The eleventh day of Kouri Richins' aggravated murder trial in Park City, Utah delivered some of its most emotionally charged moments yet — including the public playing of the 911 call Richins made the morning she found her husband Eric dead, alongside pointed testimony from the original lead detective and a contentious cross-examination of the private investigator hired by Eric's family.
The 911 Call
Prosecutors played the full recording of Richins' 911 call for the jury Monday afternoon. In the call, Richins is heard crying and telling the dispatcher that Eric is cold and unresponsive. "I don't know. I was sleeping in with my kids and I just came in our bed and he's cold. He's just cold," Richins is heard saying, according to live updates from East Idaho News.
The dispatcher instructed Richins to attempt CPR, but Richins said she could not move Eric to the floor because he was too heavy. "I can't. Can you please send somebody," Richins told the dispatcher, who continued to coach her through compression counts. A male voice is heard in the background during the call saying "Ambulance is en route" and "We're in the back bedroom" — indicating that family or first responders had already arrived on scene.
Original Lead Detective Takes the Stand
Summit County Sheriff's Office Detective Jayme Woody, the original lead investigator in Eric Richins' death who now works as a K9 officer, testified about her arrival at the Richins home on March 4, 2022. Woody told the jury she was met in the driveway by Eric's sister, Amy Richins.
Outside the presence of the jury, Woody disclosed the substance of those conversations. According to East Idaho News, Woody testified that Amy told her Eric had said "Kouri was going to kill him." In a second conversation, Woody said, Amy told her that Kouri was erratic when drinking, that Eric and Kouri had been fighting a lot, and that Eric had told Amy that Kouri threatened to kill him.
Woody also testified that on April 13, 2022 — the day a search warrant was executed at the Richins home — she informed Kouri that Eric had died of a fentanyl overdose. Kouri became upset and was detained for approximately ten minutes, Woody said. No fentanyl was found in the home or Kouri's vehicle during that search.
Among the details Woody noted from the initial scene: the kitchen garbage cans were empty when she arrived on March 4. When asked, Richins said her housekeeper had emptied them. Woody also testified that when she asked Richins the name of her housekeeper, Richins said she could not remember it. Woody confirmed she did not obtain a warrant to search beyond the immediate death scene that day, explaining she wanted to be mindful of the grieving family and that there was not yet clear evidence of a crime.
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester challenged Woody on several procedural points during cross-examination, including whether crime scene tape was used, whether a full crime scene investigation was conducted, and the status of an empty hydrocodone bottle found next to Eric's bed — the whereabouts of which Woody said she did not know. Woody acknowledged that before she walked through the door that morning, she had reason to believe it could be a murder scene.
Woody confirmed that she later handed off the lead detective role to Jeff O'Driscoll in March 2023 after transitioning to K9 work. Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth confirmed to the court Monday morning that O'Driscoll is expected to be the state's final witness, according to East Idaho News.
Private Investigator Faces Aggressive Cross-Examination
Todd Gabler, a 34-year veteran private investigator hired by Eric's family — specifically paid for by Eric's brother-in-law and sister, Clint and Katie Benson — spent much of the afternoon on the stand, first under direct examination by the prosecution and then under sharp cross-examination by Nester.
Gabler testified that he was brought on in April 2022 and approached the case by examining two competing hypotheses: that Eric accidentally overdosed, or that Kouri Richins surreptitiously caused Eric to ingest a lethal amount of fentanyl. He analyzed cell phone billing records obtained from C&E Masonry — which paid Kouri and Eric's phone bills — and found hundreds of texts between Kouri and Carmen Lauber, the housekeeper who has previously testified as a prosecution witness, between January and May 2022. According to Gabler, only Kouri's mother and Eric himself had more contact with Kouri during that period than Lauber did.
Gabler also acknowledged placing GPS tracking devices on vehicles belonging to Kouri, her mother, and her brother, turning that data over to law enforcement. He said he met with law enforcement five to six times and gave two hard drives to the county attorney's office.
Nester's cross-examination raised a series of pointed questions about Gabler's methods. She established that Gabler removed a safe from the master closet of the Richins home at Clint Benson's request, had a locksmith open it with a rubber mallet, and returned it — all without law enforcement present. "I don't need law enforcement to babysit me," Gabler said, according to East Idaho News.
Nester also highlighted that Gabler searched the home alone for hours on multiple occasions after it was released by the Summit County Sheriff's Office on May 8, 2023 — the same day Kouri Richins was arrested. She drew attention to an email Gabler sent to Detective Woody suggesting it would be "a really good time to interview Carmen Lauber because she's on the ropes in drug court," implying Lauber would be more likely to cooperate with investigators while under legal pressure.
Nester further pressed Gabler on a letter — described as the "babycakes letter" — written by Eric to Kouri. Gabler testified he found it on May 10, 2023, in the bottom drawer of Eric's side of the bed, did not consider it relevant, and put it away. By August 9, 2024, Gabler had photographed the letter on the bed, though he said he could not recall whether it had been moved. On redirect, Bloodworth confirmed that all items considered evidence were removed from the home by the sheriff's office, not by Gabler.
When asked whether he would have stopped his search if law enforcement had directed him to, Gabler was blunt: "Police never get anything. Ever. That's true in every case I've ever handled." Gabler acknowledged he has spent 936.3 hours on the case at $125 per hour, earning over $100,000 in total, according to East Idaho News.
Eric's Business Partner Completes Testimony
The day opened with the completion of Cody Wright's testimony. Wright, Eric's longtime friend and co-founder of C&E Masonry, confirmed that he received a call from Eric on Valentine's Day 2022 and described "fear in his voice" and a sense of urgency — a level of distress he said he had only heard from Eric twice before, including when Eric's mother died. Wright testified he had never seen Eric use over-the-counter, prescription, or illicit drugs, though he acknowledged Eric had used THC gummies.
Defense attorney Nester attempted to impeach Wright on the question of Eric's prior drug use, pointing to statements made in a preliminary hearing about Eric using so-called "Red Devils" — a type of pill — in high school. Judge Richard Mrazik denied the defense's motion to impeach Wright or strike his testimony, ruling that no impeachable inconsistency had occurred, according to KUTV.
What to Watch Next
Court is scheduled to resume Tuesday, March 10, with jurors returning at 9:30 a.m. after the judge and attorneys address legal matters — including the prosecution's written response to a defense motion for a mistrial — at 8:30 a.m. The state is expected to rest its case this week, with lead detective Jeff O'Driscoll confirmed as the final prosecution witness. Once the state rests, the defense will begin presenting Richins' case, which is expected to center on arguments that Eric Richins had a pre-existing drug habit and may have voluntarily ingested fentanyl. The trial is scheduled to run five weeks total, having begun February 23.