Hidden True Crime - $8 MILLION in Debt?! Forensic Accountant EXPOSES Kouri Richins’ Secret Finances | Day 7 Trial Recap

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

In this episode, we break down one of the most technical — but potentially revealing — days of the Kouri Richins trial. Day 7 focused almost entirely on the finances, as a forensic accountant walked the jury through thousands of records showing mounting debt, bounced checks, payday lenders pulling daily payments, and what prosecutors say was a financial situation spiraling out of control in the months before Eric Richins’ death. We slow everything down and explain the complicated money trail step-by-step — from the HELOC and failed house flips to the Midway mansion deal, tax filings, and the $1.3 million in life insurance that was quickly spent after Eric died. And as we mark March 3rd — the night Eric likely died — we take a moment to remember the father of three at the center of this case before unpacking the testimony that prosecutors say points to motive. Sponsors: For 50% off your order, head to https://DailyLook.com and use code HIDDEN. Visit https://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/HIDDEN to explore coverage. About Hidden True Crime What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, everyone. Good to be here. I'm going to be honest with all of you guys today. Today's court was a lot who was actually watching and listening and taking in everything. Because if you watched it live, honestly, you probably noticed that today was one of those like super technical trial days. We're talking spreadsheets, bank statements, loan documents, forensic accounting, and the kind of testimony where your brain sort of starts to glaze over somewhere in there. And maybe I'm projecting. Mine does.

If you're Kit from one of my favorite channels wordwise, go check her out. She's amazing. She's covering this. She loves the financial stuff, she says. I was with her over at WebSloos, and she was like, I love the financial stuff. For me, it takes some time to follow, you know,

all the overdraft fees and promissory notes. But here's the thing. Even though it was technical, it was also very, very important. because what the state was laying out today is motive, right? Those opening statements. Those opening statements said, why did Corey Richens do this because of money? That's ultimately their major argument.

Not even the paramour was number one in motive, the paramour side guy. It was, it's financial. So today is huge. They're laying out motive. Will the jurors find that this absolutely was her motive? the number one motive to poisoning her husband, Eric Richens, 39-year-old Eric Richens. That's the question here that they have to decide. And when the motive is buried inside thousands and thousands of financial records,

it can get confusing fast. So tonight we're slowing it down. We're going to break it all down for you. All of the finances step by step. I needed to be able to do this to help understand it myself. We're going to figure out what the money was doing. where it was going and why the prosecution actually believes this really matters, matters enough to make this the motive.

And honestly, going through it slowly helped me to understand it better. And so I'm hoping it helps you too. But before we get into all this forensic accounting, I do want to acknowledge something really important about today's date. Tonight is March 3rd. And according to the timeline presented in this case, March 3rd, is likely the night Eric Richens died, right? Even though the 911 call didn't come until hours later, we've learned from cell data that even though he was officially declared dead on March 4th,

March 3rd was likely when he passed away. And I can't imagine what this day must feel like for Eric's family sitting in court. So no matter where anyone lands on this evidence, reasonable doubt, or what they think about Corey Richens, at the center of it all is Eric Richens, father of three boys whose life was cut short, tragically, because of fentanyl in his system. So with that, let's walk through what the jury heard today. Today is day seven of the Corey Richens trial. And first things first, the judge let everyone know court will start tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. And there will be no trial on Friday.

So that's the schedule update. And the hidden true crime live streaming team gets to sleep in a bit tomorrow. And so do all of you waking up for the trial. life feed here at Hidden 2 crimes. So thank you, Judge Razick. I'll take it. I'll take that extra an hour. And now we move into the main event of the day. And honestly, this is a big one. The first witness, again, Brooke Carrington. What a name. Brooke Carrington. She sounds important. She sounds like a financial guru. So, and she is. She's a forensic accountant with 38 years of experience. And she runs her own firm out of Salt Lake City. Bloodworth told the court earlier.

She likely talk the entire day or take the entire day, take, talk, same, same. And based on how detailed this was, that tracks, Karrington has testified in trials before. In fact, if you've been following this case for a long time, if you've been following it, you may remember her testifying during one of Corey's detention hearings, right, which was kind of like a mini trial in itself. The state hired her to investigate the financial side of the Richens case and his pay. paying her for her services. And I was there at that hearing. She also previously worked for Eric's estate during the civil lawsuit between Corey and Eric's sister Katie. So there you go. That's how she kind of came into this case. This estate paid Carrington around $14,000. And after she was

paid, though, she had no further involvement with the estate. So for this investigation, she reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents. Her word, as she says it, was tons of emails. She went through leasing documents, the prenuptial agreement, loans, letters, real estate contracts, property transactions, you name it. She also interviewed insurance companies, bankrupt, lenders, and the owners of the Midway House. Yes, the Midway House. and even the Wasatch County Building Department. So Bloodworth asked her to explain her methodology.

She said she starts with bank accounts. Follow the money. That's what they all say, right? Follow the money. Corey had, here we go. You ready? A business account at America First Credit Union, okay? Then a personal checking account at America First Credit Union

that was opened when she married Eric. but there was no indication that Eric ever used it. So it was Corrie's. And then she had, separate from America First, a Navy Federal Credit Union checking account. There was also a family account at America First. So they were America First family, but then she had the separate Navy Federal Credit Union checking account on her own. And Eric also had his own business and personal accounts as well. Okay, so a lot of accounts. Then the state admitted the business registration for K. Richens Realty. It was registered April 26, 2019. This is Corey Richens Business Registration, her company, again, called K. Richens Realty. That'll come up a lot today.

And what was Corey doing with this? Well, Corey was flipping properties, or least trying to, and was listed as the registered agent with the business address being the family home, plus a PO box in Camus. That's the town they live Camus. Eric was listed as a member of the company. Business was originally registered in Eric's name, but four days later, it was changed to Corey. Bloodworth asked Carrington to explain the term alter ego in forensic accounting. I was like, yeah, please explain that. Because when I think of alter ego, I just think of Jekyll and Hyde, right? But in a forensic accounting, this is what alter ego means. She testified, that Kay Richens Realty and Corey Richens were alter egos, meaning that financially they functioned

as the same person, Kay Richens Realty and Corey Richens. Money moved back and forth between the accounts in a way that, in her opinion, showed no real separation between the individual and the business. So, okay, makes sense. Alter ego. And then we get into October 2021. So again, remember, he died March 2022. This is October 2021. Karrington testified. that in October, transactions started not clearing. The account was constantly in the hole. Money was coming in, but it was going out at what she described as an exhaustive pace. Overdraft fees, insufficient funds, constant, all the time. The state admitted an exhibit showing overdraft and non-sufficient fund transactions between January 2021 and March 2022.

But from October through the end of March, there was a drastic increase in transaction. transactions that did not clear without fees. So December alone, give this, December 2021 alone, had 77 overdrafts or NSF transactions, totally $91,000, with $2,000 just in fees. That is a lot of outgoing money. And it was for debt payments and vendor bills. And she also tried to pay herself. There was an exhibit showing checks. Corey wrote to herself from her Navy credit union account that were returned unpaid, right?

