Hidden True Crime - Kouri Richins Hit with Avalanche of New Charges—From Murderer to Full Blown Fraud Queen

Episode Date: June 29, 2025

Kouri Richins: alleged husband killer, children’s book author, and now—fraud queen? The woman at the center of one of the most twisted true crime cases in years just racked up 26 new felony charge...s. In this episode, we break down the shocking new charges, what they reveal about Kouri’s double life, and what it means for her upcoming trial. Kouri Richins Full Story: Apple Spotify 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 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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Starting point is 00:02:24 Since her arrest in 2023, the case of Corey Richens, has been nothing short of jaw-dropping. And if you've been following it, you know why. Her trial is finally set for February of 2026, but things just took a major turn. Now, originally, Corey was facing nine serious charges, aggravated murder, attempted homicide, mortgage fraud, forgery, a false insurance claim, you name it. Prosecutors say she poisoned her husband, Eric Richens, with a lethal dose of fentanyl on March 4th, 2022. He was just a judge. 39 years old. The alleged motive, money, classic. And in a move that left pretty much everyone stunned, Corey went on to write a children's book about grief, yes, grief for their three sons, and then went
Starting point is 00:03:13 on tour promoting her book on local television. Well, just yesterday, on June 27th, 2025, the plot thickens yet again, and the case got even wilder. Corey received a jaw-dropping 26 new charges, 26 new charges. We are talking five counts of felony mortgage fraud, seven counts of felony, money laundering, and a whole lot more. All of these, the state believes, tie to Eric's murder. And now her defense team is raising eyebrows about the timing of these new charges. And honestly, that's a fair question. But we have read the entire new 19-page charging documents, and it actually gives us some pretty revealing context, not just about these financials, crimes, but about the murder itself. And if you are new to this case, do not worry, you're in the right
Starting point is 00:04:04 place. I will link our full deep dive in the description of this episode. But today, we are breaking down everything in this new filing and looking at how it could reshape the trial ahead. So let's get into it. After these new charges dropped, Corey's defense attorneys, Kathy Nestor and Wendy Lewis issued a statement, quote, this sudden push to file new fraud charges over two years later underscores the weakness of the state's pending murder charges since these fraud charges would not even come into play unless they fail to secure a conviction. The timing is also extremely troubling in light of the fact that the parties are trying to seat an impartial jury in Summit County, end quote. Well, it's ironic that they say the timing of these charges is quote unquote troubling,
Starting point is 00:04:52 given what their client is accused of. The timing of many of Corey's actions are what make Eric's death even more suspicious, but we will circle back to this statement from her defense attorneys in just a bit. Hold tight. The 19-page document begins by going over the new charges and then describes how these charges fit into the narrative of what the state believes took place back in 2022. First, we'll read what each charge says, and I will explain what it all means. The first are five new charges of second-degree felony mortgage fraud. These allegedly occurred on June 29th, August 2nd, August 12th, October 13th, and November 23rd of 2021. The charges state that in Summit County, Utah, Corey, quote, did with the intent to defraud
Starting point is 00:05:40 knowingly make any material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission during the mortgage lending process, intending that it be relied upon by a mortgage lender, borrower, or any other party to the mortgage lending process. The value of the property, money, or thing obtained, or sought to be obtained is or exceeds $5,000, end quote. So, in simple terms, Corey intentionally provided false information or failed to disclose important details during the mortgage lending process, expecting that mortgage lenders, borrowers, or others involved would rely on her statements. The value of the property, money, or assets involved is $5,000 or more.
Starting point is 00:06:23 So next are the five charges of forgery occurring on June 20,000. August 2nd, August 12th, October 13th, and November 23rd of 2021. So the state claims that Corey, quote, did with the purpose to defraud someone, make complete, execute, authenticate, or utter a writing so that the writing or the making completion, execution, authentication, or utterance purports to be the act of another person, whether that person is existent or non-existent, end quote. So what does this mean? This means that with the intent to deceive, Corey created, completed, signed, or presented documents that falsely claimed to be the work of another person regardless of whether that person is existent or non-existent, meaning real, fake, dead, alive, just another person.
