answer is no.

4:17 p.m. Nester needs a moment. Gabler remains on the stand smiling. He glances back and forth between Kouri and the jury.

4:14 p.m. Nester asks about Gabler having access to Eric’s text messages and how much time he spent reading through Eric’s texts. He doesn’t recall exactly – “a number of hours.” Gabler has spent 936.3 hours so far in the case. Gabler charges $125 an hour, but when he did computer forensics, the rate was higher. Gabler made over $100,000 on this case, he says.

4:12 p.m. Nester asks if Gabler was given access to law enforcement folders. He says no. He provided them with links to his folders. Nester asks if he gave them access to Eric’s phone content. Gabler says police already had access to his phone.

4:09 p.m. Nester pulls up an email he sent to Detective Woody. Gabler tells Woody that “now would be a really good time to interview Carmen Lauber because she’s on the ropes in drug court.” Gabler told Woody that Carmen would likely comply with law enforcement at that point.

4:07 p.m. Gabler says he also tracked Carmen Lauber’s vehicle, and he gave that information to law enforcement. When he learned it wasn’t Carmen driving the car, he removed the device. Nester asks how many times Gabler met with law enforcement. He says it’s not relevant to him. Nester says it’s relevant to her. He says 5-6 times.

4:04 p.m. Nester plays the video of the computer she says Gabler went through in the office. Gabler says that it is his laptop and he was scanning documents. It’s not a computer he removed from the office. Nester asks about Gabler sitting outside Kouri Richins’ house and watching her. He says that is false. Gabler put GPS devices on Kouri’s car, her mother’s car and her brother’s car. Gabler tracked them and turned over the information to law enforcement.

4:01 p.m. Nester asks about a safe Gabler removed from the house. He says he took it and then brought it back. The safe was in the master closet, and he removed it at the request of Clint Benson. He took it to a locksmith. Nester says, “Then you busted into the safe.” Gabler says he did not “bust” into the safe. Gabler says a rubber mallet was used to get into the safe. Nester says, “There was no law enforcement there.” Gabler responds, “I don’t need law enforcement to babysit me.”

3:59 p.m. Nester says there is video of Gabler searching a computer in the office at the home. She wants to play a portion of video without sound for the witness. Gabler says he is having difficulty keeping his head up. He puts a brace around his neck.

3:56 p.m. Gabler left the video on the master bed. He didn’t know police were going to come for it. Nester asks if Gabler often moved other things around the house. He says that isn’t true. She asks if he moved a computer and put it in his Tesla. Gabler asks if she’s talking about the C&E computer, that’s not what happened. Gabler says Becky picked up the computer from the house after Eric died. Becky gave the computer to Katie, who them gave it to Gabler.

3:54 p.m. Nester asks about a letter Gabler found called the “babycakes” letter from Eric to Kouri. She asks if he moved the letter. He doesn’t recall moving it. On video, he found the letter on May 10, 2023, in the bottom drawer of Eric’s side of the bed. He looked at it, didn’t think it was relevant, and put it away. On Aug. 9, 2024, he photographed the letter on the bed. He doesn’t recall whether the letter was on the bed, or he retrieved it from the vanity.

3:51 p.m. Nester asks if police ever told Gabler to stop calling. He says they did not. Gabler says he was following the instructions of the client to turn over anything of value for the civil case. That’s why he was hired. He says if he found something of evidentiary value, he would let the police know. He says even if the police told him to stop, he would not. Gabler recalls finding an audio recorder in the dresser drawer that he pointed out to law enforcement.

3:49 p.m. Gabler never went in the house between March 4, 2022, and May 8, 2023. Nester asks how many times the police had searched the home. He does not know. Nester asks about Gabler calling police back to the house when he found something. Gabler says that happened 4-5 times. “Police never get anything. Ever. That’s true in every case I’ve ever handled,” Gabler says. Nester says she won’t argue with him on that.

3:47 p.m. Gabler says Clint Benton had knowledge of his presence at the home. Nester says there are hours and hours of video of him alone going through things in the home. Gabler says he has already testified of that. Nester asks when Gabler got access to the home. Gabler says the house was released from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office on May 8, 2023. That triggered the search. Nester says Kouri was arrested on May 8. Gabler doesn’t know the date Kouri was arrested.

3:44 p.m. Back from break. Defense attorney Kathryn Nester is questioning Gabler. She begins by saying he is not enforcement and the rules between law enforcement and private investigators are significantly different. Gabler says he does not agree with that in every circumstance. He says if he’s hired by an attorney, he is bound by their ethics. Nester says if Gabler wanted to go search for a house for six days, he could. Gabler got a key from Clint Benson to use at his discretion. Nester says there were times he went to the house by himself without Clint being there. Gabler says that’s true.

3:31 p.m. Any item that Gabler considered to be evidence was removed by the sheriff’s office, not him. Bloodworth has no further questions. We are taking an afternoon recess. Back at 3:40 p.m.