So she had that other Navy credit union account. Those checks were returned unpaid. From August 2021 through May 22, she wrote approximately $60,000 in checks to herself that bounced. In one example, she wrote a $10,000 check and a $4,000 check from an account that had negative $51 in it. The next day, she wrote another $10,000. check. I'll do herself. Carrington said the spike in overdrafts in early October made her drill down into October through March statements. Makes sense. And then the jury was shown America First Credit Union statements for K Richens Realty from October 2021 through February 2022. She walked them through

how she analyzes statements. She starts at the header to confirm the account owner and then she looks at the balance. In this case, negative balance. So then she goes transaction by transaction, checking posting dates. Then we see repeated debits to Delta Bridge, Blue Bridge, Fairmont, and Zabhava. Carington testified these are payday lenders, payday lenders. And according to her, Corey was committed to paying $2,100. Guys, get this, a day. I thought, you know, you thought maybe a month, No, Corey was committed to paying $2,100 a day, a day to these payday lenders, a day. There were daily debits coming out. Carrington explained that every single week, Corey had to come up with money just to stay current and avoid default.

And these payday loans already had high interest rates. If they went into default, the interest rate almost doubled. So really, the financial pitcher started to feel a little. frantic. Carrington testified that the balance history on the account fluctuated wildly, depending on the day of the week. So one day, there'd be $2,000 in the account. Then it would jump to $19,000. Two days later, it spiked to $70,000. Okay. And then boom, massive withdrawals start hitting daily. It was not stable income. It was surge and drain, surge and drain. A lot of the deposits were immediately used to pay down debt.

And not just old debt, new payday loan vendors start showing up. So instead of digging out, it looks like she's stacking. More debt on top of more debt. On October 22nd, after selling a property, $77,000 was deposited into the account. That sounds like relief money, right? Like, okay, here's the reset. We just got $77,000. But no, does it last?

Not at all. According to Carrington, it went straight to vendors. And the debt continued to grow. Carrington said part of her job was to figure out where the money was coming from, where it was going, and what the end game was. That's what I want to know. What was this end game? That's such an important question because at some point, you have to ask, what was the plan here, Corey? She told the jury that October looked like what we'd just seen. And then the following months were very similar. Every time funds came in, they were quickly depleted.

Then the state emitted an exhibit showing the total debt Corey owned on properties, credit cards, payday loans, lines of credit. In March 2020, she owed approximately $7.5 million, and she was paying about $80,000 a month toward that debt. Carington also pointed out something interesting. Most of Corey's real estate deals did not require monthly payments. So this massive monthly outflow was not typical mortgage obligations, because I thought that's where she was going. Okay, she's paying mortgage on a bunch of homes that she owns and that she's flipping, right? No, no. This was not. not your typical mortgage obligations. This was not where the outflow was going. The total debt, though, appears to flatline around October 2021. So that's an important month here.

Budworth asked why. So Carrington said there are a lot of reasons, but in her words, quote, it looks to me that she's exhausted her funding sources and there are very few new funding sources coming in. That's a pretty big deal. Because when funding sources dry up, people get desperate. Then we move into the home equity line of credit, the HELOC. Corey took out a HELOC in March of 2019. It was based on the equity in the home she shared with Eric.

The state admitted a warranty deed showing that Eric's sister and brother-in-law originally owned the property. We heard from Katie. She explained that she'd owned it. And so they originally owned the property, but transferred it to Eric and Corey. And then on the screen, we saw the HELOC agreement. The borrower listed is Eric. And the credit limit was $250,000.

It's signed by Eric as the borrower, okay, and signed by Corey as well. Another exhibit was admitted showing the balance limit on that HELOC. At the time of Eric's death, the loan was over its $250,000 limit over it. The payments were interest only, except for one $50,000 payment made in October 2020. Carrington testified, so in other words, Corey was only paying interest at that time. And Carrington testified that the money from the HELOC was used to rehab projects. But she said there was no evidence that Eric ever withdrew any money from this. According to Carrington, it was always Corey making the withdrawals.

then there was a $60,000 check from TCF National Bank made payable to Eric on March 22nd, 2019. The exhibit was Corey's personal bank statement from April 2019. On March 29th, there was a $60,000 deposit into her personal account. That money matches the TCF check made out to Eric. So the money was written to Eric, but deposited it into Corey's personal account. Next, we're shown a purchase timeline for K. Regions Realty. It lays out how many homes were purchased over the years. Then in another exhibit, it shows detailed property transactions, purchase price, closing

costs, net proceeds at sale, rehab expenses. Carrington testified, she used reports like that for each property. And she compiled them. And Bloodworth asked her why she didn't use the documents Corey prepared for her accountants about the properties. And Carrington answered, Quote, because they were incorrect. There was an objection, and after that, Carrington reframed it slightly, saying, going through all of Corey's finances was a sorting exercise. As what she said, a sorting exercise. In 2021 alone, there was $400,000 in expenses paid to vendors or subcontractors,

but Carrington couldn't determine which specific homes the money went to. I imagine that this was quite the project for her. Many checks listed property names in the memo line, but not all of them were traceable, and then Bloodworth walked through one specific home as an example. They showed how much Corey paid for it, how much she spent on rehab, and what she ultimately sold it for. On paper, she made around $47,000 in profit. But Carrington testified that, quote,

so much of the HELOC funds were used for this property. So yes, there was a profit. But if you're funding the project with borrowed money, that's accruing interest. Is it really profit? Or is it just shifting debt around, right? Right. Is there really profit here? If it's accruing interest.

It sounds like right. It's a shifting of debt. Bloodworth brings up another property, the Mill Creek House. Corey bought that for $650,000. She borrowed money for it three separate times. At one point, she was $228,000 in the hole on that property alone. That's an expensive property. And then after adding in closing costs, interest and other expenses,

she ended up losing around $155,000. And that's Carrington's conservative number, she states. She said, at least that may be more. So we're not talking about small miscalculations here. These are six figure losses. And after the morning recess, we learned about a deal called the Barney property. Oh, the Barney property, specifically 299 Barney, the Barney property. Bloodworth says that in June 2021, Corey submitted a bank statement to obtain a loan that showed a certain balance,

but the actual bank statement reflects a different balance. Bloodworth says he has six inconsistent bank statements tied to this Barney property. And he says they show, quote, an evolution between Corey and the lender who is asking for bank statements, end quote. Carrington explained that Iron Bridge Financial is what's known as a hard money lender. That means higher interest rates, strict default clauses, usually short term loans. And if you default, the debt can grow exponentially. Corey applied for a loan from Ironbridge Financial. The exhibits show America First Credit Union statements and Kay Richens Realty statements

using a PO box in Camus. Two accounts are listed and then we see a bank statement from C&E Stone Masonry for May 2021. The ending balance across three accounts is around $210,000. Bloodworth introduces an email string between Iron Bridge Financial, and Corey. And in them, there's discussion about her credit score and bank balances. There's also a promissory note showing monthly payments on a loan that had to be refinanced or paid off by January 8th, 2022. Karington testified that Corey, Corey attempted to refinance that loan. And then we see an America first statement from July

2021. The summary page shows three accounts totaling 630,000. thousand dollars at the end of the month. The next exhibit was another America First statement and then another America first statement tied to C and East Stone Masonry, Eric's company. And then the state moved to admit a document from Excel financial service and its principal. This basically a resume submitted by Corey. And in it, she claims that she has 147 employees and says she's been doing real estate investing for four years from fix and flips to buy and hold. to investing in companies and wholesaling.

