Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mormon Mom Parties Hardy After Hubby Poisoned Dead

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

The Utah mom who allegedly killed her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl mixed into a Moscow Mule throws a party less than 24 hours after Eric Richins is found dead in their home. Kouri Richins hosts the celebration at a $2 million home the couple planned to flip, after a busy day of closing on the home and deleting all of her text messages inviting friends to the party. The acquaintance who sold Richins the fentanyl she used to poison her husband is on the guest list. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Jarrett Ferentino- Homicide Prosecutor, Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino  Caryn Stark - Psychologist- Trauma and Crime Expert; Twitter: @carnpsych Justin Boardman- Former Detective, West Valley City Police Department Special Victim’s Unit; Boardman Training & Consulting  Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan", Twitter: @JosephScottMorg  Dave Mack- CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Many people, be it woman or man, that lose their spouse go into a deep, deep depression. Some can't eat, they can't drink. They go into seclusion. Many don't even want to live anymore. But this merry widow threw a house party. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111.

First of all, take a listen to our friends at NBC. This whole entire place will sleep up to 60 people. The listing agent telling NBC News, Corey is currently selling this house, purchased just a week after her husband's death. Detectives say the couple had argued about the property, which Corey wanted to flip. The agent says this rendering shows plans for a $4 to $6 million renovation of the 10-acre estate. But police say Eric told his family he no longer wanted to buy the house because it would lose a significant amount of money. The day after Eric was found dead, investigators say Corey reached a deal on the home. And that same day, threw a party at her house where she was drinking and celebrating with friends.

Wow, and it wasn't just a house. This house was over $2 million valued, unfinished, 20,000 square feet on a nearly nine-acre plot of land. Okay, joining me in all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but first, to Jarrett Ferentino, homicide prosecutor. You can find him on Facebook and Insta at Jarrett Ferentino. Jarrett, thanks for being with us. Jarrett, you know, money. Greed, greed, greed. One of the seven deadly sins. Now, of course, you know, money, greed, greed, greed. One of the seven deadly sins.

Now, of course, you know, the seven deadly sins is set forth in Canterbury Tales is not necessarily the law by which we live. But a lot of murders have been committed over greed. Nancy, I look at this case and I think about we said when we were talking about Dr. Craig, the dentist that poisoned his wife, there's a special place in hell for people that kill out of greed and selfishness. And that's exactly what this is all about. Bori Richens was in love with a lifestyle. A lifestyle. That's a really good way to put it, Jarrett Farentino, a lifestyle. That's a really good way to put it, Jared Farentino. A lifestyle. Was it a lifestyle she could not sustain with a husband? Or was it a lifestyle she couldn't have with a husband? Because here you see him putting the brakes on buying this $2 million house. And, you know, they buy and they flip. And I guess she wanted to flip this house or did she want to move into this house? But I do know this.

The day after he dies, she throws a celebration, a big party to celebrate closing the deal on the house. Forget about him. He's cold and dead. Let's look forward at the house. You know, Nancy, one other thing, and you've prosecuted these cases. This is something, events like this, actions like this, a party after the death, that will come in to the ultimate prosecution in this case. Here's why. Her actions before and her actions after all are relevant to her true intentions in the case.

She's celebrating at the death of her husband, a father of three young children, because she accomplished her goal. Get him out of the way. Get this property. Get money. And that's what she was partying about. Can we walk through these steps? Everybody on the panel, do I have to keep reminding you? This is not high tea at Windsor Castle with Camilla

and Charles. Okay, jump in. It's more like a rugby game. No pads, no protection, head-on collision, and who wins in the end remains to be seen. Let's talk through all the steps of throwing a party. Can we just start right there? Let me go to Karen Stark, joining me, renowned psychologist, joining us from Manhattan, trauma and crime expert. You can find her at KarenStark.com. That's Karen with a C. Karen, a party.

You know, I want to throw a July the 4th party like we do every single year. And we really, as we say down south, put on the dog. I mean, we have so much fun. Typically, we get a slippy slide, which results in a big mud hole in the yard. I see you shuddering over there, Jackie. Fireworks, the whole shebang. Okay. And you have to think about it ahead of time. What are you going to cook?

What are you going to serve? Sending out the invites on and on and on. Did we forget anybody? Who did we invite last year? Don't want to leave anybody out. That takes a minute, right? So when was she doing the party planning? Well, Nancy, you're talking about a psychopath, right?

