Post Mortem | Kouri Richins: Behind the Facade

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Nice to meet baby boys. I know that today you don't want to speak to me, have a relationship with me, but you may thank you hate me, and that's okay.

I will never be angry at you for your feelings.

That was Cory Richens addressing her children on May 13th at a sentencing hearing.

“It was the first time any of us heard from Richens since the Utah Mother of Three”

was found guilty of aggravated murder in her husband Eric Richens 2022, Fentanyl overdose death. She was also found guilty of four other charges, including attempted aggravated murder two counts of insurance fraud and forgery. And now I will use any opportunity I can to get a message to you. Even if that means sharing it publicly to the world fully restrained in my jail clothes

and one of the most horrible situations possible. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Welcome to the season finale of Post Mortum. I'm your host 48 hours correspondent Ann Marie Green and joining me today is 48 hours correspondent Natalie Morales to discuss the dramatic inclusion of a case that is certainly at the nation.

Natalie, welcome. Thank you, Ann Marie for having me again and boy is this explosive

this sentencing hearing. We not only heard statements from Cory for the first time,

but also from Eric sisters, also from Eric and Cory's children in a statement, which you'll hear as read by their counselors. Now, this is a case as you know, it's been getting a lot of media attention. We've reported on it extensively as well. We're going to break it all down for you today. All right. So we are going to get into this. But first, a reminder as usual, everyone, if you haven't watched or listened to this episode,

it is called Cory Richens behind the facade. Go check it out now and then come on back for this conversation. And so as you sort of point out, Natalie, a lot of people had been following this case, but it has gone on for quite a while. So once you give us a bit of a recap, well, let's go back to March of 2022 and, you know, Cory Richens at the time was 31 years old, Eric, 39 years old, they seem to have it all by outward appearances. They seem to be in a good

marriage. They had three young sons, but it was in the early morning hours of March 4, 2022,

that Cory called 911. And she called and told the first responders that she had fallen asleep

with one of the kids when she put him to bed. And then when she woke up, she went back to her bedroom, and she found Eric cold to the touch and not breathing. So when the first responders arrived, they tried to save Eric, but it was already too late. Now, initially authorities thought that Eric may have died from an accidental drug overdose. But as investigators dug deeper,

“they suspected that Cory poisoned Eric for financial gain. So I think part of the reason why this”

case caught so many people's attention is because Richens notoriously published a children's book about grief. This is following her husband's death before being charged with murder, along with the insurance fraud charges and the forgery charges. But then in February of 2020, six, nearly four years after Eric's death, the trial finally begins in Utah in a courthouse there. What was the prosecution's case? The prosecution alleged that Cory poisoned Eric with

fentanyl that was served to him either in a mosque, a mule cocktail or a lemon drop shot. After apparently previously attempting to poison him, the a breakfast sandwich, this was on Valentine's Day, which was two weeks earlier. The prosecution painted Cory as a killer who was set on taking her husband's money because she was deeply in debt with her house flipping business. And they pointed to the evidence that she was also the beneficiary of multiple life insurance

policies on her husband and forged a policy as well. Now, the prosecution said that Eric Richens was considering divorcing his wife when he was killed and that they had argued over this

business. The prosecution also said that Cory was having an affair and her former paramour

“Robert Josh, I think he goes by Josh more commonly, Grossman, he actually testified to their”

relationship and the affair that they had during the trial. And the prosecution presented evidence that about three months before Eric's death, Cory had even gone so far as to book a Caribbean

vacation for herself and for Grossman, although it turns out they never ended up going on

the trip because they broke up apparently after Eric died. Okay, so then a lot of motive there, what about the defense? What did the defense argue? So the defense said Eric was dependent on drugs to deal with his chronic pain and he'd back issues apparently and they maintained that he most likely died from an accidental overdose. Now, Cory's attorney said that Eric might have actually gotten the fentanyl himself when he had traveled to Mexico just a few weeks before he died.

The defense also implied that he might have taken a marijuana gummy that he didn't know was

“laced with fentanyl and it was really interesting and I think kind of shocking to the jurors and”

you're going to hear from them and just a little bit. The defense made the decision not to call any witnesses and Cory did not testify during the trial. Why did the defense think that this was the best approach? Many defense attorneys would advise their clients against testifying on their own behalf because it just opens themselves up to then being cross-examined and harshly generally cross-examined by the prosecution. And you know, in fact, I asked Guy Lazaro who was Cory's original

defense attorney about that. She made the point that if the defense also had called witnesses, the state then would have the opportunity to rebut the witnesses and it's not the defense that has the burden of proof here. It is the prosecution and Sky pointed out that the defense likely thought they were in a strong position. In fact, Greg Hall, who is Cory's really good friend and has been her supporter through all of this. He was there during a lot of the trial. Greg said

that when the case wrapped that the defense felt and Cory in particular felt really strong about

