48 Hours - The People v. Kouri Richins

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

When her husband is found dead of an apparent overdose, Kouri Richins writes a children's book about grief. Soon after she’s charged with his murder.  "48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours, and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. A bizarre and maddening tale involving an eyewitness account that doesn't quite make sense. A sister testifying against a brother. A lack of physical evidence. Crosley Green has lived more than half his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green, ad-free on Amazon Music. It's a small town. It's rural America in every way.

This is the family next door. Very connected, very loving, very bonded. They spent a lot of time together. With a happy American couple. Eric ran a successful contracting business. He was involved in his boys' sports activities. He was very good to the boys, and he taught those boys so much.

Corrie was a real estate agent that also would buy and fix up and flip homes. She was smart, She was savvy. She knew how to connect. She was absolutely in love with Eric and absolutely in love with her boys. Eric and Corey were probably at the best place they've ever been in their marriage

and seemed genuinely happy with each other. They had it all. I mean it was one happy family. At three o'clock in the morning I got a phone call and it was Corey and she said get up here something's happened to Eric. He went to sleep and never woke up. She's a complete wreck. She's a complete wreck. She's sitting on the couch. She's just bawling. Were they giving you a sense of how he may have passed? So the paramedics said aneurysm, so we

were all believing aneurysm. I had saw him the day before. He looked horrible. He said, my chest hurts. So the last time you're seeing him alive, you don't think he looked very good. Right. The lead detective and another officer came to her house

and said they were going to close the case. They're done. It's an accidental overdose. They communicated that Eric had died of a fentanyl overdose. In the weeks and months after Eric's passing, how would you describe Cory, her state of mind, emotionally? How was she handling things? It probably took her two months to go back in her own bedroom.

It was devastating to her. She writes a children's book. She did this to help her work through the feelings with her children. The book, I think, was 100% beneficial to the boys. Then you can take a sigh of relief. It's over. We're done. We can start living again. And then I got a phone call. Corey was just arrested in Salt Lake. A Summit 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. I think she felt that this would be treated as an accidental overdose and nobody was going to be the wiser. He told his family, if I die, you need to take a look at her because I think she's trying to kill me. They're going to have to prove that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to him. And unless they can connect those dots, they're going to have a hard time proving murder in this case.

natalie morales reports the people versus cory richards in the early morning hours of march 4th 2022 lisa darden was attempting to console her daughter, 31-year-old Corey Richens. She was brought out on the floor just sobbing. Corey had just learned from emergency personnel that her husband, Eric, was dead. She was tore up. Her brothers, Ronnie and DJ, were also there. She was a complete wreck. I just started crying.

According to Lisa, that night Corey had poured Eric a drink to celebrate a new opportunity at her real estate business, the purchase of this mansion. She told me she made him a Moscow Mule. That's a drink made with vodka and ginger beer. She said they went to bed about 9, 9.15. She went and laid with Ash. Ashton, the 9-year-old, has always had major nightmares. And when she went back to get in her bed, he was cold. She went to push on him, and he didn't respond. She went to push on him and he didn't respond.

It was after 3 a.m. and Lisa says Corey immediately called 911 and at the dispatcher's instructions, performed CPR. When first responders arrived, they started working on Eric, but it was too late. It's just unbelievable. You're in shock that something like that, you know, could happen. It was those first responders who initially suspected Eric had died of an aneurysm. The father of three young sons was just 39. How were the boys? Did the boys know what was happening? They knew something was happening and they could see the ambulances and cops coming in.

Very distraught. They all just sat there on the couch and just cried together. The sad scene was a far cry from the happy family they once were. Corey and Eric met in 2009 at a local Home Depot. Back then, Corey was a cashier. Eric worked in construction and was a frequent customer. I heard that he wanted her number for a long time and was kind of afraid to go get it,

so he had to have a friend run in and go get it from her. Eric asked her out, and they hit it off. When Corey said, I'm dating this guy, what did you think? Corey was terrified of me meeting him. Oh, really? Why? Because I'm the big brother and... Tough. Yeah, yeah.

But DJ and Ronnie say Eric fit right in. I thought he was a great guy. In 2013, Corey and Eric got married and had the boys. First Carter, then Ashtonon and finally Weston Lisa says fatherhood came easily to Eric he taught those boys so much they idolize their father and he idolized the boys as well Cory's family got to know the rich ins including Eric's two sisters Katie and Amy they'd come up for birthdays here and there, and we're all very friendly.

