Podcast appearances and mentions of eric richins

Watch the full coverage of the live stream on The Emily D. Baker YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/0icF2zqoldw  In a recent legal update regarding Kouri Richins, a restitution hearing in her murder case scheduled for July 31, 2026, was postponed by Judge M. to August 28, 2026, to allow the defense time to respond to the state's motion. Concurrently, Richins is facing a separate financial crimes case involving 26 charges, detailing extensive debt, fraudulent loans, check kiting, and an alleged plot to murder her husband, Eric Richins, for pecuniary gain. The financial case features newly surfaced text messages from late witness Hayden Jeffs, whom Richins allegedly solicited for fentanyl and propofol shortly before Eric's death. Following the withdrawal of her initial trial attorneys, Richins' newly appointed counsel requested a 45-to-60-day window to review discovery, prompting the judge to schedule a WebEx conference for October 9, 2026. Prior to calling this case, Judge M. presided over drug court, earning praise from the speaker for his empathetic yet accountable approach to celebrating sobriety and counseling individuals in custody. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watch the full coverage of the live stream on The Emily D. Baker YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/9bsf3cS-Mkk  Kouri Richins was convicted in March 2026 of the aggravated murder of her husband, Eric Richins, and additional charges of insurance fraud. Following her conviction, the case has moved into post-trial proceedings, including a recent motion for disqualification of the presiding judge and an ongoing dispute over restitution payments to insurance companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In March 2022, Kouri Richins told police she found her husband, Eric, unconscious after serving him a Moscow Mule, but an autopsy found he had ingested five times the lethal dose of fentanyl. Investigations showed she had taken out nearly $2 million in life insurance on Eric, and searched online for lethal fentanyl doses and “luxury prisons.” Get exclusive Killer Instinct content on my patreon : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/killerinstinct⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be helpful! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/KillerInstinctPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Savannah on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@savannahbrymer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Savannah on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@savannahbrymer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kouri Richins filed a motion for a new trial. Seven weeks after a judge sentenced her to life without parole for the aggravated murder of her husband Eric Richins. Seven weeks after her own sons begged the court to keep them safe. Her attorneys claim the judge showed bias, that financial crimes evidence unfairly prejudiced the jury, and that she deserves the same kind of do-over that Alex Murdaugh received in South Carolina.Tony Brueski tears apart every claim. The Murdaugh comparison is the centerpiece of the defense strategy and the weakest part of it — the South Carolina ruling turned on proven jury tampering that has no equivalent in the Richins case. The episode walks through both pillars of the Murdaugh reversal and shows why only one of them applies, and even that one doesn't apply the way her lawyers need it to.The judge has stepped aside. A new judge will rule on the motion. The episode covers what that means procedurally and why it's standard practice, not an admission of anything.Inside the episode: the three specific claims in the motion, the financial evidence that the defense calls prejudicial and the prosecution calls motive, the text Kouri sent an admirer after the guilty verdict promising to "expose them all," and the courtroom footage of Kouri making faces while counselors read her children's statements. Her sons no longer call her Mom. One wrote that what she did was "very sick." Another said he wouldn't feel safe if she were free. Eric's father told the court his son was a light taken too soon.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #KouriRichinsNewTrial #JusticeForEric #NewTrialMotion #ParkCityUtah #AlexMurdaugh #LifeWithoutParole

Kouri Richins wants a new trial. She was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted murder, insurance fraud, and forgery in the fentanyl poisoning of her husband Eric Richins. She was sentenced to life without parole on what would have been Eric's forty-fourth birthday. Her three sons asked the court to keep them safe from her. And seven weeks later, her attorneys filed a fourteen-page motion claiming the judge and the prosecution denied her a fair trial.Tony Brueski goes through the entire filing. The defense says Judge Mrazik acted as "a second adversary." They say prosecutors violated pretrial guardrails on financial evidence. They compare the case to Alex Murdaugh's overturned conviction in South Carolina. The episode shows why that comparison fails — the Murdaugh ruling rested on jury tampering by a court officer that has no parallel in the Richins case.The judge has stepped aside from ruling on the motion. A new judge will decide whether the conviction stands. The episode covers what that means, what happens next, and what the motion reveals about who Kouri Richins actually is when the system doesn't give her the answer she wants.Inside: the three prongs of the filing, the financial evidence the defense calls prejudicial and the prosecution calls the murder's motive, the text Kouri sent an admirer after the guilty verdict, the courtroom footage from sentencing day, her forty-five-minute speech, and the twenty-six financial felonies pending in a separate case. Eric's sons used her first name in their statements. One said what she did was "very sick." Another said he would never feel safe if she were free.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #KouriRichinsNewTrial #JusticeForEric #NewTrialMotion #ParkCityUtah #AlexMurdaugh #LifeWithoutParole

When 39-year-old Eric Richins died unexpectedly in his sleep, the people who loved him were left searching for answers. But there was one thing they couldn't ignore: before he died, Eric had warned his family that his wife, Kouri, wasn't who she appeared to be. At first, those words seemed impossible to understand. Then, just months after his death, Kouri published a children's book about helping kids cope with the loss of a parent, a book she said was inspired by her own grief. To everyone, she looked like a devoted widow trying to help other families through unimaginable loss. But less than a year later, the truth would begin to unravel, and Eric's family would finally learn what really happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of a multimillion-dollar real estate deal in Midway, Utah, Eric Richins died after sharing a quiet celebration with his wife. What first appeared to be a tragic and unexplained death soon unraveled into a story of hidden debt, secret relationships, and a children's book that took on a chilling new meaning.How to support:For extra perks including exclusive content, early release, and ad-free episodes -Go to - PatreonHow to connect:WebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitterTheme and Closing Track:Original compositions created for The Minds of MadnessPlease check out our sponsors and help support the podcast:Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/madnessQuince - Upgrade your wardrobe with pieces made to last with Quince. Go to Quince.com/madness for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.Raycon - The Essential Open Earbuds are perfect for refreshing your routine this spring. Go to buyraycon.com/mindsofmadnessOPEN to get 20% off!HERS - Feel like your best self again, Visit forhers.com/MADNESS to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.LEAN - They're having a Huge Memorial Day Sale and Lean is 25% off!!  Visit takelean.com and enter THANK YOU 25 for 25% OFF.Granola - If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free for three months - just head to granola.ai/MADNESSRula - Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/madnessGhostBed - Take advantage of Spring Sale pricing, go to GhostBed.com/madness, code MADNESS for an extra 10% off sitewide. Some exclusions apply; see site for details.Research & Writing:Ryan DeiningerEditing:Aiden WolfSources:Kouri Richins's son: ‘I want her to go to prison forever'Kouri Richins juror reveals panel was ‘hoping that she was innocent'Prosecutors paint Kouri Richins as ‘black widow' in closing argumentKouri Richins' defense rests without calling a single witnessTexts show ghostwriter wrote children's book, not Kouri RichinsKouri Richins' paramour takes the stand: ‘She asked if I had ever killed anybody'‘This is a joke': Investigator pushes back at Kouri Richins' defense theory of victim sextingKouri Richins asked for the ‘Michael Jackson stuff,' housekeeper testifiesA Utah mom who wrote kids' book on grief after husband died killed him for moneyJustice Is A ProcessUtah Woman Found Guilty of Fatally Poisoning HusbandWhat to Know About the Kouri Richins Murder CaseChildren's author Kouri Richins learns her fate for poisoning husband Children's Author Accused of Poisoning Husband with Fentanyl – Her Side of the StoryCourt TV Recap What to know about the controversial ‘Walk The Dog' letter as testimony endsSons of convicted killer Kouri Richins worry she would hurt them if freed from prisonGood Things Utah Interview With Kouri About BookJuror shares why he felt Kouri Richins' was guilty of murder and other crimesExclusive Interview | Todd Gabler Inside the Courtroom & Investigation of the Kouri Richins Trial

