Latest / Probation Behavior / 6 | Eric Richins: The Tragedy Behind a Children’s Book

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6 | Eric Richins: The Tragedy Behind a Children’s Book · Probation Behavior

0:23
You're listening to probation behavior.
0:27
I I've been taking a muscle relaxer like every single night
0:30
and that's just not, I can't do that for that long.
0:34
No, I don't know much about muscle relaxers.
0:37
Yeah, I hit record. Yeah, I hit record.
0:40
What about it? You're going to be like, why do
0:42
you keep looking at your screen? No, I, I know.
0:46
I know your towels. My towels, Yeah, you're figuring
0:50
them out for sure. Me and Abby have been joking
0:53
lately that we've been all business.
0:55
I know I'm like. I know we are going to see
1:00
Hamilton though. We are, which Ali completely
1:04
forgot about. Yeah, I fully did.
1:08
Like when you told me it, it felt like I heard it for the
1:10
first time. No.
1:11
Because you, because I basically did, basically did.
1:14
I was like, oh, and remember, like we have Hamilton in May.
1:19
And you're like Memorial Day weekend, not even just May
1:22
Memorial Day weekend. Like don't make any fucking
1:25
plans. Memorial Day weekend.
1:26
And you're like, we're going to Hamilton for free.
1:32
Oh my God, I was like, wait, we already bought tickets.
1:35
I think I asked you. Yeah.
1:36
I'm like, it was a gift. It was a gift.
1:39
And I decided to take you and you don't even remember it.
1:41
It would have been. I was like wow, I could have
1:43
changed my mind and she wouldn't have even known I.
1:45
Wouldn't have even known I wouldn't have felt it against
1:48
you. Yeah, it's me and Abby are both
1:51
theater kids. So for context, I majored in
1:57
psychology and theater in college.
1:59
What a wild combo. Talk about getting a job after
2:03
college. I do work.
2:05
Hence the podcast. Hence the podcast.
2:08
Yeah. And then, Abigail, tell us your
2:10
theater story. So I did not major in theater in
2:14
college, but like, you know what?
2:16
Maybe I'll go back and get my master's.
2:19
Just kidding, I don't think I'll do that.
2:21
But when I was in elementary school, we did have some
2:26
productions in the 4th and 5th grade, and we did have to be in
2:30
it like they required you to be in it.
2:32
But I was the lead role both 4th and 5th grade, and I was in
2:39
chorus for several years. Also dabbled in the clarinet
2:45
violin. I didn't know that theater
2:47
adjacent, yeah. The arts.
2:50
We're lovers of the arts. That's the right way to say it,
2:53
yeah. Yeah, I mean, we're both musical
2:55
enthusiasts. I have on my playlist regularly.
2:58
Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it.
3:01
I am the one thing in life I can't control.
3:04
Oh, we're actually. Doing it, Yeah.
3:08
You told me to sing it on the podcast because I'm amazing.
3:12
Obviously. No, I'm tone deaf.
3:16
I'll tell you a real quick story.
3:18
Everybody knew in high school, I I was in all the theater
3:21
productions, loved it. But everybody knew that I did
3:24
not sing. OK.
3:25
I was only acting, never singing.
3:28
And even acting was terrifying to me.
3:30
I have horrible anxiety. But my senior year, we were
3:34
doing A Chorus Line and my drama teacher said I had to sing at my
3:40
audition. She knew me very well.
3:42
She knew I had a crippling fear of singing in front of people
3:45
because I'm not good. And she was like, no, you have
3:48
to. It was one of the most freeing
3:50
moments. I still think back on it and
3:52
cringe because it was so bad, obviously, But it was so freeing
3:57
to just be like, you know what? I'm going to be bad and I have
4:00
to just let it happen. Everybody clapped so hard.
4:04
All my friends clapped so hard for me after because they knew
4:08
how nervous I was and it was just like a really beautiful
4:12
tone deaf moment. That's super sweet.
4:16
Face your fears. You tone deafs out there.
4:21
Follow your dreams. You know what?
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That's really. Bad.
4:24
I do. Yeah, that was a.
4:26
That was good. She's really good.
4:31
Anyways, I always do that. I my we're starting to figure
4:35
out our filler words and our favorite go to words and it's
4:41
unfortunate because now I can't unhear it with myself.
4:45
Yeah, I mean, filler words, I feel like it's hard to avoid.
4:51
It's hard to avoid in our speech patterns.
4:54
But we're trying, you know, we're trying to be eloquent,
5:00
clear and. Classy.
5:03
Yeah. If there's one thing I thought
5:05
about creating this podcast, it was let me be classy and
5:08
eloquent. Now I knew that.
5:09
I pretty much knew that I was going to get roasted.
5:13
Roasted strong word like. Yeah, actually I do want to say
5:17
we. So in our timeline of things we
5:20
have pre recorded a bunch of episodes.
5:22
So you will hear this coming out later.
5:24
But in our timeline, our reality last week, we actually launched
5:29
the podcast. And I know that like it's been
5:33
most of our friends supporting, but it's been so fun and so
5:39
amazing to hear that people actually don't hate it.
5:43
And that was. What they say.
5:45
So they say again, you know, our theory is that they wouldn't say
5:49
so many compliments if if it was bad.
5:52
Like really, right? Anyways, I also want to give a
5:56
shout out to the podcast Spooky Chicks and Horror Flicks.
6:00
My new best friend at work named Emma and her and her Co host
6:07
Ally also spelled ALLY review horror movies.
6:12
But they don't just review it. They go kind of scene by scene
6:15
and talk about the behind the scenes.
6:17
They do so much research. It's so clear like how much
6:19
research that they do that goes into this podcast and it's
6:22
amazing and she is so wonderful. Emma, we work together.
6:26
So anyways, just wanted to do a little shout out and I guess
6:30
I'll stop yapping if I must and hand it over to Abigail I.
6:35
Thought you'd never ask? She's literally looking at me
6:38
like can you fucking shut up? No, Ali, Never.