Eventually, Eric started a stonemasonry business, and Cori started her own real estate company, buying houses, fixing them up, and selling them for profit. Greg Hall was her marketing director and good friend. Cori had something that a lot of people don't. A lot of times you find an individual that is intelligent, but no common sense, or common sense and no intelligence. She had both.

She was a brilliant young lady. How many houses would she have on average that she was working on or trying to flip? At one time? Yeah. I would say, on average, three. So it was kind of a constant rotation of buying a home, fixing it up, selling it. Yes.

And Eric's business continued to flourish. They both lived very well, and they both bought and spent what they wanted. In their spare time, Eric loved to to hunt and together they traveled the world it sounds like on the surface eric and corey seemed to have it all would you say that was so i would say that yes i don't know that i can even begin to overstate how close this family was this was a huge loss greg skortas is the spokesman for eric's family He was this beautiful son and brother, and to have that taken away from you, I can't imagine much worse than that. Not long after Eric's funeral, an autopsy revealed the cause of his death. It wasn't an aneurysm. It was a lethal dose of fentanyl. Fentanyl

is many, many times more potent than oxys and the other pain medications that we typically use. It's a very dangerous drug. But how did fentanyl get into Eric's system? Corey's family believes his recreational drug use could be to blame. Nearly every day, they say, Eric would take a gummy with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It was always just to relax at the end of the day. And according to Ronnie, Eric did not always get the gummies from reputable sources. Just about every trip that I

had been on with him, he'd buy just from someone off the street. Lisa says Eric also sometimes took pain pills. Hey, do you have any pain pills? Hey, can you call and hook me up? He certainly wasn't an opioid or an illegal drug user. Corey's family thinks Eric had taken something he didn't know was laced with fentanyl and that his death was a tragic accident. Eric's family strongly disputes this claim. He didn't die of a self-inflicted drug overdose. Eric's family wondered if Corey may have been involved. They said, this doesn't smell right. No question the family thought that right from the beginning.

right from the beginning. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing.

The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military and when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music.

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Corey was still completely distraught. Even now, she's never had time to grieve. She's doing her best to move on. She didn't know of a way of doing that. Corey's brother, Ronnie, says it was also hard for the couple's three young sons. The boys, it's still hard for them. They lashed out a little bit because they couldn't quite understand what was going on. And they needed some help, and Corey needed some help. Eventually, Corey found a way to turn her grief into action. In March 2023, one year after Eric's death, Corey came up with the idea to write that children's book about coping with loss, Are You With Me?

She promoted it on a local TV show, Good Things Utah. I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night. And so, you know, I was like, let's just write one. to my kids at night. And so, you know, I was like, let's just write one. The self-published book follows the story of a child who lost his father, but is reminded his presence still exists all around. In the book, Eric is portrayed as an angel who is always close by. Yes, I am with you on Christmas, Corey writes. You can't see my smile, but it's there. I'm here and we're together. Like dad is still here, it's just in a different way.

Corey's mother, Lisa, says writing the book was therapeutic. I think the book was a great thing. It helped them. It helped them all. Her family says it finally seemed as though Corey and the boys would be able to move forward. It seemed to make the boys really happy. While the family was working to get back on track, police had been investigating Eric's death. And just weeks after Corey's appearance on TV to promote her book. New at 10, this has been a talker all day today,

a Summit 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. On May 8th, 2023, Corey, the grieving wife, this is the home where police found Eric Richens dead, was now the prime suspect in her husband's death. You must have been in a panic. I was shocked. She can't be arrested. A Utah mother has been charged with murder. Corey was charged with aggravated murder and taken into custody. Court documents allege she committed homicide by the administration of a poison.

Greg Skordas, the spokesman for Eric's family, suspects Corey put a lethal dose of fentanyl in the drink she made Eric that night, the Moscow Mule. The dosage that he was given that night was of such a high level that no person could have survived it. Skyla Zaro is her attorney. Did police ever test the glass that she gave Eric this cocktail in? They seized a number of items from the home, and there was no fentanyl that was found on

any glassware. Corey's family says they struggle to make sense of the charges. Corey denies any involvement in her husband's death. For anybody who knows Corey, just knows she could not have done this. She'd never do this. Lisa says her daughter and son-in-law had a great relationship.

