We are back! In this episode, we dive into the shocking case of Khouri Richins -- the Utah real estate investor and children's book author accused of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins. We examine the evidence, family dynamics and the real estate connections that make this a perfect Crime Estate story.
[00:00:05] At the intersection of true crime and real estate, you'll find Crime Estate. I'm Heather. And my name is Elena. As real estate agents and true crime junkies, we view crimes through a different lens. So walk through the door of some of the most notorious true crimes with us and discover how sometimes the scene of the crime has its own story to tell. Crime Estate. I'm Heather. Of course, I'm here with Elena and Melanie. And today our
[00:00:34] story is going to take us to Utah. And I was trying to remember, have we done an episode in Utah? I don't think so. I don't think so. Nothing springs to mind. Though I'm pretty sure we have not. I'm thinking not either. I think we've done like a Colorado, the one with the chipmunks, wasn't that Colorado? Oh, yeah. Definitely. That was a definitely a Colorado one. Okay. Well, you know, sometimes I go to research a story and I'm like, how have we not covered this yet? And this is one of those stories for sure, because not only is there a lot of
[00:01:04] real estate to discuss. We're going to talk about two different properties, but the accused in this story is also a real estate agent. Oh, well, that can't be good for that can't be good for good. Oh my gosh. I can't be good for business. You would think not. Yeah. Right. I mean, if our like local newspaper runs a headline that we've been accused of something, probably we don't have clients calling us the next day. I wouldn't call. We've had the wrong kind of clients calling you. Oh, well. Sorry, Mel.
[00:01:29] No, no, no. We've had real estate agents as the victim in that sensational unsolved crime. And remember outside of Vancouver, in Victoria, British Columbia. Yeah. That was the one that my neighbor here like used to work with those people. Remember such a small world. Like every year or so I Google that to see if there's been any update. So our listeners,
[00:01:53] if you want to hear of a really crazy whodunit story involving a realtor, that one's in Victoria, British Columbia. But no, we've never had as the accused a real estate agent. I think that's right. We need a matrix somewhere to start keeping track. All right. Well, before we jump
[00:02:16] into the story, can I just say like topically, seasonally in the news, if you follow us on the podcast, you know, like we were really in tune with the Alex Murdoch trial. Apparently he's getting a new one. Yes. Yes. It's funny how people who know me and really know me and how many people like texted me like, you know, that day that that was announced. And I have to admit, I have not deep dove as much
[00:02:46] as I need to in this. You've been a little busy. So listeners, Mel has a graduated senior. Yeah. She's been in graduation mode the last few weeks. Have you ever, have you guys heard of like May, December or May-cember? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So every, for like about three weeks, like every two days, there was some sort of award ceremony or scholarship dinner, all these wonderful, beautiful things, but it was a lot. I'm sure. It was a lot.
[00:03:16] So yes. So I'm coming up for air. Of course you guys have been crazy business busy between kids and work. Yeah. So we're all kind of coming up to air. So I guess we should apologize to our audience. We did get a few messages going ladies. We, we haven't heard from you in a while. Thanks for sending those. It actually makes us really happy. I mean, we're sad. We haven't posted in a while, right? It's nice to know you care. Yes. Definitely. Definitely.
[00:03:43] Uh, Oh, but back to, back to Alex Murdaugh. Um, I'm sure almost everybody knows the crazy story of Alex Murdaugh in South Carolina and the murder of his wife and son and, um, maybe housekeeper. I mean, so many layers. I mean, that's that story that just keeps on giving, you know, if
[00:04:05] you want to. And he was finally convicted. And then there was, um, a courthouse employee who may apparently have gotten involved and unduly influenced the jurors. She said some awful things or at least just stupid things. And so, yeah. Um, all that to say he gets a new trial.
[00:04:31] Yeah. Now he's still in jail because he's convicted for other crimes, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was my first question. And also I have not pulled this up. We're about to go on a road trip. And so it's on my like list of things to do while I'm on the road trip. I want to see what Emily D Baker has to say about this because she covered that trial so beautifully. Yeah. Do you think our listeners want to hear an episode about that? Should we put a poll up? I don't know. Like has everybody heard enough about Alex Murdaugh or is there still interest? We could put a poll up. I feel like we could do that. I can figure that
[00:05:00] out. Okay. Let's do it. Perfect. I mean, there's some interesting house stories there because he had multiple properties as well. Yeah. Maybe at least, maybe we could at least just do a highlight of the houses at the center of it. Right. Yeah. And well, that's what makes us different as we cover the houses. Right. Yeah. However that poll comes out, you have a really cool one for us today. Cool. Interesting. I have a very interesting story for y'all today. Okay. So should we jump into it? Let's do it. All right. So like I said, our story today takes
[00:05:26] us to Utah and to the home of Corey and Eric Richens. Now these two met at the Home Depot. Corey worked as a cashier and Eric at the time has this like masonry, like stone masonry business. And so with his business, he's coming into Home Depot pretty often to get supplies and that kind of thing. And so eventually he works up the nerve to ask her out. Um, and the two start
[00:05:51] dating. Now they grew up in like very different families. So Corey's family was actually also in construction, but more of like a migrant kind of construction family. They would move from job to job just wherever they could sort of get a construction gig. Um, Eric grew up, his family owned a cattle ranch. And so he grew up, you know, a little bit more, um, affluent. He did work the ranch. You know, he was a good, like he was good outdoorsy kind of guy, right? He liked to hunt and fish and,
[00:06:21] and be outside, but they just sort of grew up in different backgrounds. Um, and Eric also grew up in the Mormon church being, you know, affiliated enough with the church that after high school, he went on the two year mission that a lot of, you know, men, young men in the Mormon church do. And when he came home from that mission, that's when he started his masonry business. Now friends and family consistently described Eric as hardworking, generous, outdoorsy, and devoted to
[00:06:50] his children. Um, and like I said, you know, Corey had moved around a lot growing up. She actually did a lot of housekeeping for her aunt who had a housekeeping business and friends described her as a cheerleader, tennis player, and a tough cookie who was ambitious and determined. So the two date for a year or two, and then Corey becomes pregnant with their first son. And at the time she was a sophomore in college.
[00:07:17] Now she graduates two years later and props to her for having a baby during college and continuing her education and graduating. And the two are married in a ceremony at the backyard, in the backyard of their home in Utah. Now, as it turns out, Eric had actually been married before. And when he and his first wife divorced after four years of marriage, apparently he took a pretty big financial hit.