6:43
OK, I do want to get started here and I'm going to start with
6:48
a quote as we always do our This is our secret sauce, OK?
6:55
I love a secret sauce. Can I just say real quick, it's
6:59
always 1000 Island secretly. No, like, you know, secretly.
7:03
That's your secret sauce. No, but you know how
7:04
restaurants, they always have their special sauce?
7:06
And it's just 1000 and it's. Just 1000 island.
7:08
It's always some variation on that and it's amazing.
7:11
It's like what is 1000 island though?
7:14
Oh, I have in it. No clue.
7:15
I just know it's like somewhat orangey pink.
7:17
Yeah, I that's all I know. I don't love the color of it
7:20
though. You know, now that you say it,
7:22
it's reminding me of vomit. Yeah, but I love a secret sauce.
7:26
I see secret sauce on the menu and I'm like give it to me.
7:30
And it's like that classic, like white packet with like the, you
7:34
know, and it's just Thousand Island.
7:36
Or like the restaurant will always like title it like, you
7:40
know, we used to. I love the restaurant in
7:42
Richmond called Burger Batch. It has a couple locations and
7:46
they always had like their secret sauce or burger batch
7:48
sauce or whatever it was. They always call it something
7:51
like they they say that, Oh no, it's our sauce.
7:54
It's literally just the same thing.
7:55
Every restaurant uses it and I fucking love it.
7:58
And I do want to say that we also talked a little bit about,
8:02
I think I would call it yummy sauce or fancy sauce.
8:04
And your what? Last week's Where was it?
8:10
We don't know the timeline. I'm so sorry.
8:12
Prerecord here. Avengers end game out here.
8:14
I don't know which timeline I won.
8:19
OK, I'm just going to go back at a sidebar.
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The sauce. I should have never said the
8:24
word sauce. OK, back on track here.
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The quote is he loved everyone. Did not matter who you were or
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where you came from. Today's case is one that shocked
8:37
investigators and captured national attention.
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And before I researched this, I do remember seeing a specific
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headline about this case that was quite disturbing.
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So this is the story of 39 year old Eric Richins.
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Have you heard of him before? I Upon hearing his name, I.
9:00
It does not ring a bell, but when you listen to a lot of, you
9:05
know, you hear a lot of true crime news.
9:06
I I'm sure I came across it at some point, but maybe not.
9:10
Let's hear it. OK, Tell me about Eric.
9:13
Let's jump right in. So Eric was a member of the
9:15
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
9:18
Mormons. Yep, he it was just like a just
9:23
like a reflex. So yes, he lived in Utah.
9:28
Spoiler alert, Salt Lake. No, not Salt Lake.
9:33
I'll actually touch on that in a SEC, sorry.
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So you're going to tell me the story and I don't have to ask
9:39
questions? Oh, maybe I should.
9:41
Revolutionary. We're finding on real time how
9:45
this works. Oh my God, so cool.
9:47
OK, so just a little bit of background on him.
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He, when he was younger, served A2 year mission in Mexico City
9:54
where he actually learned to speak Spanish fluently and
9:58
received a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in
10:02
International Studies with a minor in Spanish.
10:05
So Eric's mission and his education shaped his business
10:10
acumen and he had the perfect combination of business sense,
10:15
foresight and just friendliness. And his personality was just
10:20
kind of described as like contagious and was a friend to
10:26
everyone. So with all that background, he
10:29
ended up building a very successful masonry business from
10:32
the ground up and actually helped many friends do the same.
10:36
And for the women in STEM out there, if you don't know, now
10:41
you will. Masonry is the building of
10:43
structures typically like walls, foundations and walkways.
10:48
Did you know that? So I thought masonry was bricks.
10:53
So bricks can be walls, foundations and walkways can be
10:57
made of bricks. Why did I think I thought
11:00
masonry was exclusively bricks? So I I think his specifically
11:06
was like stone masonry. OK, gotcha.
11:08
So we got some subsets. Got it.
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Yeah, any who Eric Richins not only had a successful business,
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he had a family. He was married to his wife Corey
11:20
for roughly 9 years and was a father of three to his sons
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Carter, Ashton and Weston, ages 97 and five.
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And home was a place called Francis, Utah.
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And Francis is a town in the western edge of Summit County,
11:36
Utah. So it's part of the Salt Lake
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City metropolitan area, but it's a small town itself.
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He and Corey met in 2009 when she was working at Home Depot.
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Such a meat. Cute.
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I know, right? He's going to look for some
11:53
stones and she's like, can I help you with those stones?
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She's wearing that orange bag. Oh my God, I love that.
11:59
I know. So to outsiders, again, their
12:03
life looked very successful. Corey eventually had started her
12:07
own real estate agency and they were very big in family life and
12:13
their future seemed very secure. Again, he's successful, she has
12:17
her business venture and all seemed well for the most part.
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So that takes us to the morning of March 4th, 2022.
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Eric is found unresponsive in his bedroom at the family home
12:33
in Utah by his wife, Corey. So according to statements later
12:39
given by Corey, she said that she had brought him a drink the
12:43
night before, specifically a Moscow Mule.
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I guess that was like his drink of choice and he'd gone to bed.
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And then she later found him cold and unresponsive the next
12:54
morning and called 911. So when emergency responders
13:00
arrived, they attempted aid but Eric was then pronounced dead at
13:05
the scene. Think when they showed up
13:07
initially he was still breathing but was very much struggling.
13:13
Sorry, they slept in the same bed and she woke up and he was
13:17
unresponsive. So actually, according to Corey,
13:22
it was around 9:00 PM that they had the drinks together, but she
13:27
made the drinks and then she went to sleep in one of their
13:32
son's. Bedrooms sorry I I missed.
13:35
That I didn't say that before, that this is a new detail that
13:38
actually really led me in the right direction here.
13:41
Yes, again, Corey's goes to sleep in one of the son's
13:45
bedrooms. That's what she tells an
13:46
officer. And then when she returned to
13:49
the master bedroom around 3:00 AM, and I'm not sure if she's
13:51
saying like, you know, the kid wanted her to like read like, I
13:56
don't know what her reasoning was for sleeping in the kids
13:58
bedroom. With a kid, I could imagine a
14:00
million reasons. Exactly.
