Week two of Kouri Richins' murder trial delivered a series of striking revelations Monday as Judge Richard Mrazik formally denied a defense mistrial motion, jurors heard recordings of Richins calling the state medical examiner to ask how much fentanyl killed her husband, and digital forensics testimony revealed she searched for 'luxury prisons for the rich' in the weeks after Eric Richins' death.

Mistrial Motion Denied

Judge Mrazik opened the day by formally ruling on a mistrial motion the defense had filed the previous week. The motion stemmed from a brief exchange during the testimony of Summit County sheriff's lead crime scene technician Chelsea Gipson, who — when asked by defense attorney Kathy Nester about downloaded phone calls between Kouri Richins and her family — responded by asking, 'Are you talking about jail calls?'

Nester immediately moved to strike the comment, arguing it prejudiced the jury by revealing that Richins had been in custody. Richins has been held in jail since May 2023, having been denied bail three times.

'It implicates Ms. Richins' 6th Amendment right to a fair trial. It affects the presumption of innocence,' Nester argued, according to KPCW.

Mrazik disagreed. 'That statement, while improper, was not intentionally elicited by either party,' the judge ruled, according to KSL. 'It was inadvertent. It was made in passing.' Mrazik noted the comment was relatively innocuous in the context of a five-week murder trial involving dozens of witnesses, and said his earlier instruction to jurors — telling them not to consider whether Richins was or had ever been in custody — was sufficient to protect her right to a fair trial.

Phone Data Maps Drug Meetings, Reveals Troubling Searches

Digital forensics witness Chris Kotrodimos, a former officer who reviewed data from five phones involved in the case, continued testimony that proved damaging to the defense on multiple fronts.

Kotrodimos testified about phone location data showing Richins' housekeeper Carmen Lauber — who prosecutors allege acted as a drug courier — traveling to a Maverik convenience store in Draper on three specific dates: February 11, February 26, and March 9, 2022. According to KSL and KSLTV, Kotrodimos presented maps showing Lauber and alleged drug dealer Robert Crozier moving toward and away from the same Maverik location on each of those three dates — the only three times Lauber had ever visited that location. Each time, records showed Lauber was communicating frequently with Kouri Richins.

Kotrodimos also revealed what Richins was searching for on her phone in the weeks following Eric's March 4, 2022 death. According to KSLTV, jurors were shown searches including how to remotely delete data from an iCloud account or a phone not in one's possession, what law enforcement and the FBI do with electronics, prisons, white collar crimes, 'luxury prisons for the rich,' whether life insurance companies pay out when a death certificate is still pending, and Kouri Richins' own net worth.

Kotrodimos also testified that Richins' original white iPhone — seized by investigators on April 13, 2022 — showed significant deletions in early 2022 through approximately mid-March. A second replacement phone showed fewer deletions.

Perhaps most strikingly, Kotrodimos testified that on the morning Eric Richins died — shortly after emergency responders had left the home — Kouri Richins accessed three memes on her phone around 8:30 a.m. The memes included one featuring Donald Trump saying 'I'm really rich,' one with the phrase 'Idiots, Idiots everywhere,' and another showing a woman wiping her eyes with money, according to KSLTV.

Medical Examiner Recording: 'People Die With Half That or Less'

Former Utah Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Erik Christensen provided some of the day's most pointed testimony when prosecutors played a recorded phone call in which Kouri Richins called the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner to ask detailed questions about a report on additional testing of her husband's stomach contents.

'I was just trying to figure out, you know, if this is anything different if we found out anything new,' Richins can be heard saying in the recording, according to KSL.

When Richins asked Christensen how much fentanyl had been found in Eric's system, he told her, 'people die with half that or less in the system.' Richins also asked about quetiapine — a medication found in Eric Richins' body that was prescribed to Kouri Richins — mispronouncing it several different ways during the conversation, according to KSL and KSLTV. Christensen also testified he asked Richins during the call whether Eric had shown any signs of fentanyl abuse prior to his death; she said no.

Witness Felt 'Trapped' in Marriage

Allison Wright, the wife of Eric Richins' business partner Cody Wright, testified about a February 2019 conversation she had with Kouri Richins while vacationing in Costa Rica — more than three years before Eric's death.

'What I remember is that (Kouri Richins) felt trapped at this time. I learned that their marriage had a prenuptial agreement, and she explained that she felt like she was frustrated in the relationship but also it would be difficult to leave. Eric would end up financially secure and her the opposite,' Wright testified, according to KSL.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Nester asked Wright whether the context of that conversation included Eric Richins allegedly having an affair with a female coworker. Wright said she was unaware of any confirmed affair but acknowledged Eric may have had feelings for another person — a line of questioning the defense appeared to use to suggest Kouri had legitimate reasons for marital frustration beyond financial calculation.

Dead Drop Property and a Juror Problem

Real estate agent Molly Crosswhite testified she purchased a small home in Midway from Kouri Richins in January 2022. Prosecutors allege the property served as a dead drop location where Lauber would retrieve drug money left by Richins and leave fentanyl pills in return. Crosswhite confirmed she had not changed the locks after purchase, that a key remained accessible outside the property, and that her tenants did not move in until the end of March 2022 — leaving a window during which others could have accessed the home.

Crosswhite's testimony also triggered a juror complication. A juror submitted a note disclosing they recognized Crosswhite — apparently under a different former name — from a prior business transaction. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis moved to have the juror dismissed, arguing the prior relationship would have been disqualifying during jury selection. Prosecutors opposed the move, saying there was no sufficient basis for mid-trial dismissal. Judge Mrazik took the matter under advisement, according to KPCW, with further questioning of the juror expected.

What to Watch Next

The trial is expected to continue throughout the week, with the juror issue surrounding Molly Crosswhite's testimony still unresolved — Judge Mrazik's ruling on whether to dismiss or retain that juror could carry significant procedural weight. Prosecutors still have weeks of witnesses to present in a trial scheduled to last more than a month, and the Robert Crozier body camera video — in which he told investigators he sold Carmen Lauber fentanyl and that 'she knew what she was buying' — remains a central piece of evidence the jury will need to weigh against his contradictory trial testimony.