Kouri Richins Trial Begins — But the Defense Already Drew Blood
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kouri Richins goes to trial for the alleged fentanyl murder of her husband Eric in less than a week — and the prosecution's case may not be as airtight as it looked a year ago. The man who was supposed to prove the fentanyl supply chain has recanted. The lead detective faces witness intimidation allegations. Two prosecution experts were excluded. And 26 financial crime charges were severed from the case entirely.
Former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis joins True Crime Today to break down what the defense gained before the jury ever sat down. Robert Crozier now says under oath that he sold OxyContin, not fentanyl — and the pills were never recovered or forensically tested. Prosecutors dropped the drug distribution charges after that sworn affidavit. Faddis explains why that gap matters, how Detective O'Driscoll's alleged threats to a witness could undermine the investigation's credibility, and what it means that Judge Mrazik blocked the state's domestic violence expert and limited FBI profiler Molly Amman's role.
The defense lost two venue change requests in a county where 85 percent of residents had heard of the case. Jury selection wrapped in two days. Faddis walks through whether that rapid process helps or hurts Kouri — and identifies the single biggest card the defense holds heading into opening statements on February 23rd.
#KouriRichins #RichinsTrial #EricRichins #FentanylMurder #TrueCrimeToday #SummitCounty #DefenseStrategy #EricFaddis #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brewski, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:09.8 | There is a big trial that is about to get underway. |
| 0:13.7 | We've been talking about it for roughly three years now, the Corey Richens murder trial. |
| 0:19.1 | If all holds out, here we are. |
| 0:21.8 | Jury has been seated. |
| 0:23.5 | February 23rd in Summit County, nearly four years after Eric Richens was found dead from a fentanyl |
| 0:31.0 | overdose. |
| 0:32.1 | But heading into opening statements, the defense has landed some real pre-trial blows, recanting, drug source, witness |
| 0:41.8 | intimidation allegations against the lead detective, excluded experts, and severed financial |
| 0:48.3 | charges. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Fattis is with us to help us break all |
| 0:54.1 | this down. |
| 0:55.0 | Eric, welcome. |
| 0:56.5 | The man, prosecutors say supplied the fentanyl, Robert Crozer. |
| 1:01.2 | He's the big one for the defense here. |
| 1:04.3 | He has signed a sworn affidavit saying he sold oxy, not fentanyl, to the housekeeper, Carmen Lauber. |
| 1:13.3 | He says he was detoxing and out of it during his 2023 police interview and the pills were never |
| 1:19.6 | recovered or tested as a former prosecutor. I got to ask you, how dangerous is it for the state? |
| 1:26.4 | When the alleged murder weapon, the pills was never forensically confirmed, |
| 1:30.7 | and the one person in the supply chain who knew the pills what they were now says that that's not true. |
| 1:38.2 | You know, Johnny, I think it's a real significant problem. |
| 1:41.4 | Look, the jury's going to want to see substantiation of these allegations. |
| 1:46.4 | You know, they're saying it was fentanyl. Okay, well, where is the fentanyl? Was it ever found in her house? |
... |
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