[00:07:41] And so on the day of the wedding, Eric's mom presents to Corey a prenup that stated she was not entitled to Eric's quote, present or future income property or assets in the event of a divorce. So get this, she signs the prenup at the same time she signs her marriage certificate. That's crazy. It's a little crazy. All right. So let me stop here for a minute. And if you don't want to say you don't have to,
[00:08:07] but I think you will. Um, did either of you sign a prenup before you got married? No, no. You didn't have anything. I mean, still doesn't. There were no assets to split. You got married. Like $12 in our break and go? Yeah. No, I did not. And, uh, didn't even think about it. Like it wasn't a question. I will say, um, this is random, but, um, so my sister's one of
[00:08:32] her good friends that I've become friends with. Her name is Eve. She is a lawyer and she is also a TikTok influencer. Wait, is this the Eve that wanted people to find her a mate? Oh yeah. Okay, great. Yeah. So if you don't, if you don't follow Eve on TikTok, Evie Tilly or Instagram, um, she is a hoot. She is a hoot and a crazy, but very brilliant. Um, and she actually had a, a thing the other day,
[00:09:01] she was talking about people with prenups and it really is just this last week. And so it's fresh in my mind. And she was saying how she would always get a prenup. And she's like, because you're, when you're in love and in your, your best of minds, you're planning for the future. Um, and she said that even if you don't have a prenup, you actually, there are laws. Every state has
[00:09:26] different laws that govern, um, what you would do in a divorce. And she said, so even if you don't think you have something, there is laws out there based upon where you live. And then she was going on and she said it much more eloquently. So this is your time to step back and think of, well, do I agree with these laws in my state? Oh, that's interesting. You know, like, is that how I think would be a fair or an equitable, um, kind of thing? And it was more about like financial
[00:09:53] planning. She said it so much better than me, but it like, it made me step back because, you know, we, the three of us all got married relatively young and, you know, it was not even something I would have even thought of. I mean, it wasn't like we had money or anything like that. But now as she being in her later thirties is hopefully knock on wood, getting engaged as soon, you know, and, and to have both of them have assets and she's like, even if we didn't really
[00:10:22] have assets, it's better when we're in a happy, loving the best place we're ever going to be in our relationship. Think about what we think would be the world's worst situation, but would be fair to both the parties. And I kind of liked it the way that when you put it. I like that. Like it wasn't about like doing anything wrong. It's like, you know, like we, let's be fair because once, if in the worst case scenario you got to that situation, you're not going to necessarily be as fair. I don't,
[00:10:50] I don't think like the prenup is a bad idea, especially in light of what you just mentioned, but for the mom to broach it is bad. Oh, we had talked about previously and the day of, and the day of, that was the thing for me. Like it should have come from the, the spouse to be, and it definitely should not have come day of. Right. Yes. Yeah. No, no, no. So my opinion on
[00:11:16] prenups as itself have changed when I kind of think about it, especially at different times of your life, or if you were coming in with family businesses or trusts or things like that, I can see that, but absolutely this should be above board, come from a loving perspective and not related to parents at all. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think we're all on board with that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. But she does sign the prenup because she wants to get married. And so their wedding takes place in the
[00:11:42] backyard of the home. The two shared at 282 Willow Court. Oh man, I meant to look up how you say the name of this and I'm going to say it. And somebody's going to message me. Um, Kamas, Kamas, K-A-M-A-S Utah. Okay. And the listing description from when this property was listed in 2010 says, house in great condition, large rooms, open floor plan. Is that the first sentence? It is. House in great
[00:12:09] condition. Yeah. Period. Period. Thank God. Um, large rooms, open floor plan, equestrian rights. We don't hear that a lot. Walkout basement, bonus room above the garage and full unfinished basement. Please see agent remarks for showing instructions and current promotions. So, okay. So this three bedroom, two bath house sits on almost an acre of land. I'm going to call this house like mountain
[00:12:34] chic. Um, lots of dark, like earth tones with stone accents, ironwork. It reminds me of something like if we all took a vacation to Colorado right now, like the, the vacation home you would stay in. I'm picturing. Yeah. I'm picturing something. Okay, great. And it was nice, newer construction. It was on a cul-de-sac, only about 20 minutes from Park City, Utah. Featured, like I said, it featured that bonus room and walkout basement. Now, several articles I read said that Eric purchased
[00:13:02] the property from his sister, Katie, and her husband, Clint, for approximately $400,000. But it's sort of unclear to me if Katie and Clint owned this property and sold it to them, or if they were the realtors in the transaction, because at some point both of them did have active real estate license in the state of Utah. Interesting. Yeah. Um, now it's in this home that Corey and Eric went on to have
[00:13:28] two more sons over the next four years. And unfortunately it's also in this home where Eric will die on March 4th, 2022, but that's skipping ahead a little bit. So let's go back. These two are living in this beautiful home. They have three sons. Eric's stonemasonry business is doing very well. The family dines out at nice restaurants. They take expensive vacations. They live a pretty
[00:13:52] well-to-do life with Eric working and Corey staying home with the boys. And by all accounts, they're both extremely committed to these kids, whether the kids want to do soccer or Boy Scouts, like they're there and they're involved, both of them. But eventually Corey decides that she wants to do more than stay home with the kids. And I think that's every woman's prerogative to decide what they want to do. Right. And so in 2019, she also gets her real estate license and she starts her own
[00:14:21] home flipping business. Have you ever flipped a house? No. No. Well, the one that we've lived in, right. But not like an investment property. Right. Yeah. Your husband's really handy. I bet he's really handy. Yeah. Oh, I actually think he would be great. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. He is very handy. And when I also, when I first got my real estate license, I thought, oh, this is great for Aaron in case he wants to, I mean, I was interested in real estate, but my driving force was in case he
[00:14:50] ever wants to do that because he would be really great at it. Yeah. I could see. But then you have kids and you need health insurance and all the things. Yeah. Maybe it's a good, um, retire, retirement. Right. Yeah. Plan or, you know, something like that. Because I do think he would be really good. Mm-hmm. Um, and if she, I mean, it seems like a natural kind of role for her if, um, his family members were in the real estate business. If he's in a stone masonry business and she worked at Home Depot,
[00:15:18] I, I just feels like. It all meshes. Yeah. Yeah. Now, initially she would only flip one house at a time, uh, but eventually her business grows and she had up to 15 properties working at one time. Now, I can tell you from experience, I don't, I haven't flipped a house, but I have several good realtor friends who have. 15 houses at once is a lot. Like from a logistic standpoint of
[00:15:44] overseeing the subs, coordinating deliveries, like just being in that many places at once is really hard. Um, and not to mention you've got carrying costs on all of those properties. You're paying for the materials and the subs on all of those properties. And so, you know, you have to have not only the mental bandwidth to support that renovation, but also the funds and
[00:16:08] 15 is a lot. Yeah. And, but 2019, 2020, 2021, which I, which I'm thinking is when she was, that was a great time. If you're going to flip. Yeah. I mean, you could be like selling some houses. That's a great time to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so in March of 2022, Corey was set to purchase her biggest flip property yet, a property known as Midway Mansion. Now this property was located or is
[00:16:32] located at 106 North Legacy Way in Midway, Utah. And it was enormous. It was over 20,000 square feet on 10 acres with stunning views of the mountains. Um, and Elena, we've linked to a YouTube video. So maybe you can scroll that when we're doing, um, when you're doing this, but, um, that just sort of like a walkthrough of the property so that you can see this. And Corey thought the property would be
[00:16:57] an excellent venue for like weddings or, you know, just an event space. Um, and so it sounded to me from the many, many, many articles I read on this story that she was sort of like doing two paths. She was thinking like, okay, I could renovate it and sell it. And one accountant she talked to said, like, if you can keep this on budget and on time, you guys could make about $12 million on this property.
[00:17:22] Or on the flip side, she's like, maybe I renovate it and I run it. And you know, like that's the, now the new income is running this venue. So it sounded to me like she was sort of keeping her options open there. Twice. I mean, I saw, you know, it was huge and a little weird, but well, McMansion-y like, but, but like 20,000 square foot McMansion-y, but the mountains are beautiful.