The evidentiary chain that ultimately identified Rex Heuermann as the Gilgo Beach killer began with two pieces of information that sat dormant for more than a decade: a roommate's description of a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, and a text message from a burner phone sent after a failed encounter the night before Amber Costello disappeared. This look back traces that chain from its origin through to the guilty plea.On September 1, 2010, a man matching Heuermann's description arrived at a West Babylon residence to meet Costello. Her roommate ran a scam, and the man left. A text followed from the burner: an acknowledgment of what happened and a request for a return visit. The following night, the man returned. Costello walked out to meet him. Her roommate, Dave Schaller, observed the truck. Costello was never seen again. When the Gilgo Beach task force was formed in 2022 and ran the vehicle description through registration databases, Heuermann's name surfaced. From there — surveillance, the pizza-crust DNA recovery, search warrants, the planning document, electronic device seizures, and ultimately the arrest and guilty plea.The segment also examines, with psychotherapist Shavaun Scott, the erosion-of-agency pattern connecting the Heuermann and Richins cases. Asa Ellerup spent twenty-seven years married to Heuermann and defended him for three years after his arrest before his guilty plea to eight murders. Eric Richins documented his wife's financial misconduct, changed his estate, and still could not leave. Scott examines the incremental loss of boundaries that keeps people in place — and turns the clinical research toward the listener. Heuermann is expected to be sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus an additional hundred years. We revisit where the matter stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AmberCostello #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #ChevyAvalanche #ShavaunScott #ErosionOfAgency #TrueCrime #GilgoBeach #HiddenKillers

It does not start with a crisis. It starts with a compromise so small you don't think to question it. Then another. Then a hundred more. And one day you realize you have no idea who you are anymore. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott ties two of the most confounding cases in true crime together through a single thread — the erosion of agency — and turns the conversation toward anyone who's been making small compromises they barely notice.Asa Ellerup was married to Rex Heuermann for twenty-seven years. She defended him for three years after his arrest. Then he pleaded guilty to eight murders — seven committed inside their shared home. Eric Richins saw everything his wife Kouri was allegedly doing — told his family, changed his will, consulted a lawyer — and still couldn't walk out the door. Kouri has since been convicted of his murder. Scott examines the psychological machinery that keeps people tethered: the incremental loss of boundaries, the normalization of what would once have been unthinkable, and the moment when leaving feels more dangerous than staying.This is the conversation that bridges both cases — not to equate the dynamics, but to illuminate the pattern that runs through them. Scott recently explored this research on her Substack and brings that clinical depth to these two real-world frameworks. Heuermann is expected to be sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus an additional hundred years. We revisit where both cases stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AsaEllerup #RexHeuermann #EricRichins #KouriRichins #GilgoBeachKiller #ShavaunScott #ErosionOfAgency #DomesticViolence #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

Amber Costello was twenty-seven, from North Carolina, battling addiction, and living with roommates in West Babylon. Friends described her as generous and funny. Her sister said publicly she forgives Rex Heuermann — and that Amber would have too. And without her case, Heuermann might still be walking free. This look back puts Amber first — her life before the case file — and then traces how the evidence surrounding her disappearance became the key that unlocked the entire Gilgo Beach investigation.The night before Amber vanished, Heuermann was scammed at her address — her roommate ran a hustle, and he left empty-handed. Then came a text from his burner phone. Then he came back. Amber walked out to meet him. Her roommate Dave Schaller saw the truck — a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. That description and that text sat in a file for over a decade until the 2022 task force ran them through registration databases and Heuermann's name surfaced. Surveillance followed. Then the pizza-crust DNA. Then the warrants, the house searches, the planning document, the arrest, and ultimately a guilty plea to eight murders.The segment also turns the lens inward through psychotherapist Shavaun Scott's examination of the erosion-of-agency pattern — connecting the Heuermann and Richins cases through the same thread: how control doesn't begin with a crisis but with compromises so incremental you don't see the cage being built until you're inside it. Asa Ellerup lived inside that cage for twenty-seven years. Eric Richins saw it clearly and still couldn't leave. Scott turns the conversation toward anyone who recognizes those small concessions in their own life. Heuermann is expected to be sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus an additional hundred years. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AmberCostello #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #GilgoFour #ShavaunScott #ErosionOfAgency #TrueCrime #GilgoBeach #TheGilgoBeachCase

The Kouri Richins sentencing hearing produced an image that crystallized the entire case. As her three sons' statements were read aloud in a Park City courtroom by their therapists, Kouri was observed rolling her eyes and making faces. The boys described fear, locked rooms, and a household where they looked after one another. This look back examines that proceeding and the psychology it laid bare.The contrast was stark. When her own family took the podium to call her devoted and innocent, she dissolved into tears. On what would have been Eric Richins' forty-fourth birthday, Judge Richard Mrazik sentenced her to life without the possibility of parole, plus additional terms on the remaining counts, citing her conviction for attempting the killing, then "doubling down" and completing it for financial gain. Kouri spoke for more than half an hour — her first public remarks since being charged — directing them at her sons, who were not present. She repeatedly told them to "be like your dad," the man she was convicted of killing, denied any role in his death, and urged them not to give up on her.The sons' statements, by contrast, were unequivocal: each asked that their mother remain in prison, with the older boys expressing fear for their safety should she ever be released and a younger son indicating he would feel safe and happy with her behind bars. This segment offers commentary on the dynamics on display in that courtroom — the selective empathy, the disconnect between her account and her children's — while distinguishing established facts from interpretation. We revisit where the matter stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #RichinsSentencing #EricRichins #LifeWithoutParole #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #ParkCity #VictimImpact #JudgeMrazik #HiddenKillers

Eric Richins' three sons didn't walk to the podium at their mother's sentencing. They were too young, and carrying too much. So they handed their written statements to therapists and asked them to read their words exactly. This look back walks through what those boys said — and how Kouri Richins responded as she listened.The statements were devastating in their plainness. The boys described locked bedroom doors, a mother they said was drunk almost daily, threats made against their pets, and a household where an older brother had to step in and care for a younger one because no one else would. They described the permanent absence of a father who will never coach a game or watch them graduate. And every one of them asked the court for the same thing: that their mother never be released, because they finally feel safe and that safety ends the moment she's free.As those words were read, Kouri was seen scoffing and rolling her eyes — then dissolving into tears minutes later when her own family rose to defend her. This look back examines that contrast and what it revealed, then turns to her own statement and what she chose to say in response. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting. The throughline is impossible to miss: the people who knew the cost of this crime best were the children, and they were the ones begging to be protected.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #RichinsSentencing #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #VictimImpact #FentanylCase #ParkCity #ImpactStatements #HiddenKillers

