17 Riveting Moments from Kouri Richins’ Housekeeper in Murder Trial

0:00Did you know Eric Richens? Yes. How did you know him? I cleaned his home. That's Carmen Lobber, and she told jurors that she bought drugs for Corey Richens at her request in the weeks before Eric Richens died. Did there come a time when she asked you for the Michael Jackson stuff? Yes. Now Lobber is the state's star witness in the murder case against Corey Richens. I look at 17 bombshells from Lobber's testimony. I'm Angelette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. Staying on top of the news is crucial, but with media bias these days, who knows what to believe? So I want to introduce you to our sponsor, Straight Arrow News. Straight Arrow News is a personalized news platform that gives readers fact-based journalism to inform and build trust. Their media-missed tool shows readers headlines not seen on mainstream outlets providing useful commentary

1:05that cuts through sensational spin. Their site and app also points out biases with immediate landscape to group sources by political leaning for full transparency. So if you're ready for a better way to get the news, go to stayin.com slash crime fix or just click the link in my description. Straight Arrow News, skip the drama, get the facts, welcome back to Trustworthy Journalism. Corey Richens is on trial for the murder of her husband, Eric, and the state's star witness against Corey is her former housekeeper, Carmen Lobber, who told the jury she bought drugs for Corey not once, but three times before Eric died in March of 2022. Corey's attorneys say she's innocent and that she did not murder Eric by poisoning his Moscow mule with fentanyl. Corey called 911 in the early morning hours of March 4, 2022, and told EMTs that she and Eric had had a drink and he had taken a THC gummy before they went to bed. We've got me before he goes to bed.

2:08He didn't seem like he did though. It's like your gummy isn't like a THC gummy. Now there's a problem with that though. The medical examiner testified that Eric Richens didn't have THC in his system when the toxicology results came back. She said the results only showed he had fentanyl and alcohol in his system. That leaves one question, where do prosecutors claim Corey Richens got the fentanyl to poison Eric in her hopes of cashing in and collecting his millions? That's where Carmen Lobber comes in. She's Corey and Eric's former housekeeper, and she wasn't just a housekeeper. She's a woman with a long history with drugs. What do you do for living? I'm a direct support intake. I work with people with disability and mental challenges and stuff. Do you have any history of drug use? Yes. When did that history begin? Sixth grade of a spoken pot and then it just varied up through junior high and high school.

3:13How did it vary up? Through cocaine, through pot, through mushrooms, LSD, acid, just drinking stuff through junior high and high school. Did it continue into adulthood? Yes. For how long? For quite a much my adulthood. Have you ever sold drugs? Yes. Do you have a criminal history of drug use? Yes. Does it involve drug possession? Yes. Does it involve drug distribution? Yes. Do you have felony convictions for drug distribution? Yes. Are you currently on a type of probation for drug distribution? Yes. And are you on a probation for a felony drug distribution? Yes.

4:13Is that probation in Wasatch County's drug court? Yes. What is drug court? Drug court is where you go in, they give you the tools to rehabilitate yourself. They give you groups, personal therapy, one-on-one treatment. They give you random UAs. They have you complete an MRT book. Just tools to rehabilitate yourself. When you say UAs, is that your analysis testing? Yes. Yes. They would call in daily and you would either have a number or a color. And if your color or number was called, you had to go to five-minute clinic and do UAs. And is the idea behind drug court that it's a rehabilitative program under court supervision? Yes. Are you sober now? Yes.

