LIVE UPDATES | Day 9 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 ninth day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin today at 9:30 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.

12:08 p.m. Judge says we are going to break for lunch until 1 p.m.

12:04 p.m. Next exhibit shows a text exchange between Kouri and Chelsea from March 15, 2022. They are talking about Eric’s death and how Kouri needs to get stuff to her attorney. She asks for a few days. Chelsea tells her she can call just to chat or Chelsea can do things for her boys. Kouri says it’s a “f$$$$$ nightmare.” She’s hired a law firm that represents the Utah Jazz and will cost her $100k but she will win.

12:02 p.m. Kouri’s mom Lisa called Chelsea the morning Eric died and told her Eric was dead. Chelsea went to Kouri’s home and Kouri told her that she went to bed with one of the boys, woke up, went back in the bedroom and realized Eric was cold and he wasn’t breathing. Kouri says they had been celebrating the closing of a job and they had a drink together.

11:59 a.m. Bloodworth admits a text exchange between Chelsea and Kouri from May 7, 2022. “Derek is home and is putting that envelope in the screen door.” Chelsea says. Kouri responds that it’s crazy and her attorneys have been talking to her all day about poisoning. “They have no evidence of either of us having anything to do with it so somehow it got into his system. We should get cause of death and autopsy this week.” Chelsea responds that it’s crazy they say poisoned and then jumped to murder. “It’s ridiculous.”

11:57 a.m. Chelsea says Kouri got a call one time from her doctor saying she might have cervical cancer. She needed to go in and see the doctor for a biopsy. This call was received when Chelsea and Kouri were at a brunch. Eric acted concerned, but didn’t want to overreact until they knew the diagnosis for sure. Chelsea says she did not know of Kouri or Eric using illicit drugs or pain pills.

11:49 a.m. Bloodworth moves to admit an Oct. 14, 2020, text exchange between Kouri and Chelsea. Kouri says if she dies, Eric did it. Another text says she doesn’t know what to do because if she owes him money, she’ll pay it. Chelsea says it’s getting out of hand and she doesn’t think Kouris should pay him anything, Let the attorneys decide. Kouri responds that Eric owes her triple but she doesn’t know what to do. She feels like an ass$$$ taking money out of the house but it’s technically her money. Chelsea asks how much she took out. Kouri responds, “A lot.” Chelsea asks how long she thinks it will take him to pay him back. Then says she worries Eric will hire a P.I. Kouri says it was $250k and will take her a couple months until her investments pay out. Kouri says she has to be “top notch careful.” Chelsea says to let the attorneys figure out the money stuff. Kouri says Eric is pushing her to go to counseling by herself. He thinks she is the “damn problem here but he’s not hearing himself.”

11:47 a.m. Chelsea learned Kouri obtained a home equity line of credit for $250,000 when they were on a vacation with some other friends to Sun Valley, Idaho, in October 2020. Kouri said Eric was mad at her and turned off her credit cards because he found out she look a loan out on the house. Kouri asked her friends if they could pay for the trip and she would reimburse them. Kouri told Chelsea she used the $250,000 to buy another house to flip and sell.

11:42 a.m. Next witness is Chelsea Barney. Bloodworth will question on behalf of the prosecution. Barney has been friends with Kouri since 9th grade. They spoke “all the time. Sometimes every day, sometimes every other.” They would see each other a couple of times a week or sometimes once a month. They traveled sometimes together. Chelsea considered Kouri her best friend.

11:39 a.m. Sidebar over. On the call, Kaze asked Eric if he was ok and if he was going to go to the hospital. He also asked “what are you going to do about it.” Kaze spoke with his wife about the call with Eric that night. He also spoke with Cody Wright about the call after Eric died. Cody had a similar call with Eric. Bloodworth is done. Defense has no questions.

11:34 a.m. Kaze never saw Eric sick. Never saw him use drugs. Kaze recalls getting a call from Eric on Valentine’s Day 2022. Kaze says it was unlike any other conversation he ever had with Eric. Eric felt somber and this call was “a lot different.” Eric was very serious and sincere. Bloodworth asks Kaze if he offered Eric any advice. He gave him suggestions and asked some questions. Nester asks for sidebar.

11:32 a.m. Kaze says he and Eric communicated at least every other week. Kaze says he and Eric got to know each other very well. Eric was outgoing, confident, a fun person to be around, a magnetic personality, not shy, competitive – especially in sports. “He was extremely dependable. One of the best subcontractors I’ve ever had. If you asked him to do something, he didn’t forget. It was always done. Every time he said he would be somewhere or get something done, he always got it done.”