3:25 p.m. Gabler took photos, video, scanned thousands of documents and documented everything. Bloodworth asks if Clint Benson was present every time Gabler searched. Gabler says he was never in the house without Benson’s authorization. Gabler always recorded with his GoPro the entire time, other than once when he was called over and recorded with his cell phone. Gabler never brought anything into the house. During his May searches of the house, Gabler found a bunch of documents between Kouri and her lawyers and bill records from her lawyers. Gabler says that would be unethical for him to read, so he put them in a manila envelope. At the end of his search, he took the envelope to the attorney’s office. He also removed a few things from the house pertaining to the boys.

3:23 p.m. Gabler noticed Carmen had an extensive criminal record involving drugs. Carmen tested positive for drugs in drug court around the time of Eric’s death. “I was very concerned about the high number of contacts and the criminal history for Carmen, and I alerted the sheriff’s office about that,” Gabler says. Gabler says he first searched the Richins’ home on May 8, 2023. That was the day it was released by the sheriff’s office. Kouri’s lawyers showed up as soon as the sheriff’s office departed. Gabler had arranged for the sheriff’s office to have security on site. One of Kouri’s attorneys accompanied Gabler to do an inventory of assets on the home. That lawyer stayed a few hours and Gabler never saw them on the search of the property. Gabler searched for 4-5 days initially.

3:20 p.m. Billing records don’t reveal content, just records of calls and texts. The highest number of contacts was from Kouri’s phone interaction with her mom. Kouri’s mom was a “high weight” because there were many contacts. Gabler is interested in how many times you contact a person, what time of day, and the type contact (text, voice call, etc.). Gabler says there were hundreds of texts between Kouri and Carmen Lauber, the house cleaner, between January and May 2022. The only two people ahead of Carmen was Kouri’s mom and Eric.

3:18 p.m. Gabler analyzed Eric and Kouri’s cell phone records. They were being paid for by C&E Masonry. He obtained the billing records from C&E. He got two sets of records – January to May 2022 and May 2022 to February 2023.

3:15 p.m. Gabler always records his interviews. He then types up and summarizes the interviews into a sheet. Gabler conducted around 40-50 interviews for this investigation. Gabler always identified himself. Gabler interviewed friends and associates of Eric, friends and associates of Kouri, Eric’s business and personal acquaintances, Eric’s family members. He tried to interview members of Kouri’s family, but was not successful in getting interviews.

3:11 p.m. Gabler had no contact with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office before Kouri’s arrest. Gabler gave two hard drives to the county attorney’s office. Gabler says two hypotheses needed to be looked at: Eric accidentally overdosed or Kouri Richins surreptitiously had Eric ingest a massive amount of fentanyl and killed him. All of his data fed into the two competing scenarios.

3:10 p.m. Gabler says the flow of information was one way – him giving the sheriff’s office information. He tried to get the 911 call, and all his requests were denied. He says it’s common for police agencies to be one-way streets.

3:08 p.m. The Bensons paid Gabler. Gabler provided his information to the sheriff’s office. He says it would be a crime for him to have any file materials go to anyone else other than his client without his client’s permission. He would discuss his findings with his client and then turn things over to the sheriff’s office.

3:05 p.m. Gabler met with Clint and Katie Benson in April 2022. He told them about the procedures he follows when investigating cases. He said he needed to get ahold of phones, computers, etc. “‘You’re hiring me to find the truth. The truth is sometimes very difficult for us to accept. The truth is half what you most fear what it is and half what you desire it to be. You cannot separate the two.’ I told them they would have to accept the truth about what happened to their brother. If he took his own life, they would have to accept that. If someone was responsible for his death, they would also have to accept my investigation and accept that truth. They agreed.”

3:02 p.m. Gabler has worked on 100 homicide cases and they have all been for the defense. “I have always sat on that side of the room with the defense.” He has never testified for the state – always for the defense. Gabler was contacted in 2022 by an attorney who suggested he speak with Katie Richins-Benson about the death of Eric Richins.

3 p.m. Next witness is Todd Gabler, the Richins family’s private investigator. He is sworn in. Gabler has a cane and explains that on Jan. 13, his neck was fused together with titanium rods. He has not taken any prescribed pain medication today for the purpose of clarity of mind and testimony. He took a Tylenol this morning. Gabler has been a private investigator for 34 years.

2:57 p.m. Sidebar over. Nester asks about Woody interviewing Kouri on the day of Eric’s death. She asks if Woody ever asked Kouri how long she was in the bed with Eric before realizing he was cold. Woody says it was almost immediately. Nester asks if Woody listened to the 911 call. She says she might have at one point, but she doesn’t remember it. Kouri told Woody that Eric was healthy. Nester has nothing further. She tells Woody to “enjoy the dog.” Woody is dismissed.