5:13How long have you been sober? A little over four years. Is that the longest time in your life since sixth grade that you've been sober? Absolutely. Except for the time I was pregnant, the only time I quit. And then I'd go back to being high, but yes, four years. So Carmen has a long history of abusing drugs, but right now, she's clean. Lead prosecutor Brad Bloodworth is getting all of Carmen Labr's warts out in front of the jury early on and she's getting a major deal in exchange for her testimony. Are you testifying pursuant to several grants of immunity to them? Yes. Is one of those grants of immunity and a letter from some accountant? Yes. Is one of those grants of immunity and a letter from Fault Lake County? Yes. Is one of those grants of immunity and a letter from the federal government? Yes. And is there also an understanding between you and Wasatch County or at least your attorney and Wasatch County

6:19that there's immunity for the gun and the marijuana and Wasatch County? Yes. And do you have those four grants of immunity because you have committed crimes in connection with this case in all four of those jurisdictions? Yes. What is your understanding of those immunity agreements? We're sitting forward with the truth and there will be no charges filed back on me. Do you understand that they require you in order to avoid criminal exposure? They require you to testify today truthfully? Yes. Do they require you to testify today fully? Yes. Regardless of who's asking you the question. Yes. And that if you don't testify truthfully and fully, you can lose all of that immunity.

7:21Yes. Did your lawyer assist you in getting that immunity? Yes. Did he advise you of the potential criminal exposure you face if you lose that immunity? Yes. I need you to go to the office. Yes. Sorry. Yeah. I need you to remind you. Yeah. Yeah. Did you interview with investigators before you got immunity in those cases? Yes. About how many times? Six times, six or seven times. And over the course of those six or seven times before you had immunity?

8:21About how many hours total did you speak with investigators? You would take ten, fifteen hours? Carmen Lover talked about part of the reason she agreed to testify, aside from the immunity she was given. When they first told me that, when the papers mentioned that Eric, I already knew Eric had passed away, but when they told, when they had mentioned that it was from an overdose, that hit hard. Only for the fact that if that's what happened, I needed to step up and take accountability of my part in this that happened, or what I was asked for. At first it took a minute to process everything.

9:26So, Carmen Lover says part of the reason she is testifying is because she played a role in Eric's death, but let's face it, she also has the possibility of major prison time hanging over her head. Now, let's get into the meat of her testimony. Ma'am, did you know Corey Rich? Yes. How did you know her? I worked for her aunt for LTD's personal house cleaning. And as part of working for Corey Rich's house cleaning, aunt's house cleaning business, did you clean Corey Rich's home? Yes. Every other Friday, unless she needed an extra clean or a deep clean. About how long did you know Corey Rich? I worked for her aunt for nine years. And did you know Corey Rich's that whole nine years? Yes. We got to know each other throughout the time, throughout the years.

10:26Did you also perform other cleaning services for Corey Rich's? Yes. When I wasn't working for Doreen, I reached out to her and asked her if she had any house cleaning or landscaping or anything that she needed help with. Did you ever discuss your drug history with Corey Rich? Yes. How so? We just talk about how, Father, I was going to drug core and when I would graduate and she would reach out and ask how things were going over and over and into each other. I told her I'm almost graduating. Did you know Eric Rich? Yes. How did you know him? I cleaned his home, his house and he'd come in and he would joke with us that we were there a little later and we would shoot a band and he'd tell us to get out of here. You know, we were working past five o'clock. It's time to go home. I'd gone to their house with my grandkids on a barbecue when one of their sons

11:29was birthdays with her aunt. Did you know that Eric Rich is on the stone mystery business? Yes. Did you know any of the workers that he employed in that business? No. We knew that prosecutors would claim that Carmen Lover bought drugs for Corey at her request but we learned through Lover's testimony the number of times she claims Corey asked her to buy drugs. Did Corey Richens ever ask you to purchase for her listened drugs? Yes. How many times? Four. Did you purchase the listed drugs for her? Yes. How many times? Four. When you purchased the listed drugs for Corey Richens the first time, who did you purchase the drugs from? Susan Kohler. When you purchased Corey for Corey Richens drugs the second time,

12:33who did you purchase the drugs from? Robbie. By Robbie, do you mean Robert Crosier? Yes. How about the third time? Robbie. The fourth time. Robbie. Robbie Crosier will be a key witness for the state too. Carmen Lover told the jury she deleted her text with Corey about buying drugs because they showed her doing something illegal and she was going through drug court and didn't want to get into trouble. Let's talk about the second time that you purchased drugs for Corey Richens, which is the, am I right? The first time you purchased them from Robert Crosier? Yes. All right, let's talk about that first purchase from Robert Crosier. How did Corey Richens approach you on that purchase? She reached out to me in text message that her investor needed or wanted something stronger.