The night Eric Richins died comes down to a gap that prosecutors couldn't stop pointing to. This look back walks through that night and the first seventy-two hours after — the window where, the state argued, Kouri Richins' story began to come apart.Digital forensics told a quiet, damning story. Prosecutors say Kouri picked up her phone around 3:06 a.m., then didn't call 911 until roughly fifteen minutes later. No calls to friends. No calls to Eric's family. Just an unexplained delay the state said reflected guilt. She told officers Eric had died of a brain aneurysm and held that line for more than a year — until the autopsy returned a lethal dose of fentanyl. Her phone's search history, prosecutors said, included questions about lethal fentanyl doses and prisons for the wealthy.The days after kept building the picture. She had a locksmith drill into Eric's safe, which held a large amount of cash. When his sister told her the trust had cut her out, prosecutors say Kouri became enraged and punched her in the face and neck until she was physically restrained — an assault she later resolved with a no-contest plea. And within days of his death, she was reportedly back in contact with her housekeeper, asking for more pills. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting. Taken together, these seventy-two hours are where the grieving-widow story first stopped holding.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylMurder #911Call #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #DigitalForensics #MurderNight #UtahMom #HiddenKillers

The closest thing to being inside that house the night Eric Richins died isn't a witness — it's the data on Kouri Richins' phone. This look back examines the digital forensics and the first seventy-two hours, the evidence that gave the jury its clearest window into what the prosecution called a guilty conscience.The phones went quiet for hours. Then, prosecutors say, Kouri picked hers up around 3:06 a.m. — and the 911 call didn't come until roughly fifteen minutes later. No calls to anyone else. Just the gap. She told police Eric died of an aneurysm and maintained that for over a year, until the autopsy showed fentanyl at a lethal level. The phone's search history, according to a digital forensics analyst, included queries about lethal fentanyl doses and luxury prisons.Then the behavior in the days after — the kind that's hard to square with grief. A locksmith drilling into Eric's cash-filled safe. An eruption of rage when his sister revealed the trust had excluded her, ending in an assault that left her punched in the face and neck before Kouri was physically restrained. A return to her housekeeper within days, asking for more pills. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting and read this stretch the way the jury eventually did — as a sequence that didn't fit the story she was telling. This is the timeline where the performance and the evidence stopped matching.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #DigitalForensics #911Call #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #MurderNight #BehavioralAnalysis #HiddenKillers

The most devastating voices at the Kouri Richins sentencing weren't the lawyers. They were her children. This look back sits with the hearing where three boys, through their therapists, told a Park City courtroom what life with their mother had actually been like — and what they needed to happen now.They described fear. Locked rooms. A home where they had to take care of each other because the person who was supposed to wasn't. The older boys said they feared for their safety if she were ever released; a younger son indicated he'd finally feel safe and happy with her in prison. And as those words were read, Kouri was seen rolling her eyes and making faces. Then her own family rose to call her devoted and innocent, and the tears came — reserved, it seemed, for her own suffering. That contrast became the defining image of the hearing.On what would have been Eric Richins' forty-fourth birthday, Judge Richard Mrazik sentenced her to life without parole. She spoke for more than half an hour, telling her sons to "be like your dad" — the father she was convicted of taking from them — insisting their memory of what happened was wrong, and asking them not to give up on her. She never acknowledged a single thing they'd described. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting. The clearest verdict in that room may not have been the judge's at all — it was three children asking to be kept safe from their own mother.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #RichinsSentencing #EricRichins #LifeWithoutParole #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #ParkCity #VictimImpact #TheRichinsCase #HiddenKillers

The most dangerous moment in a controlling relationship isn't the worst fight — it's the exit. According to prosecutors, Eric Richins had quietly begun consulting divorce attorneys and restructuring his finances before he died, and the prosecution's theory holds that his moves toward the door are when the danger spiked. This look back uses that pattern as the frame for one of the most important conversations in the whole case.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins Tony Brueski and retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke to break down the end phase of these relationships and why leaving carries such outsized risk. Scott explains how the loss of control triggers a particular kind of rage, and how that rage expresses itself in someone who operates with calculation rather than open volatility — quietly, strategically, behind a calm surface. The discussion turns to what a safe exit actually requires, because the advice to "just leave" ignores the moment of greatest peril.The segment also examines what happens to children raised inside these dynamics and what real recovery looks like for the partner who gets out. Drawing on more than three decades of clinical work with both survivors and perpetrators, Scott keeps the analysis grounded and practical. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting, and frame the personality-pattern discussion as professional commentary on behavior rather than a diagnosis of anyone specific.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #LeavingAbuse #DomesticViolence #SafeExit #ShavaunScott #IntimatePartnerViolence #TrueCrime #RelationshipDynamics #HiddenKillers

Statistically, the deadliest moment in a controlling relationship is the moment someone tries to leave. The Richins case appears to track that pattern exactly: according to prosecutors, Eric Richins had started consulting divorce attorneys and adjusting his estate before he died — and the prosecution's theory is that his quiet move toward the exit is when everything escalated. This look back brings expert depth to why that happens.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins Tony Brueski and retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke to map the end-phase dynamics of these relationships. Scott breaks down how the threatened loss of control produces a specific, focused rage, and how it manifests in a person who operates calmly and calculatedly rather than through open aggression — the kind of person whose danger is easy to underestimate precisely because it's so controlled. Dreeke adds the behavioral read on how that profile presents and conceals itself.The conversation moves to the practical and the human: what a genuinely safe exit involves, why "just leave" fails as advice, what children absorb growing up inside these dynamics, and what recovery actually looks like for the survivor. Scott brings more than thirty years of clinical experience to it. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting, treating the personality-pattern discussion as professional analysis of behavior, not a clinical diagnosis of any individual. This is the kind of conversation that can change how someone sees their own situation.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #ShavaunScott #RobinDreeke #DomesticViolence #SafeExit #IntimatePartnerViolence #BehavioralAnalysis #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

With Kouri Richins convicted on all counts, attention turns to what comes next — and the appellate road ahead is steeper than it first appears. This look back examines the foundation of the verdict and the realistic prospects of overturning it.The jury's path to conviction is itself notable: the foreperson told national media the panel began sympathetic to the defendant and was reluctant to convict, yet reached a unanimous verdict after roughly three hours. The evidence, in other words, overcame the jury's initial disposition. Central to that evidence was the victim's own conduct — Eric Richins restructured his estate approximately eighteen months before his death, citing to his attorney the need to protect his children from his wife — alongside a documented financial pattern of undisclosed debt, contested insurance arrangements, and alleged signature forgeries.The defense has identified several potential appellate grounds, including a denied change of venue, multiple mistrial motions, and contested evidentiary rulings. However, the trial judge methodically confirmed key defense waivers on the record — including the decision not to testify and to rest without witnesses — narrowing the available arguments. Former prosecutors analyzing the case have characterized it as a difficult appeal to win. The segment also notes the separate, still-pending financial case involving more than two dozen felony counts, including mortgage fraud, money laundering, and bad checks. We revisit where the matter stood at the time of our reporting, distinguishing established rulings from speculation about outcomes.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #KouriRichinsAppeal #EricRichins #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #AppellateLaw #FinancialCrimes #GuiltyVerdict #HiddenKillers

