Fentanyl Supplier Recants, Casting Doubt on Utah Housewife's Murder Case

Two years after the alleged murder of her husband, Kouri Richins is facing a new development in her high-profile trial. According to court filings, the prosecution's star witness, Robert Crozier, has recanted his previous statement about supplying the fentanyl that Richins is accused of using to fatally poison her husband, Eric Richins.

Richins' defense team claims that Crozier informed the Summit County Attorney's Office about his change of stance back in April, but prosecutors allegedly failed to disclose this information to the defense. Now, Richins' lawyers are asking the judge to reconsider her bail and release conditions, arguing the state's case has been severely undermined.

"If the state cannot place fentanyl in the hands of (Richins), the state has no case," defense attorney Kathryn Nester wrote in her motion. She accused prosecutors of "continuing and knowing concealment" of the witness's recantation, calling it "rot at the core, poisoning the whole harvest of justice."

The development comes as Richins, a 35-year-old Utah housewife, stands accused of fatally poisoning her 39-year-old husband in March 2022. Prosecutors had alleged that she obtained the fentanyl from her housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, and the drug supplier, Crozier. But with Crozier now denying those claims, the defense argues the state's case has been significantly weakened.

Richins' trial is currently scheduled to begin in February, and the judge will have to weigh the impact of Crozier's recantation on the proceedings.