Key Witness Admits Procuring Illicit Drugs in Kouri Richins Murder Trial

Carmen Lauber, a housecleaner who said she had known Kouri Richins for nine years and cleaned the Richins home about every other Friday, told jurors in Park City that she procured illicit opioid pills for the 35-year-old realtor accused of killing her husband. Lauber testified she was asked to "do her a favor" and to "reach out to somebody for some pain meds for an investor," and that after asking around she told Kouri, "I had a friend that could get them, but they were fentanyl pills," to which Kouri responded, "OK, go ahead and get it."

Prosecutors allege Richins spiked her husband Eric Richins' cocktail with a lethal dose of fentanyl in early 2022; Richins has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide and several fraud-related counts stemming from her husband's 2022 death. Lauber told the court she bought illicit drugs for Kouri multiple times in early 2022 — reporting on the number of purchases varies in testimony and reporting, with one accounting saying three purchases before Eric's death and another saying four purchases in early 2022.

Lauber acknowledged she was granted immunity in exchange for truthful testimony; court reporting indicates she accepted four immunity grants after promising to cooperate. She also described an emotional motive for cooperating, saying, "I already knew Eric had passed away. But when they told — when they had mentioned that it was from an overdose, that hit hard," and, "Only for the fact that, if that's what happened, I needed to step up and take accountability of my part in this, what happened and what I was asked for."

Defense attorneys focused their cross-examination on Lauber's credibility and substance use. Under questioning by defense lawyer Wendy Lewis, Lauber confirmed drug use in early 2022 and positive methamphetamine tests in late January, mid-February and early March 2022; Lewis asked, "You were high that whole time, February, March '22?" Lauber replied, "Not the whole time, no." When pressed that she had been "using very regularly," Lauber answered, "I guess so, yes." Court reporting also states Lauber has a criminal record involving drugs and is currently on probation for drug distribution, though one report notes she later said she has been sober for more than four years.

Forensic testimony presented at the Summit County Courthouse amplified the stakes for jurors: Dr. Peterson testified that toxicology showed 15 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl in Eric Richins' system and that "as little as 3 nanograms/ml of fentanyl can be fatal." Cross-examination of the toxicology witness raised the possibility that alcohol and fentanyl could have been consumed at different times.

Prosecutors also called crime scene technicians, a forensic digital examiner who processed a phone seized from Robert Josh Grossman, and an alleged drug dealer who acknowledged limited dealing in the period in question. The alleged dealer, Robert Crozier, told investigators he was selling to "three or four people" and that he could not recall exact deal details from roughly four years ago.

Judge Richard Mrazik dismissed the jury briefly citing "unforeseen emergency circumstances," and court staff removed a spectator who sketched jurors and identified them by number. The murder trial in Summit County is scheduled for five weeks; Lauber's testimony was heard during the trial's fourth day, with the state expected to continue calling witnesses as the case proceeds. Charges remain allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.