Kouri Richins Sentenced To Life Without Parole, Reads Emotional Letter To Her Sons

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Kouri Richins Sentenced To Life Without Parole, Reads Emotional Letter To Her Sons

Podcast: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present (iHeartPodcasts)
Hosts: Amy Robach, T.J. Holmes
Date: May 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the dramatic and emotional sentencing hearing of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother convicted of murdering her husband, Eric Richins, by poisoning him with fentanyl. Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes discuss the judge's sentencing decision, the impact on the Richins family, the devastating victim impact statements (especially from Kouri’s sons), and Kouri’s own lengthy courtroom statement in the form of a letter to her children. The episode provides a detailed, real-time analysis of the courtroom events and the broader implications of this extraordinary criminal case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Sentencing Decision (02:14–10:06)

• The judge was faced with two choices: 25 to life or life without the possibility of parole.
• He chose life without parole, calling Kouri “too dangerous to ever see the light of day.”
  • Quote: “This woman is too dangerous to ever see the light of day, period.” – Amy Robach paraphrasing the judge (03:03)
• The judge considered the possibility that Kouri’s children may want contact with her as adults but prioritized public safety and their well-being.
• Kouri was convicted of not just murder, but also an earlier attempted poisoning of her husband. This repeated action weighed heavily in the sentencing.
  • Quote: “She doubled down... she got the job done. It just went to show you her determination to kill her husband, despite the fact that he was the father of her three children. And she did it for money.” – Amy Robach (03:17)

2. The Shocking Aftermath of the Crime (04:22–05:51)

• Media attention intensified because Kouri capitalized on her husband’s death by writing a children’s grief book, falsely framing his death as an accidental overdose.
  • Quote: “She’s now trying to be the martyr, the savior, and profit off of the entire scheme. It’s disgusting. It’s evil. It’s sociopathic.” – Amy Robach (05:39)
• The degree of deception and apparent emotional detachment from her family is described as “fascinating” and deeply disturbing.

3. The Judge’s Emotional Deliberations (06:54–11:43)

• The judge agonized over denying the boys the possibility of reconnecting with their mother as adults but ultimately decided the threat she poses outweighed other factors.
  • Quote: “He just decided that the threat of danger that comes from her outweighed any other possible opportunity for grace and forgiveness.” – Amy Robach (09:16)
• Attorneys cited other Utah murder cases, emphasizing most offenders receive lighter sentences, but the judge highlighted the unique element of attempted murder.

4. Details of the Attempted Poisoning & Premeditation (12:02–12:44)

• Kouri first attempted to poison Eric with a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine’s Day (he survived but fell seriously ill), then succeeded 17 days later.
  • Quote: “She was convicted of giving him a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine’s Day... But what did she do? She went back to her house cleaner and got more fentanyl, got stronger stuff to try and get it done.” – Emmy Robach (12:02)
• The methodical escalation highlights extreme premeditation.

5. Courtroom Atmosphere & Family Rift (13:18–15:47)

• Kouri’s courtroom appearance stood in contrast to her trial demeanor, appearing more like her pre-incarceration self.
• Widespread family estrangement: Eric’s family and Kouri’s family are both denied contact with the Richins children, with custody battles further inflaming tensions.
  • Quote: “These kids have literally been pawns in the middle of this massive family rift... That made me the saddest of it all.” – Amy Robach (14:43)

6. Devastating Impact Statements from Family (16:48–20:50)

• Eric’s father recounted the ongoing emotional impact, including a football team still honoring Eric at every game (“1, 2, 3, Eric!”).
• Sister Katie expressed deep hatred for Kouri, sharing that Eric didn’t divorce Kouri out of fear for his sons’ safety, staying together solely to protect them.
• Sister Amy described losing future hopes (including her twins during pregnancy) due to the stress and fallout from the crime.
  • Quote: “She lost her future life with children that she dreamed of her entire life... just an unbelievable tragic outcome that affected her.” – Emmy Robach (19:45)

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Victim Impact Statements from the Sons (25:19–28:54)

[25:19–28:54]