14:02
So not entirely sure. Maybe there are details about
14:04
this, but I didn't really see. So goes back to the master
14:08
bedroom where Eric is around 3:00 AM and then says she found
14:14
her husband laying in the bed, not breathing actually.
14:18
So I actually watched the body Cam footage of police telling
14:24
her that he was dead. And she's basically like sitting
14:30
on the ground, like kind of curled up in a ball, like
14:33
covering her eyes and just saying, like, I just came into
14:36
bed in our bed. And like, I turned over and he
14:38
was just cold. He was just so cold.
14:41
And she kind of kept saying that.
14:42
And she also then said that later, not in the body Cam
14:47
footage, but that when she called emergency services early
14:51
that morning, she said that she had no idea what happened.
14:56
Like, she was super confused. And there was no indication of,
15:00
like, why this would have happened to him.
15:03
It was initially seen as a possible overdose or an
15:10
unexplained death, super strange or potentially like a natural
15:15
medical event. Of course, pending autopsy.
15:19
That was kind of the initial thought and the reasons for that
15:24
was because there was no signs of trauma or violence.
15:28
He was found in bed in a non disturbed environment.
15:32
Nothing initially suggested a struggle or forced entry of any
15:35
kind. And they're kind of at this
15:40
point thinking, OK, if it's an overdose, like typically the
15:47
type that's considered first is like a fentanyl overdose.
15:52
So the details that stood out to police initially was that Eric
15:57
had no known history of drug use and.
16:01
He was a Mormon, Yeah, I don't. Know well from.
16:04
That's such a stereotype. From watching The Secret Lives
16:07
of Mormon Wives, they're doing like ketamine.
16:10
Actually, no, you're so correct. Again, there is no stereotypical
16:15
addict, you know, so I I will say that, but.
16:19
But you could probably assume. If you were going to assume one
16:22
way or the other, you would probably assume no.
16:24
Well, just because it's. A core part of their religion,
16:27
you know. But again, you know, people
16:31
practice spiritually in a lot of different ways.
16:33
So I'm on the edge of my seat here.
16:36
Stays hot, so OK. Toxicology would become very
16:46
critical in this because there was no visible cause of death.
16:51
So at this stage, law enforcement treated it as a
16:54
specific sorry, law enforcement treated it as a suspicious but
16:59
undetermined death pending forensic results.
17:03
So that meant that the answers would come from toxicology.
17:07
The findings you may ask? Yep.
17:10
Changed everything. Eric Richins had fentanyl in his
17:14
system along with and maybe I'm saying this wrong I'm sorry fam.
17:19
It's primary metabolite which basically confirms that the body
17:24
processed it before his death. So the fentanyl?
17:28
Oh, it released, yes, OK. So the most crucial detail here
17:35
wasn't just what was found, it was how much the fentanyl level
17:41
found in his body was extremely high.
17:45
In fact, it was five times what is considered a lethal dose.
17:48
That's how much he had in his system.
17:51
SO question, it was just fentanyl.
17:55
There was no other drug, like it wasn't laced or something like
17:57
that. So I believe I it's kind of
18:02
mentioned a little bit later, but the, the main like word and
18:09
drug that they focus on is fentanyl.
18:13
Because that was the lethal component.
18:15
And because it was 5 * a lethal dose like that was a kind of a
18:19
very glaring, shocking detail. And actually what I am getting
18:27
to next is it wasn't like a trace exposure or anything
18:31
because sometimes in accidental cases, fentanyl can sometimes
18:36
show up in like tiny amounts. And so that's why it was again,
18:40
very suspicious. And this was not that.
18:43
This was like a massive, overwhelming dose of it.
18:47
So it didn't fit that accidental use.
18:50
It was, you know, there was no prescription, no known opioid
18:56
tolerance, no history suggesting he would have taken fentanyl
19:00
voluntarily. So for someone without a
19:04
tolerance at all, even a small amount can be deadly.
19:07
So again, this level is like far beyond that threshold.
19:11
Suspicious. Very.
19:14
So it suggested delivery method mattered because experts
19:19
testified that the amount present would likely have caused
19:22
like rapid sedation, respiratory collapse, basically being the
19:26
cause of death, meaning he may have most likely lost
19:30
consciousness quickly after he ingested it.
19:33
So this lines up the theory that the drug was ingested in a drink
19:38
shortly before bed. So essentially they're thinking,
19:42
and I don't know the science of this fentanyl can be like
19:46
liquidized. I guess I don't really know the
19:51
science of that either, but. Well, I guess if you you can
19:55
melt anything anyways. Yeah, I just, I don't, I don't
19:58
honestly. I know how dangerous fentanyl
20:00
is. I don't know enough of how these
20:03
things happen. So this is, you know, Yeah, this
20:07
is interesting. So how you asked before if there
20:10
was other drugs found in his system, Like in many overdose
20:14
cases, you do see that. But in this one, that was not
20:19
the case. There was not multiple
20:21
substances found and again, no known drug history.
20:25
So the medical examiner eventually ruled that his cause
20:29
of death was fentanyl intoxication.
20:33
The manner of death became a key question and ultimately part of
20:36
what investigators and prosecutors built their entire
20:38
case around. According to court documents.
20:42
Later, Eric had previously become severely I'll after a
20:47
meal his wife had prepared. So I'll in fact that he
20:51
reportedly told friends he believed he had been poisoned.
20:56
And from that point on, he was said to have taken precautions,
21:00
like even changing aspects of his estate planning.
21:05
Corey, I was rooting for your meat.
21:07
Cute, damn it. I know that.
21:09
Although I don't want to speak too soon, but it's not looking
21:11
good. Well, in hindsight, like you're
21:18
kind of you're on to something here.
21:21
Authorities allege that Cory Richins sought out fentanyl in
21:26
the weeks leading up to Eric's staff.