Roughly eighteen months before he died, Eric Richins sat down with an estate attorney and quietly rewrote his will — telling the lawyer the reason was to protect his children from his wife. He saw it coming. He wrote it down. And he still ended up dead in that house. This look back, with retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, examines how that documented fear became one of the pillars of a murder conviction.The verdict is striking precisely because the case wasn't airtight. No murder weapon. A star witness whose credibility took heavy fire. A defense that called no one. And a jury that, by the foreperson's own account, came in hoping she was innocent. Coffindaffer walks through what carried the day anyway: Eric's pre-emptive legal steps, the undisclosed debt, the insurance Eric reportedly knew nothing about, the alleged forged signatures — individually inconclusive, collectively damning.She also breaks down the appeal posture with a behavioral and investigative eye. The defense has real material to work with: a video of investigators pressing the star witness, that witness's shaky credibility, and a lead detective who conceded on the stand that fentanyl was never physically recovered. Coffindaffer assesses whether any of it realistically moves a verdict this jury reached against its own instincts. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #JenniferCoffindaffer #EstatePlanning #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #BehavioralAnalysis #KouriRichinsAppeal #HiddenKillers

With Kouri Richins convicted and awaiting sentencing, the legal case is effectively closed — but several substantive questions remain open. This look back is a post-verdict listener Q&A with retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke, addressing the procedural, ethical, and behavioral issues that outlast the verdict.Among them: the immunity arrangement extended to the witness who supplied the fentanyl that killed Eric Richins. Such cooperation agreements are common prosecutorial tools, but they raise legitimate questions about proportionality when the cooperating party played a direct role in the chain that led to a death. The segment also examines whether a conviction meaningfully delivers closure to a victim's family after years of litigation, and the unresolved matter of proceeds from a ghostwritten grief book marketed to bereaved families.Dreeke provides behavioral analysis on the convicted defendant's likely psychological posture post-verdict — whether genuine acknowledgment is probable or whether a self-exculpatory narrative tends to take hold. The discussion additionally addresses the defense's misconduct contentions, including alleged witness coercion captured on recorded interviews and disputes over evidence handling, and considers what the jury's verdict indicates about the weight those arguments carried. Throughout, the analysis separates established fact from professional interpretation. We revisit where the matter stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #RobinDreeke #ImmunityDeal #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #PostVerdict #VictimsRights #HiddenKillers

Kouri Richins is convicted and headed to prison — and the questions people are asking only sharpened once the verdict came in. This look back is a post-verdict listener Q&A with retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke, working through what's still unresolved beneath the legal outcome.Eric Richins's family spent four years inside this case. Does a conviction deliver the closure everyone assumes it does, or is closure something we tell ourselves sounds right? The housekeeper who supplied the drug that killed Eric received immunity in exchange for testimony — and that bargain sits uneasily with a lot of people. The ghostwritten grief book Kouri sold to grieving families raises its own question now that she's convicted: where does that money go? We take each one in turn.Dreeke offers his professional read on the psychology of the moment a verdict lands — whether someone like Kouri experiences anything like recognition, or simply begins rebuilding a story in which she's the one who was wronged. He and Tony also address the defense's misconduct claims: alleged witness coercion, questions over evidence handling, and what it signifies that the jury convicted regardless. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting. The verdict ended the trial. It didn't end the conversation.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #KouriRichinsGuilty #EricRichins #RobinDreeke #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #PostVerdict #Closure #HiddenKillers

A common assumption holds that the people drawn into relationships with manipulative partners are insecure, naive, or vulnerable. The Kouri Richins case complicates that picture. Eric Richins was a successful businessman and a devoted father — and according to prosecutors, that competence was precisely what made him a target. This look back uses the case as a framework for a clinical examination of how such relationships begin.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott, who has more than three decades of experience working with both victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence, joins to break down the early-stage dynamics associated with narcissistic and borderline personality traits — and why the individuals least likely, on paper, to be deceived are often the ones who are. The discussion addresses the mechanics of love bombing, the engineering of rapid emotional dependency, and why accelerated milestones — moving fast, having children quickly, intense early intensity — can function as instruments of control rather than expressions of devotion.Scott walks through the targeting, the mirroring, the sustained performance, and the moment the presentation first begins to slip, anchoring each concept to what the documented record in this case reflects. The analysis is framed as professional commentary on behavioral patterns rather than a clinical diagnosis of any individual, and it situates the discussion within where the matter stood at the time of our reporting. For anyone who has watched a case like this and wondered how the warning signs went unseen, it offers a structured explanation.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #IntimatePartnerViolence #ShavaunScott #BehavioralPsychology #TrueCrime #UtahMurder #RelationshipDynamics #PsychologyOfControl #HiddenKillers

Everyone assumes the people who end up with a dangerous partner are vulnerable or naive. The Kouri Richins case tells a different story — and this look back sits with the harder, more unsettling version of it. Eric Richins was capable, successful, and by all accounts a man with his life together. According to prosecutors, that's exactly what made him a target.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott, who has spent more than thirty years working with both survivors and perpetrators of intimate partner violence, joins to break down the opening playbook of someone operating with narcissistic or borderline traits — and why the people who seem least likely to fall for it often do. What love bombing actually feels like from the inside. How the earliest stages of a relationship like this are engineered to slip past your defenses. Why moving fast, building intense dependency, and rushing major milestones aren't signs of passion but mechanisms of control.Using this case as a real-world framework, Scott traces the targeting, the mirroring, the performance, and the moment the mask first starts to crack. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting and keep the focus on the human pattern underneath the headlines — framed as professional insight into behavior, not a diagnosis of any one person. If you've ever watched a true crime case and wondered how someone didn't see it coming — or lived something like it yourself — this conversation is built for you.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #NarcissisticAbuse #LoveBombing #IntimatePartnerViolence #ShavaunScott #TrueCrime #UtahMurder #ToxicRelationships #TheRichinsCase

The defense wanted the jury to picture Kouri Richins as a wife trapped by a controlling husband. The paper trail in this case points somewhere else entirely — and this look back walks through what the record reveals, and the quiet, devastating thing Eric did when he discovered it.According to charging documents, court records, and forensic accounting testimony, the financial picture was staggering: a $250,000 line of credit secretly taken out on Eric's premarital home using a power of attorney, money funneled into a real estate business that ballooned to roughly $7.5 million in debt, falsified records used to chase loans, $45,000 taken from a friend who was later evicted, and a lawsuit from buyers who say they were sold a mold-contaminated home. By the time Eric died, the walls were closing in financially.And Eric's response wasn't rage. It was a quiet visit to an estate-planning attorney, where — per the indictment — he cited "recently discovered and ongoing abuse and misuse of finances," then restructured his estate to protect his three children and place his assets beyond his wife's reach. He stayed in the marriage. He said nothing publicly. According to prosecutors, about a year and a half later, he was dead. This segment is Tony's take on what the documented record actually shows, with every figure tied to its source — and the unsettling pattern it traces. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FinancialFraud #UtahMurder #TrueCrime #CourtRecords #TheRichinsCase #ForensicAccounting #TrueCrimeCommentary #HiddenKillers

