PARK CITY, Utah — Kouri Richins' housekeeper provided the first bombshell of the days-old trial on Thursday, testifying how Richins asked her to buy drugs multiple times before Eric Richins was found dead.
Carmen Lauber took the stand after the midday lunch break and admitted to speaking with investigators on the case without immunity because she felt guilty about her possible role in the death of Eric Richins.
“When they told me Eric had passed away and they mentioned it was from an overdose… that hit hard if that’s what happened, I needed to step up and take accountability of my part in this," Lauber said on the stand.
While being questioned by the state, Lauber claimed Kouri asked her for drugs four separate times, and gave the okay to purchase fentanyl with the money she provided. Richins later returned, asking Lauber for something stronger, specifically saying she wanted "the Michael Jackson stuff" in regards to drugs.
During her testimony, Lauber explained how she acquired the "stronger" drugs from the same dealer she had been using throughout. Lauber testified that she confronted Kouri Richins after Eric's death, but that Kouri explained what had happened.
“I said, 'Please tell me these pills were not for him'… she said, 'No, they were not, he passed away from brain aneurysm,” she said.
Day 4 of the trial started off in the morning with the defense team's final cross-examination of lead crime scene investigator Chelsea Gibson. She revealed that the team returned to the Richins home on November 7, 2024, on a search warrant to collect a letter found at the foot of Eric Richins' side of the bed. Gibson confirmed that the letter was not there the night of the crime nor during several searches prior.
Toxicologist Dr. Brianna Peterson was next to take the stand and testified that a lethal dosage of fentanyl can be 3 nanograms per milliliter, and confirmed Eric's body had 15 nanograms in it. She also revealed that acetyl fentanyl was found in Eric's gastric testing, which typically means the fentanyl came from an illicit source.
Peterson testified that 1,900 milligrams of alcohol was also found in Eric's body, and that 14,000 milligrams typically represents the amount of a standard drink, meaning he had well below that amount in his system. But it was unclear whether that alcohol came from a drink or his body's decomposition.
Detective Frank Root later testified to collecting two phones from Robert Grossman, Kouri Richin's boyfriend, for evidence, but they were both inoperable at the time. Root said Grossman told him that he broke both phones by accident. However, Root shared how he later obtained the phones, and they became operable.
Bryan Holden with the Utah State Crime Lab was in charge of testing a plethora of items taken into evidence for fentanyl. He testified that he did not find any fentanyl on items that had been submitted. When asked by the defense if he tested an empty pill bottle of hydrocodone, Holden said there was no empty bottle submitted for him to test.
