She Laughs and Shrugs in Court, Thinks She Erased Everything — Then the Texts Surface
She sat in that courtroom laughing like this was all a badly told joke, not charges that could see her sentenced to life for murder. This 33-year-old mother of three believed a jury would side with her. Her lawyers described her as a grieving widow who lost her husband unexpectedly. They pointed to the children’s book she wrote about coping with loss and how she guided her sons through their pain.
How could someone who presented herself this way be a killer? The defense seemed to make sense, but then prosecutors laid out the evidence, the text messages, the fentinel purchases, the life insurance policies, and everything changed. What you’re about to see is the case building against Curry Richens and what prosecutors claim happened.
The evidence that proves she isn’t the grieving widow she appeared to be. A trial that could determine if she ever goes home again. Eric Richens was dead. What happened in that bedroom in Thomas, Utah, would later be pieced together through phone records, financial documents, and witness testimony.
This is the case of a real estate agent whose celebration Drink at Home led to a lifealtering investigation. And every single detail I’m about to show you has been verified through court records, police reports, toxicology findings, and prosecution filings. Eric Richens was 39 years old, a stonemasonry business owner, father to three young boys, an outdoorsman who loved hunting and coaching his kids’ sports teams.
On the night of March 3rd, 2022, around 9:00 p.m., alongside his mother, Lisa Darden, and his wife, Curry, he was celebrating. Curry had finally closed on a massive real estate deal, a 20,000 ft mansion in Haber City with a 4,000 ft guest house on 10 acres. The potential profit was enormous, $12 million if everything went according to plan.
Cory made Eric a Moscow mule that night in their kitchen, a celebratory drink. She brought it to their bedroom where Eric sat on the bed. She then went to sleep in one of their children’s rooms because the child had been having nightmares. Around 3:00 in the morning, she said she came back to their bedroom. Eric was cold to the touch.
By 3:22 a.m., after trying life-saving methods on her own to no avail, she called for help. First responders arrived at the family’s home. They tried to revive him, but it was too late. Eric Richens had been dead for hours. When paramedics examined the scene, they noted something that contradicted Curry’s story.
She claimed she’d performed CPR. The blood evidence suggested otherwise. The autopsy results came back weeks later. Eric Richens died from fentanyl intoxication, not just any amount. According to the medical examiner, he had approximately five times the lethal dosage in his system. The fentanyl was elicit, not medical grade.
It had been ingested orally. 20,000 nanogs per milliliter remained in his gastric fluid. But here’s what investigators found that changed everything. Soon after Eric died, Curry closed on that mansion deal alone. Then she invited friends over to her house for a large party. She was drinking. She was celebrating.
Eric’s family couldn’t believe it. They’d known something was wrong for months. Eric had told them he’d warned them. If anything happened to him, Curry was to blame. But there was another detail prosecutors would later uncover. Something that happened three weeks before Eric died. Valentine’s Day 2022. Most couples exchange cards and chocolates.
Eric Richens got a sandwich. According to court documents, Curry brought Eric his favorite sandwich from a local diner. She placed it on the seat of his truck with a love note. Eric took one bite. Within minutes, he broke out in hives. He couldn’t breathe. The reaction was severe and immediate. Eric grabbed his son’s EpiPen and injected himself.
He drank an entire bottle of Benadril. Then he passed out for several hours. When Eric woke up, he called his business partner. He told his friend exactly what he believed. His wife was trying to poison him. 3 days later, prosecutors say Curry reached out to her source again. The fentinel pills from before weren’t strong enough.
She allegedly said she needed something stronger. She specifically asked for more pills. Then Curry sent a text message to someone else, a man she’d been having an affair with. The message entered into evidence read, “If he could just go away, life would be so perfect.” The day after the Valentine’s Day incident, February 15th, Curry allegedly texted her Paramore those exact words.
And then 2 weeks later, she sent another message. Life is going to be different. I promise. Hang in there until Friday. On Friday, Eric Richens was dead. Keep that timeline in mind. It becomes critical when you see what else investigators discovered about Curry’s plans. But investigators needed to understand the full picture.
They started digging into Curry and Eric’s marriage. What they found was a financial catastrophe waiting to explode. Eric Eugene Richens grew up on a cattle ranch in Bountiful, Utah. He built a successful stonemasonry business called Cene Masonry that earned roughly a million dollars annually. Devoted to his three young sons, Curry Darden was ambitious.