No one testified to how the fentanyl got into Eric Richins's body. The defense hammered that point for three weeks. And the jury convicted Kouri Richins anyway — on every count. This look back brings two expert lenses to the question of how the state pulled it off.Defense attorney Bob Motta and retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke break down the conviction from the inside. The case had real gaps: prosecutors never proved the precise mechanism of the poisoning, and much of what the defense argued was missing on the physical side stayed missing. Yet the state built something the jury found overwhelming — starting with the dead man's own warning. Eric Richins reportedly told multiple people he believed his wife was trying to poison him, less than three weeks before he died.We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting and walk through what actually moved the jury: the insurance timeline, the forged signature, the financial motive prosecutors spent weeks constructing, and the behavioral profile of someone who allegedly tried once, failed, and tried again. Motta explains how a defense fights a circumstantial case this dense, and where this one ran out of room. Dreeke reads the behavior. Together they unpack what this verdict reveals about how far circumstantial evidence can carry a prosecution when the physical proof simply isn't there. Richins has maintained her innocence and indicated she will appeal.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #BobMotta #RobinDreeke #FentanylMurder #CircumstantialEvidence #TrueCrime #UtahMurder #MurderTrial #HiddenKillers

Eighteen days before he died, Eric Richins reportedly told more than one person he believed his wife was trying to poison him. He was right. This look back at the Kouri Richins case stays close to that devastating fact — a man who saw it coming, said so out loud, and died anyway.Kouri Richins was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, forgery, and insurance fraud after a jury deliberated only about three hours. The story underneath the verdict is almost unbearable in its details: an earlier Valentine's Day attempt that failed, a reported text from her boyfriend that he'd blacked out after taking something she gave him, a cocktail carrying roughly five times a lethal dose of fentanyl, millions in debt, a forged insurance application — and the children's grief book she published after Eric was gone. We revisit where the case stood at the time of our reporting.This segment is for everyone who can't stop thinking about the warning that went unheeded. Eric named what was happening to him before it killed him. His family kept fighting for the truth long after — a private investigator they hired even became part of the prosecution's case. More than forty witnesses, no defense witnesses, five guilty verdicts, and a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Kouri Richins has maintained her innocence and vowed to appeal. This is the human center of a case that still leaves people cold: how someone can say "I think she's poisoning me" — and still not be saved.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylMurder #UtahMurder #GriefAuthorMurder #TrueCrime #MurderConviction #TheRichinsCase #KouriRichinsGuilty #HiddenKillers

  After the sudden death of her husband Eric, Kouri Richins struggled to help their three young sons cope with the immense grief and unimaginable loss they felt. Eric's death was shocking and incomprehensible. In the early morning hours of March 4th, 2022, Kouri curled up in bed next to Eric only to discover he was not breathing and "cold".  To comfort her boys in the months that followed Kouri found herself telling them over and over, that their father was still with them. They talked about it so much that eventually she was able to turn their narrative into a book designed to help other children cope with grief and loss. Three months after she published the book, Kouri Richins was arrested for Eric's Murder.    Click to learn more (sources) Kouri's 911 call Body cam footage https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/02/26/kouri-richins-former-housekeeper-testifies-to-purchasing-her-pills/ https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/03/04/kouri-richins-paramour-testifies-about-their-affair-before-after-husbands-death/ https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/03/09/private-investigator-says-independent-probe-sought-truth-in-eric-richins-death/ https://www.biography.com/crime/a70499053/who-is-kouri-richins-case-and-murder-trial https://people.com/crime/kouri-richins-husband-suspected-she-was-having-affair/     Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

Following the Valentine's Day 2022 incident at the Richins residence, Eric Richins contacted two friends on the same afternoon. To one, he presented the event as a humorous allergic reaction — the conversation included laughter. To the other, he communicated genuine fear and stated directly that he believed Kouri Richins was attempting to poison him. Same event. Same individual. Same timeframe. Two fundamentally different characterizations.That bifurcation is psychologically significant. It indicates not denial but dual-track processing — the simultaneous maintenance of two contradictory narratives about the same lived reality. One narrative preserved functional normalcy. The other acknowledged existential threat. The capacity to toggle between them was the mechanism by which Eric continued to operate within the household.The evidence establishes that Eric recognized the threat well before Valentine's Day. He contacted his sister Katie from overseas years prior and stated Kouri had attempted to harm him. He retained divorce counsel. He revised his will and restructured his estate to protect his three minor children outside Kouri's access. He informed family members that if anything happened to him, Kouri was responsible. Katie Richins testified at sentencing that Eric's decision to remain was driven by a specific calculation: he believed that if Kouri received equal custody in a divorce, his sons would lose the only protective barrier between themselves and the danger he'd identified. Father as human shield.The children's sentencing statements provide the interior view of the household Eric was attempting to shield them within — locked rooms, a sibling assuming caretaker functions, animals dying from neglect, and children who addressed the defendant as "Kouri" rather than as a parent.The defendant's forty-five-minute allocution addressed those same children directly. She characterized the verdict as an "absolute lie," acknowledged the affair while describing the marriage as a love that "never failed," and delivered a closing instruction: "Never apologize for something you didn't do." The psychological analysis identifies this not as a farewell but as a directive — language designed to operate within those children's developing belief systems for years, delivered by a mind that cannot concede and aimed at the only audience the defendant believes remains persuadable.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #ForensicPsychology #ValentinesDay #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

Eric Richins called his sister Katie from overseas years before his death and told her Kouri Richins had tried to harm him. He consulted a divorce attorney. He rewrote his will and restructured his estate to protect his three sons. He told family members that if anything happened to him, Kouri was responsible. He saw the threat clearly. And he still went home every night.Katie testified at sentencing that Eric made the decision to stay because he was afraid of what would happen to his boys if Kouri received equal custody. He believed he was the only barrier between her and them. Father as human shield. That calculation — staying inside a marriage you know is dangerous because leaving means your children lose the only person standing between them and the danger — is the psychological center of the Kouri Richins case.The Valentine's Day 2022 incident crystallized the split Eric was living inside. He called two friends the same afternoon. One heard a funny story about an allergic reaction — they laughed about it. The other heard fear. Eric told him directly he believed Kouri was trying to poison him. Same event. Same man. Two realities. He wasn't in denial. He was fluent in both versions because toggling between them was the only way to keep functioning inside something he hadn't escaped.His children's sentencing statements reveal what the household actually looked like from the inside. Locked rooms. A brother sneaking food to a sibling. Animals dying from neglect. Fear as the only constant. What Eric was trying to protect and what was already happening under the same roof reframe the entire case.Then Kouri's forty-five-minute speech. She rolled her eyes during her children's statements. She sobbed when her own family praised her. She told her sons the verdict was an "absolute lie." She called the marriage a love that "never failed." Her closing instruction: "Never apologize for something you didn't do." A recruitment pitch aimed at the only audience still persuadable — three boys whose father died trying to shield them from the person now planting seeds designed to grow for decades.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #Psychology #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric #KatieRichins

