Kouri Richins will be in the Third District Court this week for a preliminary hearing to decide whether there’s enough evidence for her case to go to trial.
The courtroom was full when the hearing began just before 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
The Park Record is providing live updates:
The initial investigation
Summit County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jeff O’Driscoll testified about the investigation into Eric Richins’ death.
Defense attorney Wendy Lewis questioned whether the Sheriff’s Office interviewed any suspects other than Kouri Richins. O’Driscoll said no, but the Sheriff’s Office did speak with other people of interest including a housekeeper who allegedly supplied Kouri with fentanyl.
The digital evidence
After an hour break for lunch, private investgator Christopher Kotrodimos has been called to the stand. He was retained by the Summit County Attorney’s Office to analyze digital evidence in the case.
Call detail records between Jan. 1, 2022 to March 15, 2022 show there were numerous communications between Kouri and and her housekeeper, according to Kotrodimos. He also said data, including web history, was deleted from Kouri’s devices.
Kotrodimos testified that Kouri and her “paramour” were in constant communication starting at least in November 2021. He said they texted daily with some phone calls. Messages between the couple were ongoing around the time of Eric Richins’ death.
Defense attorney Alex Ramos questioned whether Kotrodimos performed the extractions himself. He said he did not nor was he present. Ramos emphasized Kotrodimos did not receive or analyze the raw data, calling the validation method into question. The defense team also noted Kotrodimos has not renewed his digital forensics certifications since earning them around 2017.
The financial evidence
Kotrodimos has left the stand. The court will take a brief recess before Brooke Karrington, the state’s financial expert, testifies.
Karrington reviewed bank account statements, real property like trust deeds and loan documents belonging to Kouri and Eric Richins. She examined the Richins’ joint account, Kouri’s personal account and separate business accounts for Kouri and Eric.
Karrington addressed the real estate market in 2019, when K Richins Realty started. There was a home equity line of credit taken out on the family home, owned by Eric. The $250,000 loan was also in Eric’s name, but Karrington said it was signed by Kouri using power of attorney.
There were multiple withdrawls taken out using the home equity loan, including in August 2019, which was around the same time Kouri starting buying and flipping homes for her business.
Kouri continued to purchase several other homes throughout 2020. Karrington noted the mother of three took on a more ambitious project later that year when she bought a $1.3 million property. Past projects had been around $400,000. The high cost required Kouri to seek outside investments including utilizing hard money lenders, according to Karrington.
Around the same time, Eric consulted a divorce attorney. Karrington said financial arrangements were made after Eric discovered the home equity loan. That’s when he set up his will and trust, naming his children as beneficiaries and his sister as the trustee.
Karrington said there are at least six instances where Kouri allegedly falsely used bank account information using her husband’s construction company with the K Richins Realty header to appear as if the money were in her business account. This allowed her to take out more loans.
It’s estimated Kouri owed about $4 million in December 2021 and owned 15 properties. Karrington said there was also between $500,000 and $600,000 in personal property loans. Kouri made around 100 debt payments in December, with at least one totaling more than $5,000 a week.
Kathryn Nester, counsel for Kouri, argued that Karrington’s calculations do not factor in the profit margins from selling the properties after they were redeveloped. Nester said none of the properties were foreclosed on until after Kouri was arrested.
The defense team added Karrington was not privy to the financial conversations between the Richins couple, saying Eric could have been aware of the transactions. Nester noted that Eric became aware of the home equity loan in October 2020 and the couple stayed married.
The court retired around 5 p.m. on Monday. The hearing will resume at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.