She earned a master’s degree from Utah State University. In 2019, she launched Kay Richens Realy LLC, buying homes, flipping them, and selling them for profit. They married on June 15th, 2013. They signed a prenuptual agreement that same day. Each party had no rights to the others income or property, except for one critical clause.
If Eric died while they were married, his stonemasonry business would transfer to Curry. Everything had gone on well for a while. Curry started Kay Richensy in 2019. At first, business seemed good, but the numbers told a different story. Curry had taken out a home equity line of credit on the family home for $250,000. The home was in Eric’s name, but Curry signed the loan documents using the power of attorney.
Eric wasn’t aware of the loan. Between 2019 and 2020, prosecutors alleged Curry withdrew $100,000 from Eric’s bank accounts without his knowledge. She borrowed $30,000 using his credit cards. She allegedly used a fraudulent power of attorney to borrow even more money. When Eric discovered what was happening, he confronted her.
According to his family, Curry promised to pay the money back. She never did. Then Eric took action. In October 2020, he met with a divorce lawyer. He also met with an estate planning attorney. He changed his will. He formed the Eric Richens living trust and placed control of his estate with his sister Katie, not his wife. The trust was designed to protect his three sons.
Eric transferred his partnership interest in his stonemasonry business to the trust. He designated the trust as the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy instead of Curry. Eric never told Curry about any of it. But there was something else Eric did that would later prove crucial. He shared his fears with family members.
Eric told them Curry might kill him for money. He wanted to make sure his boys were financially taken care of. The forensic accountant testified about Curry’s financial situation in December 2021, just 3 months before Eric died. Curry owed approximately $4 million in debt. She owned 15 properties. She had between $500,000 and $600,000 in personal property loans.
In December alone, she made around 100 debt payments. At least one payment exceeded $5,000 per week. Curry’s realy company owed lenders at least $1.8 million at the time of Eric’s death. Eric’s estate was worth approximately $5 million. Then there was the insurance. Prosecutors alleged Curry had purchased at least four life insurance policies on Eric’s life between 2015 and 2017.
The aggregate death benefit totaled nearly $2 million. On January 1st, 2022, Curry attempted to change Eric’s $2 million life insurance policy to list her as the sole beneficiary instead of his business partner. Eric received a notification about the change. He immediately switched the beneficiary back to his business partner. But Curry wasn’t done.
In late January 2022, she allegedly caused an application to be filed for a new $100,000 life insurance policy on Eric’s life. The policy became effective 10 days before the alleged Valentine’s Day poisoning attempt. What happened next was captured in Curry’s own digital footprint, and it would destroy any claims of innocence.
Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Detective Jeff O’Driscoll started investigating Eric’s death. When he interviewed Curry, he later testified that she appeared cheery, open, happy to talk, almost too cooperative. But then investigators obtained Curry’s phone records, and what they found was damning. At the preliminary hearing, digital forensics consultant Christopher Katrodamos testified that there were numerous communications between Curry and her housekeeper from January 1st, 2022 to March 15th, 2022.
The housekeeper was identified in court documents as Carmen Lower. Cell mapping data showed Curry had texted approximately 30 times and since deleted messages with someone prosecutors allege was her drug dealer. These messages occurred in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day 2022. Curry and her paramore were in constant communication starting at least in November 2021. They texted daily.
Some phone calls, messages between the couple were ongoing around the time of Eric’s death. In December 2021, while wrapping Christmas gifts, Curry allegedly told a witness she felt trapped in her marriage. She allegedly said in many ways it would be better if Eric were dead. The next day, she texted her lover, “I’m in love with a man that’s not my husband.
I want to but can’t break up my family.” That same December, Curry booked a five- night all-inclusive romantic vacation to Secret St. Martin Resort and Spa. The trip was for her and an unidentified man. It was scheduled for April 2022, the month after Eric’s death. But investigators found something even more revealing.
They examined Curry’s Google search history. What they found wasn’t just disturbing, it proved intent. On May 10th of 2022, did that phone access a site for an article entitled, “How do police and forensic analysts recover deleted data from phones?” Yes. Did that phone uh was a a query placed in that phone quote, “Can cops, period, uncover deleted, period, messages, iPhone, close quote?” Yes.