• The three boys (now aged 13, 11, and 8) delivered heartbreaking, raw statements read in court. They all referred to their mother by her first name (“Kouri”).
  • Powerful Quotes from the Boys:
    • WR (oldest): “I feel a lot better about myself now than I did with Kouri. I want her to go to prison. If she got out, I would be so scared and really mad. Once she is gone, I will feel happy and safer and relax and trust people more.” (26:35, read by T.J. Holmes)
    • “You let all my animals die. You wouldn't feed them. You made us eat uncooked spaghetti... You were drunk all the time.” (26:15–26:19, summarized by hosts)
    • “You only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends, plural.” (27:18)
    • “Corey was always drunk or gone... Corey threatened she would kill my lizard. All my chickens died. My rabbit died. I’m angry she killed my dad. I do not miss Corey.” (29:13–29:16)
  • One boy alleged Kouri also tried to poison him with fentanyl and prevented doctors from taking blood samples when he was sick (28:32–28:54).

Analysis by Hosts

• The hosts are stunned and deeply affected by how direct and negative the boys' words are toward their mother.
• They note that while the children have been in the custody of family members who hate Kouri, the specificity and authenticity of their memories carry weight.
  • Quote: “To speak about your mom that way... you just don’t get reprogrammed that quickly.” – T.J. Holmes (32:43)

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Kouri Richins’ Statement to Her Sons (29:32–31:43)

• After a court break, Kouri read an almost 45-minute statement, formatted as a letter to her sons, emotionally aware it may be her only chance to communicate with them, possibly ever.
  • Summary: She addresses them as a mother, imparting life advice, expressing love, trying to “parent them for a lifetime,” while maintaining her innocence at the very end.
  • Notable Line: “Never beg for mercy for something you didn’t do.” – read by Kouri to her sons (31:40)
  • She briefly claims her conviction is an “absolute lie” and expresses hope the justice system will eventually correct itself, which the hosts note was perhaps not the wisest move before the judge.
  • Quote: “It was as if she was recognizing that she was almost certainly never going to get to ever speak to them again... so she took the opportunity to say everything a mom would want to say to her kids...” – Amy Robach (30:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Judge’s Sentencing:
  • “She is simply too dangerous to ever be free.” – Paraphrased by hosts (09:16)
• On the Crime:
  • “It’s disgusting. It’s evil. It’s sociopathic.” – Amy Robach (05:39)
• From the Sons:
  • “Once she is gone, I will feel happy and safer and relax and trust people more.” (26:35)
• Family Fallout:
  • “She lost her future life with children that she dreamed of her entire life...” – Amy Robach (19:45)
• Kouri’s Statement:
  • “Never beg for mercy for something you didn’t do.” – Kouri Richins (31:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:14] – Sentencing options and the judge’s reasoning
• [03:10] – Judge’s direct quote on Kouri’s danger to society
• [04:22] – Kouri’s post-murder conduct and media attention
• [09:14] – Deliberation over parole impacts on children
• [12:02] – Details of attempted and completed poisonings
• [14:43] – Family rift and children’s custody
• [16:48] – Impact of the crime on siblings and father
• [25:19] – Victim impact statements from the sons
• [26:35] – Boys’ direct and devastating words to/about their mother
• [29:32] – Kouri’s 45-minute statement/letter to her sons
• [31:40] – Kouri’s assertion of innocence
• [32:56] – Reflection on the broader tragedy and cautions

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Tone and Language Notes

The conversation is emotionally charged, candid, and empathetic, with both hosts oscillating between careful legal analysis and expressions of horror at the crime’s specifics and fallout. The episode is a mix of courtroom recap, personal reflection, and societal commentary, always maintaining a strong sense of empathy for the victims.

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Final Reflections (32:56–End)

• Amy and T.J. encourage anyone considering a similar path to watch the trial and sentencing in full to understand the irreversible harm such acts cause.
• The tragedy extends far beyond the immediate victims, with rippling damage to the entire extended family.
  • Quote: “Just watch this trial from start to finish and the sentencing hearing today and see the damage, the harm, everything that’s caused by a selfish act.” – Amy Robach (32:56)
• The episode closes with the sentiment that, for now, justice has been served—though the pain for the families endures.

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Transcript

[Emmy Robach]

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[T.J. Holmes]

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[Emmy Robach]

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[Robert Smigel]

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[Timbo]

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[Robert Smigel]

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[Timbo]

Last night a blown call changed the game. This morning the Internet lost its mind and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source. The athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

[Rider Strong]

Hey everyone, it's Rider Strong and Will Friedle from Pod Meets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled Podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of Survivor knowled that is the point of the show. I'm just gonna remind you.