11:28 a.m. Court is back in session. Next witness is Joshua Kaze. He knew Eric Richins professionally and they were friends too. They went hunting, camping and hiking together. The last hike they went on in Colorado was physically demanding, Kaze says.

11:18 a.m. Next witness went to another building. Taking a 5-minute recess.

11:16 a.m. The order was placed at 8:55 a.m. and picked up at 9:07 a.m. Nester has nothing further. Neither does prosecution. Witness is released.

11:12 a.m. The name on the order was from Kouri. No further questions from the prosecution. Nester will cross-examine Morin. She asks for the Greek omelet and bagel sandwich to be highlighted. Nester asks Morin if his menu items have been similar for a long time. She asks what’s in the Greek omelet. It comes with a choice of hashbrowns, country potatoes, or quinoa salad. Nester asks what’s in the bagel sandwich. Nester asks how the orders are packaged. Because there are hashbrowns, it’s in a styrofoam box. Nester says you wouldn’t want to eat an egg sandwich cold. Morin says that’s debatable.

11:08 a.m. Next witness is Gabriel Morin. He owns the Mirror Lake Diner in Kamas. Brad Bloodworth is questioning on behalf of the prosecution. He shows Morin some records. We see a receipt on the screen. At 9:07 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2022, Megan, the employee, took a to-go order that was paid for in person. Total was $41.99. Now we see a breakdown of Megan’s transactions at the end of her shift from that day.

11:05 a.m. Chervenak follows up. “When Kouri Richins told you it would be better if Eric were dead, was she joking?” Nester objects. Judge sustains. Chervenak asks about Kouri’s tone of voice – was she laughing, smiling. No. Lloyd did not believe she was joking. Nester asks if they were drinking. Lloyd says she had had one drink. Nester says she wants to recall the witness. Questioning is done for the day.

11 a.m. Chervenak asks some follow up questions. Nester follows up and Lloyd says it’s a very difficult position to be on the stand saying things like this. “I don’t want to be here. No one has supplied my testimony to me. I know that it happened. I know she said that. I don’t want to say it, but I know she said it.” Nester asks about Lloyd’s conversation with Katie – Eric’s sister. Nester asks Lloyd who else she told about this statement Kouri made. She told her partner, her friend, Katie, the private investigator.

10:57 a.m. Correction – not the transcript, but a recording of the interview. We hear the recording. Lloyd says, “I swear she said it but if you put me on the stand, I would not be confident enough to say it.” Nester asks Lloyd if she did say that. She says she did. We hear another part of the recording. “I am 90% sure she said the comment about him being better dead,” Lloyd said in the interview with the investigator. Nester says you can’t say for certain she said that statement. Lloyd says, “Correct.” Nester has nothing further but says she will ask more questions when it’s time for the defense’s case.

10:55 a.m. Nester asks Lloyd about her telling the private investigator that she wasn’t sure she could 100% say under oath that Kouri said what she said. Lloyd doesn’t recall. Nester wants to admit the transcript where she says that.

10:52 a.m. Nester asks Lloyd about her having “girl talk” while she and Kouri were wrapping gifts. Nester asks about Lloyd talking to the prosecutor’s private investigator. Nester says in that interview, Lloyd didn’t mention anything about Kouri saying it would be better if Eric were dead. Lloyd doesn’t recall. During a second interview two years later, Nester says that’s when Lloyd said that Kouri stated it would be better if Eric were dead. Nester says it happened after Lloyd spoke with Katie Richins, Eric’s sister.

10:50 a.m. Kouri looks agitated and annoyed during this testimony. Chervenak has no further questions. Defense attorney Kathryn Nester now questioning Lloyd. She asks if Kouri helped Lloyd get her job. She did. Kouri was on the payroll of C&E Masonry but after Eric died, Kouri asked Lloyd to take her off the payroll.

10:47 a.m. On Dec. 17, 2021, Lloyd and Kouri were wrapping gifts as part of a Secret Santa project. Lloyd had divorced a few months before and she and Kouri were talking about their marriages. Kouri said she and Eric had a fight that day. Kouri was invited to a work gala and at the same time, Eric had booked a family sleigh ride. It was a scheduling conflict and they did not agree about what they should do. Kouri told Lloyd that she was feeling trapped, like there wasn’t an easy way forward out of the marriage, that she was worried about her kids and she was going to lose them and that Eric’s family was going to turn the community against her. Kouri said in many ways, it would be better if Eric was dead. “She definitely had a very serious tone. We weren’t joking. IT was a very heartfelt conversation. You could tell she was frustrated and struggling with where she was at.”