Nobody's perfect, but they're pretty close. And like many couples that have disagreements, they were able to overcome their differences. He didn't want Corey to work. He wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom, and she's very independent, and that wasn't going to happen. Another issue, says Corey's brother Ronnie, was the amount of time Eric spent away on hunting trips, sometimes four or five months a year. Just kind of irked her because that is his biggest passion in his life is hunting, and she might want him home a little bit more. And so, you know, they might get in a fight about that. And then, according to Corey's mother, Lisa, there was alleged infidelity on Eric's part.

She says she heard about it first from Corey and then from Eric. It was a text about trust, how I trusted him as a son-in-law, as a father, as a husband, and how could he do this. Corey's family says the couple went to counseling, determined to work through their issues. Skourtis, who denies Eric ever cheated on Corey, says Eric had a different reason for wanting to make his marriage work. He was going to do whatever he could to make it work because he lived for those boys. He would have done anything for those boys. Let's go to counseling. Let's try to keep the family

together. Skourtis says at one point Eric had considered divorce, but ultimately decided against it. He says to protect the boys in case the relationship didn't work out, Eric put his estate into a secret trust without telling Corey and named his sister Katie in charge. But in the months leading up to Eric's death, Ronnie says the couple seemed better than ever. How were they doing as a couple, as a family? Yeah, fantastic. How were they doing as a couple, as a family?

Fantastic. They were probably one of the best spots I've ever seen them in in quite some time. Everyone's having fun, laughing, joking. It seemed really great to me. So why would Corey want Eric dead? Court documents allege a life insurance payout might have been a motive. Skorda says Eric's family agrees. This is cold-hearted greed. At the time of Eric's death, there were at least six life insurance policies on him, totaling nearly three million dollars. Court documents allege that in January 2022, two months before Eric died died Corey forged Eric's signature To get yet another policy

Worth an additional $100,000 Corey is also accused in court documents Of stealing from Eric's personal accounts And misappropriating monies Distributed from Eric Richen's business Dating back years According to score does Corey didn't just want the money she desperately needed it Court documents allege her house flipping business was drowning in nearly two million dollars of debt

As she was in way over her head she needed some money in a hurry. It was a significant amount of money. Skorda says a premarital agreement stipulated Corey had given up claim to Eric's business assets, except that if husband should die prior to wife while the two are lawfully married. It was worth much more to her dead than divorced. She felt that there was easy money and fast money to be made by not having her husband around anymore. Corey's attorney, Sky Lazaro, strongly disputes any allegations her client forged Eric's signature, mishandled finances, or stole from Eric. As for the claim Corey was in debt and needed the money, she says that's simply not true. She was in the business of flipping houses. This is what they did.

Lazara says taking on debt from lines of credit was part of how the business of flipping houses worked, and the money would be paid back when a home sold. It's not as if she had all these conventional loans that she owed people money on. Sure, it looks like a large number, but we're talking about business transactions with people who she did business with. Eric and Corey sat down every month and did the bills together. At all times, Eric knew what was going in and what was coming out. Eric knew what was going in and what was coming out. Lisa says Eric not only knew about the finances, but he was also very supportive of Corey's new business opportunities,

like the purchase of the mansion they were celebrating the night he died. Eric's saying, let's have a shot. Come on, let's celebrate Corey. It was that night, Skourdes says, Eric's family believes Corey gave him the Moscow Mule laced with fentanyl. And he says Eric's family believes it wasn't the first time Corey had tried to poison her husband. The time he died wasn't the first time we believed that she tried to kill him. What do you think happened to Eric Richens? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X. Just outside Salt Lake City, in the shadow of Utah's Wasatch Mountains, home to famed ski resorts, including Park City,

is the property that Corey Richens was planning on flipping. The deal she and Eric were celebrating the night he died, says her attorney Sky Lazaro. It's a decently good-sized home. Lazaro showed us the nearly 10-acre estate. Where are we? Give us a sense of why this is significant real estate. So this is the Heber Valley. Right over the hill is Park City, all the major ski areas. And then to the right is Deer Creek Reservoir. So this really sits between major recreational areas. It looks ginormous.