[Emmy Robach]

Aha. Ooh ah ooh.

[Rider Strong]

Again, we are Experts. Listen to Podmeets twirled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[T.J. Holmes]

Hey there folks. It is Wednesday, May 13th and simply put, we have never seen or heard anything like the sentencing hearing we just witnessed For Corey Richards, the Utah mom who has been convicted of poisoning her husband. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Ropes. We had to hit record quickly because you and I have been going back and forth and debating. This is a trial. We watched from start to finish sentencing hearing for Corey Richards and she knows now Robes. And we'll start with that her sentence. The judge essentially, essentially on count one, the murder had two options, 25 to life or life in prison without parole.

[Emmy Robach]

And he went with the latter of the two and he went into great explanation as to why. But he just said this woman is too dangerous to ever see the light of day, period. And he.

[T.J. Holmes]

That's a direct quote, folks.

[Emmy Robach]

Yeah, that's verbatim pointed to the fact that she wasn't just convicted of first degree murder for poisoning her husband to death 17 days prior, she was convicted for attempting to poison her husband to death. She just didn't do it right or didn't do it well enough. So I think his point, point was when you take those two convictions into consideration, she doubled down. She, she got the job done. It just went to show you her determination to kill her husband despite the fact that he was the father of her three children. And he did it for. She did it for money.

[T.J. Holmes]

And he said that this was on an unbelievable sentencing hearing after what was essentially an unbelievable trial in a pretty unbelievable crime. Corey Richens Robes. And for mine, folks, we did an episode on this earlier just kind of setting up what this sentencing hearing was going to be. But she was convicted. Robes. And the reason this got so much attention, there were so many headlines is because not only was she accused of poisoning and killing her husband, poisoning him with fentanyl in his Moscow mule, but Robes, it's what she did afterwards, becoming a children's book author based on the crime.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes. I mean, I say if it's all true, but she has been convicted. So let's just. We have to say it is true.

[T.J. Holmes]

She is a murderer according to the justice system. Correct.

[Emmy Robach]

It's hard enough to imagine that you're willing to continue and to watch your husband suffer through a poisoning that you didn't get right. And then double down and on Valentine's Day, by the way, and then, oh yeah, three weeks later, basically two and a half weeks later, do it again and do it while your children are sleeping in, in the room next to you. And knowing that that is a painful way to go doing it after securing life insurance policies, making sure you're going to get paid handsomely seven figures for your husband's death and then capitalizing on his murder by looking as though you are a mother trying to console her children because their father, as far as you have painted him, was so addicted to pain pills because he was in so much pain that he accidentally died by an overdose, which is what she was suggesting. So she's now impugned her husband's reputation, the father of her children's reputation, and now she's going to write a book about how to help your children through the grief of losing a parent, because she knows what it's like because she lost her dad at an early age. So she's now trying to be the martyr, the savior, and profit off of the entire scheme. It's disgusting, it's evil, it's sociopathic.

[T.J. Holmes]

Don't know what else to say there. That was fast. You cannot understand. And I think, Robes, a lot of people were trying or were fascinated to listen to this trial because we would like to have an explanation because there's no way in hell anybody is capable of doing what the headlines say she did. So this was a fascination that brought us to today. And this was. And we will let you know, didn't say right off the top. Corey Richards spoke today in court. She got a chance to make a statement, and Robes, it was a long statement. We will get into what she did, but we do want you to know, we are going to let you know what she said in court today. But there was powerful presentation, Robes, after powerful presentation in the court. The judge, though, let's get into his decision first. Let's. Yeah, we'll start there. Robes, he made clear. I got two options, but he made clear Robes as well, a dilemma that my heart went out to him. His dilemma was about those boys, right? And he said, it's impossible for any of us to predict what's going to happen in a few decades.

[Emmy Robach]

You know what? He has been an incredible judge and such a thoughtful judge from the beginning. We have been blown away by how he handles his courtroom. And I was so impressed with how he handled this sentencing because he really did factor into account that unknown, that it's not possible to know how these young boys are going to feel a decade from now, two decades from now, certainly three decades from now. And he was like, on one hand, I don't know that I feel comfortable denying them the opportunity even to maybe get to know their mom or to. To get to understand what happened. But on the other hand, I'm held responsible if these young men feel frightened or scared or still insecure in Their own safety with their own families. At this point, she would be eligible for parole in her 60s. If he did the first option correct,

[T.J. Holmes]

that first option would be out, he said, right.

