LIVE UPDATES | Day 4 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 fourth day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin each day 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.

11:32 a.m. Before break, judge says to gallery, “If ANY of you see a juror out in the wild, I need you to turn around and walk away. I cannot emphasize this more clearly.”

11:25 a.m. Jury dismissed for lunch until 12:30 p.m. Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth asks to make a record that defense counsel is making hypotheticals with certain witnesses. Bloodworth says for a “fact” witness, a hypothetical has to involve admissible evidence. Judge asks prosecution to object in the future if this issue comes up. Judge also asks for a “one horse, one rider” policy at sidebars where only one attorney from each side comes up, rather than multiple attorneys. We are in recess until 12:30 p.m.

11:23 a.m. Next witness is ready, but prosecution suggests possibly taking lunch now to now split up direct questioning. Judge asks attorneys to approach.

11:20 a.m. Sidebar with the witness is done. Jury is being invited back into courtroom. Nester asks how he would test an empty pill bottle. Holden says there was no pill bottle to test. No further questions from either side.

11:14 a.m. Holden needs to look at his notes to answer Nester’s next questions. Jury is dismissed while Burmester and Nester review the witness’s notes and ask him questions about them.

11:12 a.m. Holden tested 19 items. He’s asked if he ever tested a pill bottle. Prosecution objects. Sidebar. Nester asks the process of how Holden would test an empty bottle.

11:09 a.m. Nester pulls up a report for Holden to review. She asks the name of the officer who got the items to Holden. It was Jamie Woody. The person who delivered the items to Holden was Chelsea Gipson. Nester asks Holden if he ran tests on any of the pills or items to see if they contained oxycodone. He has never been asked to test for oxycodone or hydrocodone.

11:06 a.m. Holden was only looking for fentanyl. He was not able to confirm any fentanyl on anything he tested. Burmester has nothing further. Defense attorney Kathryn Nester will question Holden.

11:04 a.m. Next witness is Bryan Holden with the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services in the Utah State Crime Lab. He is being questioned by prosecutor Fred Burmester. Holden was given a large number of items to test and was asked to look for fentanyl in all of the items submitted to the lab.

10:56 a.m. After the information is pulled off, it was given back to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Eng-Tow is certified with Cellebrite. Ramos has no further questions. Chervenak has one follow-up. She asks if, once the data is downloaded, can it be manipulated. He explains that the process can not. Nothing further. Witness excused.

10:52 a.m. Prosecutor Lindsay Chervenak is questioning Eng-Tow. She asks him about the cell phones Eng-Tow downloaded – two iPhones, and he was given the passcodes to each phone from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Chervenak has no further questions. Defense attorney Alex Ramos asks Eng-Tow to walk the jury through the process of downloading the phone. Eng-Tow says you put in the passcode, unlock the phone, connect it to Graykey (a little computer) and the data is then downloaded. It’s not readable and not accessible. You need forensic software to download it. You then use Cellebrite, which takes the extraction and parses the data into various types of files – photos, messages, etc.

10:51 a.m. Eng-Tow knows how to use Cellebrite, a program that pulls data from cell phones. He performed downloads on two iPhones in connection with this case. Eng-Tow is employed by the Department of Public Safety Bureau of Forensic Services.

10:47 a.m. Next witness is Cheney Eng-Tow. He is a digital laboratory technician. I did a story with Eng-Tow about his job a few years ago. You can watch it here:

10:32 a.m. Nester asks Root if he knew what Grossman did with his phones in between the times that law enforcement had them. He does not know, but says the phones were not operable at times. Sometimes they were operable. Nester asks if Grossman showed him anything on the phones. No – not on those specific phones. But on his current cell phone, Grossman did show him something. Nester asks if he compared what was on the current phone to what was on the inoperable phones. Prosecution objects – beyond the scope. Judge agrees. Grossman says the phones were inoperable because he had broken them, according to Root. Nester will have further questions at a later date, she says. Root is excused but remains under subpoena. Court taking morning recess.

