Kouri Richins: Behind the Facade

This case is about a wife and a mother who found herself in perhaps a failing marriage, the business in trouble.

>> What's your first name?

>> It took some could argue an easy way out.

“>> I think she really wanted to improve her life”

and be free and be rich and have this facade of being the successful person that she wanted to be. >> My name is Eric. >> My name is Laura and we served as jurors in the Corey Richens trial. >> We used to have a seat.

>> Corey Richens didn't seem to me like someone with a very strong moral compass. [MUSIC]

>> Eric Richens was found dead in his home on March 4th, 2022.

>> Eric was married to Corey Richens and they had three children. >> I don't know, I don't know if I can see him again. [MUSIC] >> It's like just keep in the bed, get our bed and I turn over.

“>> It's okay, it's okay, it's just cold, it's just cold.”

[MUSIC] >> What happened today? [MUSIC] >> As I don't know, it just didn't really go. >> The family had been alerted by Eric that if something happened to him,

to look at Corey, it was almost like they knew something like this could happen something. >> This was in the months leading up to his death, he felt that his life could be at risk. >> Right, they suspected Corey would take part in his death before it happened. >> The state alleged that Corey Richens killed her husband Eric by giving him a lethal dose of fentanyl. >> A summoned county woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief,

following her husband's death, now accused of being the one that actually killed him. >> The book was to honor him to express to these boys to remember their father. >> She's accused, essentially murdering the person who is the topic of the book. >> Where's the wisdom to not write books while you're being investigated? >> Corey was 100% pure goodness and kindness.

She's a good, good human being. >> She might have had these good sides to her where she was giving, but she was willing to give that part up. >> The Corey Richens ever asked you to purchase for her lesson drugs. >> Yes.

>> Based upon the testimony and the evidence we saw against Corey, I came to see her as pretty cold and pretty calculating.

“>> You have to understand that the jurors did not know her.”

They didn't know her. >> There was no smoking gun in this case.

There was never one thing in this case that was absolutely Corey did it and there's no question.

>> She basically sacrificed her husband to get what she wanted. Nice to be a baby, boys. >> As much as you've been influenced in the thinking that Dad was murdered, that I took your dad from you. That is completely wrong, that absolute lie.

>> Corey did not just kill Eric, she attempted to kill the spirit of everyone who loved him. She lied to his children, she lied to the world, and has shown no remorse while dancing on his grave for profit. [ Music ] >> Natalie Malonis reports Corey Richens behind the facade.

[ Music ] >> The evidence will prove that Corey Richens murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life. [ Music ] >> In February of 2022, in a packed courtroom in Summit County, Utah,

Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth laid out the state's case against Corey Richens for the murder of Eric Richens, her husband, and father of their three sons. [ Music ] >> It had been nearly four years since Eric died on March 4, 2022. Of a lethal dose of fentanyl, served to him by Corey in a cocktail, say prosecutors.

She had spent almost three years in jail awaiting trial. >> More than anything, she wanted his money to perpetuate her facade, a privilege, affluence, and success. >> Eric Richens owned a lucrative contracting business and Corey worked as a real estate agent

She was facing not just murder charges, but also insurance fraud and forgery counts.

“>> She was absolutely convinced that she would be found not guilty.”

>> Greg Hall is a friend and former colleague of Corey's. >> What made her so convinced of that outcome. >> Because she knows that she didn't do it. >> Initially, authorities thought Eric may have died from an accidental drug overdose. But as investigators dug deeper, they concluded that Corey poisoned Eric for financial gain.

>> Watch out for Corey, watch out if something happens to me. >> According to Greg Scordus, a spokesperson for Eric's family, Eric had raised concerns about Corey to his family. The night Eric died were they immediately suspecting that Corey took part in his death. >> They suspected Corey would take part in his death before it happened. And so when it did happen, it was everyone's worst nightmare come true.

>> As the state-filled its case against Corey Richens, her 911 call, saying she found Eric unresponsive and bad, wasn't integral piece of evidence.

“>> If you need to put me on speaker, I'm going to guide you to CPR, okay?”

