Going West: True Crime - Eric Richins // 310

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Hope you're having a good week. Today's case was recommended by Leslie, Amanda, and Heather. So thank you guys so much.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Probably a lot more of you guys on social media because this case has a major new development and a lot of you guys have probably already heard about that by now. So we wanted to help spread the word on it ASAP. So thank you guys so much for recommending this one. Yeah, this is a wild story that is currently just still in development. Yeah, he does been like, can we cover this? Can we cover this?

Starting point is 00:00:50 Yeah, and it still hasn't gone to trial, so that's why I feel like it's very important to talk about it now, but it's crazy and thank you guys for listening. Yes, and if you're looking for more episodes, we just released this week two new bonus episodes on Suzanne Pilli. That case takes place in Scotland. It's crazy. And then also a Rushi tall war came out a couple days before that. That is an Indian case. A lot of people call that case the John Bane of India. So yeah, both of those cases are out now on Apple subscriptions or patreon.com slash going west podcast.

Starting point is 00:01:27 Alright guys, this is episode 310 of going west, so let's get into it. 1 個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個個 We do begin with the case of Corey Richens. She's the author of a children's book about grief and loss who's been arrested for allegedly murdering her husband, the case gripping the nation. Eric Richens allegedly warned his family before he died that if anything were to happen to him, his wife is to blame. When you heard that police said Corey murdered her husband, what did you think? I was numb. I could.

Starting point is 00:02:35 I can't, and I still can't believe that's true. Last year, Corey Richens told police she found her husband cold to the touch on her floor in their bedroom. He was 39. It completely took us all by shock. It's all about Eric anyway and he's deceased and he'd let him be an incredible life and he was an incredible father. I think part of the message is not to forget about him and connection with all of this.

Starting point is 00:03:17 Eric Eugene Richens was born on May 13, 1982 in Bountiful Utah, which is a city just north of Salt Lake City. Eric was welcomed by parents Linda and Jean, and the oldest of three, he was later joined by sisters Katie and Amy. Eric was raised on a cattle ranch and learned the value of hard work early, often helping his dad with farming responsibilities, which really worked for him because Eric loved being outdoors and working with his hands. farming responsibilities, which really worked for him because Eric loved being outdoors and working with his hands.

Starting point is 00:03:47 He was a gifted athlete and played basketball, baseball, and soccer, as well as running cross-country. His family remembered that he owned, quote, almost every motorized toy possible and that he was fearless on them, leading to countless accidents and collisions, and in one, he sustained such a bad cut that he needed 200 stitches on his face. But along with his wild adventure-seeking personality was a softer side as well. He adored being an older brother and was fiercely protective of his younger sisters. He was very connected to his Mormon faith and lived in Mexico City for two years fulfilling

Starting point is 00:04:25 the requirements of his mission trip, and there he learned to speak Spanish fluently and had such an affinity for the language that he minored in Spanish and college, even earning the nickname Rico. In life, Eric also longed to be a husband and a father, so after returning from Mexico, he completed his bachelor's degree in international studies at the University of Utah. And it was there that he met his future wife, Julie Jorgensen. After a quick court ship, the two were anxious to spend their lives together and they were married when Eric was 23 and Julie was 21.

Starting point is 00:05:03 But sadly, it seemed that this relationship was not built to last, because after four years together, the couple called it quits. It wasn't the most amicable breakup, unfortunately, as there was like a long dispute over money. Because basically, Eric and Julie didn't sign a pre-nuptial agreement, so she was entitled to half of his earnings, which is something that he would later deeply regret. Because right after graduating from the University of Utah in 2009, Eric started his own very successful stone masonry construction business called C&E Stone Masonry, and you know, he loved this job and he really did well for himself.

Starting point is 00:05:40 But sadly, on January 6, 2011, so two years after their divorce, an impaired driver plowed into the back of Julie's car. While stopped at a stoplight, a pickup truck barreled into her, going 70 miles an hour. So Julie was killed on impact, and her car burst into flames. The driver was later found to have been suffering from paranoid delusions at the time and had been smoking marijuana while driving, confused about where he had been and what he was doing. His windows were so fogged up at the time of impact that he couldn't see anything out of them.