Did that phone search quote, “How to permanently delete information from an iPhone remotely?” close quote. Yes. Did that phone search quote luxury prisons for the rich in America? It did. Did that phone search quote, “If someone is poisoned, what does it go down on the death certificate as close quote?” Yes.
Remember that housekeeper? Prosecutors alleged she was the connection to the fentinel. According to court testimony, the housekeeper admitted to supplying Curry with 15 to 30 fentinel pills on two separate occasions. The first delivery allegedly occurred on February 11th or 12th, 2022, just days before Valentine’s Day.
The housekeeper said she obtained the pills from a man named Robert Crosier. She said she gave them to Curry in a hand-to-hand transaction. Curry allegedly paid $900 for the pills. After the Valentine’s Day incident failed to kill Eric, prosecutors say Curry contacted the housekeeper again on February 26th, 2022.
She wanted another $900 worth of fentinel pills. The pills were allegedly left at a house in Midway, Utah. 6 days later, Eric Richens was dead. One more piece of evidence would seal the case, something Curry wrote herself, something she never intended prosecutors to see. On May 8th, 2023, more than a year after Eric’s death, Curry Richens was arrested.
She was charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. But between Eric’s death and her arrest, Curry did something extraordinary. She wrote a children’s book. The book was titled Are You With Me? It was about a child coping with the death of a father.
The cover showed a father figure with angel wings wearing a trucker hat watching over his sons. The story followed a young boy wondering if his deceased father could still see his accomplishments. The angel wingclad father responds, “Yes, I am with you.” Curry self-published the book in March 2023, exactly 1 year after Eric’s death.
In April 2023, 1 month before her arrest, Curry appeared on a local television show called Good Things Utah to promote the book. I’m new to all of this. So, kind of doing all, you know, research and reading books and things to try and understand, you know, not only how to grieve as a widow, as a as a wife, but also, you know, with my kids, how to help them, how to help them understand what just happened.
And what I have kind of found is, as I mentioned, it’s kind of the three C’s is how I has visualized it. And it’s, you know, um, connection, continuity, and care. And it’s, you know, making sure connection is the one major one and making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home, you know, and memories are always brought up and doing things that your loved ones love to do, whether it’s riding bikes or their favorite dinner and just constantly, you know, talking about them.
The host smiled sympathetically. They didn’t know what investigators had already uncovered. Two weeks later, Curry sent an email to Summit County investigators. In it, she addressed questions about exotic vacations she’d taken since Eric’s death. She explained she’d gone to Spain with her children to Mexico with her mother and kids.
She said Eric and she traveled a lot. In that same email, Curry addressed her marriage, claiming Eric had been unfaithful and that they had tried counseling. She also insisted money had never been an issue for them. She ended the message by offering to cooperate fully with the police, saying she only wanted the investigation to be over so she could move forward and grieve her husband. 4 days later, she was arrested.
Eric’s sister Amy made a victim impact statement at Curry’s bail hearing. Eric died under horrendous circumstances. I am tormented at the thought of what he endured. I play it out in my mind. I go through the terrible sequence of events. I wonder when he realized he was in mortal danger.
I wonder what Cory may have may have said to him in his last moments. Judge Richard Morazzic spent very little time deciding. Curry Richens would remain in custody. The circumstances of the case weighed soundly against granting pre-trial release of any kind. Then in March 2024, prosecutors filed an additional charge.
Attempted aggravated murder related to the Valentine’s Day incident, two counts of mortgage fraud, two counts of insurance fraud, three counts of forgery. The amended charging documents alleged Curry had submitted falsified bank statements when applying for mortgages with several companies in 2021. She allegedly forged Eric’s signature on insurance applications weeks before he died.
In July 2024, prosecutors filed 26 additional financial crime charges in a separate case. Five counts of secondderee felony mortgage fraud, seven counts of secondderee felony moneyaundering, one count of secondderee felony communications fraud, five counts of thirdderee felony forgery, seven counts of thirdderee felony for issuing a bad check, one count of a pattern of unlawful activity.
The pattern of unlawful activity charge covered allegations that Curry fraudulently applied for life insurance for her husband, attempted to murder him, and then murdered him in March 2022. Curry pleaded not guilty to all charges. But there was one more explosive piece of evidence prosecutors wanted to use. A letter found in Curry’s jail cell.