>> The prosecution used the recording throughout the trial to call into question whether Corey was even trying to resuscitate Eric. >> The operator repeatedly asks the phone to be put on speaker, so Corey can listen while performing CPR. >> One, two, three, four, am I on speaker? >> Yes. >> But a prosecution digital forensic analyst testified that phone receiver's sensitivity should Corey was actually holding the phone to her ear during the call.

>> There's a proximity sensor inside the device that activates the receiver. >> The digital download expert could actually see that Corey did not put the phone on speaker phone. >> He was still holding it up to her ear. >> That means he wasn't doing compressions or if she was, he was doing it with one hand. >> The 911 call was impactful for jurors, Laura and Eric, who requested we not use their last names.

>> Listening to the call, it didn't seem like there was much effort in the compressions themselves. >> The impression these jurors had of her resuscitation attempts didn't match Corey's description of events, which she texted to her friend Chelsea Barney. >> Prosecutor Bloodworth read the messages to the jury. >> As lifeless body on my bedroom floor, I pump so damn hard, so hard screaming at him to come back to life that I needed him.

>> Some of her text messages to a friend she said she was screaming and beating on his chest and the evidence did not show that. >> Some of Corey's other actions, the day Eric died, puzzled the jurors we interviewed. Like her behavior on this deputy's body camp footage shown in court, it was trained right after Eric died. Corey was holding her face with her hands. >> It certainly looks like she was trying to hide her face, hand her emotion.

>> Where are your children now? >> What do you sleep? >> And that ran to her awake with the air to the door. >> And when the jurors compared Corey's behavior in the footage to Eric's sisters, they found the contrast startling. >> Eric's sister, Katie Riches came in, she was hysterical.

>> Take a deep breath. >> Take a deep breath. >> New hyperventilating and her first thoughts where the kids are the kids okay.

>> And through that whole video, Corey said my kids are in that room in one of them's listening, but never did she move to go comfort those kids.

>> Eric's sister, Katie, testified about arriving at the house. >> On the morning that Eric died, did Corey actions say anything about the house that they were living. >> Yes, you told me she was going to sell it. >> According to Katie, just hours after Eric's death, Corey was talking real estate. How she planned to sell their home and how she needed to close on a house, she had just purchased known as the midway mansion.

>> I had just lost.

“>> What are the most important people in my whole entire life?”

>> And she was planning on selling the house that he had just been wheeled out of.

>> Closing on a multi-million dollar mansion, that could not wrap my head around it.

>> Prosecutors also presented evidence of something accessed on Corey's cell phone that morning.

>> I thought the gifts were really odd.

>> If she was the one that pulled them up, which it certainly seems like that is the case. That's just more evidence of her state of mind at the time. >> It was not clear to the jurors whether the gifts were celebrating Eric's death or celebrating the midway mansion purchase. Either way, they found the timing curious. >> Still inappropriate the day after her husband passed away, then she's accessing these.

>> So it was strange. >> Strange behavior aside, the state's case hinged on proving Corey intentionally poisoned Eric, that he did not die of an accidental overdose. The prosecution contends it was Corey who administered the fentanyl,

either in a cocktail called a Moscow Mule, or in a lemon drop shot that she prepared for Eric.

>> Investigators found this note in a kitchen cabinet, which the prosecution says chronicles how Corey killed Eric. >> Notice that here she writes drinking bed. >> And the prosecutor told the jury about something else authorities found unusual in this incident report describing what happened that night. >> Corey immediately writes about having a drink around 915 p.m. to celebrate work her story that night that she wrote started with Eric drinking a drink that she made. >> Why would her story start them why wouldn't it start when she walked in the door and found that he was moving.

>> That was just one of these really subtle things that I thought was really important. >> Also important for jurors was knowing how Corey obtained the fentanyl. >> For that prosecutors turned to a witness who became a controversial figure in the case. >> Corey's housekeeper. >> Did you ask Corey Richens about Eric's dad?

>> Yes I did. >> What did you ask? >> I said please tell me these pills were not for him. [MUSIC] >> And with the check-out with the world for the best conversion.