You know what? Actually, here's what it says exactly. Let's just read this. This is so interesting to me. Here straight from Corey. Quote, I have done small projects as low as $2,500 for an auction home, up to selling multimillion dollar fix and flip projects. I have a master's degree in human resources in which has become very valuable

in running my company of 147 employees. based out of Park City, Utah, 107, 147 employees. I've got John, Grayson, and Lilly. But anyway, I'm currently working on my general contractor's license that will be completed within the next month. I have been certified through Renata's real estate investment education, and I also obtain a real estate license. In my last five deals alone, I have profited nearly $1 million. I am very confident in my work and my team and my projects that I invest in, I would love to work with the new investors on upcoming projects to really maximize the ability of our real estate investing capabilities and reach our full potential, end quote.

So Bloodworth follows up and asks Carrington about Corey's actual bank statements. The balances were typically around $1,500 to $2,000. So not exactly enough money to pay 147 people. Right? I mean, that was the first thing I thought of. Okay. Okay. How are those 147 people eating? But then Bloodworth asked directly whether Carrington found any evidence that Corey had ever profited $1 million total across all her deals combined. And Carrington said, no, that's pretty straightforward. The next exhibit was the operating agreement for Kay Richens Realty. It shows that Doreen Corey, who is Corey's aunt, owns 81% of the company. And Corey Richens owns the rest. That's important because until now, most of the focus has been on Corey individually, right? But the majority owner of what we've all known as Corey Richon's business on paper is actually Doreen.

Her aunt, her aunt Doreen. It's interesting, right? 81%. Then more personal bake statements were admitted. Bloodworth asked Carrington about wire transfers in January 2022. She testified that the wires came from a woman named Chelsea Barney. to Corey for the purpose of buying the 299 Barney house. So Chelsea Barney and a woman named Chelsea Barney came to Corey for the purpose of buying the Barney residence, 299 Barney.

So then we see the text messages between Chelsea Barney and Corey from early January 2022. So that would be two months or less than two months before Eric Richens dies. And they're discussing finances and the down payment. Corey asked Chelsea how much she wanted to put down and Corey says she needs $59,000 even though Chelsea only has $47,000. Corey says they'll do seller financing. The home will initially be in Corey's name and then two weeks later they'll close again and put it into Chelsea's name.

Chelsea said she needs to count her cash. She has 40K but needs to do her taxes. Corey responds that if she can do 45K, the rest can be wrapped in two the loan. Chelsea says she can do 45. Corey tells her to deposit it into her bank account and then wire it to Corey. Corey will wire it to the title company. She says and sends Chelsea Barney her bank info. And then Corey writes to Chelsea Barney, I'm kind of nervous, ha. And Chelsea responds, I'm so excited, but I'm scared as hell. And then Corey replies, that it's so much money. she texts.

Carrington testified that she was able to track the $45,000. It was wired from Chelsea to Corey on January 12th and two separate transactions. And when the money hits Corey's account, the balance was negative. Almost half of that $45,000 was in transfer to Corey's family joint checking account. And the rest used to pay dead, according to Carrington. None of that money went toward the mortgage on the Barney home. And then the state then showed the family. family account records. So the family account records, the money that moved into that account

was then transferred to fund fee, which Carrington identified as the payday lender or one of the mini, a payday lender, I should say. So the $45,000 that Chelsea thought was part of a down payment was largely diverted to cover other debts. All right. So quick pause. When we come back, this financial picture, believe it or now, somehow gets even more complicated because we move into the loans, the tax returns, and what the state says was actually happening behind the scenes. But first, let's hear from one of our trial sponsors we are so grateful for. Come on up, Lily. There you go. You guys know that Lily Bell right here, huh, is the head of Hidden True Crimes, HR, our office mascot, emotional support during very heavy cases, huh, Lily?

and a huge part of our everyday lives. We adore her. And when she was a puppy, she actually had a really scary accident involving a John Deere. It required a super expensive vet visit late at night and thank goodness she had dog insurance. A quick message from today's sponsor, the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Program. Life with a pet full of surprises, right? Sometimes funny, sometimes stressful. Vet bills add up faster than you expect.

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When I've got a couch next to me waiting for her, I've got the blanket. And I'm like, come on, Lily. I guess Lily likes her loan time sometimes, too, believe it or not. But Lily's the best. So Bloodworth then asked about the Iron Bridge financial loan that was due January 8th, 2022. to and Corey didn't make that payment. Instead, she extended the loan for two weeks. And during that time, she tried to secure a new loan from Excel Financial. Excel requested a significant amount of documentation, which Corey submitted. Eventually, the loan shifted to being in Doreen

Corey's name as principal of K. Richens Realty. So there you go. There's, you know, Corey Richens' aunt. So shifted to during Corey's name as principal of K. Richens Realty. That's when that happened. And then meanwhile, the Iron Bridge loan, remained unpaid and was extended again this time to March 8th, 22. So just four days, by the way, after Eric Richon's death. So at this point in the timeline, let's go over this. At this point in the timeline, I mean, it's wild, right? I mean, I want to know who you guys are thinking.

We'll get to that. But we've got payday lenders pulling daily. We have a hard money loan in extension status, negative bank balances, a $45,000 wire from a buyer not going to the property, an attempted refinance that shifts to Doreen, it honestly, it feels like constant motion just to stay afloat, right? And we're still not done. Guys, no, no, you guys, we're just to lunch. This is lunch break. Okay, here's lunch. This is just the beginning. just the beginning. So I can understand now why Brooke Carrington is on the stand all day. So after lunch, we're back with Ms. Carrington. Bloodworth keeps building out this financial

picture that looks bleaker and bleaker by the moment. And more bank records come in. These are from America First Credit Union and include accounts tied to Eric's business, CNDE, Stone Masonry and K. Richens Realty. And then Bloodworth introduces a dollar. document that lays out Corey's funding sources over the years. So Carrington explains that in the beginning, Corey was using her own money to fund projects. Okay. But over time, that shifts. So I wonder why. It shifts because the funding starts coming from different lenders. So more loans and debt, more debt, on top of debt, on top of debt, like layers of debt, you know, just like boom, boom, boom. And one thing that stood out to me was the discussion about Doreen Corey's aunt.

Carrington says she couldn't find any evidence that Doreen actually gave Corey money. Her credit, it was her credit that was used for Excel financing. So she guaranteed a bunch of payday style loans. But as far as actual cash flowing in from Doreen being that she was principal, Carrington says she didn't see it. So that's important, right? I mean, it suggests that Doreen's name and credit were leveraged, but Doreen herself wasn't. She wasn't writing checks, right, to keep things afloat.

Well, I guess she was leveraged for her credit, but, and her name. But again, no check writing, no, you know, not given much else to the business. Then we get into early 2021. And Carrington says, Corey sold what would be her last major project. for a while. And after that, there isn't fresh funding activity, except for one huge thing. The Legacy Wayhouse. Well, what's the Legacy Wayhouse? Well, we all know it as the Midway Mansion. So, Core likes to call it the Legacy Wayhouse. We call it the Midway Mansion. So same z's there. Legacy Wayhouse, the Midway Mansion. So according to Carrington, which, by the way, I've done a live outside of the Midway

mansion. I wonder how it's going. When I went out there, it was probably a year ago, it was last winter that very little had been done to it, but I heard that people were building. Anyway, according to Carrington, Corey stacked multiple lenders to make that purchase happen. And by the time it closed, there was not any money left over for renovations in a massive home, massive. So she's acquiring this massive property. I don't say massive. massive lightly, massive property without cash reserves to fix it up. So from a business standpoint, you know, that's risky at best. If you're, you know, you're weighing your risk benefits here. Lutterworth then asks about receivables, basically what money could potentially come in.