[00:17:50] Yeah. I mean, the mountain views on this property were incredible. It was sort of like right off this main road, which I thought was weird. Like if you're going to have this nice retreat, I mean, you want it to be easy for people to get to, but also like, maybe it sounds like it might be traffic. Now the original owner began construction on the property in 2017, but he ran into various issues with permitting and utilities and it ended up sitting vacant for several years to the point that when Corey bought it, it still didn't have like sewer and that kind of thing. Like the utilities
[00:18:18] were a real problem given the location of the property. And apparently this mansion was a source of friction for Eric and Corey. Eric thought it was a huge financial risk, but Corey was adamant about moving forward with it saying, and like I said, she kept like referencing this accountant, like, Hey, we can make $12 million. And friends would later tell investigators, they were like, it wasn't that Eric said she couldn't do it. Like he was trying to be really supportive of his wife.
[00:18:46] He just was also being somewhat practical and like, Hey, this is like, because I think they were going to buy it for almost $3 million. So like, this is not your, we're buying a $250,000 house. We're going to put 50,000 into it and sell it for 400,000. Like on scale, much bigger than anything she had done. That's right. Yeah. So on the night of March 3rd, Corey and Eric had a cocktail to celebrate the paperwork and the money for the purchase of the Midway mansion being ready for closing. I do that every time when my paperwork
[00:19:14] and money, is that the title company? Yeah. Time for a drink. We are going to celebrate. And I will say though, that, you know, they were, were they Mormon at this period of time? I feel like that wasn't really clear to me. I mean, he did do the Mormon, um, mission trip, but it didn't sound like they were like active participants in the Mormon faith. Although he also had Lyme disease. And so he wasn't really supposed to drink when he was on the Lyme disease medication.
[00:19:43] Is that, is the drinking why you're asking about the Mormonism? Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Um, yeah, it sounded to me like they drank pretty regularly. Okay. So I, yeah. Um, so, okay. So they have this cocktail to celebrate. It's like nine 30 at night. They have three little boys. One of them has night terrors. So Corey goes to lay with their little boy. And then like, this is a story that we've all reenacted and that you go to lay with your kid
[00:20:10] and you fall asleep. And then at some point you wake up and you come back to your bed. When she comes back to her bed at 3am, Eric's in bed, but she finds him unresponsive. And I want to put yourself, I want you guys to put yourselves in Corey's place for a minute. Unfortunately. So you find your husband unresponsive in bed. She calls 911. Um, paramedics come and they're like, your husband is deceased. Okay. You have three little
[00:20:38] ones at home. You are supposed to get up and go close on this property for $3 million. What do you do? I, well, I don't go to the closing and I still let it close, but I don't, I don't hold anything up. Is that what you mean? Yeah. Well, that's my question. Like, would you go sign the papers? No. Okay. Yeah. So you would not buy the house?
[00:21:06] Oh, I forgot. She was buying the house. My bad. Hold on. You think her, okay. You're like, I'm going to hold this up for my clients. Um, yeah. I'm like, no, they can, they can do whatever they want. Yeah. She's buying my money. Oh, she's the buyer. Okay. Um, no, I don't know. I don't close in the house. No. Okay. Melanie, what about you? I can't even imagine that I was thinking about the house at that point in time. Yeah. I mean, I think my first thought would be,
[00:21:36] I have three little boys. How do I even tell them that their dad's dead? And oh my God, like I cannot buy this house. I don't have the mental bandwidth. My kids are going to need me. Oh yeah. Like I am stopping everything besides taking care of my kids for the next year. So, but that's not what Corey does. She decides to go through with purchase
[00:22:03] telling Eric's sister who also maybe had the same concerns. I felt like, why are you doing this? That the money was already there and this is her business. Now, as you might imagine, a fairly healthy 30 something guy dying in his sleep seems unusual to authorities. An autopsy is ordered and it's then that they find that Eric died of a fentanyl overdose. Am I saying that right?
[00:22:27] Yeah. Okay. Um, and the concentration of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times that of a lethal dose. And so Eric's family is immediately suspicious that Corey poisoned him. Why is this their first thought you might ask? That's weird. Uh, well, you see, Eric thought that Corey had tried to kill him once before just two weeks earlier on Valentine's day. Corey gave Eric a sandwich that
[00:22:52] caused him to have a severe allergic reaction. We're crying him to use an EpiPen and a Benadryl. And he later told friends he almost died and thought Corey may have tried to poison him. I know. I know. How do you live with somebody that you think is trying to poison you? Right. Yeah. That's weird. That's super weird. It's super weird, but also weird. They just had a bad day. They just had a fight.
[00:23:19] It's weird that he would continue to live there, but also weird that, that his brain even went there. Like, I feel like had that been me, I'd have been like, I must've had food poisoning. Yeah. Something weird happened or like, Oh my God, Aaron trying to kill me. And tell my family and friends about it. Yeah. Weird. All of it's weird. Um, but see, his family also knew something else that Corey didn't know. Two years earlier in 2020, Eric had created a trust that left the house and his estates to his sons
[00:23:48] with his sister as the trustee, essentially cutting Corey out of the assets in the event of his death. Because even though they had signed that prenup that controlled his assets in the event of a divorce, the prenup did say that Corey was entitled to his estate if he died during their marriage. So something had to have happened in 2020. I do feel like that's weird though, because I mean, obviously this might've been justifiable,
[00:24:16] but in reality, I was just thinking like, I'm sorry, a wife should be getting the house. Yeah. Well, what happened? Agreed. And also like, how are you doing this behind the scenes without your spouse knowing that's so weird that you're living together, you're raising kids together, but you're over here like making moves. Both of them. Yeah. Well, I was going to say she was making some moves too, which is why he did this. So, um, Eric found out that Corey had forged a power of attorney for him,
[00:24:47] opened a $250,000 line of credit against their home, which was only in his name. And then withdrew all $250,000 to help finance her real estate business. Can you imagine? No, I would feel so guilty if I could do that. I could not do that. No, would you? And I would be forging a power of attorney. And then how do you, I don't know how you live with that or live with someone who did that.
[00:25:16] I'm, I'm with you. I feel bad if I spend like more on the credit card than I feel like I should. Right. Now they'd be like, Hey babe, now you can go buy something. It's like, actually that's really not the way this should work. Okay. So Eric's trust attorney later said that Eric told me he had two primary goals. His first goal was to protect him in the short term from fairly recently discovered and ongoing abuse
[00:25:45] and misuse of finances by his wife, Corey Richens. And his second was to protect the three young sons he and Corey had together in the long term by ensuring that Corey would never be in a position to manage his property after his death. And I do sort of see that if he thinks she's just not good with money, then he should be like, babe, you're not very good with money. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to set up a trust and every year it will pay out this amount of money. I mean, this seems suspicious.
[00:26:14] What if he had died in a regular car accident and his wife would have custody of the children, but she would not have. Yeah. That's right. No. I mean, he, the custody, I mean, the kids were hers. Oh, it was just according to the trust. I don't think in a trust you can give away the custody of other parents. Yeah. That makes sense. That makes sense. But it's just weird. Like, okay, you have custody of children, but you can't let them live, you know, in the home. I guess.