It's massive. The 20,000-square-foot mansion and its 4,000-square-foot guest house were originally built in 2017 but never finished. The project was abandoned for two years until Cori discovered it. 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. Lazara says Cori used financing from a group of investors to make an offer on the house for $3.9 million. The plan was to develop this, turn it into a recreational hotspot given this

is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and hopefully sell it at a profit. How much did she think she could make off of this house? Her and Eric sat down with an accountant one time and he said if you can get it done and stay under budget, you could walk away with $12 million. Wow. That's a big turn. Yes. From 3.9 to 12 million.

Yes. There was a lot of excitement. I remember how excited she was. Greg Hall worked with Corey. He says it was a solid investment. It would have been a real easy flip. They wouldn't have had to sit on that for long. As far as you know, Eric was on board with this plan. Oh, 100%.

But that's not what Eric's family remembers, says their spokesman, Greg Skourtis. I don't think he was ever in favor of that. He was on board with supporting his wife. That doesn't mean he agreed with it. In fact, the house is mentioned in this legal filing containing notes from an investigator who interviewed Eric's family after his death. They said Eric and his wife were arguing about buying the property. And that wasn't all, Eric's family told investigators. According to that same filing, they made numerous allegations against Corey, including that they suspected his wife had something to do with his death.

They advised he warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame. They also told investigators they believed Corey had tried to poison Eric before on two separate occasions. According to the filing, Eric's family said the first attempted poisoning was in 2019 when Eric and Corey and six friends were on vacation in Greece. They said Eric became violently ill after Corey gave him a drink. Ronnie says he heard it was all a misunderstanding. Eric was on medication, and that medication you're not allowed to drink on. He asked the waitress to bring a virgin drink, a drink without alcohol. She didn't do it. It made him very, very sick. Corey called his doctor, figured out what to do, and later that night he was back and

fine. Everyone that was there will tell you the exact same thing. According to that same filing, the second time Eric's family said Corey tried to poison Eric was the month before Eric died on Valentine's Day 2022. They said his wife brought him a sandwich, which after one bite, Eric broke into hives and couldn't breathe. Corey's family denies she ever tried to poison him. They ordered a sandwich and the sandwich was bad. He went and took a nap and then went and coached one of his child's games. Aside from an assertion by the family, there doesn't seem to be anything else out there that supports that.

Eric's family also called into question Corey's behavior following her husband's death. According to court documents, Eric's family told investigators two days after Eric died, Corey punched Eric's sister Amy in the neck and face when Amy tried to stop her from opening a safe they said contained between 125,000 and $165,000 cash. There was an argument that broke out and Eric's sister said that she owns the house. Everything is put into a trust and she owns the house. Remember Eric had created that trust and kept it secret from Corey when they were going through those marital problems.

Until Eric's death, Corey knew nothing about the trust, according to court documents. If Eric had any sort of documents, he'd have them in the safe. So she went in to go see what was in there. Amy came after Corey, and, you know, Corey defended herself. The two of them started pushing, and I was standing in the middle of them. All they did was push.

Both of them were trying to swing over the top of me. So the narrative that's been pushed that it was poor Amy got assaulted was nonsense. The brothers say Amy stormed off and called the police. A month later, Corey was charged with assault and later pleaded no contest. Her husband's just passed away. She's highly emotional. Everybody's highly emotional. Things got a little heated between them.

Two families. Two very different stories. About what they believe happened to Eric. But with accusations flying back and forth, what did the evidence show? The state has to prove that she did this, that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to him. She had apparently contacted a drug dealer, a known drug dealer in that area, and purchased fentanyl and had done it on more than one occasion. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch.

It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still

have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction.

Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. All right, let me make sure this is recorded. Have a seat, please. In June 2023, Corey Richens appeared in court before Judge Richard Morazek for a bond hearing. The issue before the court is whether defendant Corey Richens should continue to be held without bail during the pretrial period. It was the first time since Richens had been charged in her husband's death that the public got to see her. And for the entire four-hour hearing, she sat in handcuffs next to her attorney, Skyla Zaro.

I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Corey to sit there and listen to everything that was talked about at that hearing. To convince the judge why Richens should not be released, prosecutors Patricia Cassell, Brad Bloodworth, and Joseph Hill presented evidence and called witnesses to make their case Richens had poisoned her husband. It had all the elements of a mini trial. In order for the judge to make a determination to detain someone at a bail hearing, the state has to prove substantial evidence. Prosecutor Joseph Hill called to the stand cell phone expert Chris Cotodrimos.