13:34And I kind of told her, well, I couldn't reach out to the people. I don't know. You just can't say, hey, this is what I'm looking for. When you're buying drugs off the street, you're pretty much purchased what you get. At the time I didn't know anybody, so I reached out to another acquaintance that I knew that was still using, which would be Nicole. Now, this is where the subject of fentanyl, the drug that killed Eric Richens, comes up. Did he ever get back to you after that? Yes, he did. When he got back to you, what did he say? He said he had a buddy that had some fentanyl pills. What then did you do? I had text Corey back and told her that I had a friend that could get them, but they were fentanyl pills.

14:34So you told Corey you had a friend to hook up for fentanyl pills? Yes. How did Corey Richens respond? She said, okay, go ahead and get him. So, did you go ahead and get him? Yes. What was the next step and get him? The next step was reaching out to Robbie and told him to go ahead and get him. Lobber said she also deleted her text messages with Robbie Crozier because they showed her doing something illegal as well. Remember Corey is charged with attempted murder for a Valentine's Day 2022 incident in which Eric Richens believed Corey poisoned his sandwich. Photos were shown during Carmen Lobber's testimony that showed her with her friend Nancy driving through Provo Canyon three days before Valentine's Day on February 11, 2022 to meet Robbie Crozier. Did you see about how many pills were inside that baggy? No, I didn't sit there and count them.

15:3515 or 20 is what he told me. Did you, you said they were circular? Yes, just round. Did you notice that color? Kind of light green. What did you do once he gave you the pills? Left. Left to where? Back up to Provo Canyon, back up to my house in Hebrew. On the way back to your home in Hebrew, did you exchange text messages with Corey Richens? Yes, I did. What was the content of those messages? I let her know that I had him. What did she want me to do with him? I really didn't want them with me at my house. Did she tell you what she wanted to do with those pills? She responded back with, take him over to the Midway House, put him in a shed. There were three sheds on that property. I didn't feel comfortable leaving him in the shed out in the open.

16:37So I went to the fire pit and kind of dug a little hole and put the gravel back on top of it and then kind of turned a bridge to the side to kind of cover it up. A lot of what Brad Bloodworth was showing the jury was meant to corroborate Carmen Lobber's testimony, the photos of the fire pit, and then these, community service letters, signed by Corey Richens for Carmen Lobber. What's the genesis of these letters? Why these letters? I was late for a couple of groups so I got sanctioned from drug court to do 10 hours of community service. Okay, so groups, do you mean group therapy sessions? Yes. And because you were late to court order, their court order, don't they? Yes. Because you were late to court order group therapy sessions and drug court, am I right that judge sanctioned you to community service? Yes. Then did you approach Corey Richens about getting community service letters? I'd asked her if she knew anywhere could get a letter with the head on it,

17:41saying that I did some community hours. Okay. Ms. Lobber, did Corey Richens hand you those letters? Yes. Did you perform that community service? Absolutely not. Have you ever stepped foot on a circle R ranch? No, I have not. Did you submit those community service letters to the drug court in Wasatch County? Yes, I did. How'd that go? Not too early. I ended up in jail for a day. And got more community hours. Brad Bloodworth also asked Carmen Lobber about a time that Lobber claimed Corey Richens asked her for, quote, Michael Jackson stuff. Michael Jackson died from an overdose of propifal and anesthetic in 2009. Did there come a time when she asked you for the Michael Jackson stuff? Yes.

18:42Is that this time? Yes. What did you understand the Michael Jackson stuff to me? I actually wasn't sure I had to Google it. So you said there was ultimately this third buy from Robert Crozier. Did Corey Richens give you the money up front for the third buy? Yes, it was at the Midway House still. Was it the same way? Same little house in Midway, back door. Did you enter the back door at that little house in Midway? Yes. Did you get some money? Yes. Do you remember about how much? About $1,000. Was it cash?