Starting point is 00:07:14 There are seven second- and third-degree felony charges of issuing a bad check from August 28th, October 12th, November 11th, November 12th, December 20th, and December 22nd of 2021. The state claims that Corey, quote, did issue or pass a check for the payment of money for the purpose of obtaining from any person, firm partnership, or corporation, any money, property, or other thing of value, or paying for any services, wages, salaries, labor, or rent. The defendant knew the check would not be paid by the drawy. Payment was refused by the drawy, end quote. So this means that Corey issued these checks knowing that she did not have the funds in her bank. bank. There were four checks exceeding $1,500, but less than $5,000, and three checks exceeding $5,000, and they were all refused by the bank. I mean, talk about red flags. Next are seven second-degree felony charges of money laundering from August 27th to the 28th, October 12th through
Starting point is 00:08:17 14th, November 10th through 16th, and December 23rd through 24th of 2021. So the state claims that Corey, quote, did conduct a transaction knowing that the property involved in the transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity with the intent to promote the unlawful activity, end quote. So, in other words, Corey engaged in transactions and was aware that the property involved came from illegal activity and had the intention to support that illegal activity. The next charge is for second-degree felony communications fraud, and that says that on January 11th, 2022, Corey, quote, did devise a scheme or artifice to defraud another or to obtain from another money
Starting point is 00:09:04 by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, or material, omissions, and communicated directly or indirectly with any persons by any means for the purpose of executing or concealing the scheme or artifice, end quote. This means that Corey created a plan to deceive someone and gain money through false statements or promises while hiding important information, information that they needed. And she communicated with others in various ways to carry out or cover up this scheme. The value of what she obtained or aimed to obtain is $5,000 or more. And the last charge is for a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony. The state claims that on June 29th and March 3rd through
Starting point is 00:09:53 the fourth, 2022, Corey, quote, did commit prohibited conduct concerning a pattern of unlawful activity by receiving proceeds derived, whether directly or indirectly, from a pattern of unlawful activity in which the defendant has participated as a principle, end quote, meaning, Corey engaged in prohibited behavior by accepting funds that were obtained through illegal activities. And these activities involved a consistent pattern of unlawful actions in which Corey played a key role as a main participant. The state also provided a lengthy probable cause statement to support the 26 new charges as well as explain how they fit into the story of what took place leading up to and after Eric's death. Much of the statements include information covered in our deep dive. Again, that is
Starting point is 00:10:43 linked in the description of this episode. But we will briefly go over what it says here. And then we will get into the new details. Corey and Eric, they met in 2009 while Corey was working as a cashier at Home Depot. Eric and his friend Cody, they owned a successful stone masonry business called C&E Masonry LLC, and Eric, well, he made frequent trips to Home Depot for supplies. And after falling in love, Corey and Eric welcomed their first child together a son in 2012 and then married in 2013. Before the ceremony, the couple entered into a premarital agreement or PMA, and in that PMA, Corey agreed to relinquish all rights, claims, or interest to Eric's half of the C&E stone masonry business. This meant that it would remain his sole property, and Corey would have no right
Starting point is 00:11:35 or claim to the business unless Eric died before Corey. And while the two were still lawfully married, if they were lawfully married, then she would have no claim unless, again, Eric died before Corey. So, Eric passes away. Corey would receive half of the business. And in early 2019, Corey used a power of attorney to obtain a $250,000 home equity line of credit or an H-E-L-O-C on Eric's premarital home without his knowledge. And on April 26, 2019, Corey, 4,000. formed K. Richen Realty LLC and used the money from the H.E.L.O.C. to initially fund her new business. And after that, she used hard money loans to finance the ongoing business operations.
Starting point is 00:12:26 Eric did not learn about the H.E.L.O.C. on his home until October of 2020. And this caused a serious source of tension in the marriage, obviously, since Corey had been keeping this a secret. Huge tension in the marriage. Clearly, I think we can all understand. And Corey reportedly promised Eric that she would repay the loan and eventually led Eric to believe that she had in fact repaid it. However, in reality, the H-E-L-O-C was not paid off until the day of Eric's death. At my bank, I was literally getting pennies using wealthfronts. Meet Angela, a wealthfront cash account client since 2023. I lost my job, not having something else lined up yet.
