Kouri Richins: The Systemic Blind Spots That Let Poisoners Walk Free
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 910 Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The DHS warning about Kouri Richins isn't just about her case. It's about what we're missing.
America's autopsy rate has collapsed to 8.5%, with natural-looking deaths autopsied just 4.3% of the time. Death certificates are wrong roughly a third of the time. The January 2026 Department of Homeland Security bulletin documented seventeen spousal poisoning cases since 2014 with at least eleven deaths — substances like cyanide, antifreeze, fentanyl, and common eye drops all chosen because they mimic natural illness. DHS specifically cited Richins' upcoming trial as part of this accelerating national pattern.
This episode examines three convicted spousal poisoners — James Craig, Lana Clayton, and Stacey Castor — who each nearly escaped detection, and connects their cases to the Richins trial and the systemic failures that let poisoners walk free. The system didn't catch any of them. A person did every time.
Richins is charged with aggravated murder in the 2022 fentanyl death of her husband Eric in Kamas, Utah. Prosecutors allege she spiked his cocktail with five times the lethal amount after a failed attempt on Valentine's Day two weeks earlier. The alleged motive: her realty company owed at least $1.8 million while Eric's estate was worth roughly $5 million.
The defense says publicity has poisoned the jury pool beyond repair. Judge Richard Mrazik disagreed, denying their second venue change motion after prosecutors pointed to 830 potential jurors who hadn't heard of the case or hadn't followed it. What makes this case so well-known isn't media coverage — it's the allegations themselves. A children's book about grief. A six-page jailhouse letter allegedly laying out fabricated testimony. A drug source who now says under oath he never sold fentanyl at all.
Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent. Trial begins February 23rd.
#KouriRichins #HiddenKillers #SpousalPoisoning #DHSWarning #AutopsyCrisis #JamesCraig #LanaClayton #StaceyCastor #EricRichins #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. |
| 0:10.4 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Brewski. |
| 0:13.5 | Here now, Tony Brewski. |
| 0:16.9 | Corey Richon's defense team wants you to believe that publicity has poisoned her murder trial. |
| 0:23.6 | That's the word they used. |
| 0:25.5 | Poisoned. |
| 0:27.2 | And in a case where a woman is accused of lacing her husband's cocktail with five times a lethal dose of fentanyl, |
| 0:33.8 | you think someone on that legal team would have picked a different verb. |
| 0:38.3 | But here we are. |
| 0:40.9 | This last month, defense attorneys filed their second motion to move Corey's trial out of Summit County, Utah. |
| 0:47.2 | They argued that the case has become so well known locally that seating an impartial jury is essentially impossible. |
| 0:55.3 | And look, the numbers they cite aren't nothing. |
| 0:58.2 | Out of 1,723 jury questionnaires returned, roughly 85% of respondents said they recognize the |
| 1:06.1 | case. |
| 1:06.6 | About 60% said they've been following it somewhat closely or very closely. |
| 1:11.2 | The defense did the math, or their version of the math, |
| 1:14.7 | and said once you strip out everyone who's familiar with a case, |
| 1:17.5 | everyone with hardship claims, everyone with other disqualifying issues, |
| 1:21.5 | you're left with about 72 viable jurors. |
| 1:24.7 | That's not enough, they argued, |
| 1:26.9 | to reliably seat a jury of eight plus four alternatives. |
... |
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