21:29
Clearly, the drug did not appear in his system by accident at
21:33
this point, especially with the fact that he had experienced
21:37
something before and even told friends that he thought he had
21:40
been poisoned. Now, I'm not sure if he said who
21:44
by, but this was something that he brought up to friends and
21:50
family. So what happened next was months
21:55
after Eric's death, Cory Richins, his wife, published a
22:01
children's book. Wait.
22:05
Are you like remembering? This is ringing a bell.
22:08
Oh for sure. OK, please continue.
22:10
Yeah. So the book was titled Are You
22:13
With Me? And this was written to help
22:16
children cope with the loss of a loved one.
22:19
Yeah. It follows a young boy whose
22:22
father has died and explores the idea that even after death,
22:26
loved ones are still present in small, comforting ways.
22:29
So the book was actually published almost a year after
22:33
Eric's death. There was not an arrest a year
22:37
after, no. Well, we're almost there, but
22:43
that's how much time has passed in between his death and this
22:49
book being released. And the investigation's about to
22:53
kind of pick up. But people often wonder, like,
22:55
how did she get away with this for that long, right?
23:00
Yeah. I mean, my first thought is
23:03
always. I'm easily convinced otherwise.
23:05
But I try and remind myself statistically it's going to be
23:08
the spouse. They have so many reasons which
23:12
is horrible but damn. OK, so I actually watched an
23:20
interview of her talking about the book and, like, promoting
23:23
it. And she basically said that she
23:27
wrote the book for her own children to be able to process
23:33
grief along with other children that are experiencing the same
23:36
thing. She described it as deeply
23:38
personal and a reflection of her family's loss.
23:42
And again, she appeared on local media to talk about healing loss
23:47
and like, just supporting children through tragedy.
23:51
And yeah, it was super strange to watch this obviously knowing,
23:56
like, what we know now. So as to what?
24:01
Do we know now? Funny you should ask Allie.
24:07
As the investigation progressed, the book took on a very
24:11
different tone in the eyes of the public because at first, it
24:15
was released and, like Foley, seen as, you know, a grieving,
24:19
Yeah, a grieving widow making this book.
24:21
I mean, so much so that she was invited onto news outlets to
24:24
talk about it. This is ringing a bell.
24:27
Yeah, that's what I had seen. I saw the title of the book and
24:33
how it was after the fact that she was then seen as a suspect.
24:39
So again, what had been originally presented as a
24:41
grieving widow's tribute to her husband and his life began to
24:46
feel like something a bit more unsettling.
24:50
So I want to go back to kind of the timeline inside the home and
24:55
what the investigators were focusing on and kind of how they
24:58
got to the point of Corey is our main suspect.
25:06
I really had to get that out. OK, go.
25:09
Was that a cough? Kind of I was like clearing up
25:11
my throat, OK. La Carcanta.
25:15
So I was taking Spanish classes. So this is the timeline that
25:19
investigators focused on, where they get to the point of Corey
25:23
being the main and only suspect. So Eric was at home and the
25:29
events leading up to his death were limited to a very small
25:32
window of time. And obviously, his wife was the
25:35
last person with him. Again, she told police she made
25:39
him a drink at Moscow Mule, watched him go to bed and then
25:43
found him early the next morning.
25:47
So the prior incident of Eric saying he thought he was
25:54
poisoned after consuming food at home and telling others that he
26:00
had been poisoned, and then on top of that, the toxicology
26:05
report confirming that fentanyl was his cause of death.
26:10
This previous incident started to look like less random and
26:15
like a possible pattern or intention.
26:19
So there was also alleged efforts on Corey's part to
26:25
obtain fentanyl. So according to charging
26:29
documents and later testimony, investigators found evidence
26:33
that she had asked others to obtain fentanyl for her, one of
26:36
which I believe is her, was their cleaning lady.
26:40
I do touch on the testimonies in a bit.
26:44
So I can confirm that then. But yeah, she was seeking
26:48
fentanyl and asking others to get it for her.
26:52
A mat that is a wild thing to say to somebody in any context.
26:58
Hey yo, you got fentanyl on you or do you know somebody who does
27:02
that's how do you respond? Like how would you respond to
27:06
that if somebody just asked you that?
27:07
And also, how does it even come up?
27:09
Like how do you ask that so boldly?
27:10
Yes. You're like, oh hey, thanks for
27:14
cleaning today. By the way, do you have any
27:18
fentanyl or do you know how to get me some?
27:20
Yeah, just like casually, you know, no big deal if you can't.
27:23
Like it's not to kill my husband, I swear.
27:26
Right. So obviously, this is very
27:30
glaring. And the communications that she
27:33
was having are active efforts to source this drug that was the
27:39
cause of her husband's death. But at this stage, Corey Richins
27:43
was not publicly named a suspect yet.
27:45
She was considered just a key witness and spouse.
27:49
They were still gathering toxicology results and building
27:53
a timeline, I guess in between that time that she published
27:56
this book and where we're at today.
28:00
So key developments are all starting to come into play and
28:06
roll out for law enforcement as they're investigating this.
28:12
And she now becomes the primary person of interest right after
28:18
the publishing of this book actually, is when she's named
28:23
the suspect, prime suspect. And I got to wonder, did that
28:27
increase sales of the book? Feel like yeah.
28:30
Yeah, I bet it did. Yeah, right.
28:33
Like the curiosity that we have, like I kind of want to, I'm kind
28:38
of interested to see like what it even says.
28:41
I know I this is A and question, but if she's still receiving
28:45
proceeds from that, you know, like I well, I wouldn't want to
28:51
buy the book because then you're obviously giving a killer money.
28:56
Maybe. Maybe we cut out the part where
28:57
I say I want to read it. OK, I was thinking that after I
29:04
said it, I. Was like, you're like that.
29:07
I don't agree. Yes, but no.
29:09
Like I, I, I want to see it, but I don't want to.
29:12
But yeah, we're. Going to we're going to cut
29:15
that. OK.
29:16
So the major turning point is in March 2023.