Eric Richins saw the threat. He called his sister from overseas and told her Kouri Richins had tried to harm him. He consulted a divorce attorney. He restructured his estate. He told family members if anything happened to him, Kouri was responsible. And he stayed.His sister Katie testified at sentencing that Eric made the decision to remain because he was afraid of what would happen to his boys if Kouri received equal custody. He believed he was the barrier between her and them. That calculation — father as human shield — is the behavioral center of this case. A man who understood the danger, prepared for the worst, and concluded that being inside the threat was safer for his children than being outside it.The Valentine's Day 2022 incident shows how he managed the split. Two phone calls the same afternoon. One friend heard a funny story about an allergic reaction — they laughed. The other heard terror. Eric told him directly he believed Kouri was trying to poison him. Same event. Same man. Two realities. He wasn't in denial. He was fluent in both versions because toggling between them was the only way to keep functioning inside something he hadn't escaped yet.His children's sentencing statements reveal what the household looked like from inside. Locked rooms. A sibling sneaking food to a brother. Animals dying from neglect. Children who called her "Kouri," not Mom. Every one of them asked for life without parole.Kouri's response was forty-five minutes at the podium. She rolled her eyes during their statements. She sobbed when her own family praised her. She told her sons the verdict was an "absolute lie." She admitted the affair and called the marriage a love that "never failed." Her final instruction to three terrified boys: "Never apologize for something you didn't do." That wasn't a goodbye. That was a directive designed to operate inside those children for decades — the last act of a mind that can't concede, aimed at the only audience she believes she can still reach.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #Psychology #HumanShield #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

One of Eric and Kouri Richins' sons remembers the night his father died. He was put to bed early without a bath — unusual for the family. When he tried to go into his parents' bedroom, his mother yelled at him to go away. He later told investigators that Kouri didn't sleep in his room that night, contradicting what she told police. A child, catching the seams in his mother's story on the night he lost his father.At sentencing, all three boys said they would be afraid if Kouri were ever released. One son, now thirteen, said he feared she would come after him and his brothers. Another said he feels hateful and ashamed when people talk about his mother because she took away his dad. The youngest said that once she's gone, he will feel happy, safer, relaxed, and trust people more. And then one of them said the sentence that reframes this entire case: “I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be. I don't miss Kouri.”Eric Richins stayed in that house to protect his boys. He told his sister he would endure hell every day rather than risk a custody arrangement that gave Kouri unsupervised access. He believed his presence was the safety net. And his children's own words tell you what the environment actually felt like while he was fighting to hold it together. They feel safer now — with their father gone and their mother behind bars — than they did when both parents were in the house.This episode examines the psychology of how danger becomes normal inside a home, how a man who saw the threat clearly decided staying was safer than leaving, how the people around him processed something outside every framework they had, and what the children's statements reveal about the world Eric tried to manage from the inside.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #ParkCity #UtahCrime #FentanylPoisoning #TrueCrimeCommunity #JusticeForEric

Eric Richins told his sister Katie that Kouri Richins was the most evil person he had ever met. He told her he would live through hell every single day until his youngest son turned eighteen rather than risk a family court giving Kouri equal custody. Katie begged him to leave. His other sister Amy begged him to leave. He had already sat down with a divorce attorney. He had the legal groundwork and his family ready to catch him. He chose to stay.This episode is about that choice — not as a failure of judgment, but as the product of an impossible equation that anyone in Eric's position would recognize. Eric believed he was the only thing standing between Kouri and his three boys. As long as he was in the house, he was the safety system. If he left, the barrier left with him. His role as a father and protector wasn't just his identity. It was the lock on the cage.But Eric wasn't passive inside that decision. He ran a parallel operation his wife never knew about. He met with a divorce attorney through his brother-in-law Clint Benson. He changed his will. Formed the Eric Richins Living Trust and placed everything under Katie's control for the boys. Changed his power of attorney and his life insurance beneficiary. He built a fortress around everything Kouri could take if he died. He didn't build one around himself.That distinction is the center of this piece. Eric's preparations protected the money, the business, the children's financial future. Somewhere along the way, his own death shifted from something to prevent to something to prepare for. When danger lives in your house long enough, it stops being an emergency and starts being weather. This episode examines how that shift happens and what it cost everyone inside that home.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #ParkCity #UtahCrime #FentanylPoisoning #TrueCrimeCommunity #JusticeForEric

Retired FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong explores the disturbing case of Kouri Richins, the Utah real estate agent who poisoned her husband Eric with a lethal dose of fentanyl. In the spring of 2022, Eric Richins was found dead in his home in the mountains of Kamas, Utah -- and within months, his wife was giving interviews, appearing on morning television, and publishing a picture book about grief. But what investigators uncovered beneath that carefully constructed image was something far darker. Candice examines how a childhood marked by absent parents, financial chaos, and a lifelong need for external validation set the stage for a murder disguised as mourning.Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Killer Psyche ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The psychological profile that emerges from the Kouri Richins case presents a specific form of compartmentalization that forensic professionals have documented but rarely encounter at this operational duration. For approximately fourteen months following Eric Richins' death, the defendant maintained a constructed identity — grieving mother, children's book author, television interview subject — that was sufficiently convincing to deceive every personal acquaintance who subsequently testified at trial.The behavioral evidence suggests this was not conventional deception in the performative sense. The psychology at work involves a migration into an alternate self-narrative so complete that the individual operates within it as reality. The grieving-mother identity functioned as her lived experience. The actions that preceded it — the fentanyl, the cocktail, the death — existed in a psychologically sealed compartment she did not access in her daily presentation. That dissociative architecture explains the 911 call's emotional quality, the social gathering the following day, the Google searches for luxury incarceration facilities and insurance claim timelines conducted without apparent distress, and the television appearances promoting a children's grief book written by the person responsible for the grief.The escalation pattern preceding the crime follows a documented forensic trajectory. The Valentine's Day attempt — which Eric Richins survived after experiencing respiratory distress and reportedly reaching for an EpiPen — did not produce reconsideration. It produced refinement. Seventeen days elapsed. The defendant continued to cohabitate, co-parent, and conduct professional real estate transactions. The second attempt employed approximately five times the lethal dose. The psychological mechanism that enables a failed homicide attempt to generate a more effective plan rather than retreat is consistent with a decision-making framework in which the target has been fully dehumanized — reduced from a person to a financial variable.The underlying financial architecture supports that analysis: approximately $4.5 million in undisclosed debt, a concurrent relationship with Robert Josh Grossmann that functioned as preparation for a post-death life, and insurance policies acquired on the victim's life without his knowledge. The jury required less than three hours.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #ForensicPsychology #Compartmentalization #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

The Valentine's Day attempt failed. Eric Richins survived — gasping for air, reaching for his son's EpiPen. He told friends he believed his wife was trying to end his life. And for seventeen days, Kouri Richins lived inside the same house, shared meals with the same children, and arrived at a second plan with five times the lethal dose.The psychological architecture behind that seventeen-day gap is the center of this breakdown. The gap between the image Kouri projected and the financial reality she was hiding — approximately $4.5 million in debt, a house-flipping business in freefall, a forensic accountant who would later use one word: imploding. The affair with Robert Josh Grossmann that functioned not as an escape but as a rehearsal for the life she intended to build after Eric was gone. Insurance policies taken out on Eric's life without his knowledge — manipulation that was caught and didn't produce a pause. It produced an acceleration.The moment Eric Richins stopped being a husband and became an obstacle — a math problem with a financial answer — is identifiable in the evidence. The escalation from Greece to Valentine's Day to the Moscow Mule follows a pattern forensic psychologists recognize: failed attempts don't produce reconsideration. They produce refinement.Then the fourteen months that followed. A children's book about grief. A television tour promoting it. A 911 call. A party the next day. Google searches for luxury prisons and insurance claim timelines. Every friend who testified at trial said they believed her. The psychology behind that deception isn't traditional lying. It's compartmentalization so complete that the person living inside the grieving-mother identity isn't pretending. She's relocated there. The room where she put fentanyl in a cocktail exists in a different part of her mind — sealed off, unvisited. That's what made her believable for fourteen months. And that's what makes this case a psychological study unlike anything else in the true crime landscape.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #Psychology #MoscowMule #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