10:30 a.m. Nester asks if there were multiple phones. There were two – one was black, one was white. They were recovered at the same time. Root had met Grossman before and had interviewed him. Nester asks if Root was asked to return the phones to Grossman. He was. Then he was asked to pick them up again. Root says he transported phones multiple times – more than two. Nester asks why. Root says he was instructed to retrieve them by his chain of command. He does not know why.

10:27 a.m. Next witness is Summit County Sheriff’s Office Detective Frank Root. Prosecutor Lindsay Chervenak asks about an iPhone 7 collected from a man named Robert Josh Grossman. Root says he did collect a phone. Prosecutor has nothing further. Nester asks to meet with judge in sidebar before cross-examination.

10:25 a.m. Burmester has nothing further. Lewis has nothing. Peterson is excused.

10:22 a.m. Lewis has nothing further. Prosecutor Burmester now following up. He asks if you can tell whether the alcohol in Eric’s body came from a drink or decomposition. You cannot, Peterson says.

10:21 a.m. Lewis asks if it’s possible Eric took fentanyl and then took quetiapine. Peterson says it’s a possibility.

10:17 a.m. Lewis asks about a therapeutic dose of fentanyl – what the difference would be if someone in the hospital took fentanyl versus someone who took it elsewhere. Lewis asks if it’s possible that Eric ingested fentanyl and then took a drink of alcohol. Peterson says it is possible. Quetiapine is not naturally produced in the body, so he would have had to take it. It was a low dose, and there was a small amount in the blood – but it was not above their threshold for reporting so the report indicates none was found in the blood. Quetiapine takes the same amount of time to hit the blood as fentanyl.

10:12 a.m. Lewis asks further questions about the amount of fentanyl and fatal doses. She’s trying to find out how much fentanyl was ingested in the body. Peterson says it’s hard to know exactly based on the distribution in the system.

10:10 a.m. Lewis asks if alcohol hits the bloodstream in 10-15 minutes. Peterson says if stomach is empty, it’s possible. She’s asked if fentanyl could be in the blood within 15-30 minutes. “If Mr. Richins had fentanyl in the blood but not alcohol, a possibility is that he ingested the fentanyl and then took a drink, give or take 30 minutes later, maybe less, 15-30 minutes after he took the fentanyl. Fair assumption?” Petersaon says she can’t provide a timeline of when things were ingested.

10:08 a.m. Lewis asks about a long delay between the autopsy and time of death. Peterson says that’s not something she does – autopsies. Lewis asks if testing was done for yeast in his system that could produce alcohol. No testing was done for yeast, Peterson says.

10:03 a.m. Lewis asks about norfentanyl. She asks if it’s possible someone could die of a fentanyl overdose so quickly you would not see norfentanyl in the system. Peterson says that’s correct. Lewis asks about post-mortem production of alcohol and if it’s found in every body. Peterson says you would not see it in every body.

10 a.m. Wendy Lewis is questioning. She asks about lethal doses of fentanyl and there being a large range of fatal doses of fentanyl. There is – depends on tolerance level of each person. “When someone takes fentanyl, is it fair to say that it would take about 30 minutes from the time fentanyl is ingested from it starts to show up in the bloodstream?” Depends on whether stomach is full, how it’s ingested, but generally 15-30 minutes.

9:56 a.m. Peterson asks about quetiapine in the system. Prosecutor has no further questions. Defense will now cross-examine.

9:54 a.m. Peterson explains how much of each substance was found in Eric’s body. 900 milligrams of ethanol were found in his body. 14,000 milligrams of ethanol is found in a standard alcoholic drink. Ethanol can be formed post-mortem.

9:51 a.m. Investigators asked Peterson to perform tests on the gastric fluid. Ethanol, fentanyl, norfentanyl and acetylfentanyl were detected. Acetylfentanyl is solely seen in illicitly manufactured fentanyl – not in prescription fentanyl.

9:49 a.m. Prosecutor asks about a lethal dose of fentanyl. It could vary from person to person based on a person’s history with the drug. You may need a higher concentration if you’ve experienced fentanyl in the past. Three nanograms is a lethal dose. In Eric’s body, there were 15 nanograms.