Starting point is 00:06:17 So while Eric and Julie were divorced by that time, Eric still mourned the loss of a promising life cut too short, and he was even mentioned in her obituary. Still longing to be a father, Eric eagerly continued dating, searching for a partner, but soon his family friend named Linda King had someone in mind, a coworker of hers. Linda worked as a cashier at Home Depot with a young woman named Corey, and Linda thought that she and Eric would really hit it off, and she was right. Eric was an employee favorite at the store, and Linda said, quote, you could never forget his laugh.

Starting point is 00:06:54 I love that laugh so much. He would come into my line all the time. So after striking up a friendly relationship with Eric, Linda noticed that Corey had caught his eye. So she convinced Eric to approach Cory. Linda says that she remembers telling him, quote, go over there and check out with her. You know, so they did. And they ended up having a date. From then on, they were like glued to each other. It was perfect, I thought. In June of 2013, in a beautiful heart-felt

Starting point is 00:07:22 backyard ceremony, Eric and Corey were married. And then they settled into Francis, Utah, in a sprawling $1.3 million home, about 45 minutes east of Salt Lake City and near the Deer Valley ski resort. The couple wasted no time starting their dream family, and within the next four years, welcome three boys, Carter, Ashton, and Weston. And also, Eric's work life was flourishing. He continued to put his handy work to good use with his company, again, C&E Stone Masonry, with his friend and business partner, Cody Wright. And more on the business, they specialized in laying custom tile and stone, designing elaborate fireplaces,

Starting point is 00:08:05 patios, bathrooms, and much more, and cater to high-end clientele. But despite the very comfortable life that the couple had, Corey struggled with her lavish spending habits, leading to behavior that became extremely worrisome to Eric. Between 2015 and 2017, Cory took out four different life insurance policies on her husband, totaling $2 million. She withdrew and spent $250,000 of their home equity,

Starting point is 00:08:39 and also took $100,000 out from Eric's personal bank account, both of which she did without consulting him first. And she racked up $30,000 worth of charges on his credit card alone. She was also siphoning off money from Eric's company, which he had set aside to pay quarterly taxes, totaling over $134,000. When Eric confronted Cory about her spending,

Starting point is 00:09:06 she seemed like she felt bad about it, but claimed that she needed the seed money for her business, which was flipping houses for profit. So that's where this money was going. I'm sure a lot of you are also like, wow, that's a lot of money, whereas all that going is going to houses or it's supposed to go towards houses,

Starting point is 00:09:22 which I mean, it wasn't supposed to go towards them and originally, but that's what she says that she's using them for. Because Corey was a licensed real estate agent, but specialized in turning over houses quickly and making money on the difference. So she swore to pay back the money that she had taken from Eric and his company. While they agreed that they would stay together and work through these issues, Eric met with both an estate planner and a divorce lawyer in October of 2020, unbeknownst to Corey.

Starting point is 00:09:53 So it seems like now maybe things are getting a little bit more serious for Eric and he's thinking, okay, I need to figure out a way in case this does fall apart, I do need a divorce lawyer. Which makes sense, especially because she is constantly going behind his back, and it seems like she's not really stopping, so yeah, he is trying to watch his own back here and at least start the process in case he does want to go down that road. But also, as Heath mentioned earlier,

Starting point is 00:10:18 Julie and Eric did not have a prenup, but because Eric had to pay his wife Julie so much money after their divorce years prior, Eric's mom Linda encouraged him to have Corey sign a prenup agreement which she did before they got married. But this basically just meant that Eric was worth more to Corey dead than alive because of the life insurance policies that she had on him totaling to $2 million. Exactly. And the adjustments to the family's finances continued when Eric, without Corey's knowledge, actually changed his will to include his sisters as the beneficiaries instead of his wife, Corey.