Wait a minute. I just figured it out, Karen Stark. You know I will lose the thought if I don't tell you immediately. Okay, tell me. Maybe she did the party planning while her husband was lying in bed, dying of a massive fentanyl overdose. Remember, she was texting a lot, and we can't seem to find out what she and her friend were texting about.

So maybe it was all the party planning. Because the day after he's dead, she has a big party. And we can't seem to find out what she and her friend were texting about. So maybe it was all the party planning. Because the day after he's dead, she has a big party. I mean, with all the works and trimmings. So when was that planned? Before he died? After he died? While he was dying?

I'd be very curious to find out, Karen Stark. Hey, hey, we need to make a note of this to Joe Scott Morgan, Justin Borman, Jarrett Fiorentino, and Dave Mack. When did she invite people to the party? Was it after the husband died, while he was dying, or before he died? I really want to know that because you just heard Jarrett Fiorentino, veteran trial lawyer, state that her actions after the death of her husband can come into evidence. That's absolutely correct in the law. So I want to find out when these party invites went out.

Okay. I got it out, Karen. Go ahead. Well, what I wanted to say is when you think about someone who's a psychopath, right, they don't have any feelings. So, of course, she's able to have a party. I don't know when she planned it. But she's a liar, too. She told them, she told the police that her phone was turned off, which you were talking about. And they discovered in fact that she was there was a lot of movement. She texted people back and forth. Maybe she was planning it at that point.

And also, Nancy, a day after or a few days after, she hired somebody to break into the safe. Great minds think alike. I'm moving right along to that. After I talk about the party invites. Nobody apparently is interested in my party theory that throwing this big party with all of her friends is significant. Not just the audacity of it, not just the behavioral oddity, but I'm talking about digital evidence that we can get about when she planned the party. What did she say? Hey, my husband's dead, but we're still going to have the party. Did she say that before, during, or after?

Nancy, what we actually... Who is this? This is Dave Mack. Oh, okay. Dave Mack joining me. CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Do you have an answer? We have this, Nancy.

Every time Corey Richens was texting her friends, okay, about anything in the months leading up to the death of Eric Richens was texting her friends, okay, about anything in the month leading up to the death of Eric Richens, he deleted the data. So what we know is that as she, this was not necessarily a planned event with invitations, like you talk about high tea in London, but what it is. Windsor Castle is not in London, number one. Let's get that straight, okay? That is where Queen Elizabeth hung out with the Duke. It's beautiful, it's serene,

it's bucolic. London is a whole other can of worms. Okay, let's just get that straight. You're the investigative reporter. Don't just blurt out Windsor Castle is in London. Okay, go ahead okay um now that i'm pulling out the globe to start studying let me get back to this for a minute what she did was it wasn't like they had butlers and servants and everybody showing up

she called her closest friends and and then texted or deleted whatever she had already sent, said, come on over, we're throwing down. Because this plan of action, this entire event that took place at that party, Nancy, was actually based on an entire lie. This is where everything crumbled. Because everyone on Eric's side of the family knew he was not into this mansion building flip, right? He was against it and he wasn't going for it. She immediately, as soon as he's dead she

closes on the thing within 24 hours okay she buys the house that they were aren't they were disagreeing about and called her friends to come over and celebrate but she told the police that the night eric died when she made him the moscow mule that that's what they were celebrating they closed on it earlier that day so immediately she lied, tripping everything up at the very beginning with that party being right there at the genesis of the whole thing. So police immediately knew, wait a minute, this is not right. So somebody is jumping on my party bandwagon here, and it is Dave Mack with Crime Online.

Hey, Dave, I want to confirm a couple of things you said. I just want to reiterate them because I'm marshalling the evidence. What does that mean? As Jarrett Ferentino can tell you, when you've got a lot of evidence, you have to marshal or organize it. That's what that means. And I'm getting down to the timing of this party. Big party. A lot of friends over.

Now, I know she lied to the cops according to what we just heard from Dave Mack about when the closing was. Are you telling me, Dave Mack, that the closing occurred within 24 hours after the husband's death? That's what I'm saying.

Well, not closing. She reached a deal on the property within 24 hours. Yes, ma'am, not closing. It takes time to set that up. But yes, she reached a deal because it was in limbo with Eric alive. She hadn't reached a deal because it was in limbo with Eric alive.

