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The evidence will prove that Corey Richens murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life.
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>> They're going to spend weeks in this trial trying to convince you that Cy had
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reasons to kill her husband because they can't show you that she did kill her husband.
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Welcome to this special episode of the 48 Hours podcast inside the Corey Richens trial. I'm 48 Hours
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correspondent Natalie Morales and you just heard from both the prosecution and the defense in this case. Well, today we
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are talking about Corey Richen. She's a Utah mother who wrote a book on grief to
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help her children cope with the death of their father Eric after an apparent fentinel overdose back in March of 2022.
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So, what happened today? >> He was just fine. We were fine. When we When you say we were fine, what
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what what time did you see him when he was alert? >> We had a drink together at 9 to
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celebrate something at work tomorrow. >> Okay. >> We went to bed. I went to bed with my
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kids. he would defend our bed. >> And that was Corey captured on the sheriff's deputy body camera footage.
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We'll talk about that in just a moment. But things did take a turn a year later when Corey was arrested and charged with
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poisoning Eric to death with that celebratory drink along with a multitude of other charges. She has pleaded not
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guilty to all the charges. Now, I covered this case for 48 hours. And now, years after delays, the Richens trial is
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finally underway in Summit County in Utah. And here to talk about it all is CBS News chief correspondent Matt
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Gutman, who has been closely watching all of the developments in court. Hello, Matt. Good to have you with us.
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>> Hey Natalie, it's good to be with you. Um, so, you know, obviously this has been years in the making. Um, and at
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this point, Cory is facing over 30 total counts, but really at this trial, first-degree murder, attempted murder.
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There's insurance fraud related to the murder and a forgery charge as well. If she is convicted, she would face the
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rest of her life behind bars. So, obviously, the the stakes are extremely high here.
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>> Extremely high. And I know there is so much media interest in this trial. You've been keeping track of what's been
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going on in court. What was the mood like as it got underway? First, I mean there is so much interest
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that there is an overflow room for journalists and for others who have to watch it on a feed. Not everybody who
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was interested in watching, including accredited press, can fit in the courtroom itself. Um, so you can see
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everybody densely packed in this courtroom. There's there's a theatrical production element here. Um, and
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obviously at the center of this production is Corey Richens. And so far she's looked very composed. There were a
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couple of moments when you saw an arched eyebrow here and there, but generally um
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she sort of kept it very very even killed along with her attorneys. >> And I'm sure her attorneys are
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instructing her to keep that, you know, that keep that very serious face in the courtroom. Um you did talk about all of
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the scrutiny. You know, the defense in fact even had tried to have this trial moved from Summit County given that
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scrutiny. Now that didn't happen. But what is it about this case that has captured the nation's attention?
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>> So on the one hand, there was a book that Cory Richens wrote, uh, a children's book after Eric's death. Um,
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and that really catapulted this into the national spotlight. But, you know, the basic story is here you have this
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attractive couple. Corey Richards is 31. Her husband Eric is 39. and they have these really three cute boys uh an
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idllic lifestyle. He's big into hunting and he's got a successful business. She in her own rights is a successful
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businesswoman. Um looks like they've got it made. Uh but obviously looks can be deceiving and and that's the way it is
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everywhere. >> And this was a couple that even, you know, Cory's defense attorney said that
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they were a flawed couple that they had even contemplated divorce at one point. But, you know, the families have said,
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you know, they were trying to patch things up. So, there's going to be two sides to this very intriguing story.
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But, I want to talk about a little about that children's book. I actually have a
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copy of it in front of me. Are you with me? Um, and Corey actually dedicates this book to Eric, to his memory. And
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you see in this picture, he's sort of the angel at the center right here. and she dedicates it to my amazing husband
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and a wonderful father. So she was arrested a month after this book was published.
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>> This book really, I think, served to sort of turn things into a boiling point
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in this case, right? Uh there was already no love lost between Corey Richen's side of the family,
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specifically Corey and her uh siblings and her mother and um the actual family of Eric Richens, his sisters and his
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father especially. >> There are also allegations of you know money being the motive here. Corey was
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in a house flipping real estate business which as you said on the surface she appeared to be successful. In fact, that
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celebratory drink that, you know, the reason they were having that was she had just closed on a huge property that she
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bought not far from Park City and Eric knew about this and signed off on this according to to Corey's family. And uh
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but that added to her debt. She was in over her head by over $4 million, which also coincidentally was about the amount
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that Eric's estate is worth. Right. So, that's what the prosecution says. Now, the defense will say, "Hey, listen.
