Kouri Richins' Murder Trial Starts in Two Weeks — The Prosecution's Case Is Already Falling Apart
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Kouri Richins murder trial begins February 23rd—and the prosecution has taken major hits before opening statements.
Robert Crozier, the man who allegedly sold fentanyl to Kouri's housekeeper Carmen Lauber, has signed a sworn affidavit recanting his original statement. He now claims he sold OxyContin, not fentanyl, and says he was detoxing and "out of it" when he spoke to detectives in 2023.
The defense argues this destroys the state's theory. If Crozier didn't provide fentanyl, Lauber couldn't have sold fentanyl to Kouri, and prosecutors can't place the murder weapon in her hands. Judge Richard Mrazik acknowledged this could "poke holes" in the case but denied bail anyway, saying substantial evidence remains.
Now a new defense motion alleges prosecutors are intimidating witnesses—threatening arrest and suggesting immunity could be revoked if witnesses don't cooperate with additional preparation meetings.
True Crime Today examines every pretrial ruling and what they mean for trial. The 26 financial fraud charges severed from the murder case. The domestic violence expert blocked entirely. The FBI profiler limited to rebuttal testimony only. The statements suppressed after detectives failed to Mirandize Kouri during a 2022 search.
We also break down what prosecutors still have: Carmen Lauber's testimony, Eric's toxicology showing five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, the orange notebook allegedly detailing the night he died, and the "Walk the Dog" letter found in Kouri's jail cell that prosecutors call witness tampering. The defense says it was fiction.
No fentanyl was ever recovered. No pills. No forensic link. 80% of Summit County residents recognize this case—and eight jurors from that county will decide Kouri's fate.
This is everything you need to know before testimony begins.
#KouriRichins #EricRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #TrueCrimeToday #WitnessRecants #FentanylMurder #WalkTheDogLetter #UtahMurderTrial #PretrialRulings #TrueCrime
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the big breakdown. |
| 0:02.2 | A long look back at some of the biggest stories we're covering for you at the Hidden Killers podcast and true crime today. |
| 0:09.2 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Burski, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:17.8 | Let's move over to another case that we've been talking about for quite some time. |
| 0:24.1 | Corey Richens, two weeks before Corey faces a jury on aggravated murder charges. |
| 0:29.6 | Her defense team dropped a bombshell motion, alleging prosecutors are intimidating witnesses, |
| 0:35.7 | including threats of arrest and the revocation of immunity. |
| 0:39.0 | This comes on top of the October revelation that the state's key fentanyl sourcing witness also recanted, |
| 0:45.7 | claiming he never sold fentanyl to the housekeeper, allegedly in this drug chain, |
| 0:51.7 | with pretrial rulings limiting the FBI profiler's testimony, |
| 0:55.4 | excluding domestic violence evidence, |
| 0:57.3 | and the admissibility of the Walk the Dog Letter still partially unresolved, |
| 1:01.3 | this case is going to trial with both sides wounded. |
| 1:05.1 | Former prosecutor and defense attorney Eric Fattis has followed the case closely with us, |
| 1:09.8 | and going to give us an interesting perspective on it, you know, because you can see both sides here. |
| 1:16.1 | We got two weeks before trial. |
| 1:17.9 | Corey Richens' attorney filing this motion claiming lead detective Jeff O'Driscoll, |
| 1:22.1 | texted a witness saying essentially, answer our call so we can prep you or the next time I knock on your door, |
| 1:28.1 | I'll have a warrant and a catch poll for your dog. |
| 1:32.6 | As a former prosecutor, when you read something like that in a court filing, what's your |
| 1:36.6 | gut reaction? Is this aggressive law enforcement or does it cross into witness intimidation |
| 1:41.5 | territory? It's certainly needlessly aggressive. |
... |
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