Carrington explains that technically there were properties that could be sold in the future. so yes, there were possible receivables for Corey, but those are speculative, right? That's possible. They're not cash in the bank. An exhibit is shown listing out all of the loans Corey took. That was an interesting exhibit. Carrington explains UCC filings,

which are public records tied to secured loans. She pulled all of Corey's filings and compiled them. Ledworth then introduces a revenue purchasing agreement dated December 9th, 2021, and under that agreement, Corey received $60,000, but agreed to payback $87,000 through weekly payments at 15% interest. That's a steep payback. $87,000 weekly payments at 15% interest. Dang.

And the lender eventually sued Kay Richens Realty for not paying, and I'm not surprised that they didn't pay with that. So after that, Bloodworth pivots. What does he pivot to? Tax returns. Okay, tax returns. I can do this. That's what I'm sitting here listening to this thing. Okay, tax returns are next. So Carrington reviewed the Richens Joint and Business Returns for 2019, 2020, and 2021. So now we're moving from loans and cash flow to what was officially reported to the government. Bloodworth asks if those tax returns were helpful. And understanding Corey's financial situation. Carrington says yes, and

Carrington says no, yes and no. She starts to explain that what was reported to the tax preparer may not have fully reflected reality. And right as she's getting into it, defense attorney Nestor objects, the judge calls everyone up for a sidebar

and the jury is excused so the attorneys and the judge can hash out the tax issue. So the judge asks Bloodworth where he's going with this. And Bloodworth says Carrington is going to testify that the tax returns weren't reliable because the expense reporting provided to the accountant wasn't accurate. He also argues that during this time, Corey was trying to secure funding

and having tax returns that showed profit would make it easier to get loans. So the judge tells the jury that they're about to hear testimony that Corey's tax filings were not accurate and that this evidence is coming in so they can consider whether it contributed to a motive. Carrington says that the tax returns are missing the majority of Corey's loans, roughly, $400,000 in obligations that just reflected on the financial records. $400,000, guys, those are missing from her tax returns.

$400,000 in obligations. So this was not a small oversight. Carrington explained that if a business understates its expenses, it inflates the net income. So on paper, it makes a company look more profitable than it really is, right? However, she says that actually

there's generally a tax advantage to having a lower net income or showing a loss, right? Don't we all try to, you know, pay fewer taxes if, you know, we have expenses. But, but yeah, you know, so if she, she had reported that, it would just show a loss. Lower income usually means lower taxes. So Bloodworth asked the obvious question. Well, why, why would a savvy business person inaccurately report expenses? Hmm. It'd be so interesting to be, to be an accountant in this job. I find her, if, you know, a forensic accountant. It's like a, it's like a sleuth accountant. Why about a business person inaccurately report expenses in a way that makes them look more profitable and then potentially pay more taxes? It's a great question.

So what did Carrington's answer? What she come up with? I don't know. That was her. answer. I don't know. And fair, I'll give her that. But Bloodworth presses. Why would someone want to pay more taxes? Carrington then says, well, one possible reason. So now we're speculating one possible reason would be to make the business appear more successful than it actually was. And that's where this starts to tie into the bigger picture, right? So Carrington testified that an accurate tax return for 2021 would have shown a loss for Corey's business, not a profit, a loss. And then we move into November 2021. Corey acquires three new properties.

And guys, three new properties. And that adds $1.1 million in debt. And according to Carrington, she didn't put any of her own money into those purchases. She borrowed everything, everything. And then in December, she puts in the offer on the Midway Mansion. We can see why Corey might be wanting to make it look like her business is more successful than it really is, getting all that money borrowed. Carrington says Corey and Eric had about $70,000 in state tax liens and at least $80,000 in federal tax liens, joint liabilities. So we're now talking about roughly $150,000 in tax liens, hanging.

over them. That's a lot. And then the state introduced another exhibit, a check dated April 29th, 2021. And this check, it's payable to Eric for $36,000 and it came from C and E. Stone masonry. So Carrington traced that money. It gets deposited into Corey's account. And when I say deposited, I mean into an account that had a balance of 83 cents, Corey's account. And so that same, day that the $36,000 hits, $25,000 is deducted, and it's wired to Stewart Title Company. So it's coming back in and it's going right back out. And that pattern has been consistent through this entire testimony. Money comes in.

Money immediately goes back out. Accounts hovering near zero. all the time, unless there's $0.83.0.83 cents. You know, $0.83 is a good day. Heavy borrowing, liens, loans not reflected on the tax filings, new properties stacked upon other properties on top of old debt, stacked on top of other debt. And then Carrington explains that she obtained home inspection records. She interviewed current and former owners, checked ownership histories,

and even physically drove by the properties. So Bloodworth shifts to the Midway Mansion property. Okay, the Midway Mansion property. For those that are just tuning in, the reason why we say we all know about the Midway Mansion property is she closed on it after the day after Eric, was declared dead or the day out it's it's such a horrific sort of moment when there's a 39-year-old father that's that's dead and there's this midway mansion property in play and she's closing on it

so the state put up the purchase contract and the agreed purchase price was 2.9 million dollars with a 50,000 dollar deposit the rest was due at settlement and then both the buyer and seller had initiated and dated it so it was locked in the contract required it to close by what march fourth twenty twenty two which is the day eric died so cori officially purchased the home on march fifth twenty two bloodworth then asked about the problems with the home and carrington started reading portions of the contract out loud to the jury and then after that the state pulled up the buyers settlement statement. Let's listen to the buyer settlement statement. So again, Midway Mansion needs to close, you know, on March 4th, officially purchased on March 5th. Problems with the home.

The contract is read out loud to the jury. State pulls up buyer's settlement statement. Let's take a listen. Let's discuss the warts and problems, please. Scott, if we can go down to the, just keep it up, zoomed out right there. Is that the addendum that was referred to earlier? Yes, it is. Addendum one. Okay, I'm going to walk up and present you with a printed copy of 6-8s. And this is the addendum in my right that discloses all the warts and problems. Yes. I've circled a few of the paragraphs on that disclosure, that addendum. Can you please read those paragraphs allowed to the jury. Okay, bear with me. This is paragraph two. Byer is to acknowledge and affirm and agrees that these parcels, parcel one, parcel two,

are sold as is. Byer acknowledges affirms and agrees that both building structures have extensive vandalism, theft, as well as flooring and other structural concerns that may need, or will require replacement or repair. Due to delays in construction and the permitting slash approval process, the structures have been idle exposed to the elements and are not habitable and are also suitable in many ways

for continued construction. Damage has occurred because of the idle status of the projects. Buyer affirms buyers' intent in moving forward with the building project or abandon the project altogether based on buyer's own investigation of said structures in their state of idleness, disrepair, unfinished, and uninhabitable quality. Additionally, animals may have taken up residence in the ventilation systems

for which there may be additional damage. Buyer acknowledges and affirms that buyer accepts the property in its unfinished, disassembled, unrepaired, damaged state, and agrees to confirm through buyer's own due diligence, which repairs and remediation efforts are necessary. buyer acknowledges and affirms buyers own actual or potential costs of repair, remediation, demolition, remodel, restart, reconstruction, and or completion, and moving forward with the building projects. buyer agrees to purchase and accept the parcels, building, structures, and all aspects of the purchase of said parcels on an as-is basis

and waves and releases any and all claims against seller or any deficiency, unexpected outcome or unknown condition, cost, delay, failure, or liability. Paragraph 3. Buyer acknowledges, understands, and affirms that sale has said property is sold without all or necessary or desired permits, certificates, or allowances to build or complete the building process from Wasatch County or other governmental agencies. And buyer is said, pardon me, and buyer is to be solely responsible for obtaining any required building permits from Wasatch County or any other necessary government entity.