29:21
Prosecutors, I'm sorry, The major turning point is in March
29:30
of 2023, prosecutors officially charged Corey Richins with
29:35
aggravated murder, attempted aggravated, a murder aggravated.
29:47
OK, one more time. In March 2023, prosecutors
29:51
officially charged Corey Richins with aggravated murder.
29:54
Attempted aggravated murder. One more time.
30:04
OK, In March 2023, prosecutors officially charged Corey with
30:09
aggravated murder. Nemo, I swear.
30:16
Why is this so hard? OK, these are going to be choppy
30:20
episodes. Yeah, I know.
30:21
I'm so sorry. No, it's OK.
30:23
At least it's both of us. So the major turning point is
30:26
that in March 2023, prosecutors officially charged Corey Richins
30:30
with aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder,
30:33
insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, and forgery.
30:36
Once they were filed, she was no longer just a suspect.
30:40
Informally, she became the defendant in a homicide case.
30:43
I did want to mention that there was an affair narrative that
30:49
came into play more publicly than anything.
30:52
It actually was never presented as like evidence or motive in
30:56
the charging documents, but there was commentary that there
31:00
was some extramarital relations on Corey's part and that she had
31:08
been basically having a lover outside of the marriage.
31:13
So again, that didn't really get presented in court as like a
31:17
main motive, But it was a detail that I think is important to
31:21
mention because we're kind of starting to see that their
31:25
marriage wasn't what it seemed and that there was some issues
31:29
in the foundation. Yeah, we're still missing, like
31:32
true motive. Right.
31:34
So between December 2021 and February 22, remember, this was
31:40
back, this was in March of 2022 that Eric's life was taken.
31:47
Corey Richins texted a person who had previously been arrested
31:51
on drug charges asking for prescription pain medication.
31:57
So that was one of the examples of her reaching out and trying
32:03
to source drugs specifically actually fentanyl.
32:09
So when it comes to motive, there is mentions of those
32:16
again, extramarital affairs, financial issues.
32:21
I mentioned earlier that Corey had a real estate agency.
32:27
It was not doing well. There was, I'll actually, I'll
32:32
include it in the sources. I had the whole court document
32:37
that I was going through and it talks about like all the
32:40
different issues with the company and things that they
32:43
were finding financially that were very, that didn't look good
32:48
for Corey and her business. However, Eric's business was
32:55
doing very, very well and he was doing well financially, but her
33:01
real estate agency was not doing well.
33:03
And I think there was some discrepancies.
33:05
And again, I will include I, I watched a lot of the court
33:11
hearing and testimony. I'll include that as well in the
33:15
description if you want to hear more about that.
33:20
But the thing that I want to talk about the most in court is
33:25
his parent, his father's testimony, and his sister's,
33:29
because I think that gives us a better picture of their
33:33
perception of the relationship between Corey and Eric and also
33:38
what they experienced the day that Corey took Eric's life.
33:44
So on Monday, February 23rd, 2020, sixth of this just
33:49
happened, these hearings, Eugene Richins, Eric's father,
33:55
testified in court and said that the day that Eric died, he was
34:03
at the house and he immediately went there.
34:05
After he was informed by Corey of what happened to his son, he
34:11
went to the home and he says Corey didn't say anything to him
34:17
at all. He said he remembers being with
34:20
his two daughters who were there and their husbands.
34:24
And when he found out that Eric was actually dead, he like,
34:30
needed to be taken to the couch. And it was his daughter
34:34
supporting him and everybody just kind of being around him.
34:37
And they were all just so broken in that moment and that Corey
34:40
was kind of like nowhere to be seen and wasn't interacting with
34:46
them at all, which they thought was.
34:49
Super strange, really quick. From the time that he died to
34:55
like the first year, they would have already had the autopsy
34:59
report. So what did they think happened
35:01
within that year? Was it all speculation already?
35:03
I think it was taking that long for them to be able to gather
35:09
the timeline that they needed for prosecution.
35:13
How it took so long for her to be like formally charged, I'm
35:18
not really sure. I'm thinking even more like the
35:21
family, like what did they think until she was?
35:24
Oh, the family 100% thought something was off with her.
35:31
And I think you'll see when I or you'll hear when I talk a bit
35:36
more about his sister Katie's testimony, like the the day that
35:43
they were there and Eric passed, like it was so strange.
35:48
And she kind of talks more about like where Corey's priorities
35:52
were being completely off. So in between the time that
35:57
they, Eric passed and she was arrested, they were not they,
36:06
they were in the, I think more understanding of she was
36:10
involved in some way. I don't know if they knew
36:12
exactly how, but it was very sketchy and suspicious, her
36:18
behavior at least. So Corey actually told Eugene,
36:24
Eric's father, that Eric died from the same thing that his
36:30
mother Linda died from Eric's mother, Linda, who had passed.
36:37
She said that Eric died because of this fungus in his lungs and
36:44
that's what Linda passed away from.
36:48
OK, how? Would she have known that?
36:51
Exactly. He actually ended up Eugene
36:54
actually ended up calling his daughter Katie and telling her
37:00
what Corey had said to him and was like, this is what she's
37:04
saying to me. And so then Katie calls the
37:07
medical examiner and they're like, what the heck.
37:10
Like we didn't even talk to Corey.
37:12
She never called us. We never called her.
37:15
We haven't even released the results yet.
37:17
Like so clearly like lying. And Eugene even touch touches on
37:23
the fact that like what his wife had gone through Linda, like it
37:28
was a disease and she was like battling through it and she had
37:32
symptoms like for a long time that was.
37:34
My next question. Yeah, because he's actually
37:37
asked when he's testifying, like, did Eric display any of
37:42
these symptoms that your wife was?
37:46
And he's like, no, absolutely not.
37:47
It was not the same thing. And again, she lied.
37:51
I mean, she told him that she spoke with the medical team and
37:55
that's what they found. The yeah, the lies are super
37:59
weird. It's there's a level in all of
38:02
true crime that in these stories that like we, I always remind
38:07
myself, we don't know. There is no one way to grieve
38:12
and to react to something like this and to be in shock.