19:42Yes. Was it cash the other time also? Yes. Once you got the $1,000 out of the small Midway House, what did you do? I touched Robbie. What did you set up with Robbie overtaxed? Just saying, hey, do you, does your friends still have any of those left? And then of course, you know, it doesn't happen right then and there. I could text him and he'd say, I'll get back to you in a couple of days else so I can find out. So then when Robbie texted me back, I let Corey know that I could get him and then head back down, had Nancy take me once again down Provo Canyon to the Mavic on 126. Just like the time before. Yes.

20:43Like before, were you texting with Robert Crozier on the way down the canyon? Yes. And what was the content of those texts? St. Texts are how much longer? How far out are you? Because he always had a fine to write as well. Were you texting on the way down Provo Canyon with Corey Richens? Yes. What was the content of those texts? Same thing. Sorry, it's taken along. I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'll keep you posted. Carmen Lobber went on to describe the pills she said she bought from Robbie Crozier. And what she did after buying them from him. Can you please describe the baggie? A clear little baggie. Just a small little clear baggie. It's for you to put in an extra bun in it. Same luxury. Yes. Do you recall about how many pills? 15 to 20. I never stopped counting them, but that's what he told me was in the baggie. Were they round again? Yes. What color were they?

21:43A lighter blue. Once you received the pills, Robert Crozier, what did you do? Ted Scoring told her I was headed back at Provo Canyon. And I'm sorry it was getting late, so what did she want me to do with them? Okay. Did you text with Cory Rich's on your way back up Provo Canyon to Aiber? Yes. When you got back up to Aiber, what did you do? I went to my house in Aiber. Did you still have the pills with you? Yes. What ultimately did you do with the pills?

22:46It was Nancy in the drawer with me, so I had taken her to my house. Wait, hold on, get confused, hold on a sec. Take a minute. And this is a lot, hold on. Okay, sorry, you can repeat the question. So, sure, the second buy from Robert Crozier, you went back up Provo Canyon to your house in Aiber, Nancy Peterson was driving, right? Yeah. And you had the pills with you when you arrived back at your home in Aiber. And the question is, what did you do with the pills? I had them with me. Did you hold on to them?

23:46Yes, I did. For how long? Well, I had given Nancy a couple for taking me, because that was the drivatory through the time. And not very long. What did you do with them? I reached out to Cory and asked her why she wanted me to do with them, because I didn't like having them on me. Why did she respond? Did she would come pick them up? Did she? Yes, she did. Where did she ever come from? In my house, in Aiber, in my driveway. Lobber said Cory Richens later picked up those pills from her at her home.

24:47Brad Bloodworth asked Lobber questions about the drug by she made from Robbie Crozier and what happened after Eric died? Before Eric died, how many times did you buy drugs from Robert Crozier? Twice. Any more than twice before Eric died? Just the twice. Before Eric died, have you ever been other than those two times to the Maverick and Drake? No. You just said Eric died in Northern March, right? Yes. Do you recall when you learned that Eric died? It was one of the, one of the orange employees that had told me that Eric had passed away. And did you recall how soon after Eric's death, she told you that?

25:48It was a day or two after. Did you ever speak with Cory Richens about Eric's death? Yes, I did. What? A couple days after. Where were you when you spoke with Cory Richens the first time about Eric's death? I was with my friend Nick and we were on our way to do a UA for drug court. His Nick, Nick Bonsavik. Yes, it is. And the UA gave us a urn house. Yes, it is. So you and Nick were together. Were you on a way, were you driving to the UA? Yes. When you had that conversation with Cory Richens about Eric's death, were you on speakerphone? Yes. Could Nick hear the conversation?