Buyer acknowledges understands and affirms that seller's building process was halted by the governmental permitting or allowance process. And as such, buyer intends to purchase these parcels as is with full understanding that buyer may also face challenges and costs in obtaining necessary or desired permitting allowances to build, rebuild, or complete the building and occupancy process. Bio-Acknowledgist understands and affirms that the structures do not have certificates of occupancy, necessary approvals through all required inspections,

and other indicators of structural habitability. Paragraph 4. Bio-acknowledges that Seller has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers over a lengthy period of time and that this entity is currently requiring additional wetlands evaluation of various materials, including water, environmental, et cetera. The Army Corps of Engineers may require other tests requirements

and certifications, et cetera, that are to be completed to their satisfaction. Byr acknowledges, understands, and affirms that the Army Corps is an independent government entity separate of Wasatch County and that the Army Corps may require its own permitting, which Wasatch County may also require in order to obtain building permits. Bior acknowledges understands and affirms that the Army Corps of Engineers, does not monitor or collaborate with Wasatch County in any way.

Wasatch County may or may not issue building permits independent of the Army Corps of Engineers. Buyer acknowledges understands and affirms that buyer, not seller, is responsible for moving forward with the Army Corps of Engineers and all other governmental organizations that may have oversight or control of the parcels and building projects and occupancy certification processes. buyer acknowledges, understands and affirms that the process of moving forward could take considerable time, present costs, delays, hardships, and burdens to buyer. Buyer acknowledges, understands and affirms that buyer does not require any contribution from or assistance of seller with regard to obtaining all necessary permits, certificates, allowances, or approvals to restart the building process or complete said process and obtain all necessary inspections approval certificates. permits or allowances. Paragraph 5. Byer acknowledges, understands and affirms that the parcels have

has have sewer rights, but that the sewer is not yet hooked up, is below grade, and will have to be pumped. Byer acknowledges, understands, and affirms all necessary steps to attain sewer function is the responsibility of the buyer and may be required to be on site on the subject parcels. Paragraph 6. buyer acknowledges understands and affirms that additional or dedicated open space, i.e. wetlands or other required remediation or mitigation may or will be required by the Army Corps of Engineers and that to achieve mitigation or remediation additional properties may be required for such. Thus, a potential off-site property may be obtained by the buyer. And if not on an additional off-site property, then remediation or mitigation may or will be. be on site, the subject parcels. There is a mitigation process that will be need to be coordinated with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Byer acknowledges, understands and affirms that there may or will be costs related to preparing lands to offset any disturbed wetlands. An outside consultant with Bio-West has collected data and submitted data and recommendations to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers still need to make its final decisions and will determine

mitigation plan with permits in cooperation with buyer. Paragraph 12. Byer acknowledges, understands and affirms that the Army Corps of Engineers may or will require further evaluation and study of wetlands underneath mounds of fill soil on the parcels. So seller will provide access to buyers consultants or any other third parties related to studying groundwater or soils for the Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Carrington, in your experience reviewing repsys, have you ever reviewed a repsy like that? No.

Scott, can you please bring up 6-9? I will retrieve the exhibit. Thank you, ma'am. Ms. Carrington, do you recognize exhibit 6-9? I do. What is it? This is the settlement statement for the Legacy Way Midway Mansion property, where Kay Richon's is the buyer and Douglas Royalance is the seller and this is the final version of the sale. State moves to admit 6-9.

No, Judge. 6-9 is admitted. Ms. Carrington, what information does this present? And if it's easier to step down, please do it. I don't know what's easiest. It might be since I don't have a, okay. This is not actually as complicated as it appears. So this is the property address here, the buyer, the seller, and the lender is Sierra West Capital.

So that's the Sierra West Matt Strong stuff. So over here shows the settlement date and the disbursement date as March 4th of 22. And then this is the internal file number at the title company. This shows the sale price. This is the buyer's version. and there is a seller's version, but this is the buyer's version. This is the sale price of the property at $2.9 million. And then here shows two of the four loans on this property.

So here's the original loan from Sierra West to this $2,624,850. There's another lender from the Burns, and that loan is $420,000. These are some prorations. This section here, are you all right if I keep going? Please, what's that section there? This section, these are the fees associated with these loans. So the first position lender is Sierra West Capital, this $2.6 million loan. They charged $124,850 at the outset just for the loan.

And then on top of that, it accrues interest going forward. It's a six-month balloon. So this being March 4th of 22, she has to pay that off by September 4th of 2022. The next to the $150 and the $20,000 relate to this loan, the $420,000 by the burns. And then Scott, could you please scroll down? Thank you. That's great. So then here, these are the title insurance costs that are paid to GT title services,

who's the title company in this transaction. So these are the different costs associated with that. So the first one, the lender's coverage premium, that's for the first position, the Sierra West one. second position is the burns the 420,000 one. The third position loan is going to be this. For some reason, this is down here. I don't know why. But this third position lender funds is $150,000.

That's an aggregation of a bunch of people who got together and they pooled their resources to loan $150,000 on this deal. and here is the buyer's portion of the real estate commissions, the 2% at $58,000. The other side paid $1,000 per their agreement and then some recording fees. On top of this, there's one more loan from David Cocker, hands, that came in before this. He gave her the money for the earnest money. So did Matt Strong. So they both gave her the $50,000 for the earner.

money, but later the fourth position lender of $67,000 recorded his deed. I don't understand why it's not incorporated here, but it's not, but it is still attached and recorded on the property. So this tells us that all in all, there needs to be $3,201,230 that the buyer needs to come up with. And as I said, there's also that other $67,000. So she borrowed $3,259,000 against this property to buy it for $2.9 million. And then there was a little overage. And so this $87,240 came back to her.

And we can see that go back to her bank account and that hits her bank account. Wow, right? I mean, as some of you're saying, what a what a, what a, what a, what a, what a, in. Let me share some of the things you guys said because I thought there were some really interesting, really interesting points you all made. Troublemaker Baker sharing some interesting things about the house. The people who own it now are one, a husband who runs a successful water and wastewater construction company and to a wife who is an interior designer and have hope they'll actually be able to rehab the place. Troublemaker Baker tells us a little bit more about the land.

The land is eight acres and change has been constantly valued at about one million by the county. The assessed value has gone up and down, but that's been based on the incomplete buildings. It was very not finished when I saw it a year ago. And other people, yeah, what a dump. Even a multi-million dollar dump, just like her face. While this is being read, did she even read this? Someone else, this is insane. To buy this for one million, let alone 2.9 million. So walk away, no, run. I am blown away by all of this.