She hadn't reached a deal because he wouldn't allow it. As soon as he was dead, she's on the phone talking to whoever she's buying it from, and they're making plans to go in and they struck a deal on the price. And then she actually called the friends at this party. Okay. One more question regarding the party. The emails or texts that she sent to her friends to come over and party to celebrate the closing, did she delete that data? We don't have any record that police uncovered any information detailing the party and invitations to it.

Because I'm not quite sure which friends' emails and texts she deleted. Guys, we know that information was deleted. Take a listen to our cut 17 from KUTV. Evidence gathered in the death investigation revealed Corey claimed she was away from her phone that night and it was left on a charger by her bed. Teams, however, gathered evidence the phone was in use during that time and sent messages had been deleted. There you hear sent messages deleted. There's a lot more digital evidence to analyze. But why would you delete simple party invitations?

I mean, as Jackie here knows, who rifles through my cell phone all the time, nothing is ever deleted. It's a treasure trove of whatever you want to find. So why would she go to the trouble to delete party invites, texting her friends? Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Please join us now on Fox Nation for a brand new investigation, Parallels of Evil, the Bundy and Idaho Killings.

In this gripping special investigation, we bring together an incredible panel of guests who analyze disturbing similarities of evil between these horrible crimes. We speak with two female Ted Bundy survivors, Karen Pryor and Cheryl Thomas, who described their life before and after they were victims of Ted Bundy. We also speak with the renowned private investigator Bill Warner, who worked in the cases, and Ted Bundy's defense attorney, John Henry Brown. We travel to Moscow, Idaho, to speak with Washington State University students and interview neighbors of Brian Koberger. One neighbor shares exclusive insights about the suspect in the Idaho killings, Brian Koberger.

Don't miss Parallels of Evil, the Bundy the Idaho killings, Brian Koberger. Don't miss Parallels of Evil, the Bundy and Idaho killings, streaming now exclusively on Fox Nation. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace you know justin boardman is with us uh detective formerly with west valley city pd special victims unit now at boardman training and consulting justin this is your neck of the woods. What can you tell us? Yeah, it is my neck of the woods. In fact, I lived for a while just half a mile or so away from the property that she purchased to flip, which seems to be cursed because the former owner committed suicide in there. And it's been in limbo and been an eyesore for the community for such a long time.

It's hard for me to imagine a $2 million home being an eyesore. But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Go ahead. Yeah, it certainly is. Mainly because it's been just half finished sitting there. Oh, yes. I'm looking at a photo of it right now. It's big.

It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Gorgeous location. If you're into garish, I guess this would qualify. Very true. Also, it's on a beautiful tract of land and I believe it was close to 10 acres. The scenery is worth it because behind this home, as Justin Boardman is telling us with Boardman Training and Consulting, if you look at it, in the background are these beautiful snow-capped hills, the big sky. It's really a vista that I guess may be worth the money if you have it. And it is a big home. It's a big home. It's a honking big home. Let's see, 20,000 plus square feet.

Right. Wow. Okay. So you live not far from this. Correct. Have you spoken to anyone that knew the Richens? Yeah. I spoke to somebody the other day at the Memorial Day neighborhood party

that mentioned that she was friends with her. And this was just a very huge surprise to her friends because they did not see this monster lurking beneath the surface, if you will. So they were surprised? They were surprised, absolutely. Okay, well, that's in direct contradiction to Eric Richens' family. Take a listen to Hour Cut 28, our friends at NBC. Now the family of the father of three is speaking out, saying they've long been suspicious of his wife, Corey.

Does Eric's family believe Corey killed him? I think the family has always felt that Corey was somehow involved in his death. The 33-year-old real estate agent turned children's book author has been charged with his murder. Police alleging she poisoned her 39-year-old husband last March with a massive dose of fentanyl. And according to court documents, Eric's family told investigators it may not have been the first time she'd poisoned him. He felt like Corey was trying to kill him and that if he did die, that she should be investigated for that. Wow. So the family wasn't surprised at all, because according to them, this father of three thought his wife had long been trying to kill him, but he would not accept that.

