Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth indicated the Summit County Attorney’s Office planned to call its last witness and rest its case against Kouri Richins early next week, allowing her defense team to present its version of events to the jury. The second week of the murder trial ended in Third Di strict Court on Thursday and is set to resume at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. Bloodworth said prosecutors expected to call their last witness, Summit County Sheriff’s Detective Jeff O’Driscoll, the lead investigator in the case, by Tuesday at the latest. Kouri has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder, attempted murder and other financial crimes stemming from her husband, Eric Richins’ overdose death on March 4, 2022. Defense attorneys Kathy Nester, Wendy Lewis and Alex Ramos will present their own case once the prosecution rests. That will unfold similarly to the previous weeks, with the lawyers calling their own witnesses and presenting their own evidence.  Prosecutors allege Kouri was motivated by financial gain and personal freedom to poison her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl and that she attempted to do so about two weeks prior. Her defense asserts she is innocent and that there’s an unresolved mystery surrounding Eric’s death that creates reasonable doubt. Both sides will present closing arguments later this month as a final opportunity to persuade the jury of the testimony and facts presented in the case. The jury is expected to deliberate by March 27.  Third District Judge Richard Mrazik, center, speaks with Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth and defense attorney Kathy Nester during the first day of Kouri Richins’ murder trial on Feb. 23. Credit: AP Photo/Spenser Heaps, Pool The Summit County Attorney’s Office has called at least two dozen witnesses since the trial began on Feb. 23, including members of the Richins family, law enforcement and the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office; a former housekeeper who detailed alleged drug deals, and the man she said she purchased the pills from; forensic data and financial experts; employees of Eric’s business; divorce attorneys the Richins couple consulted separately; Kouri’s paramour; and two best friends she’s known for more than 20 years. The prosecutorial team — Bloodworth, Lindsay Chervenak and Fred Burmester — began by detailing what investigators believe happened on the evening of March 3, 2022. The couple was celebrating a business deal with a cocktail in their bedroom around 9 p.m. when Kouri left about 30 minutes later to sleep in their son’s room after he experienced a night terror. Kouri returned to their bedroom around 3 a.m. and found Eric cold and unresponsive. A 911 call was made about 20 minutes later. Eric was pronounced dead just before 4 a.m. on March 4, and paramedics estimated he had been deceased for a few hours. Kouri’s defense doesn’t contest the timeline of events but maintains that Kouri did not give Eric fentanyl. They said it’s unknown what happened during the six hours from when Kouri last saw Eric alive to when she found him dead or how he ingested five times the fatal dose of the drug.  Testimony throughout the trial has been consistent that Eric did not have a history of illicit drug use or prescription medication abuse beyond using THC gummies.  First responders were routinely questioned by prosecutors and the defense about what medication was discovered in the home and where various marijuana edibles were found. A sticking point for the defense was that investigators failed to properly search and secure the Richins’ home, such as by not immediately taking and testing the cocktail mugs, and no fentanyl was ever found. Carmen Lauber, who was employed as a housekeeper by Kouri, testified that she was asked to procure drugs for the Kamas mother of three multiple times from February to March 2022. Prosecutors called an expert witness who explained cellphone data linked Kouri, Lauber and a man named Robert Crozier, from whom Lauber acquired the pills. The pair provided conflicting testimony on whether the pills were fentanyl — and whether Kouri knew what she was purchasing. Prosecutors noted the dates of the drug deals, including one around Feb. 11, 2022, because it was just a few days before they say Kouri attempted to poison Eric with a drug-laced sandwich on Valentine’s Day. Testimony late into the second week of the trial included accounts from friends of the couple about how they acted in the aftermath of that incident. A close friend of Eric’s said he was shaken by the incident and seemed somber immediately after, while a friend of Kouri’s recalled Eric had joked about it weeks later. Kouri’s friends also said she presented her real estate business as successful. However, the state’s expert witness, forensic accountant Brooke Karrington, testified that Kouri had approximately $7.5 million in debts with monthly payments of $80,000 at the time of Eric’s death in March 2022. “Kouri Richins was in financial distress, and her financial enterprise was collapsing, and but for a significant infusion of cash and capital, it would have continued to collapse,” Karrington said. “It was imploding. Her debts and liabilities far outweighed her assets, and if she had sold everything she had, it would not have been enough to get back to zero.” For example, Karrington said Kouri promised to flip a house for one of her friends at a low cost for a down payment of $45,000 to close on the property. However, Karrington said Kouri used the money to pay an outstanding debt instead. The friend, Chelsea Barney, testified about the incident on Thursday, saying the down payment essentially amounted to her life savings. She moved into the home in January 2023 and lived there with her husband and four children. Barney said she signed the deed for the house, but the loan remained under Kouri’s name while Barney paid the monthly mortgage. Barney believed the house to be hers, but that understanding changed in May 2023 when Kouri was arrested. Then, she learned the deed was never recorded with Wasatch County because Kouri gave it to someone else instead of foreclosing on the property. Barney said she was subsequently evicted. The defense argued it’s possible Eric knew about the debt before his death as there is no evidence of the financial agreements between Eric and Kouri. However, testimony late into the second week also focused on how Eric consulted with a divorce attorney and established a trust for his estate to protect his assets after learning Kouri misused her power of attorney to take out a $250,000 Home Equity Line of Credit against their home to help fund her realty business in 2019. Kouri allegedly did not know about the trust, and witnesses testify that she was upset and enraged when she found out after Eric’s death. Kouri still recieved $1.4 million in life insurance after Eric’s death. There were also conflicting narratives about the state of the Richins’ marriage at the time of Eric’s death.  Some people, including Kouri in recorded conversations, said the couple was the best they had ever been. Meanwhile, the man with whom Kouri was having an affair testified about their on-and-off relationship between 2020 and 2022. Several others said that Kouri told them she felt “trapped” in her marriage and didn’t see a way out. Prosecutors are expected to call more witnesses before resting their case, including Eric’s business partner Cody Wright, before turning it over to the defense for the third of five weeks. Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three charged with administering a fatal dose of fentanyl to her husband, Eric Richins, appears in Third District Court on Thursday for the second week of her murder trial. Credit: Court TV/Pool The post Summit County prosecutors could rest their case against Kouri Richins next week appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less