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Corey knew from the get-go that Eric's money was tied up in a trust. She did not have access to that trust. Why would
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she kill the father of her children knowing that she couldn't access that money?" Um, that is what they one of the
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things that their case is going to hinge on, that Eric Richens was worth much more to Corey Richens, alive rather than
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dead. But she took out an insurance policy in Eric's name without him knowing about it. According to the
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prosecution, they say that she forged his signature on that insurance policy. Um, there is going to be a lot in this
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case that we're going to get involved with here, but day one, the jury heard opening statements. Here is prosecutor
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Brad Bledworth. It is the evening of March the 3, 2022. The defendant, Corey Richens,
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her husband Eric Richens, and their three children, 9-year-old Carter, 7-year-old Ashton, and 5-year-old
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Weston, are at their home in Camas. Eric Richens live for his three boys. At 7:22 PM,
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Corey Richen's boyfriend, Robert Josh Grossman, texts Corey Richens an image of two
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people romantically kissing. The image is captioned, "Love you." At 8:36, Corey Richens replies,
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"Love you." The boys go to bed. Corey Richens makes Eric a drink and takes it to him in their bedroom. He
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drinks on the bed. She departs the bedroom. Corey Richens returns to the bedroom at
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about 3:00 a.m. She feels that Eric is cold. She nudges him. He does not respond.
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She sees that he is stiff and pale. His mouth is wide open. At 3:06 a.m., Corey Richens unlocks her
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cell phone. She takes she travels 243 feet beginning at 3:08 a.m. She unlocks her cell phone again at
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3:10, 3:15, and twice at 3:19. At 3:21, Corey Richens unlocks her cell phone and calls 911.
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Paramedics respond, but they are unable to revive Eric. He has no pulse. He is cold.
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They pronounce him dead at 3:58 a.m. on March the 4th, but they think he has been dead a while.
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Natalie, we saw this really dramatic body camera video and like we haven't seen any of that yet. And you can see
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Cory coming out um in pajamas talking to the deputies. >> I just I when I sleep in my clothes, I
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wake up and I go back in my own bed and I just crawled over on his side and >> Oh no.
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>> And he was laying in bed. >> Okay. What? >> He was on his back on the bed and I
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>> Okay. And he was on You said he was on his back. >> Okay. Where Where are your children now?
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>> He's asleep in that room. Two are awake with their ear to the door. >> Please don't come out. So, this is the
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first time that Matt that I'm hearing or seeing an emotional Corey Richens, you know, from that body cam footage.
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However, the prosecution isn't buying it. You know, Corey's behavior that night, they make the case as well as her
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digital footprint and the timing to when she made the 911 call. They're saying all of that doesn't really add up. And
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what's interesting, Matt, is according to the prosecution, that was not even, you know, the first time they alleged
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that Corey possibly tried to poison Eric with fentinel on an occasion before on around Valentine's Day, right, of 2022.
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>> He tried to that she tried to poison him possibly with fentinyl uh in a sandwich.
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Uh he got sick from the sandwich, survived. Uh apparently the defense said it was an allergic reaction. It could
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have just been a bad sandwich or it could have been something else. But again, there's no direct evidence
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showing what that might have been. At this point, that's just an allegation. >> But at that time, Eric was apparently
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already telling friends that he believed that Cory had poisoned him. So, you know, that's a pretty strong allegation
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to make and he had to have reason to think that his life was at risk. So on the other side of this, how is the
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defense now explaining Eric's death? >> So the defense maintains that Eric likely overdosed from taking uh at least
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one or more marijuana gummies that he did not know were laced with fentinel. Um and actually we heard Corey on that
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uh body camera footage when um first responders arrived saying that yeah, sometimes Eric would take marijuana
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gummies to deal with pain. He was also diagnosed with limes disease um and worked as a stonemason and was pretty
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well known to have suffered from very serious knee pain and back pain as well. >> Well, let's play a little bit of defense
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attorney Kathy Neestor making that case. >> He ingested a fatal dose of fentinel.
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What you will never hear after 4 years of investigation where as recently as two weeks ago they were back searching
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that house after four years of investigation and five weeks of this trial. You know what you're never going
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to hear is how that fendel got inside of him because there is zero evidence of that.