Starting point is 00:10:57 Which he's allowed to do. Exactly, but Corey actually fought back on this. Because in January of 2022, Corey somehow managed to elect herself as the beneficiary for one of Eric's life insurance policies through his company. Cory again did this without Eric's knowledge. Eric and his business partner Cody took policies out on each other, ensuring that if one of them passed away, the other could actually offer a buyout for the decedent's portion of the company.

Starting point is 00:11:26 Right, so this is what she was trying to get a piece of. She is making herself the beneficiary of this insurance policy through the company. Right. So the disputes over money weighed heavily on Eric and Corey, but there were other issues as well. Eric had long suspected his wife of carrying out an extra marital affair. The attorney for the Richens family, who is now the de facto family spokesperson, Greg Scordis, addressed this suspicion saying, quote, he'd had concerns previously, and he had

Starting point is 00:11:57 also had reason to believe that she was having a relationship, and that was continuing through their marriage, apparently in person. Not only that, but Eric had safety concerns as well. Now a few years prior, the couple had taken a vacation to Greece and Eric had fallen violently ill. After they returned, he told one of his sisters that he suspected Cory of poisoning him, even telling her quote, if something happens to me, check out Cory. I think she's trying to kill me. Then, on Valentine's Day of 2022, another incident made Eric fearful of this same speculation. Cory had made Erica Samwich adorning it with a love note, and after eating the sandwich, he broke out in hives and had trouble breathing.

Starting point is 00:12:46 So while this poor guy is trying to survive, he's administering his son's epi pen on himself, and then he took some benedrial and he went to sleep. And fortunately, that time, he recovered. But the next time, he would not be so lucky. On the evening of March 3, 2022, Corey had reason to celebrate as she had just closed on a massive estate in the area, which she was planning on flipping. And this is a project that she estimated would net her millions of dollars. This home, which is located on North Legacy Way in nearby Heber City, sits on almost

Starting point is 00:13:22 9 square acres and boasts 20,000 square feet plus a detached guest house. That is a massive house. Yeah, it's huge, but there's a catch. So construction began on the property in 2017, but it was abandoned after the builders ran out of money. In the weeks leading up to Cory closing on this house, she and Eric fought relentlessly. As he thought the risk of not turning a profit was way too high here and he ended up being right.

Starting point is 00:13:53 But basically the house cost about $2 million, which if you think $2 million for this 20,000 square foot house on nine square acres, that seems like like a deal, you know? Right. And I mean, I don't know anything about Heaver City, but basically, it was reported that there needed to be like $2 million worth of work. So $2 million for the house, and then $2 million worth of work, and to give you a better idea of why Eric was hesitant,

Starting point is 00:14:20 locals have referred to it as a money pit. Like, it was known that this was just a bad investment. But Cory went after it anyway. And on the evening of March 3rd, 2022, around 9 p.m. Eric was in their bedroom and Cory brought him a celebratory Moscow mule which he drank in bed. She later claimed that he only had one drink and a THC gummy that evening. And

Starting point is 00:14:46 afterwards, Cory went to tend to one of their sons, who she said had a nightmare and fell asleep in his room with him. Or allegedly fell asleep in his room with him. Right, and she also claims that she left her phone and she in Eric's bedroom, where it sat on the charger and that she did not have it, where she was allegedly falling asleep in her son's room, which we'll obviously be able to touch on later. So around 3am, Corey says that she woke up and returned her bedroom to find Eric passed out at the foot of their bed. She called 911 who reported to the house at 3.22am. And while on the phone with the operator, Corey claimed that she had been trying to administer

Starting point is 00:15:28 CPR, but EMTs disagreed with this account, based on the fact that he had a decent amount of blood still in his mouth. He also remained on the bed, which would have made CPR more difficult because the bed would provide more resistance than a hard surface like the floor. Yeah, I mean that totally makes sense. It would be really hard to give somebody CPR on a bed. Yeah, so the EMTs are like you did not give this man CPR and when the EMTs arrived on the scene, they attempted to resuscitate him, but it had been too late. 39-year-old Eric Richens was dead.