9:47 a.m. Prosecutor asks about post-mortem redistribution. This means the drugs are redistributed throughout the body after death. They could move from the heart to the blood, as an example.

9:45 a.m. Peterson screened for hydrocodone. None was found in the body. Hydrocodone has a half-life of 4-6 hours. “When a person dies, does it freeze in place, whatever is in the body?” the prosecutor asks. Peterson says in general. Cocaine could be broken down after death due to enzymes that could break it down. There are some drugs that have limited stability in biological samples after death but for the most part, your body has stopped working and will no longer be metabolizing.

9:42 a.m. Peterson walks through the process of testing. They received blood, urine, liver fluid and other samples from the Utah Medical Examiner in relation to Eric Richins’ death. A broad drug screen was performed that looks for hundreds of different drugs. A second confirmation test was then performed. Fentanyl was found at 15 nanograms per milliliter, and norfentanyl was also found in the system.

9:36 a.m. Prosecutor asks how toxicology process works. She receives samples from various clients – medical examiners, hospitals, doctors – and the clients will request specific testing to be performed. The samples are shipped or hand-delivered. Once the sample arrives, the specimen processing department opens the package, makes sure the information matches, and then they create their own case with a unique eight digit number. All the evidence is barcoded and tracked.

9:34 a.m. Next witness is Dr. Brianna Peterson. She’s been a forensic toxicologist for 20 years. She’s had extensive training over her career.

9:22 a.m. Taking a five minute recess.

9:19 a.m. Nester asks if Gipson, on the night of the death, ever asked Kouri if she could take photos of the bedroom, bathroom or take the cups found in the sink. Gipson did not. Nester done questioning. Prosecutor has nothing further. Gipson is not released from her subpoena, meaning defense could re-call her as a witness.

9:17 a.m. Gipson asked if she ever participated in downloading “secret” phone calls.” Gipson asks what she means by secret phone calls. Prosecutor repeats the question. Gipson says no. Prosecutor has nothing further. Nester following up and asks if police can legally search a home with consent of the homeowner. That’s correct. Nester says Kouri never stopped them, and they didn’t search the home the night Eric died.

9:14 a.m. Prosecutor shows images of the gummies and asks Gipson clarifying questions about where they were found in the home. We now see a photo Gipson took of a jacket in the home. She’s asked if she knew it was a man’s or woman’s jacket. Gipson couldn’t tell. Gipson asks about the black Under Armour jacket. She’s asked why she retrieved it. “It was the jacket a pair of tweezers and a small piece of plastic was located in.” Gipson asks why they kept going back to the house. “We obtained additional information that we may have missed originally.” Prosecutor asks if the investigation is developing and if they’re receiving new information. Yes.

9:11 a.m. Prosecution asks about the first search on March 4, 2022. Police did not have a search warrant as Eric had just died. Prosecutor mentions the times police went back searching for fentanyl because they say fentanyl killed Eric Richins. Prosecutor asks if a brown truck was at the home on April 13, 2023. Gipson does not recall. If there was a brown truck there and something was found in it, would Gipson been made aware of it? Yes, she says.

9:09 a.m. Nester asks about a K9 search of the home. It was on April 14, 2023. Nester asks if the dog went into vehicles. Gipson is unaware. Nester has no further questions. Prosecution will now question.

9:06 a.m. Nester asks about quetiapine pills found in the house. There were two pills that had been cut in half. Nester clarifies that the last search on the home was Feb. 9, 2026. A black Under Armor jacket was taken from one of the downstairs bedroom closets. There were a lot of jackets in the home. Nester asks about the search of the trucks. One was a brown work truck; another was a red truck. Nester asks which one was searched. Gipson believe it was the red one in the garage. Nester asks about the brown truck being searched. Gipson did not personally search the brown truck.