38:15
Everybody is going to experience this differently, but it's more
38:19
so I feel like you can't, you don't want to judge the
38:22
reactions as much as like you can.
38:26
If somebody's lying, that's not a reaction, That's not a
38:30
physical reaction, That's not a expression of, you know, pain or
38:34
anything like that. That is a conscious choice.
38:37
Yeah, because you I think at first like him just talking
38:40
about her being kind of like absent that day and like not
38:45
really engaging with him. Like, I guess that doesn't
38:48
really like land as hard as the lies, the the actual things that
38:53
she then said that were untrue and did not add up with what we
38:58
found out later. And it's like, where did you in
39:01
these moments? I'm like, how do they think that
39:05
they're getting away with this? And how do they think that it's
39:08
not going to come up when the actual results are shown that
39:13
she was making that up? Like, I, you know what I mean?
39:16
How do you get to that point of being so sure of yourself to lie
39:21
like that to his family? No, it's terrible.
39:24
It's it's the same like I concept of if something is going
39:29
to be recorded on camera and you lie about what's in that tape,
39:33
but we know we're all going to see it.
39:35
Like that concept always just is, is crazy to me.
39:40
Yeah, we will have direct evidence.
39:42
So if you're lying, then sometimes I feel like people
39:46
maybe are going to warp their their mind to the reality they
39:52
want it to be, I guess, and they convince themselves and they're
39:56
in denial. But this feels calculated.
40:00
It doesn't feel like, I don't know.
40:03
Yeah, it's extremely strange. And again, it's just something
40:06
that, like, I often think about in these cases when lies are
40:11
told and sometimes people are telling others like, what they
40:15
did. And it's like, I get people can
40:18
get away with things. But like, I mean, you got to
40:22
wonder, like, what the thought process is, right?
40:26
So Katie Richins Benson is Eric's sister, and she shared a
40:33
very emotional testimony about her brother.
40:37
They were two years apart, inseparable, and their family
40:41
had a ranch and growing up they worked on their family ranch
40:43
together. They were very outdoorsy.
40:46
He loved like fishing and hiking and their kids were close in
40:50
age, so they were doing a lot together at that point in their
40:54
lives as well, not just when they were kids, like they were
40:56
super close. She said they talked on the
40:58
phone pretty much every single day and they also did some
41:03
family vacations where it was their families as well as Corey.
41:09
So she did know her as well and they lived close by.
41:14
So she described him as the kind of person that, like, loved
41:18
everyone. And no matter who you were, like
41:21
where you came from, back to the quote, everybody felt like they
41:26
were his best friend. Like that's the kind of person
41:29
he was. So the number one thing that he
41:32
loved was his kids. And he was like a soccer dad,
41:36
very involved, like would go to the soccer games early and like
41:39
set up signs and just like was known to just be super involved.
41:44
And like, that was his number one priority was his kids.
41:48
She also testifies on behalf of Eric that he did not use drugs
41:52
and made it very clear that their mom, Linda, was a drug and
41:56
alcohol counselor. So growing up, she taught them
41:59
at a very young age of the dangers of that.
42:03
So she was like he had absolutely nothing to do with
42:07
them. Still can happen, I will say,
42:09
but yeah. Definitely, you know.
42:13
It addicts though, it does remind me of like people who end
42:17
up committing suicide. Like you don't always know
42:21
what's going through their head. Yeah, Katie mentioned that they
42:28
were often like planning for their future and that Eric had
42:31
money set aside for the kids, college funds and future homes
42:35
as well, which I'm like, Dang, good for them, she testified.
42:42
On behalf of Eric, I'm sorry to cut that out because I already
42:45
said that. OK.
42:49
Katie mentions that she previously owned the home that
42:53
Corey and Eric lived in with their kids.
42:56
And I bring that up because and I there's another detail that's
43:01
strange with Corey's behavior regarding the house.
43:06
So the day that Eric died, her dad was the one that called her,
43:13
letting her know that Eric was not breathing.
43:14
So she went straight to their house with her husband and also
43:19
her daughter who is sick. So she said when she arrived, it
43:23
was emergency personnel, police and then Corey with her mom,
43:27
Lisa. The boys were in Ashton's room.
43:32
One of the sons, I think he was the middle child, she took the
43:36
boys into this almost like bonus room.
43:38
She described it as to kind of be away from all the chaos.
43:41
Like at this point, the boys didn't know what was going on
43:44
and she wanted to keep them safe from that.
43:48
So she said that she observed Cory to be acting differently
43:53
than she normally was. Again, it's hard to know how
43:56
someone would act, but she said that she was very put together,
44:02
had her hair done, was not crying at all, and kind of came
44:06
into the room and basically just shook her head no at Katie
44:14
telling her that Eric was dead. Wait, what was the time that she
44:19
called the ambulance again? What time Katie or Corey?
44:25
Corey. I guess it was around 3:00 AM
44:29
when she found him. So to have her hair done and
44:32
everything hours later, even hours like like when did you
44:35
have the time to go do that in between?
44:38
Right. She would have had to step away,
44:42
but then it's soon enough that she's telling Katie that he's
44:46
dead, which I think they found out pretty quickly.
44:50
Yeah, this is interesting. It is so she said that she also
44:56
didn't see Corey, like, interacting with the boys at
44:58
all. And again, Katie, as their aunt,
45:02
was kind of just trying to, like, keep them distracted and
45:05
make sure they didn't see what was going on until obviously,
45:09
like, she was letting Corey at that point make the decisions of
45:13
like, are you going to tell them that their dad has passed?
45:18
She said that even though she was trying to keep the boys at
45:24
Bay from what was going on, I think her husband at one point
45:27
had to take over for her as she was kind of talking to police
45:31
and everything. After finding out her brother is
45:33
officially dead, the boys ended up actually seeing their dad's
45:39
body being wheeled out of the house.