[00:26:43] Or you don't own the home they live in. Yes. Yes. It's up to my sister to decide. It's so weird, though, that if he would think that his wife was trying to kill him and he made sure his finances were okay, but not his kids. Like, why? Well, I think he did make sure his kids were okay. I mean, financially, but still. Oh, yeah. With the mother who he suspected was going to kill him. But I think she was a good mom. I mean, besides killing her dad. Oh, that little thing? That little thing. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
[00:27:13] All right. Okay. Okay. Also, this is just my running theory. Like, if you're going to cut somebody out of your will or you're going to make it so they don't get your money, you should tell them so they don't want to kill you for your money. Right. True. But probably if he told her, that would have been a big argument and then the marriage would have been over. Apparently, they did go to counseling after he learned about this $250,000. And I just can't imagine. I don't understand why people would stay in a situation like that. Yeah.
[00:27:43] Yeah. I mean, he had been divorced once. Yeah. He had three little boys. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. All right. So, like I said, Corey wasn't informed about the trust and she didn't find out about it until after Eric died when she tried to access his safe to get to some paperwork. Like, two or three days after his death. And Eric's sister told her that the safe and the house and the contents of the house no longer belong to her.
[00:28:10] Corey was so outraged by this that she ended up punching Eric's sister and they had to call the police. Now, look. I mean, can you imagine the shock of finding out like the home you own with your spouse is not yours? Mm-hmm. Right. That would be crazy. Yeah. I want to. Okay. Obviously, she's going to drop here in a second.
[00:28:30] So, putting that aside, like I would be livid if for some reason my otherwise happy marriage with my spouse and to find that out. Like, yeah, that would feel weird. Like they conspired against me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, look. Eric's family doesn't kick her out of the house or anything. You know, his goal was to make sure the kids were safe and taken care of. And so, the boys and Corey continued to live in the house after his death. But as you can imagine, like his kids are grieving.
[00:29:01] They've just lost their dad. And so, Corey says she looked around for books to like read to them at night. She's like the night was the hardest. You know, they would cry going to bed. And she was like we were just looking for something where we could read and, you know, learn about like your dad's always with you. And, you know, he's still a part of you. And she just couldn't find anything. So, she decides to self-publish her own book with the help of a ghostwriter. Now, this book is called Are You With Me?
[00:29:31] And you guys have to let me read a couple of things for a minute. Oh, gosh. So, the description on Goodreads says, Wherever you go, whoever you become, their love remains with you. A heartwarming and reassuring book that gently guides children through the difficult experience of losing a loved one. Written by a loving mother who personally faced this challenge, this book is designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds in a way that is both accessible and engaging.
[00:29:56] With vivid and colorful illustrations, Are You With Me? follows the story of a child who has lost their father, but who is reminded that his presence still exists all around them, just like an angel watching over them. Whether it's playing at the park or simply enjoying a quiet moment at home, the child is comforted by the knowledge that their father is always by their side. As a book that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, Are You With Me? is a must-read for any child who has experienced the pain of loss
[00:30:22] and for parents who want to provide their children with the emotional support they need to heal and grow. A story of hope, healing, and the unbreakable bond between parent and child. It sounds lovely. It sounds lovely. Hold on, I've got to do a quick Google because I forgot to look this up. When you really need a good book about death for your child, Mr. Rogers wrote When a Pet Dies. I mean, it's not about a parent. Right. But that is one of the best books ever for kids.
[00:30:53] Anything Mr. Rogers is great. Anything Mr. Rogers is great. And obviously we had a pet die when we have a small child. And I was freaked out and I reached out to the children's minister at our church because our son was like three. And I was like, I don't know what to say. So she recommended the book. And then she said, here's the beautiful thing. You now get to frame death however you want to for your kids.
[00:31:16] And it is a beautiful way if you have a pet pass away to frame it so that they have this frame of reference when a grandparent dies or, you know, a parent dies. That's nice. Anyway, that's a little bit of a digression. I'm sorry. But that's a really nice message. I'm thankful for her. She has since passed away. She was lovely. Dang it. So Corey goes on a local like Good Morning Utah type program to promote the book.
[00:31:42] And after it airs, the reporter receives an anonymous email that says, you know she killed her husband. All caps with three exclamation points. Means business. And within weeks of the book interview airing, Corey is indeed arrested for the murder of her husband, Eric. Now, I want to go back to this book for a minute because she had the gall to write in the dedication to my amazing husband and wonderful father. And y'all, the reviews on Goodreads are so good.
[00:32:11] They're as amazing as you think they should be. It has a total of 1.6 stars. I bet it had higher before. Probably. Probably. Drima Craft says this book should be flagged on Goodreads. I don't know what the flag would be except when someone murders her husband and writes a book, there should be a flag. That's good. I'm going to need a minute. Lysol Pionix says, best book I've ever read since If I Did It by O.J. Simpson.
[00:32:42] Okay. And then I've got one more for you. Okay. S.A. Reedman says, wait a minute. Just wait a whole minute while I get this straight as an arrow. Okay. So she killed her husband and then wrote a children's book about grief and marketed it to kids? Do I have that right? This is all kinds of fucked up. And honestly, I was not expecting another author scandal since the review bombing racist Cuckoo Bananas Crown of Starlight. What in the hell is happening in the world? I love it. Yeah. All right. So Corey gets arrested.
[00:33:12] A year after Eric's death, investigators really still hadn't made much progress. They didn't find any fentanyl in the house. They didn't have anything proving that Eric had not just taken the fentanyl himself. So Eric's family hires a private investigator who somehow, I don't know why or how he was able to do this. I'd like to know, pulled Corey's phone records. And that's where things got into. Oh, you know what? I just answered my own question. I bet they had like a shared family plan.
[00:33:39] And the trustee of the plan is paying for the phones. And she's like, here's the access. Clever. Because, I mean, wouldn't the police have pulled them if they could? Could. But I know there's all this privacy. Yeah. So, okay. So first the investigator found an interesting search history on Corey's phone, which included searches like luxury prisons for rich people. You know there are some. Yeah. Well, yeah. Can police recover deleted text?
[00:34:09] And if someone is poisoned, what does it say on a death certificate? Why are people so stupid? So stupid. So stupid. Although this is my normal disclaimer that if something happens, my search history is really messed up. Yes. Oh, absolutely. But it's all for crime estate. You know, it's funny that my same friend, Eve, the influencer slash lawyer, she'd probably kill me if I called her an influencer.
[00:34:35] But her post this week was of her going through her boyfriend's Google search history and like having discussions about why you Googled this. And it was hilarious. And I was like, that totally could be me on any point of, you know, like her boyfriend was like, what does it mean when the cat simultaneously bites the dog and licks the dog?
[00:35:01] Like, it was just like, you know, or like, what, what temperature to do something in fajitas? And she's like, you cook the fajitas every single week. And he's like, and every single week I look up what temperature I need to be doing. But yes, it just made me laugh because I'm like, if any of us went through, you know, like from the benign to the weird stories. I actually think that's like a super vulnerable position. Like, hey, babe, check out my search history. Yeah. Wow.
[00:35:32] Some weird things. Yeah. But I guess you really have to love the person to like show them all. Yeah. You know, we love sometimes like we'll put YouTube on, on the TV and then we'll see because we have a family YouTube account. What things that our kids have recently searched on YouTube. And there's a weird. Uh oh. Well, nothing naughty. Like your kids have like really intricate interest in very specific things.