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Starting point is 00:14:41 0.3%, base API as of January 30th, 2026 is representative variable and earned on funds swept to program banks. 0.65% new client boosts for three months on up to $150,000. Direct deposit $1,000 a month and fund an investing account for a 0.25% increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC member FINRA SIPC, not a bank. These in eligibility requirements may apply to certain checking features of the cash account. And on October 13th, 2020, Eric met with a lawyer. He told the lawyer that he wanted protection from ongoing abuse of his finances by Corey. He also wanted to make sure their three sons were protected long term by ensuring that Corey would never be able to manage his property if he were to pass away.
Starting point is 00:15:20 He's checking his boxes. On November 3, 2020, Eric executed several estate planning instruments including a health care derivative, durable power of attorney, poor overwill, and a living trust. He put his sister, Katie Benson, in charge of all of these, intentionally excluding Corey. He transferred his home and interest in the C&E business to the trust, and he removed Corey as the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy. And like a classic story, Corey was unaware of any of these changes until after Eric's death. In the five months before Eric's death, Kay Richens Realty made $170,000 in revenue, but its monthly debt payments were more than $250,000.
Starting point is 00:16:07 And so to cover the debt, the company borrowed money from over 25 lenders. Even though Kay Richen's realty was already in debt and not making enough money, Corey took out hard money loans to buy three more properties in November of 2021. A hard money loan is a short-term asset-based loan typically secured by real estate where the lender focuses on the property's value rather than the borrower's creditworthiness. And these loans are often used by real estate investors for quick access to capital and have a high higher interest rate than traditional loans due to the risks. And these three properties, well, they added $1.1 million to Corey's already overwhelming debt. By November 30th, she had already
Starting point is 00:16:51 missed a payment on one loan and was behind on several others. She kept trying to borrow from new lenders with high interest rates to pay her existing debts. And by the end of 2021, Corey was on the brink of a complete financial failure. On December 23rd, 2021, so two days before, Christmas. Corey signed a contract to purchase an unfinished mansion in Midway, Utah, using nearly $3 million in high interest loans, which would be due in six months. She did this knowing that she didn't have the money to pay off any additional debt or even begin renovating this property. I visited this property, by the way. It is, it is massive, a massive undertaking. And regardless, she was scheduled to close on the mansion on November 4th, 2022, which was all.
Starting point is 00:17:37 Also, get this, the day that Eric passed away. Corey ultimately closed on this mansion the next day, raising her debt from $1.8 million to nearly $5 million. Corey, her family, her business, and Eric's C&E business all banked with America First Credit Union. Corey also had a checking account with Navy Federal Credit Union, which included a $15,000 line of credit. On July 7th, 2021, K. Richens Realty Security Mortgage Loan from Iron Bridge Financial. So to support the loan application, Corey submitted a fabricated or fake America First Bank Statement from May 31st, 2021, which showed an account balance of nearly $211,000. However, her actual bank statement from the same day had a balance of $15,610.
Starting point is 00:18:30 So interestingly, C&E's America First Statement from that day had a balance of $211,000. The transaction details on the false statement submitted by Corey match those on C&E statement. Essentially, the purported statement combined the header of K. Richens Realty's genuine statement with the body of C&E statement. And while processing the mortgage loan, an Iron Bridge representative wrote to Corey, quote, When I ran your credit, it was lower than I expected. Looks like there are some delinquencies with regards to a few credit cards. I was just a bit surprised by that.