[Emmy Robach]

And so the boys would be in their 30s and they will likely have families of their own. He like to subject them to their mom getting out could be incredibly traumatic. So he is just weighing what, what should I do?

[T.J. Holmes]

And Rome, this is where you and I were. We watched every, just about every second of testimony in this case. And this is where as he was talking, we were looking at each other and said, wow, he is going to give her the possibility of parole. But then he's changed his tone a little bit. Robes. And I was trying to, I didn't think about it the way he, he put it. In decades, in decades, I have to decide how those boys are going to be. It's impossible to know. And Robes is one of the most powerful things we saw in the presentation. Yes, Corey Richards had some people testify on her behalf. They testified just to speak on her behalf. One of them was the woman she did not know, but someone who had lost her. Her dad had killed her mom and the dad went to prison. She hated him and whatnot. And she talked about how over time, as she got older and older and learned more, they got a relationship. She was able to hug him and just to have a sit down and talk and understanding. Robes. I really thought as we were listening to the judge, he didn't want to take that away from those boys and that possibility away from those boys. So yes, I thought he was going that direction.

[Emmy Robach]

I thought he was going to give

[T.J. Holmes]

her about to be lenient.

[Emmy Robach]

I thought he was going to be lenient. I thought he was going to give her 25 to life. But. And I do think he seriously considered it. But from what I gathered from his deliberations, internal deliberations, he just decided that the threat of danger that comes from her outweighed any other, any other possible opportunity for grace and forgiveness. It trumped that because. Yes. And he said, this is the bottom line. Corey Richards was convicted of attempting to murder Eric Richards and the father of their three children. And then having failed in her first effort, not changing course, but doubling down and trying again by the administration of poison and for what the judge asked money. And that's when he said she is simply too dangerous to ever be free.

[T.J. Holmes]

Rope. That is, he said it and he put this was so beautifully done by this judge. But when he came to that conclusion, I'm like, well, wow, he's right. Because as we were listening, and even the defense attorney made a. An argument and named all these other cases in the state of Utah. Right. Name, say anybody else who was facing and was convicted of this same thing is only serving this and only got this. And I say, wow, that's effective. But Robes, she left out the other part. There's an attempted murder as a part of this as well.

[Emmy Robach]

It actually made me think that if she hadn't been convicted of the attempted murder.

[T.J. Holmes]

Yes.

[Emmy Robach]

He would have considered being lenient and given her the 25 to life sentence, which. Which, yes, to your point, I thought that was compelling by her attorneys to talk about all the other cases in the state of Utah. I believe she said of all the murder cases, only 72 inmates in the state of Utah are actually in that same sentence where they are there for life without the possibility. Possibility of parole. The majority of folks who have committed a murder and even a murder of a spouse get 15 to life.

[T.J. Holmes]

Oh, Ro. Yes. You remember she went through and told the people who got life without parole, this is what they were convicted of.

[Emmy Robach]

It was multiple murders.

[T.J. Holmes]

They were heinous people. Yes.

[Emmy Robach]

Awful, awful crimes. And then she went to talk about the folks in the state of Utah who were sentenced to 15 to life for a murder of a spouse. And it seemed to be more in line with what Corey Richards was convicted of. And so I thought, wow, that was powerful. The big exception, the asterisk, was the attempted murder conviction.

[T.J. Holmes]

And when he laid it all out, you and I looked at each other. Oh, okay. That makes sense.

[Emmy Robach]

That makes sense.

[T.J. Holmes]

It does. Robe, you had two weeks to go. Damn, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have tried to kill him. You had time to read. There is something about that act, Robes, that suggest a particular heinousness.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes, it's a premeditation where you even had an opportunity to reflect when it didn't go the way you thought it was, you saw your husband. So she according. Well, no, I shouldn't say according to. She was convicted of giving him a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine's Day, and he got so sick, he broke out in hives. He had to take an EpiPen. He had to take a bunch of Benadryl and he was able to sleep it off. But what did she do? She went back to her. Her house cleaner and got more fentanyl, got stronger stuff to try and get it done, to try and do it better. That. That signifies premeditation on a whole other level.