45:42
And naturally we're very upset. So Katie's husband told her like
45:46
the boys need to be told, like they saw, and they're very, very
45:51
upset. They need to make sense of it in
45:53
a yeah normal way. So Ashton, the one son was very
45:59
upset and ran to his room after he saw his dad's body being
46:03
taken out. And Katie tried to console him,
46:06
but all he wanted was his mom. And she said that it took
46:09
multiple times for her to like actually get Corey to like come
46:13
to the room. Like she kept saying like he
46:16
wants you, like I'm not his mom, I'm trying, but like he wants
46:19
you. So eventually she does go and
46:23
consoles him and she basically says like she's just trying to
46:27
like get him to calm down. She doesn't really know anything
46:31
that she says to him other than like, your dad's gone and he's
46:35
not coming back. The fiance of Corey's brother is
46:41
also there at this point. Her name is Brianne Sorenson.
46:44
They call her Bri. For some reason.
46:47
She's also there. I'm guessing at this point,
46:49
like, all family is kind of flocking.
46:53
She came into the room, Ashton's room and Corey like shifted her
46:58
attention to Bri and they started discussing closing on a
47:04
home. And it's called, they refer to
47:07
it as the Midway mansion. And basically this was kind of
47:13
inadmissible in court, I guess what Bree said.
47:15
But basically they're start talking business and closure of
47:19
this house. And it sounds like from Katie's
47:23
perspective, like that Corey is selling the home that she
47:28
currently lives in with her family to then purchase this
47:32
Midway Mansion closing or Midway Mansion home.
47:36
So basically Bree tells her that like it's closing and the deal
47:42
is done. And Katie's sitting there and
47:45
she's like, are you actually like talking about closing on
47:50
the Midway Mansion right now and like selling this home?
47:53
My brother just died. Like, are you actually like
47:56
focused on it? And she said that Corey
47:59
basically said, well, he has nothing to do with it.
48:02
Like the money already went through so.
48:05
What the fuck? Yeah, so.
48:08
Oh no, you'd have to hold me back.
48:10
Right. I can't even imagine like what
48:12
she was going through. And I think at that point she's
48:14
like dumbfounded. Also, Ashton, the son really
48:19
wanted his dad's watch. I guess he wore an Apple Watch
48:22
and he's asking his mom like can I please have dad's watch And
48:29
Katie mentions that she sees Corey go through and delete
48:34
everything on the watch and basically like wipe it and then.
48:38
Evidence. Yeah, and also just like,
48:42
bizarre in this. Like, that's what you're like,
48:45
thinking to do. And then she gives him the
48:48
watch. So strange and just, I don't
48:53
know, the behavior doesn't seem quite right and the fact that
49:00
she's like trying to sell the home that they're currently
49:02
living in and. But she doesn't own it.
49:06
Do they own it? You said Katie.
49:08
Katie owned the house and. Sold it.
49:11
Sold it. She did fully sell.
49:12
It yes, she fully sold it to them, so she does have the
49:16
ability to sell the home, but she also mentions that she's
49:19
going to start running Eric's business.
49:24
OK also sorry going back to her talking with Bree saying he has
49:30
nothing to do with it to close on a house that takes usually at
49:37
least a month. So you're a married couple with
49:42
children you're planning on moving?
49:44
He 100% would have been involved.
49:47
There's so much that as a couple you have to do to jointly own a
49:51
home and sign off on things. So that makes both from the
49:55
seller end and the buyer end. Like that makes no sense as to
49:58
how he's not involved and how he wouldn't have been involved up
50:02
until this point. Yeah, it, I don't know.
50:08
So when I was listening to Katie's testimony, basically
50:14
again, whatever Bree said and however she brought it up, they
50:19
were like, this is inadmissible. Like this is not going to be
50:23
something we're taking into consideration.
50:26
I don't know if it had been brought up before and like what
50:29
the reasoning was for it. But they were more focused on
50:31
just like, I guess the idea that Corey's mind was on this very
50:39
strange topic and was kind of dismissive about it when Katie
50:43
and I questioned her on it. So that was more of the focus.
50:47
I don't know that there was, I think there was going to be more
50:50
detail on it, but like they kind of cut that.
50:53
So March 5th was the day after his death.
50:58
There was a family meeting to prepare for his services.
51:03
So this included Katie, her husband Clint, Amy, Eric's other
51:08
sister, her husband Andrew, Eugene, their dad and then
51:12
Ronnie who is Corey's brother and then Corey's half brother DJ
51:17
and his fiancee Bree along with her mother.
51:23
So Katie discussed that burial was very important to their
51:27
family and I'm assuming this has religious aspects to it she
51:31
wants to get. Him cremated.
51:33
Oh my God. I just, they always fucking do
51:37
this. Yeah, I know, right?
51:38
They're like get rid of the evidence as quickly as possible.
51:41
Yeah, so again, wait. I'm so, so sorry to pause you
51:45
again. Is she a Mormon, too?
51:47
She has to be. No, Corey.
51:49
Yeah. Yes, Corey is also considered
51:54
Mormon. She's a member of the Church of
51:56
Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints. OK, so you would think that her,
52:01
his family who's Mormon, and her as a Mormon would align on
52:06
burial? Right.
52:08
And again, I don't really know exactly what the religious
52:13
practice is with that. I'm not Mormon, so I don't know.
52:18
But I'm just assuming that that's why that Katie says it's
52:23
important to their family and that she knows her brother
52:26
wanted to be buried. And basically they are talking
52:30
for like an hour and plan everything, including like
52:33
talking about caskets and like everybody's there.
52:36
They're talking about the fact that he's going to be buried
52:39
next to his his mother, Linda, who had passed.
52:43
And all of a sudden, Corey's mom chimes in and is like, oh,
52:51
actually, he mentioned that he wanted to be cremated.
52:55
And Corey's kind of looks at her for a second, and she's like,
52:58
oh, right. Yeah.
53:00
He he did always say that. Like, he didn't like the idea
53:03
of, like, bugs crawling on him. So he definitely wanted to be
53:06
cremated. What is going on with these two?
53:09
I don't know. So at this point, Jean, Eric's
53:13
dad, is visibly upset because he knows what his son wanted and he
53:18
knows that these people are lying and he's very confused
53:23
why. And Katie's also like, guys, why
53:26
did we just have an hour meeting talking about this and planning
53:30
a burial, burial, burial. It's my Pennsylvania Dutch.
