Kouri Richins' Defense Cross-Examines Sister-In-Law In Murder Trial

Kouri Richins' lawyer Kathy Nester cross-examined Richins' sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson on Monday (Februarry 23) in the opening day of Richins' aggravated murder trial. Richins is accused of poisoning her husband, Eric, who was Katie's brother, with fentanyl. 04:14 "I let her know that Kouri had stolen money from my brother, and I thought she needed to know that." 05:28 "I had an over what overwhelming feeling come over me that I should let someone know." 06:09 "Did you tell the officer that Kouri had a reason to be upset with Eric because she had found out about your being a trustee over the assets before he passed?" "No, not to my recollection." 08:42 "You also mentioned that Kouri told you that morning that she was going to sell the house?" "correct." "And this is the house her husband had just died in?" "correct." "And she was pretty traumatized about her husband just dying in the house?" "that I don't know. You'd have to ask her." 11:32 "did your brother share with you that he was taking testosterone?" "Yes, he did" 13:42 "Did Eric share with you that he had used hydrocodone in the past, like in that pill bottle that we saw on the screen?" "So Eric and I had talked about that. So that pill bottle in the screen, it was old. It was 2016 Right, right, because Eric had had a procedure, but Eric did not want to use much of it. So actually, Eric and I had several conversations when his back hurt and everything, I actually set him up with an acupuncturist and everything so that he didn't have to use any." 18:49 "ow I want to talk about before the body was removed, were you present, or did you have an understanding about where they were going to take the body?" "No." 21:32 "The handwriting samples that Mr. Bloodworth asked you to identify. Is it fair to say that you organized an effort to gather a bunch of signatures of Eric's to compare with the signature another signature to see if Kouri. Do you believe Kouri forged his signature on something?" "Yeah, it was for the civil lawsuit that we were going through." 23:51 "Did you pay other experts in connection with this investigation?" "I did." 30:54 "And everything in there is about Kouri, right?" No, not everything." "Did you identify anyone else you thought might have been involved in Eric's death?" 34:05 "Do you remember in May of 2022, suggesting, with the officers, the investigating officer, that Kouri may have tried to kill your brother on Valentine's Day?" "Yeah." 37:19 "I'm showing you a letter that's marked for identification is krB 16, a letter dated November 7 of 2022 which was a few months after Eric died." 41:52 "about how many times did you guys have to provide access to law enforcement to search that house?" "I don't know off the top of m head." "if I were to say around 10,11 times, does that sound completely out of bounds, or does that sound about right?" 45:50 Prosecutor Bloodworth on re-direct Background: Kouri Richins, 35, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah, in March 2022. After he died, she self-published a children's book she authored titled "Are You With Me?" about coping with grief. Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in their home on March 4, 2022. Prosecutors allege Kouri dropped a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule cocktail she prepared for him. They say she was motivated by money because she owed nearly $5 million to lenders and had changed her husband's life insurance policies prior to his death while also taking out a home equity line of credit without his knowledge. She also was in a romantic relationship with another man. You can watch the prosecution's opening statement here Greed & Lust Drove Kouri Richins To Poison... and the defense opening statement here: Defense Says Kouri Richins' Husband Overdo... Prosecutors allege she previously tried to murder him by poisoning his sandwich on Valentine's Day 2022, which her husband told a friend about. Richins' criminal charges in Summit County, Utah, include aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, forgery and two counts of insurance fraud. Her trial is scheduled to last five weeks. Judge Richard Mrazik in Utah's 3rd District Court is presiding at the Silver Summit Justice Center near Park City. ****************************************************************************** Subscribe to Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff: https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com...