[00:36:01] That's a great way to put it. Yeah. They'll be like an, you know. They are, they are your children deep dive mill. The Ottoman Empire, you know, weird facts or something like that. But yeah, every now and then we'll look at that and go, what are they, what are they searching for? You know what would be fun to do one night as like a, like a couple's game night is to have someone compile everyone's search history. And then we try to guess. Figure out who was who? Yes. Oh. I know.
[00:36:29] Now I want to look up what was the last things I Googled or Google search history. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. But anyway, sorry to digress. But that's amazing. But when you brought that up, I was like, it is so interesting because my, it shows how our minds work. Like in weird, like you'll read something and then it'll go crazy. Like, yeah. The kids don't make fun of me because they found a search on my Google one time that asked, does my dog love me? So they still make fun of me about that. Did you actually Google that? I actually Googled that.
[00:37:00] Yes. Because you can't tell sometimes. I can't tell. Sometimes it looks really judgy. Okay. That's really weird. And obviously, so I just, I was looking at mine right here and obviously it's because I'm on your home internet right now. Because everything on here is about Corey, Corey Richards prenup or YouTube video of Midway Mansion. Wait, so because you're on my internet, you can see my search history? I don't think so.
[00:37:27] Why, why is my search history other than Accenture stock? I don't think so. Are you with me book? Corey texted Josh about raising kids. Oh, I Googled that today. I didn't know that. That was one of my Googles today because I was looking for her quote. You better not be on that. Well, you're on the Guild Guest Wi-Fi. I got the real password. But, oh, but wait, it doesn't matter. Right. Josh's got to figure that out. You need to get off the Guild.
[00:37:58] Are you on the Guild Guest? No, I thought you guys were on the Guild Guest. We are. But you're not. Not to my not. Maybe John kicked me off the internet. I'll break that out. Find some more stuff. Quick, quick, quick. If only there was something interesting, that would be lovely. But I haven't researched Compass Real Estate, but like that's on my Google history. So. So interesting. Okay. Sorry, you can cut this, but I just thought that was crazy. No, that's great. All right. All right. So, yeah.
[00:38:27] So, she had some interesting searches. Although, later her defense team will say, well, like the police came to her. So, she was worried. So, then she started. I'm like, no. I feel like there's a timeline you can put together there. All right. So, here's the second thing that PI found. They found communications on the phone between Corey and Carmen Lauber, I think is how you pronounce her name. She's a housekeeper that Corey often used like when she was flipping houses. So, she would have her come in and clean.
[00:38:56] And in these texts, Corey asked Carmen to obtain pills like fentanyl. And she goes on to say like, hey, I need a bigger dose or a higher dose than the one I got last time. Like what you got last time wasn't enough. And she tells Carmen that she has an investor that's having back problems. And that's why she needs these drugs. And then she'll have Carmen leave them in one of the flip houses for her. And then Corey will go pick them up. Can I ask you a really probably dumb question? Yes. That's illegal. Fentanyl? Yeah.
[00:39:26] Yeah. Okay. Just making sure. And deadly. Right. That's the thing we're like terrified. I'm like, don't take anything that anybody gives you because you don't know. Right. I mean, I don't, I'm not hip on the drug community, but like fentanyl is the one on all the news. Right. Yes. And a lot of times it's like fentanyl dusted, like where they don't, it's not, I think it's rare that people are like, oh, I'm going to take some fentanyl. Right. I think it's like where it's like mixed in with other things. Okay. Yeah.
[00:39:56] But you can't get it in like a pill form for pain. I don't know the answer to that. Can somebody Google very quickly? It just seems so nonchalant that she's asking, oh, my client has pain. Can you get fentanyl for me? Well, as it turns out, while Mel's Googling this for us, Carmen is in this like court ordered drug program. Oh. So she's the person to ask. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. And because she's in this program, they're able, or no, maybe, maybe that's not true.
[00:40:25] I think they were able to search her trash anyway, because that's just like, she's discarded it. But when they search her trash, they find drug paraphernalia. And because she's in this program, then they're able to search her house and they find more drugs. They find a gun. And they also find a copy of Eric's obituary tape to a mirror, which I thought was sort of weird. That's really weird. Mel, did you figure out if it's in pill form?
[00:40:51] So fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid. Opioid used in medicine to treat severe pain, particularly after surgery or for advanced stage cancer. Cancer is significantly more potent than many other opioids, making the margin between a therapeutic dose and a fatal overdose extremely narrow.
[00:41:17] So this is like something that is so high dosage that if you're ever to get it, it should be under controlled, almost hospital. And I think that's why they're so worried about it. Like in the drugs with kids, it's like just a small little dose can kill somebody. Like it's very potent. So it's an opioid, which can be prescribed by a physician, but not fentanyl. It's not prescribed by it. It's just in that family. No, it could be in a hospital for like advanced cancer. Oh, so actual.
[00:41:47] Okay. Okay. Gotcha. And I know that I've looked into it. Not back to the Google search. No, not that I, I mean, I can't imagine a world that my kids would ever be in it, but nobody imagines a world. Yeah. And as we were saying that the biggest fear for fentanyl is not because most of these kids aren't like, oh no, I'm going to take fentanyl. Like it's because it's being like, you know, with other things.
[00:42:13] But that's why Naloxone, I'm butchering it. No, what's it say? N-A-L-O-X-O-N-E is a life-saving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. Oh, I was thinking Narcan. Is it like the prescription of Narcan? Yeah. Yeah. So that's, I've known people that are sending their kids to college with a dose of it because
[00:42:40] it is non-addictive and it's, you can be used for emergency medicine. And so you can get it and just have it. And I was watching a TV show and somebody's, you know, somebody was overdosing and they had it in like their medicine kit. I think a lot of people are recommending you just have Narcan on hand anymore. And when my mom unfortunately had surgery last summer and they sent her home with some pain
[00:43:08] pills and in the state of Oklahoma, when they prescribe pain pills, you have to get a prescription of Narcan with it in case like there's an overdose. That's really interesting. And you know, God bless my 70 year old mom. I was like, what am I going to do with this? I was like, you know what? You've got teenagers in the house. Like I would hold on to it. Somebody may need it. Give it to somebody that has kids in high school or college. Like, yeah, I never know.
[00:43:34] And it's nice to have when we, so we go to, we usually go to a music festival every year and this last year that we went, there was a Narcan booth that some nonprofit had set up and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. Cause they put it on like an, like a, um, a lanyard and they give you like a little card, like signs, know if someone needs it. And it was the actual Narcan. I don't remember. I think it was like a nose thing. I think they're all those things. So the kids were like, this is great. So they were like, look, looking for anyone who might need an Narcan. They were on control. Make sure they're actually overdosed and not just taking a little nap on the lawn.
[00:44:03] Cause that could maybe be bad. I don't know. They're like, wow, I could save someone's life. Interesting. Okay. Um, okay. I lost my place a little bit, but I think I'm at. Do we think it's weird about the obituary? Yes. We think it's weird. Super weird. Super weird. Yeah. Okay. Great. Thanks for that. Um, so Carmen tells investigators that she got the fentanyl for Corey twice. And like I said, the second time Corey told her that the first version wasn't strong enough.