After the sudden death of her husband Eric, Kouri Richins struggled to help their three young sons cope with the immense grief and unimaginable loss they felt. Eric's death was shocking and incomprehensible. In the early morning hours of March 4th, 2022, Kouri curled up in bed next to Eric only to discover he was not breathing and "cold".  To comfort her boys in the months that followed Kouri found herself telling them over and over, that their father was still with them. They talked about it so much that eventually she was able to turn their narrative into a book designed to help other children cope with grief and loss. Three months after she published the book, Kouri Richins was arrested for Eric's Murder.    Click to learn more (sources) Kouri's 911 call Body cam footage *More two come next week in part 2.   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

Watch the full coverage of the live stream on The Emily D. Baker YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/7MCkkgZBTw8  In the wake of Kouri Richins' unanimous conviction for the aggravated murder of her husband, Eric Richins, on March 16, 2026, the court has reached a significant turning point in the parallel civil estate litigation. On May 12, 2026, Judge Mrazik issued a summary judgment granting a petition to determine that Kouri committed a "disqualifying homicide". This ruling effectively invokes Utah's "slayer statute," which dictates that a person convicted of such an offense forfeits all rights as an heir or beneficiary. RESOURCES Kouri Richins Trial Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsbUyvZas7gIKTiEBENmlYTBxjH_fbLUO  Last Kouri Civil Update - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ExdtGg5iE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fourteen months between Eric Richins' death and Kouri's arrest. During that window, she closed a real estate deal the day after finding him dead, hosted a gathering at the home where EMTs had pronounced him, Googled luxury prisons and insurance timelines, published a children's grief book, and went on television to promote it.Most analysis focuses on whether the grief was real or performed. This episode argues the answer is both — simultaneously — in different compartments of a psychology that doesn't process deception the way most people understand it. The lie isn't a mask held in place with effort. It's a migration. The person moves into the new version of events and inhabits it. And in that version, the grief is genuine.The second installment of a five-part psychological series examining every phase of Kouri Richins' decision-making. The 911 call, the Google searches, the book, the TV tour — and a brain that can produce sincere tenderness for children it orphaned.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #Psychology #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #FentanylPoisoning #SummitCounty #TrueCrimeCommunity #Justice

A children's book called "Are You With Me?" with a father in angel wings on the cover. Published one year after Eric Richins' death. Promoted on local television by the woman convicted of killing him.The prosecution called it deflection. And it was. But this episode argues it was something far more psychologically complex: Kouri Richins building the version of reality she needed to inhabit. Not a mask over the truth — an alternate truth she constructed and moved into. And in that constructed reality, the grief was real.This is the second episode in a five-part breakdown of Kouri Richins' psychology. The 911 call that went from hysterical to composed in hours. The Google searches that read like a project manager's status report. The email she sent Summit County preemptively explaining away suspicion she could feel building. And the TV appearance that reveals the most disturbing thing about this kind of mind: the sincerity. She may have meant every word. And that's worse than if she'd been faking.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #Psychology #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #FentanylPoisoning #SummitCounty #TrueCrimeCommunity #Justice

When Kouri Richins' Valentine's Day attempt on her husband's life failed, something happened that a psychotherapist would flag as the most important behavioral data in the case: she didn't panic. She recalibrated. She acquired more fentanyl. She adjusted the method. She increased the dose. And seventeen days later, Eric Richins was dead.This episode opens a five-part psychological series examining the decision-making process behind every phase of the Kouri Richins case. Not the forensics — the wiring. How someone builds the internal justification to do the unthinkable, and why that justification doesn't collapse when it should. The identity gap between who she believed she was and who the forensic accountant revealed her to be. The affair that functioned as a life-after-Eric rehearsal. The insurance fraud that got caught and changed nothing.The architecture of self-permission — built over years, deployed in seventeen days, and visible in everything she did after.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #Psychology #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #FentanylPoisoning #SummitCounty #TrueCrimeCommunity #Justice

On March 4, 2022, Kouri Richins called 911 after finding her husband unresponsive in their home in Kamas, Utah. Eric was only 39 years old and appeared healthy before his sudden death. An autopsy later revealed Eric died from a fentanyl overdose estimated at roughly five times the lethal dose. Investigators noted there was no known history of opioid abuse. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Eric Richins. Police began to zero in on Kouri, and what they uncovered during their investigation included allegations of financial fraud, poisonings, affairs, and life insurance schemes.   You can help support the show through Patreon. We'd love to connect with listeners on social media. We are available on the following platforms: Facebook - Facebook Discussion group - Instagram - Threads - X Formerly Twitter - Blue Sky - Twitch - Tik Tok  Criminology is an Emash Digital production hosted by Mike Ferguson and Mike Morford. 

The criminal investigation into Eric Richins' death had effectively stalled by fall 2022. Deputy Jayme Woody acknowledged the investigative lapse under oath at trial. The break came not from law enforcement but from a private investigator retained by the victim's family on a civil matter.Todd Gabler, a 34-year veteran investigator who had worked exclusively for the defense throughout his career, identified the individual prosecutors would later allege sourced the fentanyl, documented her criminal history and drug court failures, and began providing evidentiary material to the Summit County Sheriff's Office that the agency had not independently obtained. Gabler conducted a multi-day search of the Richins residence after law enforcement released the scene, utilizing body cameras to document findings the initial search had not captured. He conducted approximately 50 interviews and tracked multiple vehicles connected to the case.The financial motive presented at trial was comprehensive. Kouri Richins carried approximately $7.5 million in debt. Her forensic accountant characterized the financial situation as an implosion — 236 insufficient-funds transactions, fifteen failed renovation projects, and a residential construction business in freefall. Eric Richins had been consulting divorce attorneys and estate planners, had removed the defendant from his will and life insurance designations, and had established a trust for their three minor children without her knowledge.The defendant's prenuptial agreement created a financial landscape in which the victim's death was the only scenario producing net financial benefit. She secretly purchased $1.9 million in life insurance policies on Eric's life without his knowledge. Trial evidence included communications referencing "the Michael Jackson stuff" directed to her housekeeper and text messages documenting a concurrent relationship with Robert Josh Grossmann. The prosecution presented an alleged escalation pattern — a poisoning attempt in Greece, a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine's Day from which Eric survived by using his son's EpiPen, and a final lethal dose administered in a cocktail approximately two weeks later at five times the fatal threshold. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts following deliberations of less than three hours.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #ToddGabler #FentanylPoisoning #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #InsuranceFraud #JusticeForEric