“their position, they felt like they were winning. So that's why he said he believes the defense”

decided not to call any witnesses and certainly would not put Cory on the stand. Well, I mean, their senses were off because the jury deliberated for about three hours before returning the verdict, right? They found her guilty on all five counts including aggravated murder, attempted murder and two counts of insurance fraud and forgery. One of the things that is new in this episode is 48 hours actually interviewed two of the jurors from the trial, Laura and Eric,

and they've requested that we only use their first names, but they gave us some insight into what

the jury was considering, how they deliberated. What do they have to say? They both said, Eric and Laura, that the minute the trial ended and they walked back into the deliberation room, they felt completely convinced of Cory's guilt, but they didn't know how the other felt yet. And Laura was the four person on the case, but she said she could just see that everybody was bursting at the scenes to talk. They share what they thought about the witnesses, the strengths,

the weaknesses, but when they did take that vote, Laura said it was quick. I mean, deliberating for just three hours, it was pretty short, especially when you consider this is a murder charge and all these other charges as well. Absolutely. What evidence was the most convincing for them? So the juror Eric felt there were some inconsistencies with Cory's story and with what was actually presented as evidence. They pointed to her behavior right in the aftermath after discovering her husband

was cold to the touch. They first talk about that 911 call, as well as the video that came from

the Responding Officer's body cam. And they said it didn't seem like Cory was trying very hard to resuscitate him. Now you can contrast that with these text messages that Cory exchanged with a friend where Cory said that she was screaming, she was beating on Eric's chest, trying to get him to come back to life. They were also looking on the body cam footage of the Responding Officer's to see how Cory was acting in those moments and Cory is hiding her face a couple of times behind her hands,

how somebody acts in a traumatic situation. But again, what was most impactful to Laura was the time

“that it took for Cory apparently to start the CPR. So the prosecution is closing arguments”

actually had a stop watch to show that it was approximately six minutes between when the 911 operator told Cory to start and when it appears that Cory on the other side of that call actually says she started. And the most convincing piece of that evidence came from the digital download expert who was able to analyze the phone data and determined that Cory did not put her phone on speaker phone that she was still holding it up to her ear when she said she was doing CPR which

again should be done with both hands suggesting she wasn't actually doing it or she was doing it

one handed so not really giving it the full effort. And beyond that, you know, Cory's money trouble really was the biggest motivating factor that they saw. That was the main motive that convinced them

“that Cory was responsible for Eric's murder.”

Welcome back. So then two months after her conviction on what would have been Eric's 44th birthday, a Cory richness is back in court for sentencing. She's now convicted, she's in shackles, she's wearing a prison uniform, this sentencing hearing lasts nearly five hours. The judge allowed a lot of statements into the record including Cory's three children who are still quite young, nine, 11 and 13. They have prepared written statements that are read by counselors.

Right. And again, this is the first time that we're hearing from these three boys.

The first time that they're expressing their feelings publicly, I want to play a few portions from that court hearing. Now, the first statement was written by the youngest of the boys, Weston, his counselor read his statement. I feel a lot better about myself now than I did with Cory. I can't ever see my dad again. I want her to go to prison forever. If she got out, I would be so scared. Really mad, and I wouldn't want to go with her anywhere.

I mean, it is heartbreaking. All of the three boys expressed feeling safer with Cory being locked up. The oldest explicitly asked the judge to give her that life sentence. So it gives you a sense of, you know, what has been lost in this relationship with her children. So Ashton is Cory Richen's middle child who accused Cory of not caring for him or his brothers, but he also accuses Cory of harming the pets. He referred to his brothers in the statement just

by with their initials. Let's listen to some portions of his statement right out loud by his counselor. You took away my dad for no reason other than greed. And you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends. You were not caring and watching over me and my brothers. I had to be a parent to W. See, and I would walk him to the bus stop, feed him, and watch him. You wouldn't let our dog outside, and then the dog would pee inside. You created this problem, then you would smack my dog

on the head as hard as you could. You wouldn't let me put my kitten in the garage for safety at night. And we found it in Byerkins next day. You wouldn't let us turn on and use the heater lamp for the

“kid chickens and bunnies, and they froze to death. This is kind of all new information, right?”

This wasn't, was this sort of, brought up at the trial? Nothing. Nothing of this was brought up at the trial. What came into question was how she was as a wife, not as how she was as a mother. These two children would have been quite young at the time when they were living with her. Carter is the eldest son, and Carter says that Cory was often drunk that she would lock him in his room. Here's another counselor reading his statement. I felt like I had to take care of my siblings.

