Kouri Richins will not get a new bail hearing pending her upcoming murder trial.
On Monday, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik ruled there has not been “a material change in circumstances” for the reasons Richins was originally ordered to be held without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
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 Robert Crozier.
In October, Richins’ defense team filed a motion seeking reconsideration of bail and conditions for her release, arguing that Crozier now claims he sold OxyContin to Lauber and not fentanyl.
“If the state cannot place fentanyl in the hands of (Richins), the state has no case. Mr. Crozier’s statement doesn’t just poke holes in their case; it throws a grenade into the middle of it, leaving them nothing but speculation and conjecture, getting them nowhere near the realm of (proving their case) beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to their motion.
Prosecutors replied by arguing Crozier’s statement is not credible and that he told Summit County sheriff’s detectives in 2023 that he gave Lauber fentanyl. And “regardless, substantial evidence exists to support the aggravated murder charge notwithstanding Mr. Crozier’s recent assertion.”
In his ruling Monday, the judge says the defense’s argument “is unpersuasive for three reasons.”
Mrazik noted that a jury may give more credit to Crozier’s 2023 statements over his 2025 assertions. And if Crozier sticks with his most recent statement during the trial, “the state may impeach him with his prior statement.”
“Mr. Crozier’s retraction of his former statement does not render his former statement inadmissible,” according to the judge’s decision.
Second, Mrazik determined that there is other evidence in the case that suggests Richins “had a motive to commit the crime charged and exhibited consciousness of guilt. Mr. Crozier’s recent recantation does not affect the weight of that evidence at all.”
And finally, the judge ruled that it is not up to the court to determine whether a jury “will, would, or is likely” to convict Richins, but rather to determine if there is sufficient evidence that a jury “could” convict her.
“While (Richins) may be able to use Mr. Crozier’s recent recantation to poke holes in the state’s case, the holes are not substantial enough to undermine the court’s prior determination regarding substantial evidence,” the ruling states. “The fact that a reasonable jury could choose to credit Mr. Crozier’s statements to detectives in May 2023 over his statements in September 2025 — combined with the body of evidence showing motive and consciousness of guilt — is sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to conclude that (Richins) committed the charged offense of aggravated murder.”
A pretrial conference for Richins is scheduled for Dec. 5. A two-day evidentiary hearing is expected to begin Jan. 7. And a nearly two-month-long trial is scheduled to begin in February.