2:53 p.m. Sidebar over. Nester moves to admit an exhibit. She asks Woody if she ever provided the private investigator with reports of people being arrested for fentanyl in Summit County. Woody says that does not sound familiar. Nester asks if Woody knew Kouri was represented by an attorney on April 13 – the time they searched the home. Objection – relevance. Judge sustains.

2:49 p.m. Nester asks how often Woody spoke with the Richins family and about a timeline Katie sent Woody. She did receive a timeline. Nester asks about reports in Summit County saying fentanyl was found in marijuana. Woody is not familiar with it. Sidebar.

2:46 p.m. Nester asks if there was a dog in the house. Woody says they must have put the dog away because she didn’t know anything about a dog. Nester asks to what extent they looked through Eric’s phone. “There was a couple of investigators trying to figure out what it all meant. I was pretty confusing,” Woody says. Woody looked through call logs, but not the “guts” of the phone.

2:42 p.m. Nester asks if an e-warrant was obtained while in the house. Woody says they didn’t know if a crime had been committed. Nester asks about the search on April 13, 2022, and if Woody was in charge. Woody says she doesn’t believe she was in charge, but she was there. Nester asks if Kouri knew the search was happening. Kouri was detained for about 10 minutes on the day of the search so officers could explain what was happening. Kouri was upset. Woody told Kouri that Eric died of a fetanyl overdose. Nester asks if Woody has reviewed the website searches. She has not.

2:40 p.m. Nester asks if Kouri gave permission for them to search the home. Woody says she gave them permission to check the garbage can in the kitchen and the bathroom. Nester asks Woody if she ever checked about the housekeeper coming to the house to clean that day. Woody doesn’t recall. Nester asks if an empty hydrocone bottle was seized next to Eric’s bed. Woody says photos were taken and the bottle was empty. Nester asks where the bottle is today. Woody doesn’t know.

2:38 p.m. Nester asks Woody if it’s fair to say that, before she walked in the door, she had reason to believe it could be a murder crime scene. Woody says yes. Nester asks if Woody had any crime scene tape available. Woody doesn’t remember. No crime scene tape was put up, but someone was posted at the bedroom door. Nester asks if crime scene investigators came in to work the scene. Woody says Chelsea Gipson and someone from the medical examiner’s office came in. There was also a patrol deputy on scene. Woody can’t remember that deputy’s name.

2:33 p.m. Sidebar over. Bloodworth asks Woody if the phones were sent to the lab for downloading. They were. The search was complicated by deletions in Kouri Richins’ phone, Woody testifies. The private investigator provided detectives with information he gathered. In March 2023, Woody began working with a K-9. She had wanted to work with a dog for years. Detective Jeff O’Driscoll then took over as lead detective. Kathryn Nester will now question on behalf of the defense.

2:20 p.m. Kouri’s phone and Eric’s phone were seized during the warrant. THC products were also seized. Sidebar.

2:16 p.m. Within the two weeks after Eric died, Katie Richins-Benson, another sister, gave Woody Eric’s health records. Those were given to the medical examiner. After getting toxicology results, Woody learned Eric had died of fentanyl intoxication. Bloodworth asks about Woody then getting a warrant to search the Richins’ home and Kouri’s car. No fentanyl was found in the home or automobile.

2:14 p.m. Woody searched the immediate scene, but did not have a warrant to search the entire house. She asked for consent to search beyond the immediate death scene and look into the kitchen garbage because that’s where he had been for the last part of the night. Someone else searched the garbage and found no evidence of illicit drugs. Woody did not ask for consent to search the rest of the home because there wasn’t anything that said it was a crime, and she wanted to be mindful of the family that was grieving.

2:11 p.m. Kouri told Woody that Eric had complained of chest pains that night. He had COVID twice but didn’t like to take drugs. Kouri did not mention street drugs. Bloodworth asks if anyone told Woody that Eric may have died from an aneurysm. A paramedic or medical person told Woody that. There was no sign of drug use or drug paraphernalia around the house. The garbage cans were empty. Woody asked why. Kouri said her housekeeper emptied them. Woody asked Kouri her housekeeper’s name. Kouri said she couldn’t remember the housekeeper’s name.

2:08 p.m. Jury is back in the courtroom. Bloodworth asks Woody about meeting Amy Richins in the driveway. “Did what she told you suggest that Kouri Richins may have been involved in Eric’s death?” Woody says yes. She then went into the house, interviewed people and spoke with Deputy Nguyen. Woody also spoke with Kouri. She said they were celebrating something, and they had a shot of alcohol. They went to bed around 9 p.m. Around 9:30 p.m., one of their kids woke her up with a nightmare. She stayed there until 3 a.m. and then went back to her bedroom. Eric was ghost-white and cold. When she nudged him, he didn’t appear to be breathing, so she called 911.