“>> The truth is that the check-out with the world for the best conversion.”

>> The legendary check-out from Shopify. >> For just a shot on your website. >> This is the social media and everything else. [MUSIC] >> Why man is your name?

>> Carmen Lumber. >> Carmen Lumber was Corey and Eric's housekeeper. And she cleaned homes for Corey's real estate flipping business. >> Prosecutors say Carmen also did something else. She supplied Corey with the drugs used to kill Eric.

>> The Corey Richens ever asked you to purchase for her lesson drugs. >> Yes. >> How many times? >> Four.

“>> And a lot of ways she is the key witness.”

>> Skylasaro had been Corey Richens attorney before resigning from the case due to a conflict of interest. >> Carmen really was the only person who could tie Corey to obtaining fentanyl. >> Carmen testified that in the months preceding Eric's death Corey asked her to get pain medication for client, which Carmen did, then about two weeks before Eric died Corey made another request for something stronger. Carmen says she reached out to a drug dealer friend and told Corey she could get her fentanyl.

>> I had text Corey back and told her that I hadn't a friend. That could get them, but they were fentanyl pills. >> How did Corey Richens respond? >> She said, "Okay, go ahead and give." >> The state contends Corey mixed that fentanyl into the Moscow Mule or Lemon Drop shot.

She served Eric. Carmen, though, has an arrest record from drug charges and is not an ideal witness. >> She had a history of drug abuse.

“And although I think she's overcome that, those are who you deal with in criminal cases.”

They're not always the shiniest people in the world.

The jurors we spoke with were able to look past Carmen's history and found her credible. >> I put a lot of weight on Carmen Lawyers testimony. I found it very impactful, very important to the prosecution's case. And her testimony was corroborated with the digital evidence. >> The state's digital forensic expert testified about hundreds of text messages between Corey and Carmen,

Because the messages had been deleted, investigators could only retrieve dates and times,

but not the messages content. >> Between the two of them about 800 text messages. >> The prosecution argued throughout the trial that this was not the first time Corey used drugs to try to kill Eric. Investigators learned that two weeks before his death on Valentine's Day,

Eric became ill after Corey served him what they say was a drug-laced breakfast sandwich. >> On Valentine's Day, it was a sandwich when she murdered him, it was a drink. >> As for a motive, prosecutors say Corey needed money. A forensic accountant testified about her money problems.

“>> What was the amount of Corey rich in liabilities?”

>> Right about eight million dollars.

She said Corey was in debt for nearly eight million dollars from her house flipping business. Some of it from the recent purchase of that midway mansion. And Eric, between the contracting business property and life insurance, was worth a lot. >> On the day that Eric died, his estate was worth over four million dollars. >> There was also evidence that Corey took out an additional $100,000 life insurance policy on Eric,

about a month before he died, and that Eric signature was forced. >> Question and unknown signatures were not authored by the same person. >> A forgery prosecutor say committed by Corey. >> She used her business address for this policy and made herself the beneficiary.

And frankly, even as a layperson looking at the signatures, Eric did not sign that document.

>> And there may have been another motive for murder. According to the state, Corey wanted a new life with this man. Josh Grossman, a handyman she met through her house flipping business. They had an affair for about two years. >> I don't know how much the family knew about the fact that she had a pair of more.

I don't even know how much Eric knew about it. That would turn out to be a helpful piece of evidence that was discovered during the investigation. >> Josh Grossman testified that after he heard Corey had been arrested for Eric's murder by which time they had broken up, he reached out to Eric's family. >> I was overwhelmed with guilt sorrow over my wrongdoings, you know, infertility.

>> With respect to Josh Grossman, he seemed like a believable witness. >> I think we all felt really sorry for him at times that he was crying. Josh told investigators about a conversation he had with Corey that now under the lens of murder, took on new meaning. Josh who had served with the army in Iraq was asked about that conversation.

>> She asked if I had ever killed anybody. >> Did she ask if I allowed questions? >> She asked me how it made me feel or something along those lines. >> The jury was also shown text messages between Corey and Josh. >> I mean, you see those text messages back and forth, very lovely.