Starting point is 00:19:03 I know you have a lot of money in the bank to cover expenses, end quote. Corey responded, quote. I recently learned about all of this as well, L-O-L, and then my husband tried to explain to me this was his doing a while ago. We are in the process of separation for one of many reasons, but this is one of them to keep it short and sweet, L-O-L. It's been crazy to say the least, end quote. There is no evidence to suggest that this statement from Corey was true. And on August 4th, 2021, Corey secured another mortgage loan from Boomerang Finance. To support the loan application, Corey submitted yet another fabricated America First Bank
Starting point is 00:19:44 Statement date of June 30th, 2021, which showed an account balance of nearly $703,000. In reality, her actual statement for that date showed a much lower balance of $15,000. However, C&E's America First statement from that date did have a balance of $703,000, meaning the transaction details on the false statement were identical to those found on C&E statement. Corey pulled the same ruse between August and October of 2021 while applying for another loan from Excel financial services. So when a representative asked for her to explain her low credit rating, this time, Corey said, quote, a lady out of Seattle got a hold of my social security number, end quote. Again,
Starting point is 00:20:29 there is no evidence that this statement was true. On August 28, 2021, Corey wrote a check from her Navy federal account to Kay Richens Realty for the amount of $2,100. At that time, the balance in her Navy federal account was $0, and the line of credit showed a negative balance of $13,694. She then deposited this check into her Kay Richens Realty's America, first account, which had a balance of $9,139. And after the deposit, she transferred $2,500 from her America First account to her mother and $13,775 to various creditors before America First could withdraw the $2,100. So consequently, America First, they returned the check due to insufficient funds. Corey, though, did the same thing with other checks several more times in October.
Starting point is 00:21:24 November and December of 2021. In late 2021, Kay Richens Realty owned a property in Heber City, Utah, which was paid for by four short-term high-interest, hard money loans, totaling $456,500. Three of these loans were set to mature in January of 2022, starting in October of 2021, Corey attempted, without success, to refinance the property into a conventional 30-year mortgage. Her intent was to then enter into a seller financing arrangement with her best friend. And the best friend, along with her husband and their three young children, moved into the home. Corey and her friend signed a residential lease agreement with the option to purchase under which the friend agreed to pay $2,900 per month in rent with the option to buy the property for $490,000. On January 11, 2022, the friend initiated two wire transfers totaling $4,000. $35,000 to the K Richens Realty Bank account.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Corey had agreed to apply this money toward a down payment on a long-term mortgage that was scheduled to close on January 18th, 2022, right before the Friends wire transfers were deposited into the K. Richens Realty account, the balance in that account was around $2,000 or less. And after the first wire came in, Corey moved the $19,299 from the Friends down payment into her personal America First Bank account. She used that money to send a wire transfer for the same amount to a company called FundFi. The payment was for a high interest loan. Coria had taken out and had nothing to do with the property for her friend. And by January 19, 2020, Corrie had spent the rest of her best friend's $45,000 down payment on other expenses that were also unrelated to the property.
Starting point is 00:23:15 That same day, the balance in the Kay Richens Realty's bank account had dropped to $227. The planned refinance of the property for her friend did not happen that month, and on January 26, Corey had to sign an extension agreement with the largest of the four hard money lenders. In mid-February, the lender offering the 30-year mortgage canceled the original loan offer and instead proposed terms that were less affordable. As a result, Corey had to sign another extension agreement with the same hard money lender on February 16th. And at that time, the remaining loan balance was $34715.
Starting point is 00:23:56 The new agreement extended the due date to March 8th, 2022, just four days after Eric Richens passed away. And in the end, one of Corey's lenders foreclosed on the home and evicted the best friend and her family. And on January 29, 2022, Corey applied for a life insurance policy on Eric through a company called True Stage. no red flags here, the policy was for $100,000 and listed Corey as the beneficiary. It became active on February 4, 22, 10 days before Corey allegedly attempted to take Eric's life and about one month before he had actually died. Yes, there was an attempt before his death. This attempt was when Corey gave Eric a sandwich for Valentine's Day with a sweet little romantic note. And after eating the said sandwich, Eric told a friend that he broke out.
