Mom-of-three who ‘poisoned husband’ watches lover break down in tears as murder trial exposes their secret texts… and a chilling conversation about ‘killing’
The handyman lover who mom-of-three Kouri Richins allegedly poisoned her husband for broke his silence in a highly-emotional moment at her murder trial.
During a stunning day inside Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday, Robert Josh Grossmann wiped away tears and put his head in his hands as he gave bombshell testimony.
The 43-year-old Iraq war veteran revealed their secret texts and a chilling conversation the two lovers shared just days after her husband’s death.
Somewhat reluctantly, Grossmann told the court that Richins asked how it felt to kill someone.
‘She asked if I had ever killed anybody,’ he testified, as Richins stared intently at him from the defense table.
When he confirmed that he had while serving in Iraq, she allegedly asked a follow-up question.
‘She asked me how it made me feel or something along those lines,’ Grossmann testified.
The conversation came roughly 10 days to two weeks after Richins allegedly murdered her 39-year-old husband Eric Richins by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule.
Robert Josh Grossmann broke down as his texts with Kouri Richins were shown in court
The 43-year-old Iraq war veteran wiped away tears and put his head in his hands as jurors heard about their secret texts and a chilling conversation the two lovers shared just days after her husband’s death
The lovers’ texts were shown inside Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, at Richins’s murder trial
Grossmann said it was the first time he and Richins had met up since Eric’s March 4, 2022, death. The two lovers had driven up into the mountains where they sat inside her car and talked.
Fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat at the witness stand, Grossmann testified that it was the first opportunity they had to talk about Eric’s sudden death and they spoke about Eric, her sons, death and ‘supernatural things’ as well.
‘We sat there and talked for quite a while and I had never seen her that way obviously,’ he said. ‘It was a heavy conversation and I’m not used to that with her. I’m not used to her being open like that.’
Grossmann testified that he believed Richins’s question was just her ‘looking for any reason to drive the conversation away from herself.’ He did not think it was ‘out of the normal,’ he said.
It was only after Richins was arrested for Eric’s murder that he looked back and questioned it.
‘Looking at everything in our past, if she did it and I could help that was what I was going to do,’ he testified.
Now, he said he ‘can’t tell one way or another’ what her comments meant, saying he had been ‘confused for years.’
The former lover’s long-awaited testimony took center stage on day eight of Richins’s high-profile murder trial, as a string of romantic text messages between the two lovers were also shown in court – prompting Grossmann to break down in tears.
The military veteran repeatedly wiped his eyes, sighed heavily and rested his head down on the witness stand as the messages he exchanged with the woman he was ‘head over heels’ with were plastered on the screen for the jury to see.
While Grossmann was visibly uncomfortable and upset – and kept glancing over at his ex – there was no glimmer of emotion from Richins as she sat at the defense table and watched him intently
It marked the first time the two lovers had come face-to-face since Richins ended their affair more than three years ago – several months after Eric’s death
At one point, a brief recess was called and the jury left the room so that Grossmann could collect his emotions, during which time he turned to the judge and said: ‘I do have something I want to say.’
While Grossmann was visibly uncomfortable and upset – and kept glancing over at his ex – there was no glimmer of emotion from Richins as she sat at the defense table and watched him intently.
It marked the first time the two lovers had come face-to-face since Richins ended their affair more than three years ago – several months after Eric’s death.
According to prosecutors, this illicit affair lies at the very heart of the trial now playing out in the mountain town.
Richins, a 35-year-old real estate agent and mom-of-three, is accused of murdering her husband Eric by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule cocktail.
Eric, a 39-year-old wealthy stonemason, was found dead in the couple’s bedroom inside their Kamas home in the early hours of March 4, 2022, with Richins calling 911 claiming she found him cold in their bed.
An autopsy found he died from a fentanyl overdose, with more than five times the lethal limit found in his system.
For more than a year, Richins played the grieving widow, authoring a children’s book, titled Are You With Me?, about dealing with grief.
Once a mom-of-three living a seemingly idyllic life in Kamas, Utah, Richins is now accused of plotting to kill her husband Eric Richins
Kouri Richins is accused of poisoning Eric with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule cocktail
The mom-of-three even appeared on local TV to promote the book in April 2023, describing how she had wanted to find a way to help the couple’s three young sons cope with the sudden loss of their father.
But, according to prosecutors, it was all an act.
Just one month after that heartfelt TV appearance promoting her book, Richins was arrested and charged with her husband’s murder.
According to prosecutors, Richins was allegedly motivated by her desire to start a new life with Grossmann and also to obtain Eric’s $4 million estate, at a time when her own finances and real estate business were in ruins.
Richins denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Grossmann’s hotly-anticipated testimony instantly got off to a rocky start when he questioned the wording of the oath he was asked to take before giving testimony.
‘What do you mean by the whole truth?’ he quipped to the clerk.
Judge Richard Mrazik asked him if he would tell the truth and he mumbled about not lying.