10:46 a.m. Lloyd works for C&E Stone Masonry. She is the estimator. She has been with the company for five years. She was hired as an admin. in February 2021. She met Eric in 2017. Lloyd met Kouri around the same time. In 2021, Llord knew Kouri as a neighbor, a friend and the mother of her kids’ friends.

10:43 a.m. Kouri says that anything she did, Eric did, so they cancel themselves out “you f$$$$$ idiots.” Kouri says she’s going to ask if she (referring to another woman) can testify. Kouri says she’s annoyed. They talk back and forth. Call is over. Next witness is Becky Lloyd.

10:41 a.m. Kouri is talking to Ronald Darden on the phone. He tells her that nothing came out of her side but a lot came out of the other side. Kouri says, “I just went in for a consultation. That was it. So why is that so bad? Am I misunderstanding something?” Darden says they are probably trying to hold something against her. She responds that he did it first. Darden says he did it first and took action on it illegally. Darden says “that person” is probably about to be brought in. Kouri says she told “that person” she didn’t want to fill out the packet, but the lady told her she had to fill out the packet.

10:40 a.m. Jury is back in the courtroom. Judge tells jurors they are about to hear a phone call from Dec. 18, 2023, and they can consider Kouri’s statements on the call for any purpose. They can not consider the statements made by the male voice on the call.

10:30 a.m. Prosecution asks if the date of the call can be told to the jury. Defense objects. Kouri was in jail at the time of the call. Judge will allow the date to be said.

10:25 a.m. Chervenak says the beginning of the call helps paint a picture of Kouri’s state of mind and is relevant to the situation. She says it’s important context to the call, and starting it halfway through would be confusing. Judge says the call will start at page 4 – not from the beginning.

10:22 a.m. Court is back in session. Jury remains outside of the courtroom. Judge asks Lewis if she and Chervenak have reached an agreement on redactions. Lewis says there has been a partial agreement. State agrees to redact the end portion of the call, but wants the beginning to remain. Lewis does not want it included.

10:06 a.m. Bloodworth says the next time a jail call will be played is when Detective O’Driscoll takes the stand. He will likely be the state’s last witness – either late Monday or early Tuesday. Court taking restroom break. Court back in session at 10:15 a.m.

10:04 a.m. State will be calling Cody Wright and Josh Case today. Part of their testimonies can’t be admitted because it’s hearsay – things that Eric Richins told them. Judge asks prosecutor Brad Bloodworth if he has spoken with the two witnesses to reinforce that they can’t repeat what Eric told them. Bloodworth says he has and will elicit their responses about Eric’s demeanor and what they said to him – not what he told them. Judge says this will create a safety margin to make sure the witnesses don’t unintentionally say anything excluded by the court.

10:01 a.m. They have reviewed the transcript of the call. Lewis says some of the call needs to be redacted because they’re not relevant. Judge says this is part of a larger conversation. He’s been waiting on the defense’s position on the jail calls, and they need some closure on the issue so it’s not being discussed in real time. Lewis wants to review the call with the prosecution to look at what portions she believes should be redacted.

9:54 a.m. Prosecution is now playing the call without the audio so all parties can review the transcript of what is being said. We can’t see the transcript.

9:53 a.m. Judge says Lewis has the right to subpoena anyone in relation to the call. The judge says he can give jurors an instruction to discard the parts of the call that are hearsay. Lewis says she needs a moment to review the call.

9:50 a.m. Lewis says that introducing calls randomly without a witness on the stand violates Kouri’s Sixth Amendment rights because they can’t cross-examine the witness. Lewis insists the call needs to come in through a witness and there could be more context to call that the witness could explain.

9:48 a.m. Sidebar over. Judge says he needs to sort out some legal issues to make today flow smoothly. He excuses jurors. Judge asks Lewis about the call the prosecution wants to play. It’s a jail call. Lewis says these calls should be introduced through a witness and playing them randomly will be confusing for the jury.

9:42 a.m. Chervenak asks to play a phone call and says the foundation has been laid through other witnesses. Lewis objects and says the call needs to come in through a witness. Judge asks attorneys to approach for sidebar.

9:40 a.m. Chervenak admits a check Kouri wrote to Bramwell. No further questions. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis has questions and admits a section of Bramwell’s website showing her bio. Lewis has nothing further. Witness is excused.

9:37 a.m. First witness on the stand today is Marie Bramwell. Bramwell is a domestic relations attorney. She is the 34th witness to testify in the trial. She is being questioned by prosecutor Lindsay Chervenak. Bramwell met with Kouri in person in May 2021. They exchanged approximately five emails between May 2021 and January 2022.