The defense tried to put Eric Richins on trial. They suggested he had a history with drugs and that the fentanyl that killed him may have come from somewhere other than Kouri. Then the judge blocked their most specific drug evidence. Eric's closest friend and business partner looked a jury in the eye and said he never once saw Eric use drugs. So what's left of this theory? This Hidden Killers Week In Review brings in experts from both sides of the courtroom and the psychology behind it all.

Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis breaks it down. The judge's ruling that gutted their drug evidence. Whether "maybe it came from somewhere else" is enough to create reasonable doubt. The Valentine's Day phone call that directly undercuts the entire theory. The forensic marker in Eric's toxicology pointing to street-grade fentanyl—not a prescription. The open marriage angle the defense floated and the real legal purpose behind it.

The uncomfortable question: does blaming the victim for his own death make a jury angrier at your client?

Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott and retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke examine what Eric's family has carried. By multiple accounts, the moment they walked through the door the night he died, something felt wrong about Kouri. That instinct cost them years, six figures, and nearly a thousand hours of a private investigator's time before they were heard.

What happens psychologically when a family sees a dangerous relationship forming and can't stop it? Why does the person inside so often choose their partner? What's it like to sit in a house with the person you suspect, with no evidence, on the worst night of your life?

This conversation goes places most true crime coverage doesn't.

Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty.

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This 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.

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