Starting point is 00:16:06 At this point in time, Eric's sons were just 9, 7, and 5. And his family and friends were unbelievably shocked at the sudden loss of him, because as far as they were concerned, he was healthy, active, and vibrant. Eric's immediate family took it especially hard, having just lost Eric's mom Linda almost exactly four years prior in 2018. But despite, you know, these family members grieving, not everyone was mourning. Because Corey actually signed the papers for her new real estate investment later that day,

Starting point is 00:16:43 and allegedly invited friends over that same night to christen her new property with a party. Finding this incredibly inappropriate, Eric's sisters reportedly went over to the house themselves to confront Cory about her actions and the immediate aftermath of the loss of her husband and her children's father. And she and Eric's family had an increasingly strained relationship after that, you know, understandably. Luckily, an autopsy was performed on Eric and shockingly revealed that he had died of fentanyl poisoning. In fact, he had over five times the deadly dose of fentanyl in

Starting point is 00:17:19 his system at the time of his death. Now, the medical examiner wrote that the drug was quote, elicit fentanyl in not medical grade fentanyl. It is also the opinion of the medical examiner after evaluating Eric's gastric fluid contents that the fentanyl in Eric's body was ingested orally. So while rumors ensued that he may have been, you know, like a closeted drug user who overdosed by accident, his family found this account absolutely absurd and claimed that he had never touched opioids. About two weeks after Eric's death, Corey re-listed the home that she had just purchased for close to $5 million, more than twice what she had paid for it.

Starting point is 00:18:01 So she didn't flip it? Right. I mean, in two weeks how much could she really have done? Yeah, she just wanted to resell it for more money. So while everyone who knew and loved Eric was confused and suspected Corey wasn't sharing the whole truth, she was questioned and she remained free, able to gleefully step into the role of grieving widow. On the one year anniversary of her husband's death, Corey posted a slideshow of their past life together, captioning it, quote, �Life is just so damn hard without you here. The cards I have been dealt seem like a game that just can't be played. come home. On March 7th, 2023, just over a year after Eric passed away, Corey released a children's

Starting point is 00:19:12 book about grief entitled, Are You With Me? According to Corey, she and her kids penned the book together in a joint effort to see to the needs of grieving kids. Corey explained that she was looking for a book to read to her sons at bedtime that would bring them some comfort, help them feel less alone, and know how to proceed without their father in their life. So thus, this book was born. And the description of the book reads, quote, wherever you go, whoever you become, their

Starting point is 00:19:42 love remains with you. A heartwarming and reassuring book that gently guides children through the difficult experience of losing a loved one. Written by a loving mother who personally faced this challenge, this book is designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds in a way that is both accessible and engaging. With vivid and colorful illustrations, are you with me, follows the story of a child who has lost their father, but who has reminded that his presence still exists all around them, just like an angel watching over them.

Starting point is 00:20:15 Whether it's playing at the park or simply enjoying a quiet moment at home, the child is comforted by the knowledge that their father is always by their side. In her words, Cory explained, quote, I'm new to all this, so kind of doing research and reading books and trying to understand, you know, not only how to grieve as a widow, as a wife, but also with my kids, how to help them, how to help them understand what just happened. And one comment on this interview, red quote, she gave herself away with how to grieve as a widow. No one going through it has to research it.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Now after Quarry wrote this book, she granted a Salt Lake City ABC news station a bizarre interview shortly after the release of this book. Appearing on the lifestyle show, Good Things Utah, alongside two female hosts, she seemed stiff and uncomfortable and told the station that she just wanted to keep her jacket on. Now this could be attributed to her reservations for talking about the harrowing experience of losing her husband, but body language expert Patty Wood said otherwise. Critics of Corey pointed out that in that short interview, she uses the phrase, you know, about three dozen times. And this is what Patty had to say about this,

Starting point is 00:21:34 she said, quote, so when you make a definitive statement, typically when you're telling the truth, there's strength and delivery that goes from the first word to the end of the sentence. When you're saying it and there's no interruption, that's one of the indications of a true statement. So, when you have an interrupter like you know, it's breaking up a sentence.