Todd Gabler spent 34 years as a private investigator working exclusively for the defense. He had never taken a prosecution-side case. Eric Richins' family retained him on a civil matter — and the phone records he obtained in the initial weeks altered the trajectory of the entire criminal investigation.The billing records documented sustained contact between Kouri Richins and a housekeeper with an active criminal record who was failing court-ordered drug testing — during the months preceding and following Eric Richins' death. Law enforcement had not yet obtained those records. Gabler identified the pattern, subsequently conducted approximately 50 interviews, tracked multiple vehicles, and assembled evidentiary material that contributed to breaking open a stalled criminal investigation. This marks the first public interview with the investigator who was inside the case prior to any charges being filed.The post-conviction conduct documented in the record raises distinct concerns about ongoing threat. Prior to sentencing, a message attributed to the defendant was included in the prosecution's filing: she stated her intention to "expose this county, the prosecution, the judge, the Richins, the investigation." She wrote, "They picked the wrong one." She allegedly authored correspondence from jail directing a family member to provide false testimony. She faces accusations of witness intimidation. Her thirteen-year-old son testified to the court that he fears she would come for him upon any future release.Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis addresses the legal mechanisms available to a convicted individual serving life without parole — mail, telephone access, proxy actors, and individuals outside the facility who accept claims of innocence. He examines the protective instruments available: no-contact orders, protective orders, and corrections-level communication restrictions. Each addresses a distinct vector of potential harm. Faddis identifies the procedural gaps that persist even with all instruments simultaneously in effect.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #ToddGabler #LifeWithoutParole #EricFaddis #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #PrivateInvestigator #JusticeForEric

The criminal investigation into Eric Richins' death had effectively stalled by fall 2022. Deputy Jayme Woody acknowledged the investigative lapse under oath at trial. The break came not from law enforcement but from a private investigator retained by the victim's family on a civil matter.Todd Gabler, a 34-year veteran investigator who had worked exclusively for the defense throughout his career, identified the individual prosecutors would later allege sourced the fentanyl, documented her criminal history and drug court failures, and began providing evidentiary material to the Summit County Sheriff's Office that the agency had not independently obtained. Gabler conducted a multi-day search of the Richins residence after law enforcement released the scene, utilizing body cameras to document findings the initial search had not captured. He conducted approximately 50 interviews and tracked multiple vehicles connected to the case.The financial motive presented at trial was comprehensive. Kouri Richins carried approximately $7.5 million in debt. Her forensic accountant characterized the financial situation as an implosion — 236 insufficient-funds transactions, fifteen failed renovation projects, and a residential construction business in freefall. Eric Richins had been consulting divorce attorneys and estate planners, had removed the defendant from his will and life insurance designations, and had established a trust for their three minor children without her knowledge.The defendant's prenuptial agreement created a financial landscape in which the victim's death was the only scenario producing net financial benefit. She secretly purchased $1.9 million in life insurance policies on Eric's life without his knowledge. Trial evidence included communications referencing "the Michael Jackson stuff" directed to her housekeeper and text messages documenting a concurrent relationship with Robert Josh Grossmann. The prosecution presented an alleged escalation pattern — a poisoning attempt in Greece, a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine's Day from which Eric survived by using his son's EpiPen, and a final lethal dose administered in a cocktail approximately two weeks later at five times the fatal threshold. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts following deliberations of less than three hours.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #ToddGabler #FentanylPoisoning #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #InsuranceFraud #JusticeForEric

The case of Kouri Richins has become one of the most disturbing and complex true crime stories to emerge in recent years. What began as the sudden death of Utah businessman Eric Richins quickly spiraled into a multi-layered investigation involving alleged poisoning attempts, financial pressure, and life insurance policies tied directly to the accused. Prosecutors alleged that Kouri Richins poisoned her husband with fentanyl, pointing to prior suspicious incidents, financial motives, and communications suggesting a planned future without him. The defense, however, argued there was no definitive proof she administered the fatal dose and suggested alternative explanations, including questions about how the drug entered his system. After a high-profile trial filled with testimony, digital evidence, and emotional family statements, Kouri Richins was convicted of aggravated murder and related charges in 2026 and sentenced to life without parole. The case continues to spark debate due to its mix of alleged financial motive, relationship history, and the shocking post-death revelations that followed. #TrueCrimeRecaps #KouriRichins #EricRichins #BlackWidow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Under three hours. That's how long the jury deliberated before convicting Kouri Richins on all counts — aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, forgery, insurance fraud. Judge Mrazik sentenced her to life without parole and told the courtroom she's "simply too dangerous to ever be free."For Todd Gabler, the man who spent over a year building the evidentiary foundation that helped make that conviction possible, the verdict wasn't just a legal outcome. It was the end of a case that pulled him across a line he'd never crossed in 34 years. Every homicide he'd ever worked was for the defense. This was the first time his evidence became the prosecution's weapon. And when it was over — when the verdict dropped and the sentence came down — Gabler had to reckon with what the case had done to him.In the final part of this three-part interview, Gabler tells Tony Brueski what hit him first when the jury came back, who Eric Richins became to him after a year of reconstructing a dead man's life, and whether this is the kind of case a PI walks away from — or the kind that walks with him.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #ToddGabler #EricRichins #TrueCrime #PrivateInvestigator #HiddenKillers #UtahMurderTrial #KouriRichinsVerdict #TrueCrimePodcast #KouriRichinsSentencing

Todd Gabler never met Eric Richins. But he might know him better than almost anyone outside the family. Over the course of a year-long investigation, Gabler went through Eric's phone records, walked through his home, interviewed dozens of people who knew him, and pieced together the reality of a marriage and a life that ended in a way nobody should have to die.That kind of immersion changes an investigator. Especially one who's spent 34 years on the defense side — the side that challenges, pokes holes, fights for the accused. For the first time in his career, Gabler's evidence became the prosecution's case. And when the jury convicted Kouri Richins on all counts in under three hours, he was sitting in a seat he'd never occupied before.In Part 3, Gabler tells Tony what Eric Richins became to him through the investigation, what it was like to testify six weeks after surgery because he refused to miss his day in court, and whether 34 years of doing this work prepared him for what this particular case did to him as a person.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #ToddGabler #EricRichins #TrueCrime #PrivateInvestigator #HiddenKillers #UtahMurderTrial #KouriRichinsVerdict #TrueCrimePodcast #KouriRichinsSentencing

Use code emily at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/emily  Thanks to Incogni for sponsoring this video. Watch the full coverage of the live stream on The Emily D. Baker YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/BIAxKY5M8I8  In this Case Brief, we head to court for the final sentencing hearing of Kouri Richins, who was convicted of the aggravated murder of her husband, Eric Richins. Facing two potential options—25 years to life or life in prison without the possibility of parole—the judge hears powerful and emotional impact statements from those closest to the case. RESOURCES Kouri Richins Trial Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsbUyvZas7gIKTiEBENmlYTBxjH_fbLUO  Murdaugh Trial - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsbUyvZas7gK8GOeWkGfi7acMnT-D0zaw Kouri Richins Sentencing Memo - https://youtu.be/-tjr1-GhvP8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Utah judge gave 35-year-old Kouri Richins the harshest sentence possible following an emotional day of victim impact statements. In court, we heard directly from Richins’ sons who each wrote statements to the court, asking the judge to make sure their mom never gets out of prison. Eric Richins’ sisters and father also addressed the court, all before Kouri herself took more than 40 minutes offering life advice to her sons and proclaiming her innocence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrea Canning reports on the case of Utah mother Kouri Richins, who wrote a children's book about grief following her husband's death and recently went on trial for his murder. Blayne Alexander and Andrea Canning go behind the scenes of the making of this episode in 'Talking Dateline' Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/4t238vK Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2F2CtvcWe7j641Cmvumz02 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.