[T.J. Holmes]

Okay, so the judge certainly made that and Again, when he said, it clicked for me. Okay. Oh, this makes sense. So the sentencing hearing today, there were a lot of powerful victim impact statements. The siblings spoke, the father of the victim spoke. Several folks got up on Eric Richen's behalf. Robes, we haven't hit on this yet. We. Her demeanor in court today. First of all, let's just go with her appearance. She was not dressed as a librarian like she was during the trial. She had to wear the prison garb. Today. She was shackled. But a different look to her robes.

[Emmy Robach]

Oh, yeah, she, so she was, she definitely had a librarian look during trial. Her hair was pinned back just, you know, very plain. Jane, this time she had her hair blown out like, it's not like she had makeup or anything on, but she definitely looked much more like a 35 year old. Not a hottie, but I guess a hottie for someone who's in prison garb with no makeup. But she definitely looked much different. She looked more like herself.

[T.J. Holmes]

I was a little thrown by her appearance. I hadn't seen that hair. Didn't know she had that much. It was all. I, I, it took me a second to adjust. So that's what she showed up looking like in court today. Now, Rose, we learned several things today that were a little jaw dropping, at least for me. There were a number of impact statements, victim impact statements, including. We had heard the sons. Their victim impact statements were read. We'll share a couple, couple of excerpts. But Robes, the, the sisters got up and spoke. Apparently there's some rift with the family. So it seems like the sisters might be estranged and aren't in connection. That's unfortunate. We don't know how, but some of this kind of came out in court today. But the sisters. Couple things I want to ask you about. One, I didn't realize how long Corey Richards has been out of touch with those kids. And I didn't realize how long she prevented Eric's side of the family from seeing those kids. I learned those two things today.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes. And, and now we know that Eric's side of the family, Katie isn't allowing her own sister Amy to see the children. And certainly Corey's family isn't getting access to them either. So this is so sad because these kids have literally been pawns in the middle of this massive family rift between the Richens, between Corey's family and among the Richens family. I think that made me the saddest of it all. Look, I know these kinds of tragedies can, can pull people apart, but it can also bring Them together. And unfortunately, it looks like it ripped the entire Richards family apart for whatever reason. But Katie talked about how she was not able to see her nephews for 15 months.

[T.J. Holmes]

I did not realize it, and it

[Emmy Robach]

wasn't until Corey was arrested that she eventually. She and her husband were eventually awarded temporary custody of the kids. They were in the hands of the state initially, but apparently once Katie and her husband were able to be the custodians of the three richen boys, she didn't allow her sister Amy and her husband to see them.

[T.J. Holmes]

She has not. Corey Richards. Now, I don't know. I don't know how to feel about it. You're gonna. You all gonna hear the. The sons. But Rose, I didn't realize she has not at all had contact with the boys in any way, shape or form. And even that letters are being returned unopened and things like that. I did not know that. It's just. This is, yes, a human tragedy, a life is lost, but, man, there are, you could probably say, folk, 100 plus folks who've been directly, in some way impacted and lives will forever be changed by what happened. Those three boys, my guy, what were the ages at the time of the murder?

[Emmy Robach]

It was five. Seven and nine.

[T.J. Holmes]

Seven and nine.

[Emmy Robach]

And to think. So she was with the boys for 15 months. So maybe they, you know, but for the last several years, she has not seen them, she has not heard their voices, she has not gotten any written word to them. So she spent her entire time just talking to them because she has been unable to communicate in any way with them for years. Plural.

[T.J. Holmes]

All right, a few things of note here. Gene Richards, the father of Eric Richards, he was the first to get up there. He kept it together, was pretty stoic, pretty strong and everything. He said, the one thing that got me robes is that the team, that was it, football team that he coached, they. They to this day and wrote the murder was 2022.

[Emmy Robach]

2022.

[T.J. Holmes]

To this day, they still break the huddle with 1, 2, 3. Eric, that. That might have hit me more than anything else. Hearing that today, that was. That was something to hear. But the sister, Katie, which it was clear during the trial, she hates this woman and probably hated her before even all of this going down, but she certainly hates her now. And she got up there. We were really anticipating this, this statement.

[Emmy Robach]

I hope for Katie that she can let go some of that hatred. I mean, it's just so raw and so real. But she talked about who. She said, I got something with his sons that he never did. Time talking about her brother.