“Life is going to be different, I promise.”

If I was divorced right now and asked you to marry me, you would. I just want to lay on the couch and cuddle you, watch a murder documentary and snuggle. I mean, you know, I don't know that that gets any closer to the reality of what actually happened in this case. >> Yeah, in hindsight, I don't think those were probably well thought out. These coming in the way they did, the timing of them, I think certainly did not help Corey.

>> Can I get exhibit 3-1, please? >> Something else that did not help Corey was this reservation. She booked for a romantic getaway with Josh. >> And did you know about a trip planned to the secrets say Martins Resort? >> Yes.

>> Corey sent Josh the reservation she made before Eric died with the trip planned for April, a month after Eric's death. >> The reservation for the trip was damaging to Corey. To me that made it look like she had been planning something for a while. And at some point soon, Eric would be out of the picture. As the investigation proceeded, Corey said the prosecution was worried about being caught.

It showed web searches Corey made after Eric's death, including luxury prisons for the rich in America.

“How long does life insurance companies take to pay?”

If someone is poisoned, what does it go down on the death certificate as? >> Corey's internet searches, questions that were being searched led me to believe she had a guilty mind.

It kind of takes the sting out of them, I think it's somewhat understandable if this is after the death. >> This is after and well after, in fact. >> She was looking for information based on what she found out after Eric died. >> It was one of the points that Corey's own defense team made as it tried to poke holes in the entire prosecution's case.

>> You know what you're never going to hear?

It's how that's been all got inside of him because there's zero evidence about him. >> Just outside of Salt Lake City, home to fame ski resorts, including Park City, is the nearly 10-acre estate that Corey Richens was planning on flipping. >> It looks ginormous. >> It's massive.

>> Sky Lazaro told us Corey hoped to walk away with nearly $10 million in profit.

“>> I think this was kind of her dream when she got into this idea of flipping houses was to be able to do properties like this.”

>> And it was that a state said Corey Richens defense attorney Catherine Nestor in her opening statement. The couple were toasting the night Eric died. >> Eric and Corey Richens were celebrating. They were celebrating because Corey was about to close on the biggest real estate deal that her company had ever done. >> They had a lot to celebrate. They also had a wonderful family.

>> Nestor showed jurors a family photo of Eric and Corey with their three sons seemingly happy and spoke about the love they shared for their boys. >> And what's more important is that the boys adored their father and Corey knew that about her sons and about her family. >> Nestor asked jurors to consider why Corey would poison Eric knowing the impact it would have on their three sons. >> Now after you've listened to all the evidence in this case, you're going to have to decide if Corey Richens intentionally and knowingly poisoned the father of her kids knowing that she was going to cause those little boys to feel pain every day for the rest of their life for the loss of their father.

>> Corey's friend Greg Hall says Corey would never do that.

“>> She was loving, she was kind, she was giving a wonderful mother.”

>> Eric suffered from pain a lot. >> Nestor told jurors Eric Richens lived with chronic pain. >> He suffered from knee and back pain related to his work he did hard work. >> And use drugs recreationally often taking marijuana gummies. >> These are all gummies that the police found in Eric's things.

>> Nestor said Eric also used pain medication. >> You're also going to hear that there was an empty pill bottle right next to him. >> The label on that pill bottle was for the pain killer hydrocodone and it expired in 2020. >> Nestor suggested it was Eric who may have come into contact with fentanyl. >> You're going to hear that just a few weeks before Eric died, guess where he was.

>> Mexica. >> Guess where the fentanyl comes into this country from. >> Mexica. >> One by one. >> We'll proceed with cross examination of disparition spenson.

>> The defense challenged the state's witnesses. >> Beginning with Eric's sister Katie and her account of Corey's behavior the night Eric died. >> And you also said that she just stood there and did not comfort you in any way. Not that I recall. >> Okay.

>> Here on her. >> We'd like to play a clip. >> This is state's exhibit 1-4. >> Okay. >> So that's Corey.