Starting point is 00:24:47 into hives and had to use his son's epipan. And after that, Eric fell asleep and thought that Corey had tried to poison him. I mean, if that's not a red flag in a marriage, you think your wife is trying to poison you on Valentine's Day. And the monthly payments for the life insurance policy were taken from the Kay Richens Realty account at America First, which Eric had no connection to. The application gave a mailing address for Eric that was actually a PO box used only by that's it that Corey. The phone number listed for him also had a wrong digit. I don't think that was a typo. The signature on the application, which was supposed to be Eric's, turned out to be fake. You see a pattern? Now, Corey periodically hired a man named Hayden Jeffs to help with renovating
Starting point is 00:25:37 houses. And on January 20th, 2022, she texted him saying, quote, I did want to chat with you about something super random. Not now. I kid stuff. I'll call you tomorrow if that works, end quote. And on January 22nd at 11.06 a.m., she texted, quote, got a sec? According to what Jeff's told law enforcement, Corey asked him for fentanyl. Yeah, fentanyl, claiming it was for a client with back pain. Jeffs said that he refused and that Corey hung up on him. Later that same day, Corey texted Jeffs again saying, quote, have another one for you. Call me if you get a second, end quote. told law enforcement that this time Corey asked for Propofal.
Starting point is 00:26:17 And he again said no. The messages between Corey and Jeffs were later manually deleted from her phone. And after that day, they never spoke again, even though they had communicated regularly over the previous year. And on May 31st, 2022, about three weeks
Starting point is 00:26:33 after Corey was arrested for Eric's murder, Corey's mother texted Corey saying, quote, Hayden is running his mouth, and quote, referring to Hayden Jeff's, the handyman, and their texts that they had exchanged. Unfortunately, Jeffs won't be able to be called as a witness during trial. He was actually tragically killed in November of 2024 in a motorcycle accident,
Starting point is 00:26:58 and so prosecutors may have to rely on his previous statements to law enforcement and their phone records. And as most of us know, Corey occasionally hired a woman named Carmen Lauer to clean houses as well. And according to Carmen in early 20, 2022, Corey contacted her to ask for help getting fentanyl. A forensic review of Corey's phone showed, get this, 746 text messages and 12 calls between her and Carmen from January 1st to March 15, 2022. And all of these were manually deleted from Corey's phone. Carmen told law enforcement that she reached out to another woman named Nicole Cummins to help.
Starting point is 00:27:43 her find someone with fentanyl. Nicole later confirmed that Carmen contacted her for this reason. So two witnesses corroborating that this actually happened. And on February 5th, 2022, Nicole gave Carmen the number of a fentanyl dealer in Robert. Carmen had met Robert at a Maverick gas station in the city of Draper on February 11th, 2022, and purchased 15 to 30 round light green blue pills, which she understood to be fentanyl. And during the same time, Carmen and Corey were texting back and forth. Carmen then told law enforcement that she gave Corey the pills on either February 11th or 12th. And on February 14th, again, that's Valentine's Day.
Starting point is 00:28:26 Corey placed a phone order at a Camas, Utah diner at 8.53 a.m. And at 9.41 a.m., Corey texted her lover and other handyman. This is another handyman, Robert Grossman, quote, headed that way, end quote. And at 9.49 a.m. she messaged him a screenshot of a map on her phone, showing her current location in Camus and her projected arrival at an unknown destination at 1049 a.
Starting point is 00:28:54 m. Well, at 11.09 a.m., Eric made a two-minute call to Corey. And at 1127 a.m., he sent her a photo. That photo has been deleted from both Corey and Eric's phones. At 11.33 a.m., Eric texted Corey, quote, I'm going to go lay down for a bit. If I don't start getting better, I'm going to head to the hospital, end quote. Remember that Valentine's Day when he felt that Corey had poisoned him? Well, one minute later, Corey responded, quote, geez, it's that bad.
Starting point is 00:29:26 Need me to come home? Go take a nap and call me when you're up, end quote. Activity did not resume on Eric's phone until nearly two hours later. at 1.32 p.m. At 1.43 p.m., Eric texted Corey, quote, Are you home? Corey responded, quote, no, I'm in Provo, waiting for my cabinet installer guy. Are you home? End quote.