Wow. That line about being stopped by government building group should have made everybody run. You would have to be pretty deep pockets to repair complete this project. Wow. And yeah, I agree here. This is a seller who is trying to create an ironclad way to not get sued. Buyer beware at its best. And I think this sums up why they read this out loud in court. Why read this? Because it really laid out what an incredibly poor

purchase this was. And I think that also remember, Corey claims that she and Eric were celebrating that night, the purchase of this. Yet many people have said Eric did not want to buy this property. many people told her not to buy this property. So, yeah, wow. And now it's a little bit more difficult to imagine Eric Richens, who is a successful business owner, C&E Masonry, and a hard worker, would be celebrating such a purchase. All right. So according to Carrington, Corey borrowed $3.2 million from various lenders to close on what she described as this $2.2 million home. she walked away from closing with 87,000 again in cash that day.

Meanwhile, the home's value at closing was said to be $2.9 million, so she overborrowed to close and still pocketed the money. The next exhibit was a loan agreement between K. Richens Realty and Sierra West Capital. Sierra West loaned her $2.6 million for the mansion. And then Bloodworth shows part of an email stating that $3 million was needed just for renovations. $3 million needed just for renovations. Carrington flat out said that Corey did not have three million in renovations. She also said there was no ability to repay the $3.2 million in loans within six months of clothing. Absolutely impossible.

Bloodworth asked whether Carrington found evidence that significant money ever actually flowed into the Midway renovation project and Carrington says, well, maybe $3,000, that's it. And then this timeline hits. Corey tried to sell the mansion on March 12th, 2022. That's one week and one day after her husband's death. Seven or eight offers came in before her note was due, but every single one fell through. Four closure proceedings eventually started. And then the state zooms out to the bigger financial picture in the months leading up to

Eric's death, Corey's total assets were around $6.3 to $6.4 million, but dollars, but every property had loans on it, and the loans exceeded the property values. So, can you imagine that? She has assets or properties that total $6.4 million, but every single property had loans on it, and all of those loans exceeded the property values. I mean, yikes. On March 5th, 2022, after closing on the Midway Mansion, her liabilities were about $8 million. And that left her with a net worth of negative $1.6 million.

Kerington said that when Eric died, Corey's financial situation was imploding. And that is not an exaggeration. she is laying it out for us to all see. I cannot fathom that. Imploding, yes, her financial situation or has imploded. Even if she liquidated everything, all of her properties, she still would not have broken even.

This is like when you're absolutely losing monopoly, you've mortgaged every property, you're like holding on to that one railroad. You're gone and then you land on boardwalk. There's, it's no possibility. There's no possibility she would have broken even. And then we go to the life insurance. Eric had 2.2 million in life insurance policies.

The figure does not include a separate $2 million policy benefiting his business partner, Cody. Okay. So around $1.3 million was paid to Corey after his death. And next, the state showed how that insurance money was used. The first $1 million deposit hit on June 16th, 2022. And then by June 24th, half of it already gone. She gets the life insurance money hits June 16th. June 24th, half of it already gone.

And I thought Chad Daybell and Lori Val were bad when they got Tammy Daybell's life insurance and ran off to Hawaii. No, no, no, no. You know, Corey Richardson is like, hold my beer. Watch this. Half of a million dollars gone in like a week. Corey then receives another $250,000 on June 25th and $101,000 on September 2nd. So according to Carrington's tracing, all of it was spent within about three months. Bloodworth introduced a transaction list of expenditures over $1,000 in the months after Eric's death.

Carrington compiled it and by September 19th, 2020, There was around $800 left across her accounts. There were five payments to the Utah State Tax Commission, including one for $50,000. There was also a $25,000 payment to Robert Josh Grossman, who we know and the jury learned was Corey's boyfriend. And that's how the state wrapped up direct examination. Yeah. Whoa. So, okay.

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Let's find out. Nestor gets up for cross-exam and immediately tries to lay out Carrington's involvement in the case. Carrington explained she was originally hired by the Richens family attorney after Corey filed a lawsuit, helping Eric's family with the litigation. And eventually, the trust got new lawyers who brought in a different forensic accountant. So then Nestor Pivots straight to the money. She asked how much Carrington's been paid by Summit County. And Carrington says around $200,000. Good amount.

Good for her. Can't imagine. Okay, what she's had to go through with this. So the next, she walks through the basics of flipping houses, buy, rehab, sell, profit. Nesser asks, if you want to make money, the goal is to do a little rehabbing as you need to flip a property. Is that fair in Carrington agrees? I mean, that's an important point, right?

It frames flipping houses, which is what Corey claims for businesses. It's a business, right? Flipping. We know when a house is flipped or the flipping business, where efficiency is the goal, not necessarily huge renovations or fancy upgrades, you know, like a hit and true crime. We say quality over quantity. Flipping might be quantity over quality sometimes. But hey, Nestor adds it the faster you can hold on to a house, the better because carrying costs like interest and utilities add up. Hard money lenders are a common tool because they're fast and they're temporary.

You borrow, fix, sell, and pay it back. It's normal in the flipping world. And Nestor is trying to normalize this behavior for the jury. this is how you flip. Then Nestor goes after what Carrington did not analyze. So, okay, this is interesting. This is the way the defense is going to take it. She asks if Carrington calculated how long Corey held properties before selling them. And Carrington says that she didn't calculate. You know, Nestor, what is she doing? subtly suggesting that maybe her analysis isn't complete. She also asks about the hard money lenders, were they all repaid before Eric? Eric's death. And Carrington does say that in one early project, Corey was $28,000 in the hole. So

flipping isn't a guaranteed cash machine. You know, those that flip know that too. You know, there's always a risk. It's exciting, right? How much money you're going to make? But it's never a guaranteed cash machine. Next, Nestor brings up the $300,000 in bounce checks. Well, that sounds kind of scary. Carrington explained the banks don't just look at one account, you know, in isolation. They considered the whole relationship. There were accounts tied to Eric and see any masonry and the Richens family and other businesses with the bank. It's the bigger picture, right? So the bank often honors that relationship instead of just shutting everything down despite any bounce checks. And then Nestor pointed out that she didn't see any of Eric's accounts during Carrington's testimony.

Oh, why not? What's Eric hiding is what she's implying? What are you hiding from us? And Carrington said the family account, though, was consistent and always had a balance. Eric's paycheck went in there, and distributions from his work came in. And she also noted that Corey put a lot of money in, but not more than Eric. So Carrington wasn't just ignoring Eric's finances. Mr. asked more about Eric's personal accounts. And Carrington said it had about $10,000 to $20,000 in it, and she still doesn't recall it bouncing or ever going negative. She also, she looked at C&E Masonry account. and confirmed that Corey didn't have access. Nestor tried to push into the business account,

but the prosecution objects, so they go to a sidebar. And once back, Carrington said the C&D account balance routinely stayed in the six figures. And then Nestor brought up the Barney house and the $45,000 down payment that Chelsea Barney sent to Corey K. Richon's realty. They already bought the home and was trying to refinance for better terms,

and Nestor and Carrington disagreed about the timeline a bit. Chelsea Barney gave the money in January 2022. Eric died in March, 2022, and Corey wasn't arrested until May, 2023. So when she borrowed $95,000 using the Barney House as collateral. So let's listen to this section about how the defense tries to sort of reframe this and have this disagreement about the Barney House. Talk a little bit about,

the Barney House, Chelsea Barney's house. You guys spent a couple hours on that or about an hour and a half on that today and direct. And as I understand your testimony, Ms. Barney was going to provide $45,000, or did provide $45,000, which you traced all through Ms. Richens' accounts to Ms. Richens to be used at a closing in the future, correct? be used at a closing that day. They never had the closing. Well, they didn't.