9:03 a.m. Nester asks about Eric’s Apple Watch seized from the home and how much data was on the watch. Gipson says there was some data on it, but she doesn’t recall if it had been deleted. Nester asks Nov. 7, 2024, to search when an Epipen was found. It was found in the kitchen. Nester asks if this is used for someone who has allergic reactions. Yes. Nester asks about an Epipen found in the master bedroom. Syringes were also found in the master bathroom/bedroom. They were taken into evidence. They were not tested because they had not been used. They are still in evidence. A syringe in the kitchen was tested and it was tested. Gipson doesn’t recall what the syringe tested positive for.

9:01 a.m. Gipson was in charge of keeping the video and audio interviews of the witnesses. Nester asks about audio or video missing from two interviews. Nester asks about audio or video footage missing from the interviews of Nick Von Savage and Nancy Peterson. Gipson is unsure if she’s ever been able to locate those two interviews.

9 a.m. A letter was found at the foot of the bed. Nester mentions several times where searches were done and there was never a letter at the foot of the bed. Gipson confirms. Then they found a letter at the foot of the bed in November. Nester asks how many times a private investigator was present when law enforcement searched the home. Gipson says once.

8:58 a.m. Nester asks if there was ever a time Gipson conducted a search because a private investigator told them there were items in the house worth going back for. Gipson says yes. Two times. Nester asks about the first time they went back. Gipson says it was about a voice recorder. The private investigator told law enforcement and a warrant was issued. Police went back and got the recorder. The second time they went back was to retrieve a letter on Nov. 7, 2024.

8:55 a.m. Gipson says copper cups were found in the home. Nester says if Kouri told investigators that her husband took gummies the night he died, finding those gummies would have corroborated her story. Gipson responds, “We found gummies.” Nester makes some other statements about Kouri’s statements being corroborated based on what investigators found. Prosecutors object and ask for sidebar.

8:52 a.m. A green jacket was found in the southeast corner of a closet, and there were some gummies in a pocket. Nester now asking about a search on May 8, 2023. Gipson says the purpose of the search was to obtain additional electronics, documents and drugs. No fentanyl was found in the home during that search. On Oct. 24, 2023, investigators returned. Gipson believes they were collecting more electronics that day, but would need to check her notes for complete confirmation.

8:49 a.m. Nester asks if there’s a way to tell where a hydrocodone pill was purchased. Gipson doesn’t believe so. Nester shows an image showing the packages of gummies taken from the Richins’ home. Nester points out two bags of gummies in the image that aren’t labeled. She asked if all of the packages were together in the home. Gipson says there were three clear packages with no markings.

8:45 a.m. Nester asks about the 3D camera used in the home and the measurements used with the camera. Nester asks if the Richins had a dog. Gipson says they did. Nester asks about hydrocodone pills collected at the home. Gipson did not personally find them, but there were about 10 pills in a bag. They were found in a laundry room cabinet.

8:44 a.m. There was an issue about redacting some of the information in the exhibit. Nester shows a list of all of the dates the home was searched. The colored dots next to each date indicate the day the home was searched. Gipson last visited the home around Feb. 6, 2026.

8:39 a.m. Nester asks if Gipson ever went and retrieved items from Cody Wright, Eric’s business partner. Gipson personally did not, but other investigators did and brought her a hard drive. Nester moves to admit an exhibit but Gipson asks for a sidebar. Judge asks Nester to pause questioning.

8:36 a.m. Nester asks Gipson if she knew what vehicles Eric Richins drove. Gipson believes he drove a truck. Nester asks if his vehicle was searched. Gipson believes so. Nester asks about a detached garage and asks if any of those vehicles were searched. Gipson doesn’t believe so. This search happened April 13, 2022. Gipson and the investigators were also searching for electronics. They found a computer in the office shop.

8:31 a.m. Day 4 of Kouri Richins’ trial is today after a short court day yesterday. Kathryn Nester continues to cross-examine Chelsea Gipson, the crime scene investigator. Travis Smooth, an employee of US Postal Service, was on hand during a search warrant in April 2022. He was there to help check for drugs, Gipson says.