Prosecutors in the Kouri Richins murder case say a recent about-face by the man accused of providing the fentanyl used to kill Richins’ husband is not credible.
And regardless of his claims, the Summit County Attorney’s Office says there is still substantial evidence for a jury to find Richins guilty of murder.
Earlier this month, Richins’ defense team filed two motions, each stating that Robert Crozier recently signed an affidavit saying he sold OxyContin to Carmen Lauber and not fentanyl.
Richins, 35, a Kamas mother and real estate agent, is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder, first-degree felonies, in addition to other crimes for allegedly killing her husband, Eric Richins, with a fatal dose of fentanyl on March 4, 2022. She is also accused of slipping fentanyl in his food, making him sick, on Feb. 14, 2022.
Richins is accused of buying the fentanyl from her housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who allegedly acquired it from Crozier.
The two defense motions were filed in early October: one seeking reconsideration of bail and conditions for her release, and a second requesting that the Summit County Attorney’s Office hand over exculpatory evidence. Both motions are based on Crozier’s new claim that he did not give Lauber fentanyl.
But in their responses to the motions filed Thursday, prosecutors say “Robert Crozier’s recent assertion that he ‘understood’ that the pills he sold Carmen Lauber contained only OxyContin does not amount to a material change in circumstance. Regardless, substantial evidence exists to support the aggravated murder charge notwithstanding Mr. Crozier’s recent assertion.”
In the response, prosecutors provided a partial transcript of an interview Summit County sheriff’s detectives had with Crozier in 2023.
“It wasn’t like she was asking for (oxycodone) or something like that and she got the (fentanyl pills) and ...” detectives pressed.
“Right. No,” Crozier replied.
“So, she knew that there was fentanyl in those pills?”
“Absolutely,” said Crozier.
Prosecutors further argue that “Mr. Crozier’s recent assertion that the pills he sold Ms. Lauber contained only OxyContin does not withstand modest scrutiny. He doesn’t know the composition of the pills because, as the defense often notes, they were never tested. He was a low-level street dealer who got the pills from an unidentified ‘source’ at a time when nearly every pill on the street contained some amount of fentanyl.
“Ultimately, of course, Mr. Crozier’s interview is corroborated by the constellation of means, motive, and opportunity evidence against (Richins) and the toxicology results showing that Eric Richins died of fentanyl poisoning. Mr. Crozier’s recent assertion does not amount to a material change in circumstances because it is not credible,” the motion states.
Regardless of Crozier’s statement, prosecutors say there is still “substantial evidence … capable of supporting a jury finding that (Richins is) guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” and “a reasonable jury could consider Mr. Crozier’s recent assertion and still easily convict (Richins),” according to the state’s response asking the judge to deny Richins’ request to reconsider bail.
In their response to the defense motion asking for exculpatory evidence to be handed over, prosecutors say “the state possesses no exculpatory evidence from (the meeting with Crozier in March) to provide to the defense.”
The Summit County Attorney’s Office says chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth and chief investigator Travis Hopper met with Crozier on March 28 to prepare him to testify. Also on Thursday, the state requested that the affidavits filed by Bloodworth and Hopper, in conjunction with their opposition to the request for exculpatory evidence, be marked as private.
Richins is currently scheduled to go to trial on her aggravated murder charge on Feb. 23, 2026, with jury selection to begin on Feb. 10.