Starting point is 00:29:51 Well, two minutes later, then Eric responded, quote, in the office, I've been sleeping out here, end quote. At 159, Eric called his friend and business partner Cody Wright. And Cody, he says he could hear fear in Eric's voice and could tell that he was scared. And at 2.11 p.m., Eric called another friend named Josh, who was struck by the tone of Eric's voice. Josh said that Eric seemed different, down and somber. Before I switched to Wellfront, my APY was probably 0.1. Once I switched, chitching.
Starting point is 00:30:21 With a Wealthfront cash account, earn up to 4.2% APY on your cash. I can trust. Wellfront is taking care of me. Make your money earn more. Get started at Wealthfront.com. Clients were paid $1,000 for their testimonials, creating a conflict of interest. How comes very? 3.3%. As of January 30th, 2026 is representative variable and earn.
Starting point is 00:30:36 on funds swept to program banks. 0.65% new client boost for three months on up to $150,000. Direct deposit $1,000 a month and fund an investing account for a 0.25% increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, member FINRA SIPC, not a bank. The document states that fentanyl can cause allergic and pseudo allergic reactions, including hives. Eric Richens did not have any food allergies and told friends he used an epipen for hives that day and felt sick. Corey and Carmen also exchanged 30 text messages that very day. And three and a half months after Eric's death, Corey texted her best friend about this whole
Starting point is 00:31:10 incident. She wrote, quote, it was Valentine's Day. And Eric and I were both working from home that day and I ordered lunch from the diner. He never broke out on hives or used an epipan. I was fucking with him. He said the sandwich hurt his stomach. So he was going to take a nap. No hives, no epipan, end quote. But as we know, Corey was not with him that day after he ate the sandwich. She was texting and going to see her lover, aka cabinet installer, aka Handyman. And on August 22nd, 2023, nearly four months after Corey was arrested for Eric's murder, Corey told her mom and brother that she purchased sandwiches from the diner that day. Well, after this Valentine's Day incident, Carmen told law enforcement that in late February
Starting point is 00:32:01 of 2022, Corey asked her for stronger fentanyl and referred to a, it as that quote unquote Michael Jackson stuff. And what did Carmen do? Well, Carmen obtained more from the dealer, Robert, and gave it to Corey on February 26. At 3.21 a.m. on March 4th, 22, Corey called 9-1 and one reported that Eric was cold, not breathing, and didn't have a pulse. 10 minutes later, EMS and sheriff's deputies arrived at the Richens home. They found Eric on the floor, at the foot of his bed, and performed life-saving measures. But he was ultimately declared dead at 4.58 a.m. One EMS personnel that night thought that Eric appeared to have been dead for a while. And Corey told law enforcement that she and Eric had a dream together at 9 p.m. to
Starting point is 00:32:50 celebrate something for her work. However, it's been previously reported that Eric was actually not happy about Corey buying that mansion in Midway, that Midway Mansion, didn't want her to do it and wouldn't have been celebrating. A year later, Corey told law enforcement that she made Moscow mules in the kitchen and brought them into their room for them to drink on the bed. But Corey, while she also wrote in a journal, that she and Eric both went to the kitchen and started grabbing ingredients for the Moscow mule and a lemon drop. She said that after their drink, they went back to their bedroom together and brushed their teeth.
Starting point is 00:33:27 Well, a pathologist and the medical examiner's office performed an autopsy in Eric and concluded that his immediate cause of death was drug intoxication from illicit. fentanyl, which had been orally ingested. His blood had approximately five times a lethal dose, and his gastric fluid contained additional fentanyl. Eric also had quatyope, also known as Syracille, in his gastric fluid, which is an antipsychotic medication used for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. It is also used as a sleep aid due to its sedating effects. And at the time of Eric's death, well, it wasn't Eric that had a prescription for this. Corey had a prescription for quatiope.
