Day 13: Testimony concludes in Kouri Richins murder trial after defense opts not to call witnesses

PARK CITY, Utah (KSL) — No more witnesses will be called in the Park City murder trial for Kouri Richins, a Kamas mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband.

Prosecutors rested their case shortly before a lunch break on Thursday, and Richins’ attorneys then moved for a ruling that there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to convict Richins, a standard motion made in many trials after the prosecution presents its evidence. The judge denied the motion for a directed verdict.

After the break, defense attorneys announced that they will not call any witnesses. Kouri Richins formally waived her right to testify.

Jurors were instructed to return Monday morning to hear closing arguments and instructions before beginning deliberations.

The lead detective in the case wrapped up testimony for the prosecution Thursday morning. A witness and prosecutors earlier told jurors that some memes were accessed on Richins’ phone on the morning that her husband died, including one with Donald Trump saying, “I’m really rich,” one with a man that said “Idiots, Idiots everywhere,” and another with a woman using money to wipe her eyes.

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An investigator who previously reviewed her phone testified that he couldn’t say who had sent those memes or whether Richins herself had viewed them that morning on her phone, but the images had been viewed on her phone at 8:29 a.m. that day.

During questioning from defense attorney Kathy Nester on Thursday, Summit County sheriff’s detective Jeff O’Driscoll verified that on the morning of Eric Richins’ death, someone using Kouri Richins’ phone also viewed photos Eric Richins had sent his wife the day before, indicating that other messages had been viewed at the same time the memes were viewed.

O’Driscoll also said investigators found a bag of loose hydrocodone pills in the mudroom cabinet in the house that were tested and did not contain fentanyl. He said investigators did not find fentanyl on anything tested in the house.

O’Driscoll confirmed the investigation has lasted four years, and detectives have issued search warrants as recently as last month.

“In all of that, we have no murder weapon, like you haven’t found anything that was connected to Eric’s death, no fentanyl, correct?” Nester asked.

“There was a boatload of fentanyl in his stomach that came out of the house with him,” O’Driscoll replied.

Before his testimony, attorneys discussed allowing officers to testify about interactions with a man who reported Eric Richins had asked him about getting fentanyl in 2019.

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik previously said the man could not testify about the interaction because it was hearsay. He said Thursday if the defense uses the information to support a theory that the investigation was incomplete, prosecutors would be able to counter that by admitting that Carmen Lauber’s boyfriend said in a jail call on March 4, 2022, that she had “just made money selling fentanyl.”

That conversation came up in previous testimony, but fentanyl was swapped for “illicit street drugs” in testimony to the jury.

“This is high-stakes poker,” Mrazik said, referring to the decision Richins’ attorneys needed to make about whether to bring up the tip. They decided not to at this point in the trial.

The Kamas mom and real estate agent is accused of killing Eric Richins on March 4, 2022, with fentanyl. She is also accused of slipping drugs into his food, making him sick, on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Her trial is scheduled to last until March 27.

Kouri Richins is charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, first-degree felonies, two counts of insurance fraud, a second-degree felony, and forgery, a third-degree felony.