>> Freeze it right there. >> And that's her squatting down to comfort you while you're on the ground and that's your hooking. >> Correct. >> So your memory about that was clearly wrong. >> To be fair.

It was four years ago. >> Okay. >> When it came to the state's key witness, Carmen Lobber. >> The defense pointed out that she made a deal with police in order to stay out of prison. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis played a portion of one of Carmen's interviews with investigators.

>> They're looking to for your drug court deal.

And that's for seven years on your two first.

“The only exception to that and the only thing that they're willing to kind of help you out with is if you can help yourself with this.”

>> And my hope, he means give up the details that will ensure Corey gets convicted of murder.

>> Yes. >> You may be getting seven years in prison on your state case. >> Correct. >> But if you help them out, that's not going to happen. >> Correct.

>> The investigators keep pushing on her. We need more that's not enough.

And finally, in the last interview, they basically just spell it out.

>> I love that. >> I love that. >> And then it has me, you did not do that.

“>> What do you believe you and that's why you're working on whatever you get out of jail free cards looks like?”

>> You know, this is your one get out of jail free card. You have to basically say it's not. >> And you are willing to do whatever it takes to save yourself from getting kicked out of drug court and going to prison. >> Correct. >> I'm willing to go forward with the truth, yes.

>> I think the defense is really hammering her. >> And I don't think it went over that. >> Well, she said, okay, go ahead and get the fentanyl. >> That's your testimony today. >> When I told her what I had, that's what she said, yes.

>> Even if Carmen bought fentanyl for Cory, the defense said there was no proof that Cory used the drug to poison her husband. >> Catherine Nestor told the jury the cops Cory served the drinks in.

>> We're never tested that night.

>> Danny, you ended up putting them in the dishwasher the next morning. >> I think the most powerful point the defense made is that we don't know exactly how the fentanyl got into Eric Richins stomach.

“>> When you have to prove murder, you have to prove that she's the one that administered the fentanyl to him.”

>> The defense pushed back on the state's claim that Cory had tried to poison Eric weeks earlier with that Valentine's Day sandwich. >> Cory's friend Ali Staking said the couple downplayed that episode as Eric having an allergic reaction. >> He took a bite of the sandwich and got another degree action and I just shouldn't supplement everything. >> Was everyone laughing? >> Yes, we were laughing and we jokingly said don't even worry for you too.

>> And did Eric appear upset about what had happened prior with the sandwich? >> No. >> And asked for the financial motive that Cory was broke. Skylosaro says Cory Richins multi-million dollar debt was typical in the house flipping business. >> That's what they do for a living as they invest in homes to flip.

>> So you're saying it's part of the business. >> Right, you get in in debt and then you flip the house you sell it and then you make your money. >> Absolutely. And that $100,000 life insurance policy the state claimed wasn't signed by Eric. >> Nestor said there is an innocent explanation. >> No, I'm telling you right now.

>> Lives everywhere sign their husband's names on a lot of things. >> You've got to find that she did it without his knowledge and I don't know how they're going to prove that.

>> The defense also downplayed Cory's affair with Josh Grossman who testified they never went on that romantic getaway.

Cory had booked for that then Cory ended the relationship. >> Right. >> It was a little bit difficult to understand what the situation was with Josh Grossman because she did seem to drop him pretty quickly.

“>> Do you think that Josh Grossman's relationship with Cory had anything to do with Eric's death?”

>> No, if that were the case after Eric passed away that relationship would have continued not been tapered off. >> It doesn't make any logical sense. >> On March 12th, 2026 after three weeks and 40 witnesses from the state. >> John of the state rests its case. >> The jurors say they were expecting to see defense evidence and hear from their witnesses.

>> Okay, now we can hear the rest of the story. >> But what happened next? >> Who's defense counsel's first witness? >> I've caught everyone off guard, my mouth just dropped open. I was so shocked and I was actually really disappointed.

[MUSIC] >> Hi, my name is Lloyd Lockridge and I'm the host of a new podcast from Odyssey called Family Lower. In this podcast, I'm going to have people on to tell unusual and sometimes far-fetched stories about their families. >> I've heard my whole life that she ended at the Margarita.