Starting point is 00:34:08 And Corey also told law enforcement that Eric ingested a THC gummy while she was fixing his drink that night. She said that she believed these gummies are what caused his death. However, the gummies had no traces of fentanyl found in them. And Corey also told law enforcement that after she and Eric went to bed at around 9.30, she left shortly after to sleep in one of their son's rooms due to him having nightmares. and she claimed that she slept in there until around 3 a.m. And when she returned to their bedroom, she found Eric cold and not breathing.
Starting point is 00:34:41 She immediately called 911, according to Corey. She also claimed that she left her phone, plugged in next to her bed, and did not bring it with her to their son's room. However, though, forensic analysis showed that her phone was unlocked six times, actually, between 306 a.m. and 3.21 a.m. And during that time, the phone moved about 378 feet. Investigators also found that Corey used multiple phones, including burner phones. That's nothing to see there.
Starting point is 00:35:11 Her main phone had large amounts of data manually deleted, especially from January to mid-March of 2022. Three days after, law enforcement first informed Corey that Eric died of a fentanyl overdose. She searched things like, quote, get these guys, you ready for these. what happens to deleted messages? Cause of death usually does not impact life insurance payment. How do police and forensic analysis recover deleted data from phones and signs of being under federal investigation? Can you delete everything off of an old iPhone without actually having it? Women, Utah Prison. Can cops uncover deleted messages iPhone? Can cops force you to do a light detector test? If someone is poisoned, what does it go down on the death certificate as?
Starting point is 00:36:00 How long does life insurance companies take to pay? And what is a lethal dose of fentanyl? End quote. Wow. On May 8, 2003, Corey was arrested for Eric's murder and received a copy of the charging document and probable cost statement. The probable cost statement referred to Carmen by her initial CL on a jail. on a jail call with her mother and brother, Corey said, quote,
Starting point is 00:36:28 Eric asked me to ask Carmen for pain pills, end quote. After Eric's death, Corey submitted a claim for his life insurance policies on April 28, 2022. And on June 7, 2022, the company, True Stage, learned that his cause of death was, well, drug, intoxication from fentanyl. They asked Corey to provide a copy of any prescription Eric had for this. medication. Well, and Corey informed true stage that the fentanyl was not prescribed and that she didn't have any idea how Eric obtained it. Switching stories once again telling one person she asked Carmen for Eric telling the life insurance she had no idea how he obtained it. The charging document concluded by saying, quote, the pattern of unlawful conduct is predicated upon the offenses
Starting point is 00:37:19 charged in counts one through 25 above and the heron uncharged insurance. insurance frauds, attempted aggravated murder, and attempted murder offenses." So a lot of this information for those that have been following this case was already known. But these details definitely bolster the state's money mode of theory. I said that I would circle back to the defense team's statement after these charges were dropped yesterday. And here we are again, full circle. They said, quote, this sudden push to file new fraud charges over two years later underscores the weakness of the state's pending murder charges, since these fraud charges
Starting point is 00:37:59 would not even come into play unless they fail to secure a conviction. The timing is also extremely troubling in light of the fact that the parties are trying to seat an impartial jury in Summit County, and quote. Well, if you recall, the judge in this case, Richard Mrazik, agreed to separate Corey's financial charges from her murder trial. There seems to be a lot of evidence for the financial crimes, and it all certainly implies that Corey will be in prison for a long time, regardless of the outcome of the murder trial. And in regard to the timing of the charges, I looked up each one in the state of Utah, and all but the money laundering charge have a statute of three years, which would be very soon. So I am not sure it has anything to do with the state having a weak murder
Starting point is 00:38:49 case, but that Corey broke the law and it's the state's job to hold her responsible. In order to do that, it's now or never. But you'll have to let me know what you think. Do you think the state is just filing these extra charges because they don't feel confident that she will be found guilty of murder? I mean, it does definitely bolster the motive, again, as I said. Or do you think that they are just making sure they file every charge before time runs out? I'd love to know what you guys think in comments.
Starting point is 00:39:19 I also would like to ask for a request. If you haven't left a podcast review for us, head over and leave us a review on Apple. It helps us more than you ever know. Thank you so much. May justice be served. Thinking of Eric Richens family today. We'll see you. At my bank, I was literally getting pennies using wallfronts.
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