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>> But you know the prosecution does have a witness who has come forward. She said
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she sold Corey Fentinel. Her name is Carmen Lober. What do we know about her connection to Corey?
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>> Carmen Lobber is probably the most important witness. Um, she had been employed by Corey as a house cleaner in
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her real estate business and she has a history. She has a history of drug charges, criminal history. Um, and she
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eventually in a subsequent iteration of her testimony to investigators told them
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that she sold Corey Fentinel on a couple of separate occasions. But what we heard
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today, what we heard the other day actually in court is Kathy Netor saying, "Well,
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Carmen Lober actually changed her testimony." You're going to hear Carmen testify now
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that Corey asked her for fentinel. But what you're going to hear is that that was not Carmen's original story. That
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when Carmen was originally interviewed, she said no mention of fentinil. It was all about Oxy. There was no fentinel.
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Carmen talks like she doesn't even know what fentinel is. Right? >> Guess when she changes her testimony.
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She changes her testimony when the police say, "Hey, you know what? We caught you. We caught you with drugs. We
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caught you with guns. And if you don't say what we want you to say, you're going to jail for a really, really long
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time. Federal and state. But we're going to give you a ticket. We're going to give you a free ticket to get out of all
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the trouble you're in. But you got to say Corey said federal and she changes her story. You're going to get to
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evaluate her credibility and what you think of her. >> Yeah. So Carmen Loberers's credibility
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is clearly going to come into question, but also that whole timeline of what happened. So there's going to be
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questions as to what was done by the responding officers. And did they really secure the scene enough or get what they
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needed? For example, where's the glassear? Perhaps from the Moscow mule that Cory said she made. Did they even
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test it? Apparently not, according to the defense. >> And we saw some of that Tuesday in
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court. Um, one of the investigators on the scene right away uh was asked by the defense, "Well, you know, Corey told you
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that that Eric had taken these pot gummies. Did Did you ask to see the bags of the gummies? Did you ask to secure
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any of that?" And he said, "No." But the defense is going to say, "Hey, listen. This is basic police work. A young man
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who is 39 tragically dies in his bed. There's a bottle was beside Eric's bed for
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prescription drugs from 2016. His wife tells you that he's been taking THC gummies. You can connect the dots there
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and start to do even a slightly more thorough investigation. And so this is one of the reasons that the defense and
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Corey Richens and her people all along and family have said that law enforcement failed her.
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Moving back now to the family. What did they have to say? >> You know, it's very emotional. This is
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the worst day in this family's lives. And I think that the prosecution very capably presented that and it brought
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back the fact that Eric is a victim here. Eric died somehow in a way that he should not have died, right? A
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39year-old man shouldn't drop dead like that for no reason. So something went wrong. Um Eric's father on the stand,
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you know, this is quite obviously something that will mar him forever. Eric's sister Katie also on the stand
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still tearing up frequently. >> On the morning that Eric died, did Corey Richens say anything about the house
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that they were living in? >> Yes, she told me. sold the house, the 282 Willow Court that they were living
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in um with their kids. Um she told me she was going to sell it. >> Did anything about that strike you as
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odd? >> Yes. I honestly could not function. I couldn't even figure out like what was
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for dinner that night. I had just lost one of the most important people in my whole entire life.
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and she was planning on selling the house that he had just been wheeled out of, closing on a multi-million dollar
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mansion. I could not wrap my head around it. >> So, in her testimony, Natalie, um Katie
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described seeing Corey come out of the room. She seemed to indicate that that she was emotionless, almost wooden,
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incredibly businesslike. Um, but that was pretty quickly shot out of the air by the defense team, which then played
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that body camera video of Corey and seemed to really catch Eric's sister, Katie, in a pretty big
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mischaracterization. It's unclear at this point if Cory knew whether she had access to the trust
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because she didn't. And the surviving trustee was Katie, Eric's sister. So only she could be able to sell the
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house. >> You know, beyond all of that was going on financially as far as a motive, there
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is the allegation as well from both sides. Both families saying they had both had affairs. According to Corey's
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family, Eric had had an affair in the past. But now we're learning, and I'm hearing this, you know, for the first
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time during this trial, that Corey was also having an affair. At the time, she was even exchanging text messages just
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shortly before Eric's death with her lover, who was named Robert Josh Grossman. And we're seeing that in
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court. We're seeing those exchanges >> three weeks before Eric's death, 15 days before Eric's death, one day before the
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charge, attempted murder. Corey Richens text messaged Josh Gman, "If I was divorced right now and asked you to
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marry me tomorrow, you would? I just want to lay on the couch and cuddle you. watch a murder
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documentary and snuggle. 5 days after the charged attempted murder and 11 days before the charged
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murder, Corey Richens text messaged Josh Gman, "Babe, I miss you. I want you today, every day. Not just sexually, but
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physically, mentally. Every day when I wake up, I do want a future together. I do want you figure life out together.