2:01 p.m. Nester asks Woody if she did an investigation to find out if Eric had made that statement. Woody says she spoke with Kouri but did not speak with anyone else about it. Nester has nothing further at this point. Judge asks to speak with attorneys at bench.

1:57 p.m. Sidebar over. Judge says there is a legal issue that needs to be discussed. He excuses jurors to take a walk. Bloodworth asks Woody what Amy told her in the driveway. Woody says, “Amy said that Eric told her that he thought Kouri was going to kill him.” Judge asks Nester if there is anything she wants to ask Woody about the exchange. Nester says based on Woody’s report, there were two conversations with Amy. Nester asks when Amy spoke with Woody, which of the conversations did she mention that Eric thought Kouri was going to kill him? Woody says in both conversations. Nester asks what Amy told Woody in their second conversation. Woody says Amy told her that Kouri was erratic when she was drinking, and Eric and Kouri had been fighting a lot, and Eric said that Kouri threatened to kill him.

1:53 p.m. Woody recalls arriving at Eric’s house on March 4, 2022. She saw Amy Richins, Eric’s sister, in the driveway at Eric’s house and spoke with her. Bloodworth asks what she said. Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asks judge for sidebar. Bloodworth and Nester approach judge’s bench.

1:49 p.m. The call ends. Next witness is Summit County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jayme Woody. She is currently a K9 officer and was the lead detective in Eric Richins’ death. She has assisted in death investigations prior to Eric’s death. Prior to this case, the biggest case she had investigated was a rape case.

1:46 p.m. Dispatcher asks if the front door is open. Kouri says it’s locked. A few seconds later, she says it’s unlocked. Dispatcher tells Kouri to keep her on the phone and go continue CPR. We hear a male voice in the background saying, “Ambulance is en route.” Kouri says, “He’s doing CPR. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Dispatcher asks if a paramedic took over CPR. The man says, “Paramedics haven’t arrived yet. We’re in the back bedroom.” Operator asks Kouri who is with her. A lot of inaudible statements and Kouri crying.

1:45 p.m. Dispatcher says she needs to get Eric on the floor. Kouri says he’s on the floor. Dispatcher tells Kouri to listen carefully and she will tell her how to do CPR. She tells Kouri to put her hands in the center of the chest and start pumping the chest as least twice per second and 2 inches deep. Dispatcher tells Kouri to start counting out loud so they can count together. 1-2-3-4. They start counting.

1:42 p.m. Dispatcher says she needs to move Eric to the floor. Kouri says he’s too heavy. Dispatcher says if there’s a sheet or blanket, can she use that to pull Eric to the floor. “Pull the sheets toward you and slide them off the bed. Don’t worry about him falling – we need to help him now,” dispatcher says. Kouri tells her kids to get out. Kouri tells the dispatcher he’s dead weight. “I can’t. Can you please send somebody.” Dispatcher asks Kouri how old her husband is. Kouri says 39. Dispatcher asks if she was able to pull Eric off the bed. Kouri responds, “I’m pulling.”

1:40 p.m. Dispatcher asks Kouri if she can lay him on the floor now. She says she can’t, she’s shaking. Dispatcher says, “You can do it. I need you to help him. Take a deep breath with me. I’m here with you.” Kouri says he doesn’t have a pulse. “There’s no pulse. There’s no pulse.” Dispatcher tells Kouri she’s going to guide her through CPR and she can put her on speaker. Kouri says, “OK, I’m ready.” Dispatcher asks Kouri if she can move him to the floor. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what’s happening,” Kouri responds.

1:37 p.m. Prosecuting attorney Brad Bloodworth says the 911 call will be admitted and published. We hear Kouri crying, saying her husband is cold. Dispatcher asks what happened. “I don’t…I don’t know. I was sleeping in with my kids and I just came in our bed and he’s cold. He’s just cold.” Dispatcher asks Kouri twice, “He’s not breathing? I need you to confirm it for me he’s not breathing.”

1:35 p.m. Back from lunch. Prosecution plans to admit the 911 call before the next witness. No objection from the defense. Jury is invited back in.

12:28 p.m. Questioning is done. Lunch break until 1:30 p.m.

12:23 p.m. Nestor asks Throckmorton if he looked at closing documents for the Midway mansion. He did not. Defense has nothing further. Prosecution asks Throckmorton how many times he’s testified in court for forensic handwriting cases. 48 times. Bermester asks forgery. There is no evidence Eric signed the document.

12:17 p.m. Nester asks about the Mike Princess letter. It was two pages of writing written by Eric. Throckmorton reviewed the letter, but after reviewing the prior document. Nester asks if Throckmorton reviewed other insurance documents to see if they had forged signatures. He says he looked at a number of documents.

12:13 p.m. Nester is struggling with a cough. She refers to a national report that handwriting analysis needs improvement and lists concerns about conclusions made by forensic examiners. Throckmorton believes he has read the study. Nester asks about the error rate in forensic examiners. Error rate is 4 out of 100 – 4 in every 100 cases, the examiners make an error in their judgment.