>> And then, we're going to investigate those stories and find out how much of it is true. He gets a patent one month before the right by this. >> Oh my God, please follow and listen to Family Lower. An Odyssey podcast available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. [MUSIC]

>> State's Council on Defense Counselor President Miss Richens is present. >> 13 days into the trial, Judge Richard Morazic asked Corey Richens defense team about their first witness. >> I was totally prepared for however many days or weeks of vigorous defense.

[BLANK_AUDIO] >> Yeah.

>> We have a couple of options.

>> Understood. [MUSIC] >> But the option defense attorneys Wendy Lewis and Catherine Nestor chose was when these jurors were not expecting. >> There are actually this time that defense counsel tends to rest in me. >> I was like, seriously?

Now we've seen just about everything in this trial. >> I was disappointed because I felt like there was more to the story and they denied us access to that. >> I just want to make sure you've consulted with your client about this. >> Absolutely. >> Miss Richens may ask you a two direct question.

>> Yes.

“>> Do you understand that you have the right to testify at trial?”

>> Yes I do.

>> Are you following your attorney's advice and waving your right to testify at trial?

>> Yes I am. >> I accept your waiver, I find it's knowing involuntary. >> Laura says she had least expected the defense to present testimony about Eric's alleged drug use and what role of any it played in his death. >> They were just hinting ever so slightly at these things without backing it up. >> So I was really hoping for some testimony if that's really true or you just trying to confuse everything.

>> Greg scored us who happens to be an attorney himself says perhaps the defense saw no need to call witnesses because it felt there was enough reasonable doubt. >> If you think you're winning after the prosecution puts on its case then there's no reason to put on a case because you could only hurt yourself. >> So why why even risk putting on a witness that could hurt you. >> Laura says throughout the trial she would sometimes look over at the defense table. >> There was really no vibe coming from her like a consensus whether she was upset or angry or sad.

>> So you had a very flat affect. >> Was that part of it the like ability of Cory Richens at that point do you think they saw woman who was having an affair. >> Who was in debt.

“>> I think that's how it certainly could be taken there never was a real opportunity to humanize her to make her likable to make.”

>> Like a person who wouldn't do that. >> Mr. Boydworth would you like to proceed. >> In its closing the prosecution portrayed Cory Richens as a ruthless social climber chasing a life beyond what she had at her family's expense. >> Behind the facade however. >> Cory Richens was incompetent.

>> Her business was imploding. >> All the while. >> Cory Richens was more interested in spending time with Josh Grossman than Eric. >> But she did not have the money to leave Eric or the money to salvage her business. >> She is a risk taker.

>> There was a way forward. >> Eric had to die. >> The defense used its closing argument to lay out its entire case. >> They want you to look at a woman in the worst moment of her life. >> Siding several reasons why there was reasonable doubt.

>> The investigation in this matter was nothing but sloppy. It was driven by bias. >> Wendy Lewis told jurors the investigators developed tunnel vision early on driven by Eric's family's belief that Cory was guilty. >> Everything about this investigation was led by the Richens family. >> It did give me pause whether there was this bias in the entire investigation that started with the Richens family.

>> What else do we find on that first day that Eric died?

>> Lewis pointed to that trip Eric took to Mexico shortly before his death and that empty pill bottle on his nightstand. >> The hydrocodone bottle. What was kept in that bottle?

“>> What might be the best way to bring a legal pill back from Mexico?”

>> But then in a prescription bottle? >> So what's another explanation? What kind of happened? >> Maybe he thought it was something else. >> And he accidentally got funds. >> Maybe they tested that bottle we would note.

>> But they didn't. >> She urged the jurors to stand with Cory Richens. >> Cory Richens did not kill Eric Richens. >> The state did not prove this case be unreasonable doubt and you have the courage to tell them this. >> And find Cory Richens not guilty.

>> How was Cory feeling did she ever feel like this may not go her way?

>> She was upbeat, hopeful, enthused, she was absolutely convinced that she would be found not guilty.