It was more like a joke to him. But as we know, meaning a true word is spoken in jest. Alternately, seriously telling his sister about what he perceived was an attempt on his life while the family was vacationing in Greece. And then, hey, she's doing it for the money. Ha ha ha. You know, I noticed Karen Stark, psychologist joining us out of Manhattan, that very often people joke about things which are deadly serious, things that may be even scary to them. Is that just a way of dealing with fear? Well, exactly, Nancy.

A lot of humor is based on people being sad or fearful. And the way that they can make it be okay is to lighten it up. But I don't think that this man was actually thinking it was funny. I think that he really understood that she wanted him to be dead, that she had tried to kill him. And I want to add that that was not the first time. Oh, absolutely not. You know, I noticed something, and I don't know if you've noticed this in your death investigations, Joe Scott Morgan. With me is death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star of a hit series, and I mean a hit, Body Bags with Joe Scott Morgan. You and I together worked on the case of

Ellen Greenberg, a beautiful young teacher who was stabbed, I believe it was 22 times, mostly in the back, in the back of the head, in the back of the neck, and her murder was ruled a suicide. You and I have been pushing that case since we heard about it. When I visited her parents, Joe Scott, her mother was very solemn, pleasant, but solemn, because we were talking about her daughter's murder. The father, who was a really nice guy, kept cracking jokes the whole interview. And a couple of times I had a barbed response because I really didn't think it was appropriate. But later, I saw him standing in the family kitchen and his eyes were filled with tears. We went to, as you know, her gravesite.

And the family told me that they had not been to her gravesite because it was so crippling painful for them to have to see her grave and deal with the fact that she's never ever coming home and I think you know I look back on him cracking jokes and I wish I had not responded so harshly because I think it was his way I mean we were going through the whole murder and what happened and how excited she was about her wedding and I think he was just, that was his way of dealing with our content, Joe Scott. You know, I've made, as I've told you before, I've made probably in person over 2000 death

notifications over the course of my career. I've seen people break out in hysterical laughter when I've notified them. And, you know, I don't like the term defense mechanism. It's a reactionary thing, though. They don't know what to do with these emotions that well up. And I can only imagine in this particular case where the family is actually, you know, essentially hit in the chest with a 10-pound sledgehammer when they're made aware that there's apparently a viper living among them.

And I mean that in the purest sense because this guy was poisoned, Nancy. And, you know, in forensics, it's hard, particularly when you talk about drug chemistries, for people to kind of grasp the numbers. Just let me throw something out to you real quick. OK, if you if we go to the store and we buy Tylenol. All right. Tylenol comes in 325 milligram tablets. Some people look at them and say, that's like a horse bill. You got to choke this thing down. He was dosed with fentanyl.

A lethal dosage of fentanyl, Nancy. Now, get this. What did I say about Tylenol? 325 milligrams. Fentanyl, 2 milligrams is lethal. He was given 10 times that amount, I mean, 5 times that amount per the medical examiner. And the medical examiner also determined, and I find this very intriguing, you know, fentanyl is a Schedule II drug.

You can actually be prescribed fentanyl. But he determined, the medical examiner determined that it was actually illicit fentanyl hey before you go one more step i've got a question right there yeah yeah i knew that they had determined that this huge fentanyl overdose that he received we think in a moscow mule that she prepared for him but i knew they could determine that it was illicit in other words illegal fentanyl as opposed to like a pain patch or a pill that you get pursuant to a doctor's prescription you pick it up at the pharmacy how can you look at it under a micro well they don't have a microscope they would get of the pill itself they had to extract it from his body how can you look at it and tell

when you're looking at let's just say blood and say this is illegal fentanyl as opposed to prescribed fentanyl let's say let's say that the illicit fentanyl the illegal fentanyl was was created in a lab and it was made in tablet form which many times it is and it can be in a liquid form too but in a tablet form when it's made in a an actual legitimate pharmaceutical environment um when they make these tablets it's not pure fentanyl it's just like it's not pure tylenol there are binders in there and there are certain chemical signatures that you look for when you say a binder you mean like baking soda or something like that to hold it together yeah exactly you know we've had all kinds of things over the years Nancy I mean people would cut drugs for instance with like talcum powder baby formula uh quinine

has been around for years and years so if you get these kind of weirdo you know signatures chemical signatures they're thinking okay we we see the molecule for which which fentanyl is a synthetic opioid you know you think about heroin which is kind of naturally occurring, comes from a poppy plant. This is something that's synthesized. It's made in the lab. So you're looking at this and you're thinking, oh, my gosh, you know, this is something we see the synthetic molecule there, but there's all these weirdo attachments that are there that shouldn't be there.

