Defense Implies Kouri Richins' Payday Loans Were 'Nature' Of House Flipping

Brooke Karrington is a forensic accountant in Salt Lake City, Utah, who was hired by Eric Richins' family after he died to analyze his financial records and the finances of his wife, Kouri Richins. She was later hired by the Summit County Prosecutor's Office as they pursued a murder case against Richins. Karrington testified all day on Tueday (March 3, day 7). Richins' lawyer Kathy Nester cross-examined her. This is the entire cross. You can Karrington's entire direct-exam with Brad Bloodworth, the chief criminal prosecutor in Summit County, Utah, here:    • Accountant Brooke Karrington's Entire Dire...   00:18 "Is it fair to say that you were brought into this case by the gentleman who was working as a private investigator for the trust, for the estate?" "Absolutely yes." 01:08 "The work you were doing was designed to assist Eric Richins' family in the litigation, fair?" "Yeah." 02:45 "And so how much have you been paid by the state or by the county?" "I don't know exactly, but it's probably about $200,000, which is a lot." 03:00 "Now I want to talk to you a little bit before we get into details about it, the nature of the house -lipping business." 05:01 "Because you know the goal is only to hold that property for just a really short time, you often use what are called hard money lenders, right?" "That is true." 05:38 "And to sound really kind of juvenile about it. It's basically wealthy people that are willing to loan you money short term, for a short period of time at a super high interest rate, right." 08:42 "They were totally secured for the first for the first position, lender, they're totally secured. The others are secured with the property, with the caveat that they are in second, third and fourth position, for example, the Midway house, the legacy way house, the second, third and fourth position, lenders did not recoup any of their funds." 10:17 "Prior to Eric's death, every one of those hard money lenders got their money back from properties they gave to Kouri, properties that they lent money to Kouri on, correct?" "Let me think about that. Prior to Eric's death?" "Yes." "No, that's not true. There's one of her early projects. I think it's Casperville, where she ended up $28,000 in the hole on that project, so she walked away with no buyer proceeds from that. And that was not a successful project. And I haven't looked to analyze who got what, but that would be a situation where not everybody got their money back." "Do you know whether she made them whole with her own funds or in some other way?" "I have not seen anything that reflects anything like that." "So you don't know?" "I don't know." 14:26 "Banks and credit unions ... why would they allow her to continue going if she's bouncing all these checks?" "financial institutions don't look at just this account, or just the accounts by this person" 23:59 "And as you explained in your direct she was trying to shop around for a long term mortgage to get better terms of the mortgage?" "Right." 25:46 "I'm not trying to argue with you. Okay, you I'm trying to understand and answer your question. You said she's shopping to all these lenders. I don't know that." 49:33 "If, in fact, Ms. Richins was in financial distress .... You're not here to say she killed her husband, are you?" Nester asked. "That's for the jury to decide. I am not making any conclusion about that at all," Karrington answered. "Because you don't have any knowledge about that at all?" Nester asked. "Do you have any knowledge, personally, about whether or not on the night of March 3, Eric Richins voluntarily ingested fentanyl?" Nester asked. Judge Mrazik said the question already was "asked and answered." "That question that I just asked?" Nester said. "When she said she doesn't know anything about that, she meant she doesn't know anything about that," the judge said. Background: Kouri Richins, 35, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah, in March 2022. After he died, she self-published a children's book she authored titled "Are You With Me?" about coping with grief. Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in their home on March 4, 2022. Prosecutors allege Kouri dropped a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule cocktail she prepared for him. They say she was motivated by money because she owed nearly $5 million to lenders and had changed her husband's life insurance policies prior to his death while also taking out a home equity line of credit without his knowledge. She also was in a romantic relationship with another man. You can watch the prosecution's opening statement here    • Greed & Lust Drove Kouri Richins To Poison...   and the defense opening statement here:    • Defense Says Kouri Richins' Husband Overdo...   *********** Subscribe to Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff: https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com...