While Curry sat in Summit County Jail awaiting trial, jail officials found papers in her cell. Prosecutors called it a letter. Curry claimed it was a novel, a work of fiction she was writing called To Hell and Back. The document was titled, “Walk the dog.” It contained what prosecutors described as Curry’s firsthand account of the day her husband died.
Timeline details, her movements, what Eric consumed. In a jail house phone call to her brother, Ronnie, Curry insisted the document was a 65page fiction novel. She said the front page clearly stated these were true events from her life, but the statements and the way they played out had been falsified for fiction. “None of this can be used against me,” she told her brother. “This is only a book.
” Prosecutors disagreed. They alleged that the letter contained instructions to tamper with witnesses. They said Curry directed her brother to testify or inform falsely. They asked Judge Morazzic to enact a protective order preventing Curry from speaking with her family until the conclusion of her trial.
The judge allowed portions of the walk the dog letter to be used as evidence, though court records don’t specify which portions. Curry’s defense team filed multiple motions. They requested that the letter be excluded. They filed to disqualify prosecutors from the case, accusing chief prosecutor Brad Bworth of severe violations that compromise adversarial fairness.
They argued the attorney’s office’s involvement could violate Curry’s rights. Then in May 2024, Curry’s original attorney, Sky Lazero, withdrew from the case. She cited an irreconcilable and non-waveable situation in her filing. Judge Morazzic appointed public defenders Kathy Netor and Wendy Lewis to represent Curry.
The case was delayed. A preliminary hearing was rescheduled for August 2024. Remember that housekeeper who allegedly sold Cory Fentinel, the one whose testimony was crucial to the prosecution’s case. Something happened that would shake the foundation of the entire investigation. In October 2024, Robert Croer, the man who allegedly sold fentinel to Curry’s housekeeper, recanted his statement.
According to court filings from Curry’s defense team, prosecutors interviewed Croser in April 2024. He told them he never gave the housekeeper fentinel. He said he sold her Oxycontton, not fentinyl. When prosecutors asked why he told detectives in 2023 that he sold her fentinel, Crosier said he didn’t recall saying that.
He explained he was detoxing at the time of the original interview. He was out of it. Curry’s attorneys argued this was exculpatory evidence. They claimed the prosecution knew about Croer’s recantation since April 2024, but failed to notify the defense. The defense then argued that if the state couldn’t place fentinel in Cory’s hands, the state had no case.
Based on this new evidence, Curry’s defense team filed a motion to reconsider bail. They argued there was no longer substantial evidence to support the charges. Judge Morazzic denied the motion. In his written decision, the judge acknowledged the recontation, but said a reasonable jury might not believe Crosier’s change of story.
He noted the recantation was made in September 2024, more than 2 years after the events in question. The original statement to detectives in May 2023 was made much closer in time to the alleged crimes. The judge also pointed to other evidence. The housekeeper’s sworn testimony that she believed she sold Corey fentinel. Records showing Curry’s financial distress at the time of Eric’s death.
Internet search histories indicating consciousness of guilt. Inconsistent statements to first responders about what Corey did between discovering Eric dead and calling 911. The preliminary hearing proceeded in August 2024. On August 26th and 27th, 2024, Summit County prosecutors and Curry’s defense team appeared before Judge Morazzic for the preliminary hearing.
The purpose was to determine if there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. The prosecution called three witnesses. Detective Jeff O’Drriscoll, digital forensics consultant Christopher Katromos, forensic accountant Brooke Carrington. Detective O’Driscoll testified about the investigation. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis questioned whether the sheriff’s office interviewed any suspects other than Curry. O’Driscoll said no.
The sheriff’s office spoke with other people of interest, including the housekeeper, but Curry was the only suspect. Lewis also raised questions about whether detectives told the housekeeper she could get a get out of jail free card if she gave them information about Curry. She emphasized that no fentinel pills were ever found in the Richen’s home.
Christopher Katrodamos testified about the digital evidence. Call detail records showed numerous communications between Curry and her housekeeper. From January 1st to March 15th, 2022, data showed deleted messages. Web browsing history was deleted from Curry’s devices. Katroamos testified Curry and her Paramore were in constant communication starting at least November 2021.