Right. My understanding of that whole texturing is that there was this closing that was going to happen imminently. And this was the $45,000 down payment that Chelsea throws paying toward the house to then be in her name. Right. And the $45,000, well, strike that. Let me back it up just a little bit, so it's not confusing. Corey Richon's Realty had already purchased the Chelsea Barney home prior to all this, correct? That's right.

And you went through all the efforts she was making to try, let me ask it this way. When it's first purchased, the idea was probably to flip it, right? Like she does all her business. No. She was going to keep it. She was going to keep this one. Okay, but she had hard money lenders the same way she did on her other flip properties. Well, she's got those two different kinds.

You know, she's got the hard money where she's got a six-month balloon and she doesn't have to pay anything between. And then she's got the other ones where she has a due date, a maturity date, and she has to make those monthly payments. This was one of those. And so her original loan was due January 8th of 2022. And that's about the time that this transaction. with Chelsea's going on. Okay.

And as you explained in your direct, she was trying to shop around for a long-term mortgage to get better terms of the mortgage, right? Right, with David Ege and Excel. She was trying to refinance a few things. Right. And while she's looking for a new mortgage package, Chelsea sends her this $45,000, right?

No. I think the, I could be wrong about this. She had been dealing with David E. A.J. Since August and September of 2021, it was right about this time that it just everything just fell apart because he needed wet signatures from Doreen, and he never got those.

Okay, so everything fell apart. Try to focus on my question if you can. Okay. while Corey's looking for a new mortgage lender, a new mortgage package, during the time that she's shopping for people and you kept putting up all the ways she's trying to get new lending, that's when Chelsea provided to Corey the $45,000. I don't know. I don't know what she's thinking. I don't know what she's doing. What I can say in response to your question is that she, I'm aware that she had been dealing with David E. Gaye on. a number of properties over a number of months. I don't know who else she might have been shopping, you know, looking for a new loan. I know that she had a deadline and she had extended that loan. Okay, I thought you said she was shopping with Excel? She was. Okay, so that's one person she's

shopping for, right? You brought that up. I'm not trying to argue with you. Okay. I'm trying to understand and answer your question. You said she's shopping to all these lending. I don't know that. I know that she was consulting with David Ege and had applied for a loan to refinance a number of properties through him. And there were three different phases with him trying to get that funding. Doreen was brought in trying to get that funding. And it did not come to pass. Exactly. So the $45,000 was not put in a trust account at a closing firm, right? It was given just to Corey. That is true. And wait, please wait and let me just ask my questions. My apologies. So the $45,000 is given to Corey, not in trust, not to be held, was given to Corey. Correct? That's right. Okay. As long as Corey Richens shows up at the closing, whenever it's set with $45,000, she's complied with her agreement with Chelsea, correct? I suppose that would be true. So if Corey knows, knows that she's got money coming prior to that closing that will more than cover the 45,000

and she uses the money quickly to pay some quick debt, she still hasn't violated her agreement with Chelsea if she shows up at the closing with $45,000, correct? I believe some of that draws requires a legal conclusion. I'm not a lawyer and I and that's for the jury to decide. If in that scenario that you've described, that would be her kind of floating, floating that money. Right. Just saying, I know eventually I have to come up $45,000. Right.

So in your scenario, okay. Okay. And then what happened before they got to the closing? Do you happen to know? I'm sorry, that's a big ambiguous question. No, I don't. I don't know what you're after. Do you know whether Corey was arrested before they were able to do the,

closing. Corey was arrested 14 months later. Are you talking about the closing on Chelsea Barney's house? I think what you're asking me is, so Chelsea Barney gave her the money in January of 2022.

Eric died in March of 2022. Corey was arrested in May of 2023 coming out of the title company in which she borrowed $95,000 using that home as collateral. Okay.

Along with the Roy house that Corey also owned. And then she used that $95,000 for debt payments of her own. Okay. So is that the closing you're talking about? Yes. Okay. I seem to be that all of you agree with me. I don't think the defense was looking great here.

A couple of things. Yeah, a lot of you thought the defense team was really rude there. Ms. Carrington dealt knowledge, not snark. I agree. She kept her cool there. and she looked really good, sort of that moment, right, oh, spicy. When she said, try to focus on my questions. And she was sincerely, I think, trying to answer.

And someone said, can't pull one over Brooke. And in listening to this, right, she was financially reckless on day one, just like day 39. All right. So next, Nestor shifted to the HELOC loans. She referenced a graph and pointed out that there's no evidence Eric ever made a payment. And Nestor also emphasized that Eric could have looked at the statement and paid at any time. Then taxes come up. Nestor said, Corey, way overreported her taxes and paid too much. Carrington clarified that whether she actually paid as a separate question, but the numbers were high.

She doesn't know if Corey's 2019 taxes were ever filed. Amanda Gregg White prepared the taxes. And Nestor asked if Carrington knew that he's a family member of Cody Wright, Cody Wright, Eric Richon's business partner. She said that she didn't know that. Nestor also asked how Corey got CNE bank statements. And Carrington explained that she spoke with Cody and he said the family computer at the house was a C&E laptop. That's likely how Corey got access. Mr. Then asked if an average person looks at their taxes to consider themselves financially successful. And Carrington says most people look at day-to-day life. They can fill the car with gas, buy groceries, pay bills without

struggling. Next, Nestor circled back to the Midway Mansion and asked if Corey originally planned to do big renovations. Carrington says it seems she didn't. She asked if the mansion was worth $2.9 million. Carrington says that Matt Strong, Matt Strong foreclosed on it four days after Corey was arrested. She noted that Corey had defaulted months earlier and the foreclosure was expected. About 18 months after Corey bought it, the current owners that bought it now, they bought it for $3.4 million, but they owned the note themselves. So they were buying from themselves, in other words. Nestor clarified that Carrington's role was to look at the past, not predict the future. And she completely agreed. I actually think she did that. She kept saying, I can't speculate. I don't know.

She also tried to suggest that financial hardship doesn't automatically lead someone to murder. And Bloodworth objected for speculation and the judge sustained. Finally, Nestor asked if Carrington is aware that Eric ingested fentanyl. Carrington said she doesn't know anything about Eric's death, but she did mention an email between Corey and Matt Strong talking about the inconvenience of being married. That was like some real shade with that answer when she did that. She's like, you know, I don't know what happened with Eric's death, but I do know that simply there's an email between Corey and Matt and talking about the inconvenience of being married. And then after that, Bloodworth got ready for follow-up questions. He circled back and asked whether

Corey ever got financial help from C&E or from Eric personally to keep her business afloat. and Carrington said that there was one instance tied to a specific property, but beyond that, no. So overall, there wasn't this steady stream of backup money coming in from Eric. Then they went over the Midway Mansion again. Bloodworth asked when it officially went into foreclosure, and Carrington said May 2023. She explained that from the time the house was purchased on March 5th, 2022, again, a day after Eric Richens died, that $3.2 million debt didn't just sit there. It came due on September 4th, 2022. When it wasn't paid, a 2% default fee hit right away, roughly $50,000. And then after that, another 2% was added

every single month, plus interest continuing to build. By the time the property foreclosed, the balance had climbed to $3.8 million and was still increasing. Honestly, Hearing those numbers laid out like that really, it makes me panic hearing it. And then it really drives home how fast this situation spiraled. It was not just debt. It was compounding debt and very fast every month. And then Nestor came for another follow-up. Okay, so the defense.