[00:44:29] Um, now on Valentine's day, when Corey picked up that infamous sandwich for Eric, remember the one where he had the allergic reaction and he texted his friends that he thought that maybe she had tried to kill him. Corey and Carmen exchanged almost 30 text messages that day. Now third, the EPI found this phone is just a wealth of information. Yeah. Scary. Um, that Corey was having an affair with a handyman that she had hired for her business named Josh Gossman.
[00:45:00] Of course she was. She's got so much going on. She's got 15 properties. She's trying to kill her husband. She's got three kids. She's got, she's buying drugs. She's got an affair. Like, I don't know where this lady has the time. She, I mean, way more. Well, if you want to do a podcast, but is she treasure for the things you're treasure for in the communications director? Yeah. If you want to get something done, ask a busy mom. Well, that is true.
[00:45:29] Um, so three months before Eric's death, Corey booked y'all a five night vacation for her and Josh at the secrets, all inclusive resort in the Caribbean. You've got the giggles today. I'm sorry. Like she booked it at the secrets. Like you see that come across the credit card statement. You're like, babe, we're going to the secrets. Like, how do you hide that? I mean, maybe they had, maybe she booked it from her business account with a $250,000 line of credit. I don't know.
[00:45:57] Both of them were hiding money from each other. That's true. That's true. Yeah. But how do you hide five days away when you have three children? I can't, I've got teenage boys that I could not even imagine hiding it one night away. No, that's exactly right. So the thought process is, well, if she booked this for June, she knew Eric would be dead by Ben. Wow. What? Your face was so funny.
[00:46:27] It's like light bulb. Whoa, like light bulb. Dang. That's bad. All right. So three months before his death, she booked this vacation. 15 days before Eric's death, Corey texts Josh, the boyfriend, and asked him, if I was divorced right now and asked you to marry me, would you? Another text from Corey to Josh read, if he could just go away and you could be here, life would be perfect. Why the fuck are people texting people these things? Don't they know? She's dumb. She might be dumb.
[00:46:56] She's not only bad with money. She's dumb. Dumb. Okay. So like I said, Josh worked for Corey's flipping business, but apparently she didn't pay him. He like lived in the properties and she would just give him some cash from time to time. What is that? He's dumb too. He might be a little dumb too. She's paying him in other ways. That's right. Secrets. Secrets. Now, not long after the PI discovered this information, Corey Richens was arrested for the murder of her husband, Eric Richens.
[00:47:26] And I want to interject something that we haven't said, but Corey, you know, all of you are thinking, Oh, Corey with a C or with a K. No, this is K H O U R I. It's really obnoxious. Yeah. All right. Sorry. Every time I look at it, I look at that on the screen, it's annoying me. I agree. Every time I typed it, it was annoying me.
[00:47:50] When her trial started in February of this year, the prosecution argued that she had three motives for killing Eric. Number one, she was in massive financial debt, which I haven't even told y'all about yet. I told you about the $250,000 line of credit. The evidence they presented at trials showed that she had more than $4.5 million in debt the day Eric died.
[00:48:16] Now, like three of that was probably the new house, but we're still at one and a half without that house. I'm impressed that she was qualifying for a $3 million loan with that. Yeah. Well, and I think like, I mean, the type of loans you get for these remodel and flip projects, right? They're like hard money loans. They're a little bit different. They're very short term. It's not like you're going out and they're checking your credit for like a 30 year mortgage. Right. But get this. These loans were broken up between 20 different lenders.
[00:48:46] Dang. And she had 200 overdrafts, totally more than $300,000 in the months before Eric's death. That's insane. Can you imagine? I feel like we need to be going to these mortgage brokers and interesting. How did the hell did you do this? That's insane. My bank account gets a little low and I'm like, oh shit.
[00:49:13] Like I can't 200 overdrafts to the tune of $300,000. What are you writing checks on here? That's insane. Well, maybe you don't do 15 properties at any one time. Exactly. I mean, I've only ever just watched like those house flipper shows on and where they talk about having two or three at a time and they're running from one property to another and how complex it is.
[00:49:38] I can't imagine what kind of attention to detail you're giving with like, you know, double digits. How far will a bank let you get in debt? That's insane. I feel like it wouldn't let the average person. Well, and here's my guess. I'm totally guessing. I bet Eric had a lot of money in the bank. Oh. And so they were always like, oh, this is good somewhere. Right? Like if we're a small town, everybody knows everybody. That makes sense.
[00:50:08] You know, your kids out here running up some credit, but we know dad's good for it. That's my guess. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Too bad she was arrested because she would have invigorated the real or the secret lives of Mormon wives. Oh, my God. I mean, she would have been gotten a little gusto in the show. Okay. So the second motive. They think she wanted to inherit Eric's estate. See above massive debt.
[00:50:38] Right? And at the time Eric died, their house on Willow Court was estimated to be worth close to $2 million. Now, remember, they bought it for $400. But like you said, it's like the 2020 crazy market. Like Utah is doing great real estate things. Also, she had six life insurance policies totaling over $3 million on Eric.
[00:51:01] And prosecutors believe that she forged his signature on several of those life insurance applications in order to get the coverage. That's insane. Holy crap. Now, let me remind you here about the prenup. Corey thought that if Eric died during the course of their marriage, she would be entitled to his assets, part of which are 50% of the ownership in this masonry business, which is doing really well. Mm-hmm. She just didn't know that they had moved them all into the trust. Right.
[00:51:31] And third, prosecutors thought that Corey wanted to pursue this relationship with Josh without Eric in the picture. So, in one text to Josh, Corey wrote, I have a crazy dream. You quit your job. I divorce and come up with millions and millions. We buy Midway and live in the guest house and rent out the big house that is an event center. $15,000 a day like they charge down the road. Maybe $12,000 to stay competitive.
[00:51:56] And we just run the event center as our daily job and hang out every day, raise some kids, have a little farm. Deal? So gross. So gross. I think it sounds like a dream. I mean, I like the idea of making $12,000 a day by hanging out at a house and raising some kids, but, you know. All right. So, Corey goes on trial in February of this year. She pled not guilty.
[00:52:26] Her defense argued that Eric Richens may have acquired the fentanyl himself on a recent trip to Mexico. And they said, or he could have accidentally taken something. Apparently, he did like to take some, like, THC gummies at night. And he didn't always buy them from dispensaries. He, like, I don't know why he would buy them off the street. He had plenty of money. But whatever. They say maybe. It was Utah. Who knows? There you go. It is Utah. Right? It's like the underground network of THC gummies. So, they're like, maybe he bought some.
[00:52:55] That he didn't know were laced with fentanyl. And his death is just a tragic accident. So, that was the defense. All in all, the trial lasts three weeks. The prosecution called almost 40 witnesses. The defense, however, chose to rest their case without calling one witness. I'm going to let that sit for a minute. That's not a good strategy, right? Well, okay. So, you know, Mel and I are mock trial moms. I'm all about the strategy at trial. Okay.
[00:53:24] And so, I did a lot of Googling. Okay. About this. Apparently, if the defense thinks that they have cross-examined the hell out of the witnesses that the prosecution calls, sometimes that's a strategy. Okay. Also, sometimes they're afraid to call new witnesses that might interject new information that then could be into the record. Okay. That makes sense. But, it is weird.