Starting point is 00:21:55 It makes it easier for you to lie. And we're gonna do you guys a favor of kind of editing down the you-nose, but this is how Corey described her in her kids grieving process. She said quote, The three C's is kind of how I visualize it, and its connection, continuity, and care. Connection is the major one, and it's making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home, and memories are always brought up, and doing things that your loved ones love to do, whether it's writing bikes, or their favorite dinner. And just constantly talking about them.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Explaining to my kids just because he's not present, here with us physically, doesn't mean his presence isn't here with us, and he's doing these things with us. He's here for birthdays, he's here for Christmas, and it's just comforting to them to know that they're not living this life alone. Dad is still here. And we're gonna include right now a little clip of this interview so you can hear it. Joining us now is author of,

Starting point is 00:22:54 are you with me, Corey Richens, to share her three Cs to helping kids cope with grief. And Corey, I want to start with your story. What happened in your personal life? So my husband passed away unexpectedly last year. So it's March 4th, was a one-year anniversary for us. And he was 39. It completely took us all by shock.

Starting point is 00:23:18 And we have three little boys, 10, 9, and 6. And you know, we kind of, my kids kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we've experienced last year. And you know, hoping that it can kind of help other kids, you know, um, deal with this and kind of, you know, find happiness some way or another. So, the women who interviewed her about the book chatted with Corey after the cameras were turned off, and Corey opened up about what she thought had really happened, blaming it on complications from COVID. One of the host Dina recalled, quote,

Starting point is 00:23:59 we sat with her after we talked to her for a while as we do some times with guests before they leave, maybe, you know, we're not in the next segment, We sat with her after we talked to her for a while as we do some times with guests before they leave. Maybe you know, we're not in the next segment or we have a break and we spent a few minutes after. And I remember her saying she thought it was COVID. She thought he had a lung issue, so a complication from COVID and that was the discussion.

Starting point is 00:24:18 I didn't think much of it again until we started having people writing saying she's a suspect in his case. When asked if the women had an inkling or any kind of inkling that Cory was lying to them, the second host, Saraya, said, quote, of course, when you look back after the fact you're like, huh? Well, I wonder if that was interesting. And she didn't show emotion. We have so many people who grieve in different ways. They process differently. And who are we to say that that's the wrong way to process,

Starting point is 00:24:49 right? So for me, it was someone who is sharing their story, sharing a way, a tool to possibly help other kids, but we didn't know. Dina agreed with this saying quote, I had no spidey senses. I agree, people show and express in different ways, and that's not the first guess we've had sit down and talk about something that's hard or painful or a loss. And some people get misty eyed, some people come in a little more prepared for it,

Starting point is 00:25:15 and they can power through and be composed. I did clock that that she wasn't necessarily emotional, but again, I thought, okay, well, it's been a year, maybe she's just prepared to speak about it. I did think that it was an interesting choice what she wore on the air. She was all bundled up in her jacket. Her hair wasn't quite brushed, and I thought, she's still going through it. She was grieving. She's not quite together.

Starting point is 00:25:37 So it's expressing it in a way that maybe she's not quite pulled together. But I don't know. Now I have so many questions. The host then added that Corey herself wrote into the show and asked to be interviewed not the other way around. So that's a very interesting point here because it kind of seems like obviously she wants to capitalize off of this book that she wrote, but now that these suspicions are pointing towards her, it's kind of like you see right through everything. It's very transparent, isn't it?

Starting point is 00:26:09 I could definitely understand why she was acting weird in the interview if she was just nervous to be on the air. Like I can imagine being on a show like that and having cameras on you when you're not used to that can be very stressful or just nerve-wracking, but again, knowing what we know now and what we're going to share, it just makes it all feel really weird. Yeah, it does. So that interview actually took place on April 6, 2023,

Starting point is 00:26:36 so like a month ago. Two months ago, sorry, two months ago. And on May 8, 2023, Corey Richens was arrested for the murder of her husband. When police searched the couple's home after the autopsy ruled Eric's death in overdose, they seized Cory's phone and multiple computers. Though investigators discovered that Cory had deleted multiple texts and conversations and the mistakes she made were traceable.