12:10 p.m. Nester asks when Throckmorton stopped working with Salt Lake City Police. He says around 2020. She asks if it was because he was falsifying documents. Throckmorton says no. Nester asks if he was subjected to an internal affairs investigation for falsifying documents. Throckmorton says yes, but he was cleared. He was falsely accused by somebody who had been a law enforcement officer.

12:09 p.m. Throckmorton can’t say that Kouri signed the document. Nester asks if he has any personal knowledge that Eric gave Kouri permission to sign the document. Throckmorton has no knowledge of that and it was not part of the examination. Nester asks Throckmorton if his wife ever signs her name on anything. Prosecution objects. Judge sustains.

12:04 p.m. Nester says that not every forensic evaluator is going to come to the exact same opinion as him. Throckmorton says that’s right. Nester asks about Throckmorton using a copy versus the original and the term that Eric “probably did not” sign the document.

12:01 p.m. Nester asks about the difference between being a certified forensic examiner and a forensic examiner. Throckmorton says you pay to become certified. Nester asks about different boards and associations of national examiners. They’re all groups that provide ways for people to become certified. Throckmorton says there are a lot of organizations people can join, even if they don’t have any training. Nester says Throckmorton has never sought certification or joined these groups. He says that’s correct.

11:58 a.m. Throckmorton can not absolutely eliminate that Eric didn’t sign it for sure because he was dealing with a photocopy, rather than the original document. He also could not determine who was authoring the signature. Burmester has nothing further. Nester will now cross-examine.

11:56 a.m. Throckmorton steps down from the stand and approaches the monitor to explain how Eric signed his name – like a pen lift between letters. The document had a single, one-stroke signature and did not match Eric’s normal signature.

11:53 a.m. On this document, Throckmorton says, “There was no evidence that Eric authored the signature and he probably did not. It appeared to be a simulated forgery written by somebody who had access to his writing in an attempt to copy, draw or duplicate his signature and try to pass it off as a genuine signature of Eric.”

11:50 a.m. Burmester shows a document on screen showing the questionable signature at the top with 10 samples below showing the known signatures.

11:48 a.m. Throckmorton also received handwriting samples from a mission journal and other digital PDFs. He reviewed 86 signatures and 24 sets of initials. He compared the questionable handwriting samples to the known samples. After he came to his conclusion, he sent it to a woman in Colorado for verification.

11:43 a.m. Recess is over. Jury is back in the courtroom. Burmester references the exhibit and Thockmorton goes through it. These were the undisputed known samples and signatures that Throckmorton received from Katie Richins’ attorneys. Thockmorton was originally hired by the trust attorneys and received $900 to help. Throckmorton is now working for Summit County on this case. There were canceled checks, driver’s licenses, tax documents, a trust, a will, and other documents Eric had signed.

11:33 a.m. Judge says he needs to take a quick break and apologizes. Jury is dismissed. We are in recess until 11:40 a.m.

11:29 a.m. Burmester admits a document. It’s a PDF copy of a document signed by Kouri Richins. Throckmorton says originals are best to work with, followed by photocopies, followed by PDFs. He explains what happens to PDFs and copies – they become pixelized and finer details in originals can be lost.

11:24 a.m. Throckmortion just looks at the evidence in front of him, nothing else related to the case. He explains the standards and guidelines of how he evaluates handwriting samples.

11:22 a.m. Thockmorton compares the questionable sample versus the known sample and looks for differences, similarities, etc. He is looking for evidence that will show the handwriting was authored by the same person or two different people.

11:20 a.m. Throckmorton explains that nobody can write exactly the same and cites studies that show everyone’s handwriting is different. Burmester asks Throckmorton how he compares handwriting samples. He receives question documents and undisputed documents and then compares them.

11:13 a.m. Throckmorton testifies about his experience, training, leadership and classes he has taught. Throckmorton has worked on over multiple cases and testified in court. Throckmorton says no two people write the same way and everyone has different writing habits.

11:10 a.m. Next witness is George Matthew Throckmorton. He has been with Salt Lake City Police for 27 years and is a crime scene technician. He is a handwriting expert and has been evaluating documents forensically for 30 years. Prosecutor Fred Burmester is questioning Throckmorton.

11:07 a.m. Jury is back in courtroom and Cody Wright is back on the stand. Nester asks Cody how often Eric used THC gummies. He has no idea. She asks where Eric got his gummies. Cody has zero idea. “So that’s a part of his life he didn’t share with you,” Nester asks. Cody says that’s correct. She has nothing further. Prosecution has nothing further. He is released from subpoena.

11:03 a.m. Prosecution is back. Bloodworth says the state is comfortable with the court’s ruling. Judge says the ruling will stand and Nester has not provided a basis to strike Cody’s statement that he’s never been told Eric Richins used illicit street drugs. Jury will now come back into courtroom.