If you'd step in front of Brittany, we'll get you sworn in. He asked him about Google searches he says Richens made on her phone. Were you able to observe Internet searches on that phone? Yes. Those searches, which were detailed in court documents, included Can deleted text messages be retrieved from an iPhone? Can FBI find deleted messages? What is a lethal dose of fentanyl? I don't know that these searches mean as much when you look at the timing of when they're done.

Lazaro says there's an innocent explanation. Those searches were conducted after Eric's death. I think it's more to answer questions relating to what she was being accused of. The state also called to this stand the lead investigator on the case, Detective Jeff O'Driscoll. I was assigned to be the lead detective in this case in April of this year. Prosecutor Bloodworth questioned Detective O'Driscoll about where Richens may have gotten fentanyl. He specifically asked about an interview the detective conducted with Carmen Lauber, who said she worked for Richens.

She's referred to as CL. CL is an associate of the defendant. She cleaned houses for the defendant's business, as well as her personal home at times. Detective O'Driscoll said CL had a criminal history with drugs. At the time of their interview, she was on probation for multiple drug distribution charges. According to court records, she has not been charged in connection with Eric's death. In our interviews, CL told us that in early 2022, the defendant reached out to her either by phone call or text message requesting that she procure fentanyl for what the defendant reported was an investor who had a back injury.

Detective O'Driscoll testified that CL told him she purchased 15 to 30 fentanyl pills and then sold them to Richens. CL told us that after purchasing the pills, she returned home. Gail told us that after purchasing the pills, she returned home. She said that either later that night or the next day, the defendant met her and did a hand-to-hand exchange of pills for cash. That transaction, says Detective O'Driscoll, took place on February 11, 2022, three days before Valentine's Day, when, according to court documents, Eric's family said Richens had tried and failed to poison Eric with that sandwich. But there was more. We're going to now shift to a second drug buy.

Detective O'Driscoll said C.L. told him Richens contacted her again approximately a week later. The defendant reached out to her again by text or call and said that she wanted some more fentanyl that was stronger than the previous batch. This time, Detective O'Driscoll said, CL told him Richens paid by check. And the defendant came to the door and wrote her a check from her business,

from the defendant's business, for $1,300 for the purchase of the fentanyl. Just a week later, Eric was dead. We dispute all of those allegations. In her cross-examination, Lazaro asked Detective O'Driscoll if there could have been another reason for that $1,300 check. It could very well be that Corey was paying her for cleaning houses, correct? I don't want to speculate, but... It could be, despite what CL said, correct? Okay. Lazaro says because Carmen Lauber is a convicted felon, she's not credible.

She was on probation at the time. I think anytime you have an informant type situation, at the time. I think anytime you have an informant type situation, it can call into question the veracity of their statements or the motive for what they're saying. In her cross-examination of Detective O'Driscoll, Lazaro attempted to show how CL might have felt pressure to tell investigators what they wanted to hear. You begin the interview by explaining to CL essentially how dire of a situation she is in, correct? I don't have the interview memorized, but I know we talked about that, yes. Okay, well, you told her that she was on probation to drug court for four first-degree felonies, correct? Correct. You essentially tell her that she has the potential of doing a considerable

amount of state and federal prison time, potentially. Yes, this is a common tactic in law enforcement to be able to leverage charges for information. Lazaro also asked the detective what evidence there was to back up CL's claims that she had sold fentanyl to Richens. And because CL is working for the defendant, there's communication, correct? Correct. But Detective O'Driscoll said he saw no text messages where Richens allegedly asked CL for drugs. We didn't find any. Was anyone with her that could corroborate that she saw CL hand Corey drugs? Not that I know of.

48 Hours attempted to contact CL for comment. We received no response. They have to prove that she obtained drugs and gave them to her husband. And unless they can connect those dots, they're going to have a hard time proving murder in this case. What do you make of Corey's Google searches? For a timeline of the case, visit us at 48hours.com. Hotshot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty.

Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list.