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If he could just go away and you could just be here. Life would be so perfect. I love you. I don't know what my deal is
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today. I'm sorry. But wait, there's actually more here. The prosecution presented evidence that three months
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before Eric's death, Cory had booked a Caribbean vacation for herself and Grossman. Just over two weeks after Eric
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Richen's death, Corey Richens text messaged her boyfriend a link to the secret St. Martins's Resort and
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Spa in the Caribbean and asked, "Are we there yet? One month and five days after Eric
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Richen's death, Corey Richens texted, "I think I want you to be my husband one day."
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So, I mentioned this is the first time that I'm hearing about Corey having an affair because when I talked with her
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family two years ago, her mother, Lisa Darden, said that Eric was the one who had been having an affair, that he had
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even, you know, they they they had talked about getting a divorce. They had gone through couples counseling. And
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actually, friends and and some of the other family members say this was the best they'd ever seen Corey and Eric at
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the time. So, you know, clearly there are two sides. We don't really know what was going on in this couple's life. But
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what is clear is that they had an imperfect marriage as even the defense attorney Netor admitted that they had an
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imperfect marriage. But does that make the case for murder? I >> I mean, I think that's the precise
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question that this entire trial hinges on, Natalie. Um, there's a lot of smoke, right? There's infidelity. There's debt.
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Um, obviously no love lost between both sides of the family. Some really troubled and and and and choppy waters
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between this couple. And it's very much he said, she said at this point. Um, and
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I think because the prosecution doesn't have that smoking gun, there is no piece of
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evidence that directly links Cory to delivering fentinel to Eric that killed him. they are building this
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circumstantial case, all of this other stuff around her life that pointed to her wanting to get rid of her husband.
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Um, and so how fully can they flesh that picture out? That is what we're going to
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see in this fiveweek long trial. They're going to go at it again and again. And what the defense is saying is that, hey,
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they're going to say that she was flawed. And you know what? We admit it. They hired this private investigator who
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found out all these terrible things and then delivered them to police investigators. And you know what? It's
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true. She is imperfect. She is flawed. But the defense is saying she is not a murderer. The prosecution will come back
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with, "Well, jury, you believe what you see. All of the stuff we believe points to one thing, and that is Corey Richend
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Richens willfully tried to murder her husband somehow. We don't exactly know how, but with fentinel at some point
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that night. >> I think Matt, what's what's really going to be interesting in this case is to see
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whether or not the defense is willing to put Corey Richens on the stand. And, you
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know, that would be very compelling testimony. I imagine the jury would want to hear that, but that would be a huge
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risk for the defense to take, right? >> Yeah. It's a Hail Mary. And typically the defense team will do it when a they
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believe that their client is so good and so smooth and so reliable that they are
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not going to trip up on direct or on cross-examination because you can imagine what that
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prosecution team is going to do if they get Corey Richens on the stand. They're going to go after her. um we don't know
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if it's going to happen. Maybe she is so compelling that they think yes, she can
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be a very strong asset for us. But in these trials, you never know and 5 weeks is a long time. So, you know, we could
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see you can also tell Natalie that they are already trying to build the case for
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appeal. Even if they don't, even if Cy is found guilty, they are trying to build the case for appeal that she can't
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get a fair trial in Summit County because Eric Richen's family is so powerful, is so successful, is so
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connected to people in that county that she deserves another shot at this. So, you know, all of these are
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possibilities. >> We're definitely going to be watching this one. It is a fascinating trial. you
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know, 5 weeks as you said, but it will go quickly because every day there are fascinating new details coming forward.
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And Matt, you are the guy who's going to be watching it for us. So, we appreciate
00:25:07
that. Thank you so much. >> Yeah, it's been riveting so far. >> And a reminder to all of you who are
00:25:12
listening or watching that you can find our showcast, classics, and special episodes of the 48 hours podcast
00:25:19
wherever you get your podcast.