11 a.m. Judge asks Bloodworth if, for the sake of appeal, he wants to get on the record the drug question. Bloodworth says he needs to confer with his team and they leave the courtroom. Court is now off the record until prosecution returns.

10:58 a.m. Nester argues with the judge and says they have an expert who will testify about red devils. Nester says there is a key question of whether Eric Richins had a drug problem and if he did, “Ms. Richins is innocent.” Nester says the witness has changed his story and said in the prelim that Eric used drugs but now says he did. Nester says this is a huge impediment to the fairness of the trial.

10:53 a.m. Judge says the case has to be charged based on admissible evidence. He says he’s required to apply the rules of evidence. Judge says nothing in Cody’s preliminary hearing testimony or what he said outside of the presence of the jury contradicts what he said on the stand in front of the jury. Judge says Cody did not change his testimony. Nester adamantly disagrees and says the defense should be able to impeach Cody. She moves to strike all of his testimony. Judge cuts her off, “Wait a minute, whoa!”

10:51 a.m. Cody is excused from the courtroom. Nester says this whole case is about a pill addiction and whether Eric voluntarily ingested a pill or was given it by his wife. Nester says this is a critical part of the case and wants to impeach Cody based on what he said in the preliminary hearing versus what he just said on the stand. Bloodworth says the state disagrees with everything Nester says, and any relevance to what happened in high school doesn’t play into the case. It was 20 years ago.

10:46 a.m. Cody says what he’s been told about Eric is throughout his life. He doesn’t know the specific timeline and was told that Eric used them in high school. Nester asks again if Eric used illicit street drugs. Cody says he does not know what illicit street drugs entail. He knows Eric had used drugs at some point. Nester has nothing further. Bloodworth asks if he has heard of Eric using other drugs in high school other than red devils. That’s it. Cody says he heard Eric had popped pills. Nester asks if there were drugs after high school. Cody says he doesn’t know exact times and days. Eric popped pills in high school is what I have been told, Cody says. He does not have any knowledge that he popped pills after high school. Cody has knowledge that Eric took THC gummies after high school.

10:40 a.m. Back from recess. Judge says best course of action is to voir dire Cody and ask him the questions. Cody is invited back in. Jury still out of the courtroom. Nester asks Cody if anyone had ever told him that Eric used illicit street drugs and his understanding of the question. Cody says he’s not in the drug world and doesn’t know what most drugs are categorized as. Nester asks if Cody spoke with anyone outside in the hall while he was waiting. Cody says he did not. Nester asks if Cody was aware of Eric using pain pills in high school. Cody was told Eric did, but he has no idea where Eric got the drugs. Nester asks if it was Cody’s understanding that Eric was using the pain pills in high school illicitly, without a prescription. Cody says he learned about this later on in life and he learned he had taken pain pills in high school. Nester asks Cody if he knew what red devils were. Cody says he learned later and believes they were Sudafed. “I’m not a drug person, I’m sorry.”

10:27 a.m. Defense is getting a transcript. Court is in recess for five minutes.

10:24 a.m. There is a debate over illicit street drugs versus pain pills. Nester interrupts and judge says, “Please don’t speak over me so we have a clean record.” Nester apologizes. Back and forth over “red devils” and illicit street drugs and use in high school.

10:18 a.m. There is a discussion between defense and prosecution about drugs. Nester believes she can impeach Cody because he did not tell the truth about Eric’s drug use. Judge says if he in fact said something impeachable, she can – but he isn’t sure that Cody has said anything impeachable. Nester is referring to a transcript from what Cody said in the preliminary hearing and something about “red devils.”

10:16 a.m. Court is taking a recess. Some tech issues are being sorted out. Judge asks Wright to step outside as there will be a discussion he can’t hear about.

10:15 a.m. Bloodworth asks Cody why he sat with the Richins family in court hearings. Cody says he loves the Richins and Eric was one of his best friends and he wants to be a support where he can. Nester asks for a sidebar.

10:11 a.m. Nester asks questions about Eric hunting in Mexico. No further questions. Bloodworth follows up. Asks Cody if people told him Eric used THC edibles. Cody says yes. Bloodworth asks if anyone ever told him that Eric used illicit street drugs. No. Bloodworth asks about Eric being investigated for a wildlife incident. Cody was brought in for questioning. The incident involved not having an elk tag. Bloodworth asks why Cody provided incriminating evidence instead of covering for his friend. He says Eric knew what he did was wrong and Cody wanted to do the right thing.

10:07 a.m. Nester asks about Cody being close with Eric’s family since Eric died. He has become close with them and gone to court and sat with them during hearings. Nester asks Cody if he was aware that Eric and Kouri had personal life insurance policies with New York Life. He was not aware of that. Nester asks Cody if C&E was paying for a personal life insurance policy for Eric through AutoOwners or Integrated Insurance Solutions. He is not awrae of that. Nester asks about Cody hunting in Mexico because Eric couldn’t hunt for a while in the U.S. Eric went to Mexico in February 2022 and went hunting.