[T.J. Holmes]

She said she almost felt guilty for, for having that. And so this robes, and this is the one I really want to ask you about during her impact statement. And the. The camera just happened to be angled in such a way that my kids see a full view and clear view of Corey Richards the entire time that the sister was speaking ropes. This is where Corey Richards showed out.

[Emmy Robach]

It was not a good look for Corey. She showed, we could see it, the judge could see it. And I can't believe her attorneys didn't warn her not to do this. I don't know that they recognized that the camera was like. It was as if she was directly over Eric's sister perfectly shoulder. And it was unbelievable her reaction, her physical facial expression to what Katie was saying. And look, Katie was saying that my brother literally did not divorce Corey because he was too afraid to let his son spend half of their time with her. That's how evil and dangerous he thought she was. And he only stayed in the marriage to protect his sons because he couldn't imagine them spending half of their time with her alone. And she said he was waiting until the five year old was 18 because that was the only time in which he felt like he could safely leave his children with her.

[T.J. Holmes]

There's some of this stuff that wasn't allowed in during trial, but now this painted a consistent picture of her in such a way robes that it. They made her sound monstrous.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes. And so Corey is like dropping her jaw, rolling her eyes, laughing and like just like incredulous laughter, whispering to her attorney, just being like completely disrespectful and rude and making really. I've never seen a defendant make facial expressions the way she did to the

[T.J. Holmes]

point I actually thought he might. Is he going to say something to her about this? He never did. And it continued. The sister got up as well. I guess what we got out of this Robes, the other sister. So Katie was one, Amy Richards was the other. But Robes, this was pretty powerful to say that during this whole process. One, she lost her job. But robe, she spoke about miscarriage.

[Emmy Robach]

She said she lost her twins from all the stress from this. So she said that basically this tragedy. Yes, she lost her brother. Yes, these boys lost their father. But she said she lost her future life with children that she dreamed of her entire life, that she lost her job. I mean she describes just an unbelievable tragic outcome that affected her. And it seems as though the sisters also had some massive falling out. It was interesting because she described grieving, losing the friendship with Corey and Maybe. Maybe that was part of the reason why Katie and Amy don't get along. Because maybe initially Katie defended Amy or maybe she thought that Amy, maybe. Excuse me. Maybe Amy thought that Corey didn't do it, but there was a friendship that it seemed existed between Amy and Corey that did not exist between Katie and Corey. So we don't know if that's part of the root cause of this fractured relationship, but it's. Oh, my God. It was devastating to listen to Amy Richards talk about the impact that her brother's death had on her. It was gut. It was gut wrenching, you know, as

[T.J. Holmes]

gut wrenching as all that was, folks. It wasn't the most gut wrenching thing we heard in court. There were victim impact statements from the sons, who were 9, 7, and 5 at the time of the murders, who are now 13, 11, and 8, about to be 9.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes, I believe that's.

[T.J. Holmes]

Yes, we heard from them. Their statements were read. Do not go away. Stay here. All right, we continue here on Amy and tj.

[Emmy Robach]

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[T.J. Holmes]

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[Emmy Robach]

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[T.J. Holmes]

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[Emmy Robach]

If you're looking for your next listen, this is a great place to start.

[T.J. Holmes]

Listen to Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Who's the worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah, me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge donation?

[T.J. Holmes]

The Yardbirds, right?

[Timbo]

That's the name.

[Robert Smigel]

The Harvard Yard. But they're open if you have a name suggestion.

[T.J. Holmes]

We're open.

[Robert Smigel]

Since you guys are Middle aged, one, erection. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcast Humor me. I need some jokes to make me seem funny.

[Timbo]

Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning the Internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. The athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight reel. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who lift them. Listen to Sports slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo, Slice Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network.

[David Eagleman]

On TikTok, there are times when the mind becomes a difficult place to live. This is David Eagleman with the Inner Cosmos podcast. And for Mental Health Awareness Month, we're dedicating a series to understanding the mind when it struggles. I'm joined by doctors, researchers, and those with lived experience. We'll talk with singer songwriter Jewel about anxiety.

[Emmy Robach]

I started living in my car and then my car got stolen. I was shoplifting, I was having panic attacks.

[David Eagleman]

I was agoraphobic and making it through hardship.