So they can pick up those molecules, even though they're extracting the toxin from blood? Are they getting it from blood or stomach contents? Well, not just that. Urine is a fantastic sample to pull this from when we're looking for opioids, whether synthetic or naturally occurring. And stomach contents are good. People might not know this,

but when you're at autopsy and you open up the body, it's something, if anybody's ever smelled someone in the morning after they've had a big drunk on the night before, you can smell alcohol on that person. When you open up the body, if they have alcohol on board, even if it's just a slight amount, it'll knock you to your knees many times at autopsy. You know that alcohol is there and within the stomach content you can actually pull out a sample of that you can spin it down and you can actually test that substance and sometimes that's the only

thing we have to hang our hat on when you say spin it down you mean separate the urine from the toxin yeah well yeah no i'm referring to the gastric content so you have to kind of separate so then spin it down means you separate the gastric contents yeah liquid from the toxin yeah yeah exactly and so that's what they'll do in the laboratory and there's there's any number of ways we can go and here's one more fascinating thing i'll shut my mouth no please don't it is actually fascinating they drew if they drew vitreous fluid which you know we always do from the eye, vitreous fluid is very nonspecific. It's like looking at the rings on a tree. You know, you can kind of get an idea when there were drought, when there's a drought and there's a rainy year and that sort of thing.

If you look at that analogy with vitreous fluid, you get a qualifying amount. You say, OK, well, something has been here before all right if they drew vitreous fluid i'd be really interested to see if they found it because it takes a lot longer for it to kind of settle into the vitreous vitreous layer i'd be very curious if they found it in there which would give you an idea you know karen mentioned a moment ago that he had been dosed before and that was on i think the uh february 14th been dosed before, and that was on, I think, February 14th. She fixed him a sandwich. And what was interesting, you know how he reacted to that, Nancy?

He had difficulty breathing, which is something that you see with opioid ODs. You know, they'll become congested, highly congested in the face. You'll have individuals that have difficulty breathing. He had difficulty breathing at that point in time, but it kind of resolved. So, you know, what if, just what if that was a test run? And then she said, okay, well, I gave him this amount this time. It didn't work. And by golly, I'm going to give him twice that amount this time.

And that may be what happened. You know, and all I asked him, what did I ask? I'm so, I don't even know what the question was anymore. But I have another question for you, Joe Scott Morgan, and for anybody else on this panel. The texts regard, I'm back on the party. Yeah, I'm not letting it go. I want to find out when she texted her friends, what did she say in the text. Some of those, if not all of them, were deleted along with whomever she was texting during the night

where she said her phone was plugged in in the bedroom with her husband and not being used and turned off. There was activity. The phone was moving. It was being locked and unlocked and texts were sent and received throughout the evening. They're deleted. Here's the question. I know we can recover a lot of information from the cloud that stores all of your information. What about texts? Are they stored? Can we reconstruct the texts that she deleted? And it leads me to Jarrett Fiorentino, veteran trial lawyer, guilty conscience. Again, I don't even know when I've ever deleted a text. Ever. Because that requires time. But you don't have any of that. So why would she

go to the trouble of deleting texts and can I recover them? Well, a couple of things. She's lying about having the phone at the point. So she's definitely wanting to hide the fact that she was using her phone. If you delete texts, they are difficult to recover, believe it or not. They're not always recoverable. What I've done and what's done in other investigations is you can reverse engineer this. The record will reveal who exactly she was texting. You can bet the investigators are going to follow up with those individuals and say, hey, we have a record that you were texting with Corey that night. Show us the text.

And you can reverse engineer the conversation that way. What if they have deleted the text? Your only hope then, Nancy, is they're stored somewhere in the cloud or in the depths of the phone. And that's not always the case with text. See, the thing about a phone is it stores so much information and it's so critical in these cases that it's often being rewritten. It's just very hard to recreate that kind of data. It's just not because there are so many texts going back and forth. All of those records aren't maintained

for an extended period of time. That's where you run into difficulty. Well, one thing that's interesting, a lot of people are comparing this case to the Alex Murdoch double murder, the legal heir in South Carolina that is now convicted of murdering wife Maggie and son Paul. Their texts, phone calls, even video sent around the time of the murders were used at trial, but they had not been deleted, which is very different from this case. Nancy, I don't want to interrupt you, but can I ask something? Please do. Okay. Yes. On the night that Eric died, after she allegedly poisoned him, she claimed her phone didn't move, that she was right there plugged in.