Starting point is 00:27:05 Though Cory had relayed to police and anyone else who asked that her phone had been charging in her room while she slept in her son's room, an audit of her phone proves that this was not true. Between 9pm when Cory gave Eric that Moscow mule and 3am when she claims that she found an unresponsive and called 911, Cory's phone was unlocked and locked multiple times. She also sent and received a flurry of text messages which were later deleted. Additionally, investigators found correspondence

Starting point is 00:27:37 with an acquaintance addressed in the arrest warrant simply known as CL, who was a known distributor of drugs. Their criminal record contains multiple counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, as well as intent to distribute drugs. The first communication that the two had was between December of 2021 and February of 2022, when Corey reached out to CL asking for pain medication for a client of hers. Then days later, she purchased hydrocodone from CL. Two weeks after that, Cory came back to CL and asked for something stronger, telling them that she wanted, quote, some of the Michael

Starting point is 00:28:19 Jackson stuff, mistakenly referring to Propofol, which is what Michael Jackson overdoseed on. What she actually wanted was Fentanyl. Corey paid $900 for between 15 and 30 fentanyl pills. This transaction came just three days before the Valentine's Day dinner that made Eric sick. Then two weeks later, Corey again contacted CL and requested another $900 worth of fentanyl pills. And then six days later, Eric was dead.

Starting point is 00:28:51 I mean, come on, that is some evidence. Yeah, it is. So Cory's financial woes persisted and around the same time that she seemed to be plotting her husband's murder, she met with a money lender who she owed $1.8 million to. She also still owed Eric more than $500,000 and she even owed the government $200,000 in unpaid taxes. So days after Eric's death, she broke into his home safe and removed some of his money.

Starting point is 00:29:25 In February of 2023, so the following year, she filed a claim contesting the trust that was left to Eric Sisters instead of herself. Given that even Eric was suspicious of Corey's intent, Eric's family were not surprised by the arrest and instead they felt quite vindicated by it. But members of her community were shocked, remembering her as kind, sweet, and the quintessential Utah mom. Cory was charged with one count of first-degree aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Starting point is 00:30:01 When asked in an interview why Eric stayed in the marriage and in the home if he was concerned about Corey Harmingham, Attorney Greg Scordis said quote, It appears that Eric may have stayed in a relationship that wasn't good because he loved his boys and wanted to keep the family relationship together and maybe he was hopeful that things would change but his number one concern was for his boys. Eric is remembered by his family, friends, and community as a true family man, a wonderful and doting father whose world revolved around his sons. He coached and assistant coached every team sport that they were a part of and was beloved by the kids and parents alike.

Starting point is 00:30:46 Parents remember his encouragement and patience, always telling them to just give it your all. He made a point of getting to know every child on his team and making all of them feel included. Greg echoed quote, what a wonderful father he was. What a philanthropist he was. Psychologist Dr. John Garrison put up a full analysis of Corey's Good Things Utah interview on his channel, and hypothesized that if she really has done what she's being accused of, Corey Richens is a clinical psychopath. Dr. Garrison reported quote, So you may be asking yourself, why would someone do this? Why would they write a children's

Starting point is 00:31:24 book after the murder of their husband? If she is in fact guilty of the things that she's being accused of, that would make her a psychopath. Murdering the father of your children for money and then writing a book with them? That would be clear signs of psychopathy. So let's talk about why a psychopath would do this. There's a number of reasons that we're going to go through, but the first one I want to talk about is image management and manipulation.

Starting point is 00:31:51 One of the primary tools of psychopaths is manipulation. If you're writing a children's book with your children, you are manipulating them. You're also manipulating the perception that other people are going to have of you. It's going to make you seem compassionate and caring. And so image management and manipulation are two big motivators for psychopaths. And I want to touch on this just briefly. So that's kind of what I was thinking in my mind. The fact that she wrote this children's book, it almost appears that she, like this doctor

Starting point is 00:32:23 is saying, wants to put out this image of a grieving mother who has lost so much and maybe that helps her you know feel or help helps her look innocent in a way. But the reality is that it's just is a manipulation tactic and it's you know trying to cover up this crime. Well, absolutely. Yeah, I completely agree. And just the fact that you you know, it could have been