I see what you got this time. So she asked about the Fox Lake investment. And Carrington said that Corey wasn't involved. She wasn't listed on the paperwork and wasn't a signer on the bank account. Nestor also brought up cash on hand. Carrington said that she's aware that there was reportedly a large amount of cash in a safe in the Richens Garage and $10,000 in a backpack. But that was not included in her analysis. She also confirmed that all of Eric's life insurance policies were term life policies.

And with that, Carrington's testimony came to an end. it did come to an end and that's where court wrapped up for the day. I was not sure we'd even get through everything with Carrington, but Brooke Carrington took the stand. She delivered. She brought the motive, didn't she? Even I understand the motive better after sort of breaking that down today. I get it.

It's like, it's not just money. It's not just I want his life insurance money because I'm greedy. It's not just I'm in a little bit of debt and I don't want to tell my husband. It's I have plans and I again, you're landing on, you know, boardwalk and park place when all you have left is one railroad, if that or a utility. And you owe so much. And while you owe so much and while you're like, oh, I got this, don't worry, you have so much confidence that you're going to go try to also buy a bunch of other properties with somebody

else's money at the same time and thinking somehow this is all going to work out. So why does she think it's all going to work out? That's the question. That's the question I think the jury has to decide. Why is she so confident in buying this mansion? You know, when she just landed on boardwalk and park place and is completely broke, maybe she had plans, right? Maybe that's her motive. Maybe that is why Eric Richens lost his life four years ago today, right? So a lot of questions, a lot of questions. I want to read a couple of things that I've pinned to look at. And then I also want to remind all of you, please hit subscribe if you're appreciating what we're doing here and hit notifications. It means so much. Thank you for the memberships. Your generosity is so kind. And if you can't afford to gift

memberships, just know that just subscribing hitting notifications so you don't miss this and supporting hidden true crime is a huge boost. And for those that can't afford memberships, thank you to those that do give them so that everybody can be a member. So I do want to go back to this because it made me giggle. And I did, it was funny when I was like, she has 147 employees. I just have three. And then I threw out not my employees. My husband is not my employee. So I've asked, John is a great hire. Can't wait to hear. his thoughts. How did you land him? Yes, that would be my business partner. My point is, I guess I think about the people to take care of, right? Like in my life, I guess that's where

my brain goes, like how you take care of people emotionally. And, you know, there aren't that many people in my life that are that close that I have to make sure everyone's okay. And so you're right. And John, John takes care of me. So you're right. I did want to point that out. He is not an employee. And he also didn't make me sign a pre-ups. So, yeah, there you go. All right, but I would have if I needed to because that's how much I love them. Not all pre-ups or bad pre-ups, right? All right. So a few other things I want to say, oh, okay, so the book, Cory Richon's book, the grief book, there have been so many questions and comments about this book, including from me. A lot of people saying it was a fiber

book. I think that's what I say. Like maybe she purchased or hired someone. off of Fiver to write her book. Someone else says it's AI. You know, I've talked about how I really dislike the book because I don't really think it tackles grief. And I want to point people out to a great video. And I don't know if we can pin this in chat, everyone, but if you want a really fascinating deep dive on Corey Richens' children's book on grief, I really recommend a smaller

channel. It's called Wordwise. The host's name is Kit. Kit is incredible. Her mind is incredible. There's nothing else like her out there. So go subscribe even. Go support Kit. Because what she is doing is something nobody else is doing. She takes books written by criminals or connected to cases some way. Not all the books were written by criminals, but they relate in some way. And she analyzes them. She's a literary genius. She's an author. she knows what she's talking about and she went through Corey Richon's grief book in detail that nobody else, I've seen nobody else do and picks out things that are just fascinating,

including the fact that there is one illustration, one illustration that now looks like it was the day that Eric Richens died. We saw body camp footage. We heard testimony from Katie Richens about that night. And what we've learned about that night, she's right. This illustration looks just like that night. Kit also has some theories that Corey did write this book. She's heard everybody say that she doesn't think that it was necessarily written by Corey. She disagrees. She thinks that Corey wrote this book. Corey claims in the interview

with Good Things Utah, my old station, that she, she requested her illustrator to paint certain pictures and she goes over it. And I just have to pitch this video because, again, there's nothing else like it on YouTube. I recommend it to everyone. Go watch that tonight if you want a little bit more because it's fascinating. And I would like to take a deeper look at Corey Richon's grief book to understand it. And Kit claims she thinks Corey did write it. She has some interesting thing to say. I hope to have Kit on the channel one day here to talk about it. She brings such an array of knowledge. Her mind, like, I love it. So anyway, we'll have a link to that in pinned comments as well as our live stream, as well as all of our coverage. If you want to

catch up with our coverage and join us on our recaps and you're just getting started, never fear. We have an entire recap. I dare say it's the best of this entire, like a full backstory crash course on this entire case. And I dare say it is the best one out there. I'm going to brag. It's really good. It's really third. out. So I recommend you watch it. And we also have every day of trial. You can catch up on that. Or if you just listen, you can follow along with us every live. And then if you're free, if you're working, whatever, put your earphones in. Come join us on our live stream. We're over there chatting every day here at Hidden True Crime. So this will redirect to that live stream. And yeah,

those are a few things I want to do here, though, is an explorer during this case. This weekend, I want you guys to know if you missed any of our weekend cover. We had Kathy from Gossip Rumor and Innuendo. It sort of just helps sort of like do trial, just kind of like talk and debrief. And then we had an interesting interview with my friend Tom Evans. He was a juror on a high profile case and about what it feels like, what is feeling like for those jurors right now and what they see when they look out in the gallery and how they might have felt when they saw somebody in the gallery sketching them.

So he kind of gives a really fascinating insight into what that's like being called to a high profile case. All right. So there you go. Those are my thoughts tonight. We'll see you all tomorrow for our live stream. And there's some other wonderful things we're looking forward to that we'll be able to share really soon.

And I'll let John know he's off work. Just go back to that joke. No, John is not my employee. But I'll let him know he can go home or. early today. Just kidding. Bad joke. Actually, we're going to go on a date tonight. So I am going to take off because we're going to go grab something to eat. And I miss them. These trial, these trial days are long. They're hard. And so yes, we're going to go out and grab something to eat. And a big thank you to our moderators. They're doing an incredible job. Our correct counters. Trilmaker Baker

is helping to run the live stream. And then, of course, our amazing producer, Grayson. So thank you, Thank you. And Lily, you too. She is not moved off the floor this entire time. All right. We'll see you guys. Bye. At my bank, I was literally getting pennies using wealth fronts. Chuching, there's this much that I'm getting an interest and I didn't have to do anything. Clients like Angela earn up to 4.2% APY on their cash with the wealthfront cash account. Get started at wealthfront.com. Client was paid $1,000 for their testimonial, creating a conflict of interest. Outcomes vary. 3.3%. Base API as of January 30th, 2026 is representative variable and earned on funds swept to program banks.

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