They were able to prove, obviously, that it wasn't plugged in, that it was moving. It had been unlocked several times during the time obviously, that it wasn't plugged in, that it was moving. It had been unlocked and unlocked several times during the time where she said she wasn't on it. What they did find is that she had been texting her best somebody. They labeled the best friend who didn't live nearby, lived some ways away. She's she's called C.L. in some of the paperwork. And and actually had, Corey had her friend that she was texting with that night, delete their text messages. And that came up during the investigation when this person admitted to police that she had been texting with Corey at that time of night.

They said, hey, let us see the text. She pulls out her cell phone, hands it to him, and says, go for it. All the texts between her and Corey were deleted. There were plenty of other texts on the phone, but her communication with Corey that night, all deleted. Mm, okay. I like it. Listen, always jump in, Dave Mack. It's like when somebody calls at the last minute

and says they're coming to dinner. You go, oh, great, I'll just add more water to the soup. Please, just keep pouring it in. Keep pouring it in because every fact counts. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace I want to point out another Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I want to point out another striking characteristic of the data analysis. I don't know if the name Richard DeBate rings a bell, because I can never forget him.

He murdered his wife. He claimed that an unknown intruder masked. They're always masked. Remember Jodi Arias, Joe Scott Morgan? She said that two masked ninjas broke into Travis Alexander's condo, murdered him and let her run free. Always a mask, right? So in DeBate's case, he says a masked intruder broke in and murdered his wife and basically did nothing to him. Okay, the Fitbit data on the wife's watch showed her walking around the house long after he said she was dead. So his story's a lie. Then I analyzed a case. I think her name was Kelly Heron. Kelly Heron. And she was jogging in Seattle and fought off an

attacker. And all of the movements to corroborate her story were caught on her Fitbit. It was amazing. Same thing here regarding the phone. And I'm just wondering if she had a Fitbit or an Apple Watch that could also corroborate the police theory that she was not asleep in her son's room down the hall, that she was back and forth and moving. And we also saw in the Alex Murdoch prosecution how many times his phone was locked and unlocked. And we saw how many times even his door to his suburban vehicle were opened and closed based on navigation data.

It's amazing. So I expect that to be a huge part of this trial. But earlier, Karen Stark brought up a fact that I find really convincing. And that fact is that very shortly after her husband's death, the wife in this case, Corey Richens, has a locksmith come and drill into her husband's safe. Now, a lot of women, maybe widows, be they male or female, may be thinking about, oh my goodness, I've got to prepare the funeral.

What is my spouse going to wear? How am I going to tell all the relatives what's happened? I can't stand the thought of going through this. But Corey Richens was of a much sturdier ilk, and she thought to call a locksmith to come to the home. Take a listen to our Cut 32, our friends at ABC4. It's the case that just keeps unfolding. Corey has been charged with one count of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Here's what's been amended on those charges. We've now learned that after her husband Eric's death on March 4th,

Corey hired a locksmith to open Eric's safe containing between $125,000 and $165,000. Eric's sister told Corey she didn't have the rights to those funds, resulting in Corey punching her. Eric also opened a living trust and placed the trust as his life insurance beneficiary instead of Corey. We also now know that Corey had purchased at least four life insurance policies on Eric Richens, with death benefits of over a million dollars. That has a lot of information. let's hear it one more time our friends at ABC for it's the case that just keeps unfolding Cory has been charged with one count of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute here's what's been amended on

those charges we've now learned that after her husband Eric's death on March 4th Cory hired a locksmith to open Eric's safe containing between $125,000 and $165,000. Eric's sister told Corey she didn't have the rights to those funds, resulting in Corey punching her. Eric also opened a living trust and placed the trust as his life insurance beneficiary instead of Corey. We also now know that Corey had purchased at least four life insurance policies on Eric Richens with death benefits of over a million dollars. Okay, this is what jumps out at