53:37
Why did we just have this whole hour meeting talking about a
53:42
burial, burial. Why can I not talk?
53:46
No, it's OK. Burial, yes, correct.
53:49
And, you know, she's like, what what is going on here?
53:53
So there's a bunch of, you know, more people that are testifying
53:59
about the toxicology report as well and just everything that
54:03
they're finding stacking up against Corey.
54:07
But one other thing that was kind of super glaring is
54:13
Richins. Corey had actually consulted a
54:16
divorce attorney in the months leading up to Eric's death,
54:19
ultimately did not file. And then the $5000 retainer she
54:23
put down was refunded. So, you know, she's doing all
54:28
these things and everything's adding up against her.
54:33
The behavior now, there are like, phone records of her even
54:38
looking up, like how women's prison is and details about,
54:44
like, you know, yeah, like, just like dumb searches that end up
54:49
coming back to by her eventually with all this.
54:54
And again, this was very recent, these testimonies, Cory Richens,
55:00
35 years old, found guilty of all charges she faced in the
55:03
death of her husband, Eric Richens, who died from that
55:07
lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022. And again, these testimonies are
55:11
now 2026, like a month and a half ago, prosecutor said Corey
55:15
Richins added the powerful, powerful synthetic opioid to a
55:19
Moscow Mule that she gave Eric to drink.
55:22
And the jury deliberated only for like less than three hours
55:26
before they convicted her of all the charges that she was charged
55:33
with. So that was that.
55:36
And I just obviously the whole book thing just like gross.
55:43
And I can't imagine, I'm not sure like what happened in terms
55:47
of custody for the kids. I hope it went to those
55:50
wonderful grandparents. Or not grandparents, because
55:54
Linda passed. Yeah, but the the grandfather,
55:57
Katie. Yeah, I'm guessing that's
56:00
probably it, but I didn't see anything about that again,
56:03
because this kind of just happened.
56:04
But I'm assuming for the past, I mean, they've been, they were
56:08
with her mom that whole year before she was, you know, named
56:12
a suspect and charged. But yeah, this was just just
56:20
sick. Honestly.
56:21
I can't. Where's the repercussions for
56:23
Bree? Like what are again, I don't
56:25
want to allegedly or fully accuse Bree, but clearly there's
56:31
something going on there. Yeah, and I, it's one of those
56:34
things too. Like I feel like when there are
56:37
other players involved, like prosecutors are so focused on
56:42
just at that point. The big player, yeah, You're not
56:45
trying to get the little drug dealers, you're trying to get
56:47
the big one. Yeah, the supplier.
56:49
Yeah, so I don't know about all those other people in it, the
56:55
mom, like it's super strange, but.
56:59
It's probably something that's just going to keep unfolding,
57:01
honestly. Yeah.
57:03
You know, as time goes on and people sometimes are more
57:06
inclined to talk. Yeah.
57:08
So if there are more updates, I am definitely going to keep on
57:15
this because it's still like developing.
57:18
And I mean, she was charged and found guilty but but.
57:24
She clearly hasn't admitted otherwise.
57:26
That would be a different story. I mean, even just like watching
57:29
the court videos, like gosh, I know, like I'm just like
57:36
watching as an outsider, but I'm like, she just looks, she's
57:40
looking guilty. Like everything about her just
57:43
doesn't and her behavior, obviously I, I, I just can't
57:48
with the whole book thing. Like I am so stuck on the fact
57:51
that she wrote a whole children's book on it.
57:54
She couldn't just stop at profiting by getting his
57:57
business and getting life insurance and selling the house.
58:00
She had to also profit by putting on the performance of
58:03
the grieving mom, the grieving wife that is so terrible.
58:08
Yeah, I'm guess she had to dig herself out of that financial
58:11
hole that she put herself in so. And part of me also gets really
58:15
sad. I mean, not part of me.
58:17
All of me gets really sad for the kids obviously when
58:21
something like this happens because the selfish parent is
58:24
taking away 2 parents in one go. Yeah, you know, you're so right.
58:28
But at the same time, if that parent was capable of that then
58:32
they should not be in those kids lives anyways.
58:34
So, you know, it's just sucks that the parent who deserves to
58:39
be there isn't there anymore. Yeah, and he just sounded like
58:42
such a great dad and person and in his community was just known
58:48
as that. And it's.
58:49
Yeah, it's, it's so selfish. And again, divorce.
58:54
Yeah, so many cases like this. You want to scream at them and
58:58
shake their shoulders and they're like divorce, divorce.
59:01
Do you really think this is going to go in your favor?
59:04
Well, I think what you know Eric's family chalked it up to
59:09
is like she wanted to leave her but she didn't want to leave his
59:12
money so wild. Well, thanks for listening.
59:16
I again will have the details of the sources in the description
59:21
below. And yeah, this was the story of
59:26
Eric Richins and I. My heart goes out to his family,
59:31
his kids, and just I'm I'm glad she was found guilty and.
59:39
Sometimes they get away. Yeah, seriously.
59:42
Anyways, thanks everybody and we will talk to you next week.
59:48
Bye, guys. Bye.
59:51
That's it for today's episode. Thank you for listening.
59:54
If you're loving the show or hating it, make sure to follow
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59:58
And if you want even more content, you can join us over on
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Patreon at Probation Behavior. New episodes are released every
1:00:05
Thursday. Thank you.
1:00:17
Nemo is drinking, drinking from his water bowl.
1:00:23
Water bowl, water bowl, ASMR. What was that thing like when we
1:00:35
were kids? It was like, it was like going
1:00:38
down your back, going down your back.
1:00:41
Like yes I know it because I watch it in ASMR. They do that
1:00:46
in ASMR. Oh, you're an ASMR. Oh, we we've talked about this
1:00:49
because I love it. I'm.
1:00:51
Specific about what I like, but yeah.
1:00:54
I hate it and I just did it so OK.