[MUSIC] >> You just find your mind because I don't know it just didn't. >> After sitting through the three week trial, jurors Eric and Laura had no way of knowing what other jurors were thinking, nor how long reaching a verdict could take. >> I was thinking this is going to be a very long week.

>> But in the end, deliberations would only last about three hours. Laura, one of the two women on the eight person jury was selected as four person.

“>> When we got back there, I think everyone was bursting.”

>> I felt like I was bursting at the seams. >> For the jurors, Cory's money trouble proved to be a motive for Eric's murder.

>> She was in such a position that she had to take drastic action to dig out of the financial hole that she was in.

>> I shared that I thought the evidence was devastating against Cory and that she was guilty. >> I think that opened the door to other people to share exactly where they stood. >> And when the decision was made to vote, the rest of the jury agreed not just that Cory murdered Eric, but that she previously attempted to kill him with that poison-laced Valentine's Day sandwich, and that she committed two counts of insurance fraud and forgery.

>> Ms. Richens, please stand. >> On March 16, 2026, Judge Richard Morazic read the verdict. >> Count one, aggravated murder. We, the jury unanimously, find that the defendant Cory Richens is guilty of aggravated murder.

“>> Cory Richens was stunned as she learned she was found guilty of all five counts related to Eric's death.”

Says her friend Greg Hall. >> Totally unexpected to choose absolutely crushed in heartbroken. >> Cory Richens declined our request for an interview. >> The state of Utah versus Cory Richens. >> Two months later on what would have been Eric Richens' 44th birthday.

>> Cory Richens, now wearing a prison uniform, was back in court to receive her sentence. Eric's family gave heartfelt statements. His sister Amy emphasized the impact his loss has had on his three sons. >> This crime didn't just happen once. It happens every single morning when those boys wake up and realize their fathers still gone.

The boys were five, seven, and nine when their world was shattered. Today they are nine, eleven, and thirteen.

“And through written statements read by each of their counselors for the first time,”

the world got to hear from them.

The first statement read aloud was written by the youngest, Western.

>> When someone talks about Cory, it makes me feel hateful and ashamed. She took away my dad. It's made me have a hard time trusting people. The middle child, Ashden, called Cory Greedy, and said she did not properly care for him and his brothers.

>> When we got hurt, you didn't even care. >> He accused her of harming the family pets. >> You wouldn't let me put my kid in in the garage for safety at night, and we found it eaten by our kids next day. You wouldn't let us turn on and use a heater lamp for the kid chickens and bunnies,

and they froze to death. >> Carter, the oldest, said Cory was often drunk and would lock him in his room. >> This happened pretty much daily. I feel angry that she locked me in my room. I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be.

I don't miss Cory. I will tell you that. >> All three boys ask the judge to give their mother whom they only refer to as Cory, the harshest possible sentence. >> What she did is very sick.

>> When it was their turn, Cory's friends and family pleaded for leniency. Her brother Ronnie. >> The injustice that's occurred here in this courtroom, it'll be right at the time until then, little sister just went right by your side. I know it's here right here for you.

I love you. [MUSIC] >> Then Cory richons was allowed to speak. She did not testify at trial, but now she approached the podium and used her time to address her kids. I will use any opportunity I can to get a message to you.

She says she has been cut off from them for the past two years.

that I took your dad from you.

“That is completely wrong in an absolute lie.”

And just because someone may not be perfect,

that's a far reach for them to be capable of murder.

[MUSIC]

“>> Judge Morazic had two options when considering Cory richon's sentence.”

Either 25 years to life with the possibility of parole,

or life in prison without parole. And he made it known he carefully considered each.

“>> The court's duty is to make a decision.”

A witty, long lasting decision based on the best information available today. Accordingly, Ms. Richons, the court hereby sentences you to life without parole. [MUSIC] >> For Eric's family, it was the end to a years long nightmare. Greg Scortis, the family spokesperson, says the true heartbreak is for the kids,

who are now living with Eric Cisterkady. >> I can't think of anything worse as a child. To lose your father except to know that it was because of your mother. I mean, think about that. [MUSIC]