She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free As Corey Richens bond hearing came to a close, her attorney Sky Lazaro was hopeful her client would be granted bail. This is a case in which there doesn't appear to be any smoking gun. These cases are generally more favorable to the defense. Good morning. The

prosecution closed its case to deny Richens bail with a victim impact statement from Eric's sister, Amy. I'm here today to represent my brother, Eric Eugene Richens. Eric is gone and I am brokenhearted. None of our lives will ever be the same. Eric died under horrendous circumstances. I am tormented at the thought of what he endured. Please do not allow Corey to hurt Eric's memory, our family, friends, and community anymore. We have been through enough. Judge Richard Morazic spent very little time making his decision.

Richens would remain in custody. The circumstances of this case weigh soundly against granting pretrial release of any kind. Richens' family was disappointed. They say her time in jail while waiting for her trial has taken its toll. I hear her on the phone. I hear her sobbing. taken its toll. I hear her on the phone. I hear her sobbing. In September 2023, Richens' family says she had a medical emergency in custody while taking prescription medications and needed to be rushed to the hospital. What did she say happened to her? That they gave her the wrong medicine and it caused a seizure. Richens made a full recovery, but while she was

away, jail officials say they found this handwritten letter in her cell that was never sent. The document, later filed in the court record, has become known for the word scrawled at the top of the page, walk the dog. Prosecutors say it's from Richens to her mother. I take care of her 16-year-old dog. And her thing is, be sure you walk her. She's so worried about this dog. In November 2023, prosecutors filed this motion asking the court for a no-contact order to deny Richens access to her mother and brother. In the motion, they say the letter is evidence of witness tampering.

They say Richens gives her mother instructions on what her brother Ronnie should say in court. The letter instructs Lisa Darden to induce the defendant's brother, Ronald Darden, to testify falsely, the motion states. To me, this letter is an attempt to get a witness to testify to something that isn't true by spoon-feeding the witness the testimony that he's supposed to give. In the letter, Richens writes that her defense will need to establish that Eric bought drugs while traveling abroad. We need some kind of connection. Here's what I'm thinking, but you have to talk to Ronnie. He would probably have to testify to this.

In the letter, it appears that she's laying out a little bit of her defense. For example, your name is brought up. Eric told Ronnie he gets pain pills and fentanyl from Mexico, almost like she's laying out a case saying, tell Ronnie. Richens goes on to write, Ronnie should have texts from Eric talking about getting high as well. Reword this however he needs to to make the point, just include it all. The connection has to be made with Mexico and drugs.

Is she giving you instruction in this letter? I don't know. I don't know one way or another. Most of that, unfortunately, I can't speak about. The things that are in the letter are true things, and everybody who's in her circle already knew this. But Corey has a different explanation. She says the letter is fiction. But Corey has a different explanation. She says the letter is fiction. In separate phone calls from jail that were recorded and later entered into the court record, she told her mother and Ronnie that the letter was part of a book she's been writing and that it's private. The judge denied the motion for no contact, saying the state had failed to prove witness tampering.

It isn't witness tampering because it didn't go anywhere and it was never communicated to anyone. As the families wait for the trial, they say their focus is on Eric and Corey's three sons. The family is concerned about the boys. That's the main focus, the boys. That's who's important here right now. Both families say they hope to gain custody. The boys are currently living with a member of Eric's family. Lisa says they're only allowed to speak to their mother twice a week on a video call. Just heart-wrenching as to what they're going through.

Lisa, Ronnie, and DJ have been denied private visits with the kids, but Lisa says she does what she can to support them and attends all their sports practices. And the reason I can do that, it's a public place. I can't be stopped from going there. I still get to see them. I still get a hug and kiss, and that keeps me going. Besides the criminal case, which could carry a sentence of 25 years to life there are multiple ongoing civil cases regarding

the fate of eric's estate both sides believe the other is after the money both families are concerned about the boys you could say that you. You could say that. I wouldn't. We believe that the defendant's family is concerned about the money that they can get. Whoever ends up with the boys ends up with the money. That's all they want. It's not right. Until that's resolved, both families are waiting for the trial to start and are hoping for a verdict that delivers their version of justice. What is the family doing to stay strong now?

You know, the family has the family. They have each other. They feel like the state has put together a good case and they're going to stay united and support each other no matter what happens in this case. She's innocent. She's been thrown in jail over something that she hasn't committed. Are you both confident that Corey will be found not guilty, Lisa? I am, 100%.

100%. She'll be out. Corey Richens is expected to go on trial in 2025. Join me Tuesday for Postmortem from 48 Hours, where we'll dive even deeper into today's episode and answer your questions about the case.