me in a probative manner. In other words, can I use it to prove something at trial? Immediately following her husband's death, she's not planning the funeral, notifying relatives, she's hiring a locksmith to drill into her husband's safe to get out about $165,000 in cash. Her husband's sister said, whoa, wait, you don't have a right to that money. And what does she do? She punches her sister-in-law. Punches her, I believe, in the face. We also learn that the

deceased husband, Eric Richens, opened a living trust and placed the trust as his life insurance beneficiary to a sister, not his wife. We also know that the widow, the Mary widow, Corey Richens, purchased four life insurance policies on her husband with death benefits, millions of dollars. Okay, all of that is probative. To Justin Boardman joining me, former detective, West Valley City PD, now running Boardman Training and Consultant, and this is his jurisdiction. Which one of those do you want to take a crack at first? Wow. Probably the life insurance policy.

You know, usually, well, at least in my cases, I've had to have, like when I took out a life insurance policy on a wife or something like that, I've had to notify them that it was being done. And that doesn't seem like that was the case. So that's certainly something that sticks out to me. Right. In other words, her taking a life insurance policy on her husband was not unusual. But the fact that she took out four and failed to notify him, as is customary, suggests a nefarious motive. And I got to tell you this, Justin. If my husband takes out four brand new life insurance policies on me, I'm calling his mother. Even if I had to do it through seance and reporting him.

She's the only person he's ever been the least bit afraid of. So I'm going to have to call for heavenly aid on that. Four life insurance policies and doesn't notify him. Because we see him changing the beneficiary from her to somebody else because he's afraid absolutely and obviously he he was thinking that this might this might turn into um this homicide you know certainly like with josh powell and susan powell in the case i worked the outskirts of a little bit out of my former jurisdiction, where she left a note saying that if I ended up dead, this is who probably did it, pointing to her husband.

And he was never arrested for a murder and her body has never been found. So there's definitely a trail being left. And he was never arrested for a murder and her body has never been found. So there's definitely a trail being left. I find the greed aspect overwhelming that she was hiring a locksmith while she could have been planning not a party, but a gathering after the funeral or her words at the funeral, Karen Stark? Well, it's not only that, Nancy. I mean, think of everything that we're talking about. I mean, here she's attacking her sister-in-law for telling her that she can't do it. Oh, yeah, that was my next thing.

Karen Stark, I believe you've met on the set a couple of times my sister-in-law, Jan and Donna. And I got to tell you how blessed I was. Never a crossword, ever. And this woman is punching the sister-in-law? Just picture that. Her husband is dead. She's supposed to be grieving. And just the idea of punching her sister-in-law when you don't actually see people walking around and punching their family in the face. I mean, none of that shows signs of someone who's distraught. There's nothing distraught about her. And one of the other things that she did, which hasn't been mentioned yet, Nancy,

is that she changed his life insurance policy without him knowing that he was doing with his partner. And he finds out and changes it back. Right, he changes it back. Which should have sent a chill down his spine. But back on, okay, two things. The hiring a locksmith. I mean, she's not trying to find an organist for the wedding. I mean, that organist for the funeral.

Instead, she's hiring a locksmith to get that cash. You said a wedding for a reason, Nancy you're right i do that a lot you reason you made that mistake that's that's definitely a freudian flip it's because she was acting more like it was a celebration than it was a funeral you're so right karen stark and you know back to the timeline i know nobody is taking the bait on my party theory but what did she go to the liquor store and buy the booze and get the food ready i mean she's having a celebration she might as well just dance across his grave one of the things about the party aspect that has bothered me immensely is who has friends that would come over and participate in a loud drinking party the day after their friend's husband died? Well, let me ask you this.

Who do you think that Corey Richens is hanging out with? Nuns and priests and virgins? You know, I'm sure they were all on her side. Nancy, I have an idea who might be coming to that party. Someone that is mentioned in these texts, it's rather cryptic, and we don't know their name yet, but their initials are CL. And that's the individual that supplied her with the fentany she purchased these illicit substances from this individual as a hand to hand transaction. That's the way the police frame this. So I'm thinking, you know, going to your, you know, to your train of thought here, who's showing up?

Who in the heck is she associating with in this world in which she indwells? You know, Joe Scott Morgan, I'm very disappointed. I thought you party people at Jacksonville State University. You want to throw a party. Of course you have to invite your dope dealer. Guys, if you have any information regarding the death, the painful death of the father of these three little boys, Eric Richens. Please call 435-615-3600. Goodbye, friend.

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