Ash mostly to care of me, though, because I was locked in my room. Ash would bring me food. Cory would lock me up if I told her she was drunk. This happened pretty much daily. I feel angry that she locked me in my room. We should point out that about these statements. They're not calling her mom. They're calling her Cory, but we don't know if prompts were given

by their counselors. The court also heard from Katie that is Eric's sister. I want to play some of

“that sound. There is no question that this case is famous and the Cory is now famous. But what”

Cory never mentions in talking about her fame and notoriety are the reasons why this case is

now famous. It is famous for how appalling and sickening it is. It is famous because a mother meticulously planned to kill her husband, killed him while their children were sleeping in the next room, and then had the audacity to hold herself out as the author of a children's book about grief and loss. It is famous because she spent time Googling luxury prisons for the rich in America. It is famous because from her jail cell, she scripted a bunch of phony testimony so that her brother

could perpetrate a fraud on the court. No love lost. They absolutely not. I mean, she's not just angry about the loss of her brother, but she clearly is disgusted by Cory richons and her character. The type of character she thinks she is. Eric has another sister. Her name is Amy. She also spoke. I didn't just lose my brother. I lost my sister in law. I lost someone I considered my friend. We had good times together. That lost the so complicated now your owner

because it forces you to grief someone who is still alive while facing the horror of what they have done. It is grief that doesn't resolve. It just sits there heavy every day. This crime has fractured our family and weighs out spiders cannot understand. Cory 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.

“Amy, I think, is a little more retrospective and looking back on the relationship that she had”

with Cory and talking about that loss. Interesting to hear her say, I didn't just lose my brother. I lost my sister in law. I lost someone I considered my friend. There were other people who spoke though on behalf of Cory, like her friend Greg, who described

her as a loving mother, who always went out of her way to help other people who were in need.

And then her brother Ronnie said this and as Ronnie was speaking, Cory was crying. We don't with 100% certainly know what happened in Eric. No one does, but we do know with a 100% certainty that it wasn't caused by you. We know that we know what the prosecution knows and everyone watching this trial knows it. They cannot prove their theory just the opposite

“yet here we are. For some reason unbeknownst to us, really bad things happen to really get people”

Cory and you were just really too good of a person I guess. Very stark contrast to the other statements that we heard. Yeah, I mean, one side paints her as just so heartless and so evil and so greedy. And here you have, you know, the other side is like, no, she was an incredible mother and an incredible friend and an incredible sibling. Right. The two good of a person, you know, we did speak with Ronnie when we first reported on this case on 48 hours and he clearly believes

in her innocence and the same goes for Greg Hall who I interviewed once again for this most recent hour. And they all feel that the jury missed the opportunity to get to know her. And you know, I mentioned that Cory had been crying when she was listening to her one brother there, but she had a lot of facial expressions during the sentencing hearing. She looked surprised. She looked incredulous. She wasn't stone faced. Let's put it that way. No, certainly not. I mean,

the one thing that you could say about Cory, she was very expressive. She at one point appeared to be smirking. She rolled her eyes. It seemed when Katie was speaking, Eric sister. People look at that. And they will make judgments based on that. Of course, she's already been judged by the jury. They've already found her guilty. But now it's her sentencing hearing. And then, of course, we heard from Cory rich in herself. And she spoke for about 30 minutes in a statement that was sort

of a letter for her sons. She expressed, you know, regret for some of her behavior. But notably, she may tangerine a sense, even apologizing to her sons for how the case unfolded.

I'm going to play a clip of that. I'm sorry that eight people from a jury who have never met

In a perfect world, there might be justice. But in a perfect world, nothing ever goes wrong.

tragedies don't happen.

“Something of verdict or the sentencing will be the answer that they seek or that they need, but it won't.”

It will only give them something else to think about for a while. It may help to disperse some of their hurt or the resentment, but it won't really be. This grief will outlive us all.

What's so interesting of what she said there in my opinion is she says, "I'm so sorry for the

jury's decision." I'm so sorry. The jury found me guilty. She said that her sons have the right to be angry, of course, sad and confused. And that quote one day, when this is all over, we can sit down

“and talk about all of this and sort it all out. And she ended by saying she will continue to call”

her boys every day. Even if her calls are blocked and that she loves them forever because, you know, Cory has not had any real contact with the boys in all of these years since she was awaiting trial. So the judge is taking all of this in. And the judge sort of openly debates whether or not to sentence Cory, which is to 25 years to life or life without parole. He weighs the impact of the sentence on her three sons and really expresses a desire that everyone impacted by

her death, find their way to a state of peace. Ultimately, the judge sentences Cory returns to life

“without the possibility of parole. Natalie, is this the last we will hear from Cory Richens?”

Probably not. According to her team, Cory plans to appeal the verdict, so this is going to keep going. You know, but for the boys, I think, and for Eric's family, they feel that it's over and they want it to be done with. And, and, and may do we have any idea how her sons are doing today? Well, we know that they're living with with Katie that's Eric's sister and her husband Clint. They've really tried to keep them away from all of this attention. You know, now they've lost

both parents and extended family as well. So the ripple effects of something like this will continue. And, and, unfortunately, you know, it's the children who really pay the greatest price. Absolutely. Well, Natalie, thank you so much for joining me today for post-mortem. Good to talk about this with you again, Ann Marie. And thank you for listening to this season of post-mortem. Post-mortem is hosted by me and Marie Green. Our producer is Annie Kronenberg.

Cara Norbitz is our coordinating producer. Jamie Benson is our senior director podcast operations and production. Alan Peng is our podcast engineer and mixer. A lot of miles is our video editor, special thanks to 48 hours executive producer Judy Tigard, as well as Megan Marcus and Ainsley Rosito. If you'd like this episode, please rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.