[00:53:52] And the jury thought it was weird. And so, the question was like, did the jury feel like that made, like, did the jury think that the defense didn't think they had an argument? Right. They didn't even, like, do any, like, character witnesses. Not one witness. Like, maybe to talk about, but she's such a good mom. She loved her mom. Your children were, you know, and having issues. So, she wrote this book. I feel like you could have dug something there.
[00:54:21] So, the prosecution rested and they had an hour recess and the defense came back and they're like, defense, rest your honor. Okay. See, I feel like this is going to be cause for retrial. Oh, well, that's interesting. Oh. That's a really, yeah. I mean, like, I mean, wouldn't you say this was not a sound defense if you're not calling anyone compared to, what did you say, 40? Well, and I have to say, I hate to say this, but I'm going to say it because I've had a
[00:54:50] glass of wine already. I did listen to some of the trial. I did not think her attorneys were very good. Oh. Like, they fumbled a lot and they, like, messed up, at least what I heard. And I was like, oh, like, our kids are better at mock trial than this. Is it like a, I mean, I don't, I hope it's not disparaging. Is it a public defender? I think it was a public defender. I think she had hired somebody and they bowed out, which is part of, or that maybe bowed out is not right. They decided they were not going to continue in representing her.
[00:55:20] Yeah. For whatever reason. She didn't have money to pay. Right. Maybe. And so, and I think that's why it took so long to get to trial is, you know, she had a new defense attorney. Now, am I remembering correctly? Oh my gosh. Hold on. The dogs. Mel, you were asking if. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say, and you can cut this, but am I remembering correctly that she also was writing some letters?
[00:55:49] You mean from prison? Yeah. Something like some letters were. Yeah. And I didn't go into this in the outline episode, but you're right. So she goes to prison and, um, I'm trying to remember why they ended up searching her cell, but for whatever reason they searched her cell and they find this letter and across the top of it, it says walk the dog. So it's infamously referred to as like the walk the dog letter, but she's writing it to
[00:56:17] her mom and she's telling her mom essentially like, Hey, tell brother to remember, you know, that Eric told him when he went to Mexico, he was going to get drugs, like nod, nod, wink, wink, hint, hint. Don't you remember that conversation that he had? And so then there was like, well, is this witness tampering? But the judge was like, well, no, the letter never made it to the mom or the brother. So we didn't really tamper with a witness.
[00:56:45] Maybe she, I don't, is that what you're thinking about now? There was some, yeah, there was drama about some letters that was, they were saying was kind of self-incriminating. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so the jury debates for like three hours, so not very long. And they found Corey guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder. Remember the sandwich, um, and two counts of insurance fraud.
[00:57:13] And one of the jurors told 48 hours in an interview, they said, I was so shocked and I was actually really disappointed. I felt like there was more to the story in regards to them not calling witnesses. Witnesses. Witnesses. And of course, you know, like Corey has the choice whether or not she's going to take the stand for herself. And most, I think we've realized most defense people say you should not get on the stand, which is shocking to me.
[00:57:40] I would want every opportunity to tell my story, but that seems like that's the strategy normally. Yeah. I agree. So who knows? Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. Well, that's what I've got. So she was found guilty. She's been sentenced to prison. But it's just this in February, just in February. March. Yeah. So trial started in February, wrapped up in March. I mean, she's got appeals. I mean, she's probably certainly something moving behind the scenes. I think so. Yeah. I would think so.
[00:58:10] All right. Do y'all want to know what happened to the properties? Okay. So the Midway Mansion quickly became a financial disaster. No surprise. She tried, like she bought it and she almost immediately turned around and put it on the market for like $1.8 million more than she paid for it without doing anything to it. Like, hello. Right. It's not the way the market works. Well, I mean, she needed some lawyers. Yeah. Um, we showed some proper pictures of this property earlier on YouTube.
[00:58:37] If you watch us there, I mean, it's essentially like a plywood shell. Like the outside looks like a property and then you walk inside and it's just, I mean, nothing's been finished out. It's framed. Um, but that's about it. Have you ever, did you ever see the, um, on Netflix, it was kind of a documentary about the, uh, MLM LuLaRoe? Oh yeah. Uh huh. I don't think I saw that one. Yeah.
[00:59:04] You, so it was that leggings company, like really cheap kind of like, like leggings, you know, in Utah is the home of MLMs. Uh huh. Oh yeah. Like all the, all the MLMs are real in Utah. Like they're almost all in that community. And LuLaRoe was kind of a crazy one that crashed and burned. And there was an interesting three-parter documentary a couple of years back.
[00:59:31] Anyway, this Midway Mansion, it was, um, I believe by either the founder or someone very high up, but maybe the founder of LuLaRoe. What? I didn't come across that. That's fascinating. That's the owner. That's who she was buying it from? The original, well, it, he halfway built it and then skedaddled and left town and went to like Costa Rica or something like that. Fascinating. Good piece of info, Mel. All right.
[01:00:00] So LuLaRoe guy pieces out on this property. He started in 2017. She buys it in, what did we say? 20, 20, 22? 20, 19, 20, 20. I think it's just 22. Whatever. A couple of years later. But like, it's still unfinished. It's been uninhabited. We've got, it's been vandalized. Apparently, like I saw some random comment that somebody like maybe died in there while it was vacant. Yeah.
[01:00:25] What happened was there was like a homeless person killed themselves in the house. Yikes. And so that was when the, I don't think I just had it. So that was when Kim and Doug Roilance, which were the founders of the LuLaRoe, according to MLM. I'm so annoyed I did not know about this tie in because I feel like this could have been a two-part episode.
[01:00:54] Maybe we have a LuLaRoe episode coming in us. I was totally into that documentary. I was. Well, and I have a good girlfriend. My girlfriend, Jen, sold LuLaRoe. Oh, really? Mm-hmm. Interesting. Yeah. You gotta watch this documentary. Yeah. You would like it. No murders, but like, just like, how the hell did people lose thousands and thousands of dollars on leggings? I like other documentaries besides murder documentaries. Like, there's no murder, but you still might like it. I will. I will.
[01:01:25] If y'all hear my dog in the background, he's just, he needs a little extra love tonight. Okay. All right. So, plywood shell. It's been vandalized. Somebody died there. There are animal investations and a ventilation. And here's really the biggest problem with this property. So, it's really close to these wetlands that are managed, I don't think it's owned, but managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, however that works, right?
[01:01:50] And so, the logistics of getting utilities to this property are challenging because of these wetlands. They're like, you can't run pipes this, right? Like, you gotta be careful about the wetlands. We're protecting them. And so, it really dictated how some of the property could be, like, changed or built upon. And so, when she was unable to sell it for a profit, even though, like, I don't know why
[01:02:16] she would have thought she could, given that nobody else had bought it, the property fell into foreclosure. It was purchased in 2023 by Kirk Harnes, who is the president of a California water and wastewater construction company. And according to an article on townlift.com, Harnes said, I looked at it before I knew that. And we just look at it as a straight business deal. Nothing to do with the rest of the circus. I love this guy.
[01:02:42] So, he bought it for $3.75 million and will begin work to finish the home. Construction to complete the property was planned to take roughly six months to a year, weather dependent. And unlike Roy Lance, who's who you were talking about, right? Yep. Harnes intends to reconstruct the home as a single family residence instead of a property for venues or retreats. Do you think Roy Lance planned it for venues and retreats? Do you have any idea? I read something that he had grand ambitions for it.