26:49Yes. Did you ask Cory Richens about Eric's death? Yes, I did. What did you ask her? I said please tell me these pills were not for him. Did she respond? She did. How did she respond? She said no, they were not. Eric passed away from a brain aneurysm. Now this is now the second time a witness has testified that Cory told them oh, Eric died from this. You may recall Eric's dad testified that Cory told him that Eric died from a lung ailment, but back to Carmen. She offered more testimony about what Cory said. Did there come in time after that conversation, were you asked whether Eric died from those pills? Were you asked Cory Richens whether Eric died from those pills? Did there come in time after that conversation,

27:49when Cory Richens again asked June to purchase drugs from her? Yes. How did she ask? She asked me if I still had the hook up of her, my friend. Scott, can I get 2-44? If you look down that column label description, Miss Lover, do you recognize that as a text exchange between you and Cory Richens? Yes. Yes, I do. Is this an accurate text exchange,

28:51an accurate depiction of the text exchange? Yes, it is. Did it occur on March 6th and into the 7th 2022? Yes, it is. Carmen then talked about a time after Eric Richens died that she bought drugs for Cory. I'm talking about the third drug buy from Mr. Curzea now, after Eric's dad. Oh, no, she gave me... Well, she told me that the investor will leave money under her dorm at her house. The investor would leave money under the dorm at her house for you to buy drugs? Yes, in Camus. Oh, in Camus. So, did you go to her house and pick up that money? Yes, I was with Nick. Nick drove me. Okay, is this the same Nick von Savage? Yes. That was in the car when you asked her whether the pills caused Eric's death. Yes. So Nick drove you from where? Nick picked me up in my house in Heber and then we headed to the back side of Jordan L to the house in Camus.

29:54Cory Richens' house in Camus. Yes, Cory and Eric's house in Camus. Did you check under the mat at the front door for the money? Yes, I went to the door. There was nothing there. So I kind of looked at Nick and kind of struck my shoulders and ran around to the back door to see if there was anything out of the mat there. There was nothing there. So I ran back to the front and I kind of threw my hands in the air to Nick's like, what do I do? And then I went up and ran the doorbell. It took Cory a minute to get to the door. She answered that she told me to come inside. I told her the money wasn't there. I gave her a hug and asked how she was doing. And then I told her the money wasn't there. And then she asked if she could write me a check. So then she went over to her kitchen counter and grabbed kind of a book about so big and wrote me a check. Did she hand you the check? Yes. Yes, you heard Carmen Lover write. She said Cory Richens paid her for drugs using a check.

30:56A copy of that check was shown to the jury. The check amount $1,300. Carmen said she deposited the money and kept some of it in cash. Now Carmen is a key witness for the state. A star witness, really. So of course the defense attacked her credibility immediately on cross examination and attorney Wendy Lewis suggested Lover may have been prepped to testify by the state just a little too much. What other people from Summit County Sheriff's Office, if any, besides Detective Maynard and Detective... Oh, Driscoll did you talk to him? Well, there's detectives? Yes, were there any others? No. All right. Have you met with the prosecutors in this case, either Mr. Bloodworth or anyone else? Yes, I have. How many times? There was an initial meeting when we first... This case first came up here with Bloodworth and then a couple of times over the last couple of weeks. So when you met with him over the last couple of weeks, was that to go over your testimony?

31:57Yes. Did they practice your testimony with you in those meetings? They kind of prepared me for what kind of... I'm with the word I'm thinking of. They kind of prepared me a little bit of it. Lewis also suggested, in her questioning of Carmen, that police and prosecutors helped her craft a story to tell the jury. Did they help you put the pieces together so you would remember what to testify to? Actually, I'm the one that's asked... Like, when... If I needed to know Robbie I put in my phone... Obviously, it says... Corey Dorensnese, Robbie Nicole's friend. Just stuff like that. I don't know if I understood your answer to my question. So my question was, did they help put the pieces together for you for your testimony and what was your answer? I said, I'm the one that asked for pictures and stuff like that. So you asked them to help put the pieces together for you?

