- Jurors were shown data from Kouri Richins' phone on the sixth day of her murder trial.
- Data showed searches for deleting messages and prisons, as well as lots of texts with the woman who testified about providing her drugs.
- Richins is accused of fatally poisoning her husband and attempting to kill him weeks earlier.
PARK CITY — Jurors heard testimony about the evidence found on Kouri Richins phone during her jury trial on Monday.
Chris Kotrodimos, a former officer who reviewed the data from five phones in the case, said she accessed three memes around 8:30 a.m. the morning Eric Richins died, right after emergency responders said they left her home.
The memes included one with Donald Trump saying "I'm really rich," one with a man that said "Idiots, Idiots everywhere" and another with a woman using money to wipe her eyes.
Richins, a Kamas mom and real estate agent, is accused of fatally poisoning Eric Richins on March 4, 2022. She is also accused of slipping drugs into his food, making him sick, on Valentine's Day in 2022. Monday is the sixth day of her jury trial, which is scheduled to last more than a month.
Shelby Lofton, KSLShe published a children's book about death featuring her family in the year between her husband's death and her arrest.
Watch Monday's trial here:
Deleted data
Kotrodimos said Kouri Richins communicated daily with Josh Grossman, who prosecutors have identified as her boyfriend, beginning in November of 2021. Messages showed she was traveling to him on Valentine's Day, the same day she is accused of attempting to murder Eric Richins. Kouri Richins texted him "I love you Wanna be one of my valentines."
Meanwhile, her husband texted her that day telling her he was going to lie down and would head to the hospital if he didn't get better.
Kotrodimos said Kouri Richins' white iPhone that officers seized on April 13, 2022, had many things deleted in early 2022 until about mid-March. A second phone she got to replace that one showed some items were deleted, but not as many.
Jurors were shown many searches from that new phone about remotely deleting data from an iCloud account or a phone not in your possession. There were searches for what cops and the FBI do with electronics and searched prisons, white collar crimes, "luxury prisons for the rich," whether life insurance companies pay if a death certificate is still pending and Kouri Richins' own net worth.
Eric Christensen, the former chief medical examiner for Utah, testified about a phone conversation with Kouri Richins, where she asked about a report showing additional testing on her husband after they tested his stomach contents.
"I was just trying to figure out, you know, if this is anything different, if we found out anything new," Kouri Richins said in a recording of the call.
He told her when she asked how much fentanyl was found that "people die with half that or less in the system."
Kouri Richins asked him about quetiapine, pronouncing it multiple different ways, although other testimony showed quetiapine, which was found in Eric Richins' body, was prescribed to Kouri Richins.
Drug deals
Kotrodimos testified about the many messages Kouri Richins sent to Carmen Lauber on the days prosecutors claim Lauber obtained drugs for her from Robert Crozier. Lauber sent many messages to both Richins and Crozier on those three dates — Feb. 11, 2022; Feb. 26, 2022; and March 9, 2022 — as she traveled to a Maverik convenience store in Draper.
He showed jurors a map showing Lauber and Crozier moving toward the Maverik and away from it based on phone data for each of those dates. He said those were the only three times Lauber went to that location; each time, she communicated frequently with Kouri Richins.
Molly Crosswhite testified about purchasing a home for Kouri Richins in January of 2022. Photos showed it was the same home where Lauber said she retrieved money from Kouri Richins and left drugs for her. Crosswhite said she had not changed the keys to the home, that a key was left outside the home and that her tenants did not move in until the end of March.
Testimony: Kouri Richins felt trapped
Allison Wright, the wife of Eric Richins' business partner, testified about a conversation she had with Kouri Richins while on vacation in Costa Rica in February of 2019.
"What I remember is that (Kouri Richins) felt trapped at this time. I learned that their marriage had a prenuptial agreement, and she explained that she felt like she was frustrated in the relationship, but also that it would be difficult to leave. Eric would end up financially secure and her the opposite," she said.
Wright said she thought about this conversation and her drive to become financially independent as Kouri Richins pursued a master's degree and a real estate license.
In cross-examination, Kathy Nester asked if the context of the conversation was that Eric Richins was having an affair with a co-worker, and Nester asked about whether Wright's husband and Eric Richins had a falling out. Wright denied knowing that any affairs were happening, but agreed Eric Richins had some feelings for another person.
Mistrial denied
Third District Judge Richard Mrazik denied a request from Kouri Richins' attorneys for a mistrial. They asked for a mistrial based on a comment from a witness whom Kathy Nestor asked about calls between Kouri Richins and her family, and the witness responded by asking if she was referring to "jail calls."
Mrazik said the comment was improper but was not inadvertent; it was made in passing, and it would not be surprising to jurors because this is a homicide trial in which the defendant would spend some time in jail. He also said that at the time it happened, he instructed the jurors not to consider the comment.
Richins, 35, is charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, first-degree felonies; two counts of insurance fraud, a second-degree felony; and forgery, a third-degree felony.