10:03 a.m. Nester asks if anyone asked Cody about searching the truck before he picked it up. Cody says no. He still has the brown pickup truck. Nester asks about Eric’s personal red truck. C&E owned the truck. After Eric died, there was an instruction that the truck should not be driven. He got a call from the Ford dealership saying it was ready to be picked up. Cody had the truck picked up from the dealership. “It is a C&E-owned vehicle. There are ramifications for an accident for someone not working for C&E so it would be proper to make sure the truck isn’t being driven.” Nester asks where the truck is. Cody says the truck is at Katie Richins.

10 a.m. Nester asks about other doctor visits on Valentine’s Day. Cody isn’t aware. Nester asks about March 3, 2022, the day before Eric died. Eric and Cody went to lunch at the Mirror Lake Cafe. Nester asks about Cody sending Becky Lloyd to pick up Eric’s C&E computer within a few days after his death. Cody says he did. Nester asks about a private investigator going to talk with Cody about the computer. Cody authorized the computer to go to the private investigator, before law enforcement went through the computer. Nester asks about Cody sending someone to pick up Eric’s work truth – a brown Ford pickup.

9:56 a.m. Nester asks if Eric worked on Valentine’s Day. Cody says they are always getting calls and “working.” Nester admits a photo of a home that is apparently Eric’s. The next photo is of another house. Cody doesn’t recognize it. Another photo is shown to Cody. He doesn’t recognize this one either. Nester asks about Eric going to the doctor on Valentine’s Day. Eric told Cody he had gone with his son to get an allergy shot.

9:54 a.m. Nester asks about Cody and Eric hunting together. She asks about the hunting violations Eric had committed while hunting. Cody was brought in and asked questions about the violations. Eric ended up going to jail. Nester asks if Eric and Cody had a falling out because of the hunting issue. Cody asks for clarification. Nester says they stopped going on family vacations and if the relationship became more tense. Cody says Eric didn’t like it, it was upset with Cody.

9:50 a.m. Nester asks about Eric having back pain and if he would still work. Cody says he would drive around his truck, but wouldn’t be lifting heavy things. Nester asks about Eric having knee pain and having surgery. Cody doesn’t remember that. She asks about Lyme’s disease. Nester asks if Cody subscribes to the faith of the Church of the Latter-day Saints. Cody says he is LDS. Nester says as part of the faith, it’s not proper to drink or take drugs. Cody says if you are an active member and believe that, you can follow that. Nester asks about Eric drinking or using marijuana gummies. Cody says Eric never offered him a drink and he never saw Eric take gummies. “Eric would be ok telling me some of those things. He would tell me but in the light that I am his good friend, he would tell me things but not be proud of that.” Nester responds, “So he did share with you that he used drugs?” Bloodworth objects.

9:49 a.m. Cody says the policy said if Eric was to die, he was to pay Eric’s family the life insurance money. When Eric died, Cody paid the money to the family trust, which was what the court told him to do. Nester stresses that Kouri didn’t get the money. Cody says he doesn’t know where the money went.

9:46 a.m. Nester asks about Cody and Eric’s buy-sell agreement. She inquires about the beneficiary change on the life insurance policy made on Jan. 1, 2022. Nester says the change was made on Cody’s policy, not Eric’s. Cody doesn’t recall the exact wording used. Nester says, “Well, think about it. You remember everything else, not this?” Cody says the wording was tricky. “What I was told is that there was a change made to the beneficiary; somebody had gone in and changed it. I do not recall whose name it was or anything like that.”

9:44 a.m. Nester asks if Cody engaged in house flipping through C&E or any other business. Bloodworth objects. Judge sustains. Nester asks about the $200,000 loan C&E made to Richins for a property for her to rehab. Cody says they got all the money back plus interest. Nester asks how much. Cody doesn’t recall. Nester asks about the buy-sell agreement, where partners in the business buy a life insurance policy on each other.

9:43 a.m. Judge sustains the objection. Nester asks if the company had planned for growth and if they would have been financially stable for the future. Cody says yes. Nester asks about Kouri being on the payroll and how much she made every month. Cody doesn’t recall. Nester asks if when Eric passed away, Kouri asked to be removed from the payroll. Cody doesn’t believe she asked to be removed. They continued to pay her for some time after Eric passed. Cody says they continued to pay her for a couple of months.

9:40 a.m. Sidebar is over. Nester asks Cody what he personally made in 2021. Cody doesn’t have the numbers in front of him and doesn’t recall. Nester asks if it was more than $500,000. Cody says no. Nester asks about tax returns that indicate Eric declared $700,000-$900,000 that year and if that number would be off. Bloodworth objects. Judge calls for sidebar.