32:58I don't know if it was actually helping me put the pieces together. Kind of refresh my memory a little bit. It happened a long time ago. That's true. It's happened almost four years ago. Right? Yeah. Okay. And your original interviews with detectives was almost three years ago. Yes. All right, we're going to get back to that. Then the questioning became personal. Ms. Carlser, do you have mental health diagnoses? Do I what? Any mental health diagnosis. No. You're not diagnosed with any mental health problems? No. You're sure? Yes. What about anxiety? Yeah. Do you take medication for that? No. Not so much. I don't know. Okay. Are you going to any medications today? No. Wendy Lewis then turned to Carmen Labr's possible motivation to testify for the prosecution. The troubles she was having completing drug court. Okay. Well, that was January of 22.

33:58Okay. So you're missing drug tests? Then on January 28th, drug court, they said you had tested positive for methamphetamine. Yes. And you said, no, retested. That's not true. I didn't use. Yeah. But then the next week, you came back and you said, well, actually, I did use. You don't need to retest it. I relapsed. What happens? Well, yes, working with active users once again with the clean company that you were all still active users. Well, but it was your choice. Yes. Absolutely. But if you get, you keep getting offered and offered as a drug addict. Yes. Obviously, you're going to relapse. You're going to be fooled. And you lied about it. Yes. All right. That's what addicts do when you're using. That's true. Addicts lie. All right. Active addicts.

34:58Wendy Lewis is trying to show the jury that Carmen Labr cannot be trusted. She's a recovering addict who has a lot to lose. So you're arrested on April 26th. You don't know yet about the firearm. You said you've forgotten about the marijuana. But you don't know about the firearm. You just know you were brought in on driving on a revoked license. Yes. The next day, Detective Odriskel and Detective Maynard show up to talk to you. April 27th, 2023. I guess it was the next day. Yeah. And at that time, you didn't know why they were there. No, I had no idea. But they told you, hey, we searched your place. We found a gun under your bed. Correct? Yes. And they tell you your drug court is in jeopardy. You could be violated. Yes.

36:00And if you're violated and you go back and be sentenced on your two first degree felonies and your third degree felony, you are looking at two five to life prison sentences and one zero to five prison sentence, potentially. Lewis then came back to things that were personal. Things that the jury could possibly see is really attacking Carmen Lover. All right. But during that interview, you told the officers numerous times. I have been using drugs since I was six grade. Yes. My brain isn't not that good. Correct. I don't remember things. Yes. You have a learning disability also correct? Yes. Can you share what that is?

37:00No. I have no. I would ask you to share what it is. That was a question not a request. Sorry. I apologize. But it could be relevant. Miss Lover, if you would please answer the question. Yes, I do have one. And what is it? It's not the highest education. It's a low grade education. Is that because you struggled in school because you're learning disability? Yes. All right. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of people have that. Right. Carmen Lover wiped tears from her eyes and then Wendy Lewis played an interview with Carmen Lover and the detective showing the incentive she had to cooperate. So here's what's happening in your drug court. They are looking for this. Maybe I'm saying that let me finish. They're looking for your drug court deal and ask for seven years on your two firsts.

38:03Five years for the first, the one felony and a 40% portion for the second for seven years. The only exception to that and the only thing that they're willing to kind of help you out with is if you can help yourself with this. And by so he means like give up the details that will ensure Cory gets convicted of murder. So that's what they said to you. Yes. Yes. Let me just identify a couple of people here. The first person speaking to you telling you that first she says I talked to McCay. McCay is the prosecutor in law such kind of drug court, right? Correct. McCay King. Yes, correct. All right. And that in talking to McCay King you may be getting seven years in prison on your state case. Correct. But if you help him out, that's not going to happen.

39:06Correct. And by helping him out, that means you need to give us the details that will ensure the Cory gets convicted, correct? Correct. And you are willing to do whatever it takes to save yourself from getting kicked out of drug court and going to prison, correct? I'm going to go forward the truth, yes. The suggestion by the defense here is clear that Carmen Lover has a major incentive to possibly lie. She can stay out of prison by testifying for the state, but will this work? The jury will ultimately decide how credible Carmen Lover is or isn't. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Angie Nellieby. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time. Okay.