Starting point is 00:32:50 a ploy to make some money. I don't think that was her motive for reportedly murdering Eric. I mean, I think that the life insurance policy had a lot to do with it, but it's not like, oh, I'm going to kill him and write a book about it and make money from the book. I think the book was just a point of leverage. And also, yeah, like a source of innocence to say, I wrote this book about how much I'm grieving from this loss because can't you see I'm grieving? I'm a good person. And you know, honestly, I think it's both. I think, you know, the fact that she wrote the book is, A, leverage like you said to make her appear to be innocent, but also possibly to make money and to gain some sort of fame, fame from this,

Starting point is 00:33:32 because again, she was the one who contacted that new station to go on the show. It wasn't the other way around. Exactly. I mean, clearly, if we know anything about her, just based on everything we've talked about in this episode today, she wants to be on top. She wants to do whatever she can to make a lot of money, even if it's buying a two million dollar

Starting point is 00:33:52 house that needs a lot of work and two weeks later turning around and saying, okay, now I'm charging five million and it's like, wait, what? What value did you add? None. You didn't add three million dollars worth of value in two weeks. That's for sure. You know what I mean So it's like it's it just seems like she's always trying to cheat So Linda King who is Cory's coworker at Home Depot and the person who introduced Cory and Eric was Devastated at how wrong their fairy tale romance had gone saying quote I pray to God. This isn't true Their family was so beautiful. Everything was picture perfect,

Starting point is 00:34:27 but I guess it wasn't. Linda had a special connection with them both, remembering, quote, it seemed like they were my children. I was proud of them. That's how I felt about them. When Corey broke the news of Eric's death to Linda, Corey explained that he had a brain aneurysm with

Starting point is 00:34:45 shot Linda, but she didn't think to question it. Yeah, I mean, first she's saying that she told the news anchors that, oh, it could have been related to COVID. Now it's a brain aneurysm, but none of those things are correct. There was fentanyl in his system. Exactly. And I don't know why she's, maybe she's trying to make sure that people don't know that it was fentanyl to try to tell people that he had died from other natural causes and nobody questions the overdose aspect and can Accus her of poisoning him or being behind it. But of course, like I said Linda didn't know to question it So she was very supportive of Corey and told her that she couldn't wait to buy her book

Starting point is 00:35:24 Now she says, quote, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about that. Like, she couldn't do that, she wouldn't do that. She had too much. It's more than super shocking. I feel really numb. Carter, Ashton, and Weston are now staying with Eric's family and Eric's sister Katie has filed for guardianship.

Starting point is 00:35:49 Corey's hearing has been postponed so that she can be charged with distribution of drugs in addition to the first degree murder charge, and she is currently being held without bail and is doing court on June 12th, so in 10 days from when this episode comes out. And her book has since been pulled from Amazon. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. Yes, and obviously, you know, sometimes with cases like this, where there's a charge right away, we don't like to cover them because there are more updates

Starting point is 00:36:29 coming, you know, for example, in 10 days from the day this episode comes out. But so many of you guys recommended this case and he's really been wanting to talk about it. And again, this just happened. So we wanted to put it out there and we'll continue to update you guys with everything that happens with this case on our socials. So don't forget to go give us a follow.

Starting point is 00:36:48 Yeah, our socials are Instagram at going West Podcast, Twitter at going West Pod, and we also have a Facebook discussion group which I am sure you guys are going to want to talk about this case. So meet us over there. Yeah, our hearts really go out to Eric and his family for this horrible loss that happened just last year. So thank you guys for tuning into this story. Remember, if you were all out of going West episodes, but you want more for just five or ten dollars depending on which tier you choose over on patreon.com slash going West

Starting point is 00:37:19 podcast, you can access up to almost 90 full length adfree bonus episodes or you can do so on Apple subscriptions. As Daphne mentioned in the beginning of this episode, we just released two new episodes at the beginning of this week, so go check those out. All right, guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you

Going West: True Crime - Eric Richins // 310

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