9:36 a.m. Nester asks about C&E and how things were split 50/50. Nester asks how much money Cody made in 2022. Bloodworth objects based on relevance. Judge asks attorneys to approach the bench for sidebar.

9:35 a.m. Cody received a call from Eric on Valentine’s Day. He says there was fear in his voice and a sense of urgency. The only other time Cody has heard Eric like that is when Eric’s mom died in the hospital and when Eric had been rear-ended in a serious accident. Bloodworth has nothing further for Cody. Kathryn Nester will now ask questions on behalf of the defense.

9:32 a.m. Bloodworth brings up the photo shown the other day of a group of adults at the Celebration of Life held the night Eric died. Bloodworth asks if Cody’s wife, Alley Wright, is in the photo. She is not. Bloodworth asks if he has ever seen Eric sick or injured. Cody has seen him when Eric had COVID, Lyme Disease, a cold, back injuries and other sicknesses. “He’s a cowboy. He’s a go-get-em, he’s not going to sit at home because he’s sick, he’s not going to not show up because he’s feeling under the weather, he’s very tough-spirited, rough-hearted as far as not being a wimp goes.” Cody has never seen Eric use over-the-counter or prescription drugs. He has never seen Eric use illicit drugs.

9:28 a.m. Cody collected documents containing signatures from a company called Integrated Solutions. He also requested documents from Big D Construction containing Eric’s signature. The signatures were then given to Katie Richins, Eric’s sister.

9:26 a.m. Bloodworth asks Cody about a series of beneficiary changes made to the New York Life Insurance policy in January 2022 that was for Cody and Eric. Cody did not make the changes and did not make any changes to Eric’s policy. Bloodworth gives Cody some handwriting samples to review.

9:21 a.m. C&E had an American First Credit Union account. Eric and Cody shared a company email address. Cody recalls a time when Eric said K. Richins Realty needed a loan from C&E to pay for projects. Cody says it was a loan, not an investment. This was in October 2020. C&E agreed to provide K. Richins a $200,000 loan.

9:18 a.m. Eric and Cody’s business relationship was a 50-50 split. In early 2022, C&E employed around 90 people. When Eric passed, Cody remembered counting 47 projects they were currently working on. They had a great business outlook in early 2022. The company was growing. Eric wanted to keep growing the company, but Cody was more conservative and comfortable with where the company was at. Eric was motivated to grow bigger and better. C&E both had home offices. Eric used a C&E computer he kept at his home office.

9:16 a.m. Eric came from a background of hard work and was serious when it came to business. He wanted to make sure things were done right and wanted to grow his business. Cody helped teach Eric’s son how to pitch baseball. Eric was dedicated and competitive as a father, Cody says. Eric wanted his kids to be the best on the team.

9:14 a.m. C&E Masonry stands for Cody and Eric. They ate lunch together a few times a week. In the fall, they saw each other a lot in the mountains or hunting or spending time together. They spoke nearly every day on the phone. They would travel together to hunt. “Eric’s fiesty. Eric’s working. Eric’s the life of the party. Eric’s funny. He can be very fun to be around. Very comforting at times, and also he can tell you what you’ve done wrong and make sure you know it was wrong.”

9:12 a.m. Cody says Eric was a good friend of his and his business partner. They both loved hard work and hunted together. They spent a lifelong of events together. Shortly after they met, Eric came to work in his family business. They both went on LDS missions, came home, and worked together through the family business. In 2010, they decided to start their own masonry company together.

9:10 a.m. The video was actually admitted during Allie Staking’s testimony. We now see the video. It’s a few adults drinking, laughing, etc. Cody Wright is now called as a witness. He is sworn in.

9:08 a.m. Jurors are back in the courtroom. Bloodworth talks about Chelsea Barney’s testimony and her referencing video of a celebration of life. The state was blurring children’s faces from the exhibit and is now ready to admit it as evidence.

8:43 a.m. Cody Wright will be the first witness on the stand. One juror has not yet arrived so we are in recess for five minutes.

8:40 a.m. Summit County Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth says Jeff O’Driscoll will likely be the state’s last witness. He is the lead investigator on the case. Defense has filed a motion for a mistrial. Mrazik says the state needs to respond and asks when they can have it ready. Bloodworth says prosecution can respond right now orally. Mrazik wants it in writing. Bloodworth says he can have a written motion by tomorrow morning.

8:38 a.m. Court is in session. Jury is not in the room. Prosecution says there are a handful of witnesses who will still be called. Judge Richard Mrazik says a discussion needs to be held about the jail calls prosecutors want to admit. Defense has objected to the calls.

8:24 a.m. Week three of Kouri Richins’ murder trial begins today and Eric Richins’ business partner, Cody Wright, is expected to take the stand. Prosecutors have said they intend to rest on Monday or Tuesday. The defense will then present Richins’ defense.