[01:03:12] He did have to add a primary bedroom to the unfinished property and he tends to finish the home and then flip it to another buyer. And so, from what I can tell, that's Midway Mansion. Although, that was when this guy purchased it in 2023 and six years later. I mean, not six, three years. Yeah. I have not seen that it sold. Yeah, neither have I. And I did look at it this week. Yeah.
[01:03:40] And then, from what I can tell, Eric's trust still owns that property on Willow Court. I went into the tax trust. I am too, but yeah. And then, so, Eric's sister Katie, who was the trustee, her and her husband Clint apparently have custody of Corey and Eric's three boys. Great. And I don't want to get, like, really sad, but it's kind of sad to me, but in the trial,
[01:04:03] the boys testified about not wanting their mom to get out. Oh, wow. Like, so, they had these young boys who were still youngish, you know, testifying, saying that they want the judge to throw the book at their mother and that they are fearful that they would get hurt if she comes out. That sounds so weird to me. That sounds coached. But a child would say that about, yeah.
[01:04:33] To me, that felt like, I don't know if I needed to up with these children. And so, like, when she did a statement saying that this may be the last time I ever see my children again. That makes me sad. Yeah, like, it was one of those, like, I'm kind of just sad that these kids. Yeah, I was just, okay. But let me ask you this.
[01:04:57] Obviously, I'm, I presented this story with my own personal thoughts on what happened. But, like, do you think there's a world in which she did not kill him? No. No. Mm-mm. Yeah. And you as well. No. I mean, I think, could you have convinced me without the money and the boyfriend and the drug dealer
[01:05:25] that he had accidentally overdosed? Yeah, probably. Right. I would have said. It happens all the time. Yeah. Like, did he buy something he shouldn't have bought? Like, did he take two gummies? Like, was one of them laced? Who knows? You could have convinced me of that. But the money situation, she was in dire straits. Mm-hmm. And they obviously did not have open lines of communication about how to fix this problem. Mm-hmm.
[01:05:54] She had booked this trip with the boyfriend. How was she going to go on that? Right. Right. I'm just glad that he doesn't appear to have been involved in any of this. No, he does not. He does not. Yeah. Okay. So, let's take this two at a time. Mm-hmm. So, we've got the Willow Court property where Eric died. Mm-hmm. And then we have the mansion, the Midway Mansion, that's the event space slash whatever that they never lived in. Mm-hmm. Live or list both of those?
[01:06:24] I'd list both for sure. Okay. I think I could live in both. Really? The suicide, the homeless suicide in Willow. Was that? Midway Mansion. Midway Mansion. Kind of gives me a little pause, but I think I could do it. Okay. I mean, it was 20,000 square feet. Yeah. It would have been over there, I'm sure. Right. Exactly. What about you, Mel? Yeah. I mean, I could.
[01:06:54] It's none of my trigger kind of issues. And I mean, as much as I would try and get money at the Midway Mansion, I'd also, though, be a little suspect. How much work? Because this house has been on and off the market. That's. Yeah. For a decade. I'm like, you know, this seems like a lot more work than, I mean, but you could maybe make a lot of money if you could finally get it sold. Yeah. I mean, I'm with y'all.
[01:07:22] I think I would live in both. I mean, I don't need 20,000 square feet, but like if that was something to me. Yeah. Yeah. No. Um, I would definitely list the Willow property, the regular like house. Um, I think the listing of Midway Mansion would be dependent on like how realistic are we on price? What are our expectations on who the buyer for this is?
[01:07:51] And how long is it going to take to find this buyer? Like how unique is the buyer? Um, and that would be more of a conversation about like, are we aligned and how we think this process is going to go from a pricing, from a timing, from a like expectation standpoint. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I'm with you Mel. Like it doesn't have any of my major triggers. We've started watching the pit recently. I've heard great things about that show. I've only seen a few episodes, but they were excellent.
[01:08:20] Uh, yes, all excellent. And it is so hard for me to watch. And John, my husband's like, you talk about murder all day long. I was like, that's easy. Watching like people have health drama issues is so triggering for me. Interesting. Like I've cried, but it's a great show. I could see what you're saying about that because it seems like almost like more like plausible.
[01:08:46] Like you could sort of see how some of these scenarios would happen in your real life. Like, you know, we're watching, so we finished Mad Men, which was excellent with the boys. And now we're on to, um, uh, the Sopranos and the Sopranos. Wait, pause. You're watching the Sopranos with the boys? Yeah. There's so many like strip club scenes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We forgot about a lot of that. Yeah. No, we just finished the Sopranos, the two of us. And we were like, Lincoln would love this. Oh my God.
[01:09:15] This is the strip club scene. Um, my boys generally close their eyes, but that's more because they're just embarrassed to be in the room. With us. But yeah. Yeah. That's fair. And yeah, at this point in time, I'm like, okay, we got, you know, older boys. Uh, but yes. Uh, but those things are so, you know, the crime is so outlandish that, you know, I'm not worried about bringing that into my house.
[01:09:42] But the pit, I feel like some weird medical emergency accident. That's more like you. Well, and like, I didn't mean to tie this into the episode, but it, it did. Um, one of the episodes we just watched and I don't know if there's more than one season or in the first season, but it's this college kid who's a really good kid who takes some Xanax to like calm down after like staying up all night studying and it's laced with fentanyl
[01:10:10] or something and he dies. And the whole family was like, he's such a good kid. Like he's not a hard drug user. Yeah. I literally like went and found my kid and gave him a big hug and I'm like, don't ever take anything that anybody gives you. If you need something, call your mom. I'll find you drugs. And your son's like, okay. Okay. Weirdo lady. Get away from me. But yeah, no, that's how I think seeing that episode was in the back of my mind.
[01:10:38] I forgot about Heather, about, but about how fentanyl, most of these kids, you know, they're not thinking they're taking fentanyl. Right. Yeah. Right. I have no idea. Yeah. Sad. Okay. Well, that was a little bit of a, um, like more. Sad ending, but this was a really good episode. Um, because it's very ripped from the headlines, but it also has to do with some crazy real estate. I don't know what the moral of the story is, but, um, you know. Google search history.
[01:11:08] Be careful. There's a lot of morals. Yes. That, um, uh, share your financial information with your spouse. Right. And if you can't, that's a red flag. Call your mom if you need drugs. There you go. I like it. Not your housekeeper. Um, yeah. It just, and I feel bad for the boys. Yeah. Yeah. I do feel bad for the boys. All three of us as boy moms, really? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But it sounds like Eric's sister's lovely.
[01:11:38] She's taking care of them and. Yeah. She has a trust for them now. Yeah. Good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, good time to note if you like the podcast and want to support us and help us keep the mics on and we are going to be better, even though it's the summer, we're going to be better this, um, you know, this summer. We've had a really busy year, y'all. Yes. Yeah. Yes, we have definitely. And so we took a month off, but we're getting back into our groove.
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[01:12:29] Remember, we're going to have everybody do a poll on whether they want a Murdaugh episode. So watch for that poll on socials. I know I can do it on Spotify. I'll check out Apple Podcasts. So watch for that. Yep. Absolutely. All right. Bye. Hey, y'all. Thanks for listening and being a part of our crime estate family. If you're curious about today's featured crime estate, you can find additional photos and
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