They texted daily with some phone calls. Messages between them were ongoing around the time of Eric’s death, but Richen’s defense questioned his methods. Now, with regard to to movement, that could be any device that is essentially attached to the phone through an app. Correct. It could be. Yes. Okay. And so you can’t say looking at what you analyzed exactly what device that was. Correct.
So far, no. Okay. And you can’t tell where that device was in terms of location. Correct. Correct. Okay. So, it’s possible that that could have been a device attached to it from some other location, but the phone’s recording it. Correct. Uh, it would be unlikely, but it’s possible if it’s connected to an app.
It depends on the range. Okay. So, it would be impossible outside a certain range. Okay. The defense asked if Katroos knew some software used to analyze phone data had been found unreliable in court. Krotomo said no. But then forensic accountant Brooke Carrington walked through Curry and Eric’s financial records, bank account statements, real property documents, trust deeds, loan documents.
She explained the home equity line of credit taken out on the family home. The $250,000 loan signed by Curry using power of attorney. Carrington described how Curry’s real estate business expanded rapidly. In 2020, she bought a $1.3 million property. She continued purchasing multiple properties. Then, Carrington revealed something crucial.
There were at least six instances where Corey allegedly falsified bank account information. She used Eric’s construction company account information with K. Richen’s realy headers to make it appear the money was in her business account. This allowed her to take out more loans. By December 2021, Carrington estimated Curry owed about $4 million in debt and owned 15 properties.
Defense attorney Kathy Nester argued Carrington’s calculations didn’t factor in profit margins from selling the properties after renovation. None of the properties were forclosed on until after Curry’s arrest. The defense noted Carrington wasn’t privy to financial conversations between Eric and Curry. Eric could have been aware of the transactions, but prosecutors had one more critical piece of testimony.
In his closing arguments, chief prosecutor Brad Bworth laid out the state’s theory. The best evidence for attempted murder on Valentine’s Day, he argued, was the actual murder 17 days later. He pointed to Curry’s alleged procurement of fentinel 2 days before Valentine’s Day. Her request for something stronger after Eric survived.
The text to her lover the day after Valentine’s Day, saying life would be perfect if Eric could just go away. Then Bworth described what prosecutors believed happened on March 3rd, 2022. Curry learned from the Valentine’s Day attempt. One bite of a sandwich wasn’t enough. According to testimony, Curry kept notes in a journal.
She allegedly wrote about administering fentinel in a shot of alcohol so Eric would throw it back all at once. The defense fired back. Attorney Wendy Lewis argued the state failed to show causation for the attempted murder charge. After Curry left the family home on Valentine’s Day morning, Eric drove to other locations. 2 hours after they were together, he reported symptoms.
There were innocent explanations for everything that happened. Attorney Kathy Nester pointed out new information that emerged since Curry’s arrest. The housekeeper statement that she only believes she sold Curry Fentinel, the recantation from Robert Crosier, the fact that detectives never looked at other possible suspects.
No pills were found in the family home. Nester argued the attempted murder charge was pure speculation, Bworth countered. Judge Morazzic said he agreed Curry had financial and love interest motives to kill her husband. He said there was probable cause she purchased a controlled substance. He reminded the court Curry was still presumed innocent.
This ruling was only about whether there was probable cause that she committed the crimes. On August 27th, 2024, Judge Richard Morazzic ruled the case would proceed to trial. He found probable cause on all 11 counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. The trial was originally scheduled for April 2025, but legal wrangling over jury selection, caused a delay.
Curry’s attorneys wanted jurors from both Summit County and Salt Lake County. They argued Summit County residents would be too familiar with the case due to media coverage. The Utah Supreme Court denied the request. Only Summit County jurors would be allowed. The trial was rescheduled. As of January 2026, Curry Richens remains in Summit County Jail.
She has been denied bail three times. Curry faces nine felony charges in the murder case, including aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, and insurance fraud. She faces 26 additional charges in a separate financial crimes case, five counts of mortgage fraud, seven counts of money laundering, five counts of forgery, seven counts of issuing bad checks, and one count each of communications fraud and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity.
If convicted on the murder charges, she faces 25 years to life in prison. The defense team says they anticipate calling as many as 20 witnesses. They say Corey has a constitutional right to testify and if she chooses to exercise that right, her testimony would be quite lengthy. They maintain she is innocent and that the truth will prevail at trial.