The disruption prompted the judge to send the jury out briefly before turning to Grossmann and asking if he understood what the truth was and if he promised to tell it.
Multiple texts, exchanged between the lovers in the lead-up and aftermath of Eric’s death, were shown to jurors, discussing their romance (Richins’s messages are in blue, Grossmann’s in green)
When Grossmann agreed, the jury reentered and testimony got underway – before a second brief break was called after Grossmann broke down in tears looking at their texts.
Grossmann testified that he had known Richins for about a decade when he first did some work for her on a house she was flipping in South Carolina and they continued working together there for some time.
Then, in early 2020, Grossmann said he moved to Utah so that he could work with her flipping houses there.
It was just before he made the drive to Utah that their relationship turned romantic, he said.
Grossmann testified that he loved Richins, saying that he has ‘a tendency of going head over heels though – more than most.’
When asked if he believed she loved him too, he hesitated, before saying ‘I think she did.’
They would text several times every day, discussing everything from their work on houses to her children and their desire to be together.
Multiple texts, exchanged between the lovers in the lead-up and aftermath of Eric’s death, were shown to jurors.
Messages from December 2021 reveal Grossmann saying ‘I thought you were getting a divorce’ and spelling out an acrostic poem that ends with a line about Richins signing divorce papers.
On February 14, 2022, Richins is accused of trying to poison Eric with a drug-laced sandwich. That day, Richins and Grossmann exchanged several texts including one where she asked him: ‘I love you Wanna be one of my valentines’
One month later, on January 9, 2022, Richins approached the subject of drugs. It was around this time that prosecutors allege she first reached out to her housekeeper Carmen Lauber asking her to help source drugs for her
Grossmann also tells Richins that ‘it is draining to love you’ and says he believes she is keeping things from him.
‘When I don’t get much from ya I just figure because you’re doing things that you know I wouldn’t like and would hurt me,’ he wrote.
In another message, he wrote: ‘I want to know everything about you. It’s part of being in love.’
One month later, on January 9, 2022, Richins approached the subject of drugs, asking him: ‘Random question.. have you ever done anything besides smoke weed? Drug wise..’
Grossmann responded by agreeing that it was a ‘random’ question, that they have already spoken about this and that he has.
Richins claimed she thought to ask because she was watching the TV show Dopesick.
He returned the question and she said she had a cabinet full of prescription drugs but that it was ‘not my thing.’
Sometime later that month, Richins allegedly reached out to her housekeeper Carmen Lauber for the first time to ask her to help source drugs for her.
They spoke about the deal again on March 3, and Grossmann sent her a GIF of a man and woman kissing
Then, on February 14, 2022, Richins is accused of trying to poison Eric with a drug-laced sandwich.
That day, Richins and Grossmann exchanged several texts including one where she asked him: ‘I love you Wanna be one of my valentines’
He responded: ‘My heart is smiling! When those three words come from you, it’s very unique.’
The next day, he told Richins he was ‘in love with’ her.
Later that month, on February 23, Richins messaged him about wanting to celebrate something with him.
She also told him about a dream where ‘I divorce and come up with millions and millions’ and ‘we buy Midway and live in the guest house’ – referring to a $2.9 million mansion she was closing a deal on.
‘I have been thinking that dream for weeks,’ she wrote.
On March 2, they exchange messages about the Midway deal closing and plans to celebrate together on Friday.
They spoke about the deal again on March 3, and Grossmann sent her a GIF of a man and woman kissing.
Text messages reveal the moment Richins told Grossmann Eric had ‘passed away’ that day
Richins’s last message to Grossmann that day was that she hadn’t ‘had a second to text.’
Then on March 4, Grossmann texted her about the deal saying: ‘Hey babe! How are you feeling today? I’m proud of you.’
When she didn’t respond, he asked if she was okay.
‘No,’ Richins responded.
‘Eric passed away.’
‘Talk later.’
Grossmann responded with shock: ‘What?’
‘Nuts. I can’t do this,’ Richins said in another message.
Grossmann wrote that he was ‘devastated.’
Less than two weeks later, on March 20, 2022, Richins sent Grossmann a link to a vacation in St Martin that they had booked for April.
Shortly after her husband’s death, the mother of three self-published a children’s book about grief titled Are You with Me?
‘Are we there yet?’ she wrote.
‘GONNA BE AWESOME’ she added in another message.
Grossmann testified that the trip was supposed to be a birthday gift but they never ended up going on it.
Jurors saw more texts from April 8 – just over a month from her husband’s death – where Richins said she loved him and wanted to marry him.
‘I think I want you to be my husband one day,’ she wrote.
Later that month, she reveals that police have searched her home and are investigating Eric’s death because the toxicology report found fentanyl in his system.
‘This s**t just keeps getting worse and worse,’ she wrote.
Grossmann testified that it was around six-10 months after Eric’s death that Richins ended their love affair.
When he learned Richins was arrested for murder, he contacted his sister Katie Richins-Benson because he felt guilty about the affair.
Her husband put him in touch with the family’s PI and he later spoke with investigators.
