Kouri Richins Murder Trial: Prosecutors Cite Secret Boyfriend, Fentanyl and $7.5M Debt as Motive

Robert Josh Grossmann wiped his eyes, put his head down, and muttered 'oh boy' as intimate text messages between him and Kouri Richins lit up the courtroom screen. The judge offered a break. Grossmann didn't know if he wanted one.

Two weeks into Richins' murder trial in Park City, Utah, that moment captured what prosecutors have been building toward. A woman with a secret boyfriend, a house-flipping empire bleeding cash, and a husband who died after drinking what they say was a fentanyl-laced cocktail. Richins, 34, is charged with poisoning Eric Richins on 4 March 2022, according to CNN.

She has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, attempted murder, fraudulent insurance claims, and forgery. If convicted on the top charge, she faces life in prison.

'The evidence will prove that Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,' chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told the jury.

The Boyfriend Who Didn't See It Coming

Grossmann met Richins after answering a job advert for renovation work in South Carolina. He moved to Utah in early 2020, lived in properties she was fixing up, and the relationship turned romantic, NBC News revealed. She bought him two trucks. Gave him money.

On 15 February 2022, Richins asked Grossmann by text if he would marry her if she were divorced. He said yes. Prosecutors say that message landed one day after she allegedly tried to poison Eric for the first time by lacing his sandwich with drugs.

About a fortnight after Eric died, Richins asked Grossmann whether he had ever killed anyone. He took it as a reference to his military service in Iraq and thought nothing of it.

$7.5 Million In Debt And A Business 'Imploding'

Forensic accountant Brooke Karrington walked the jury through Richins' finances. By the time Eric died, she owed approximately $7.5 million (£6.1 million) and was paying roughly $80,000 (£65,000) a month to lenders, the Park Record said.

Richins launched K Richins Realty in 2019 with a $250,000 (£202,000) home equity line of credit taken out against the family home. Prosecutors allege she signed for it in her husband's name without telling him. One property in year one grew to 15 by 2021, totalling more than $6.7 million (£5.4 million) in purchases.

Between January 2021 and March 2022, Richins attempted 236 overdraft transactions amounting to more than $300,000 (£243,000). Karrington told the jury her debts far outweighed her assets. 'If she had sold everything she had, it would not have been enough to get back to zero,' the accountant said, according to KPCW.

On the same day Eric died, Richins closed on a mansion in Midway that she could not afford to renovate. She tried to sell it a week later. No buyer stuck. The property went into foreclosure with $3.8 million (£3.1 million) in debt attached.

How The Fentanyl Allegedly Reached The House

Carmen Lauber, a house cleaner who worked for Richins, testified she was asked to source drugs four times in early 2022. Lauber contacted Robert Crozier, who said he had fentanyl pills. She texted Richins. The reply: 'OK, go ahead and get them.'

Crozier now insists he only sold oxycodone. Defence attorney Kathy Nester has seized on that gap, telling jurors the pills Lauber bought could not have killed Eric.

Eric's life was insured for approximately $2.2 million (£1.8 million). Richins collected about $1.3 million (£1.1 million) and burned through nearly all of it within six months, mostly paying down debt, East Idaho News reported.

Prosecutors allege she forged an application for one of those policies. It took effect on 4 February 2022. Ten days before the alleged Valentine's Day poisoning attempt.

Friends told the court Richins felt 'trapped' in the marriage. The couple had a prenuptial agreement. Allison Wright, wife of Eric's business partner, said Richins feared a divorce would leave her with nothing.

The prosecution is expected to rest early next week. The trial runs through 27 March.