[Emmy Robach]

To be present is a learned skill and it's hard to be present.

[David Eagleman]

We'll talk with John Nelson about clinical depression and the brain implant that saved his life. What I learned is that procedure made

[Robert Smigel]

me happy because I'm disease free.

[David Eagleman]

And we'll talk with leading experts like Jud Brewer about anxiety and John Hirschfeld about obsessive compulsive disorder and the science of how the brain can change. This is a month of deeply personal and honest conversations about what happens when the brain goes off course and what we can do about it. Listen to Intercosmos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[T.J. Holmes]

Now rope. Let's get to the victim impact statements from the sons who are now again, 13, 11 and eight. He's about to be nine, so that's how. But all sons, they're only referred to as WR, AR and CR&ROES. You have to help me remind me the. The ages. But wr, we'll start with that statement. I can't remember which.

[Emmy Robach]

They did it in a different order to the point where actually the oldest was read last. And we said it sounded as if he was the youngest just because of the way he was expressing himself. But look, I know the judge took this into consideration. They haven't had any conversations with their mom for years. They've only heard from Katie, who obviously cannot stand their mother and has a lot of anger. And so they were describing what life was like with their mom. And I don't know how much many of them could remember, but the oldest one certainly had had a lot, a lot of grievances that he was airing out with his mom. Like, basically, you let all my animals die. You wouldn't feed them. You made us eat uncooked spaghetti.

[T.J. Holmes]

I thought that was a good one.

[Emmy Robach]

Yeah. He like all the things kids would remember that felt, yes. Traumatic at the time to them. You locked us in our room. You know, you. The way he talked about being punished. He said you were drunk all the time. Yeah, I mean, there was some really damning, damning statements that these boys made.

[T.J. Holmes]

But Robes, the most damning statements, and these are direct quotes. Can you imagine as a mother hearing your child say this, quote, I feel a lot better about myself now than I did with Corey. I want her to go to prison. If she got out, I would be so scared and really mad. Once she is gone, I will feel happy and safer and relax and trust people more. End quote. That is a kid talking about his mom and calling her by her first name.

[Emmy Robach]

They all called her by her first name. They all referred to her as qu.

[T.J. Holmes]

Devastating stuff to hear from these kids, man.

[Emmy Robach]

The other one said, you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends, plural.

[T.J. Holmes]

That. When I heard that, that's. That kid's aware of something. Robes. That kid, that is. And again, they all these. The advocates and they had separate ones, like different side psychologists.

[Emmy Robach]

They were therapist workers and licensed therapists. I think they were both the ar we only know their initials. But the laying in bed story, he said all he wanted to do was lay in bed where his dad was, to be close to him. And he said, you told me I should be careful, that I might die too. What they were describing was the most evil mom ever. It was jaw dropping.

[T.J. Holmes]

The bed story was. It was the bed story. I could not believe they painted. When you hear the kids, you have to give them credibility in their word robes. And. And I understand that they have been in the custody of the family that hates her. Have they been poisoned to this point, I don't know how that works, but they are of an age that they've seen enough and they're aware of enough robes and they were aware of how the mom behaved or how they were treated or incident robe. That was very. That was some specificity with that lasagna story.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes, but how about you mentioned poisoning and we're talking about poisoning of the mind.

[T.J. Holmes]

Oh, that's the biggest jaw drop.

[Emmy Robach]

Had this story about how he believes Corey, his mom tried to poison him with the same fentanyl. He described getting sick and how she wouldn't take him to the hospital and that once he got to the hospital because someone else took him, she wouldn't let them take blood samples because he said, I'm pretty sure you gave me fentanyl.

[T.J. Holmes]

Now, this is a. When they were reading these, they started with saying, we've been asked to read these verbatim exactly as they've been written. So they had. They were not edited. There were some grammatical errors here and there and all kinds of stuff, but exact. So these kids. These words are coming from those kids. God bless. Less American.

[Emmy Robach]

Corey was always drunk or gone.

[T.J. Holmes]

I'm sorry.

[Emmy Robach]

Sorry. That's a compliment. Corey threatened she would kill my lizard. All of my chickens died. My rabbit died. I'm angry she killed my dad. I do not miss Corey. I mean this. They were angry, these boys, but we

[T.J. Holmes]

have to mention that Corey. Corey Richards got up and made a statement at the end. Now, the court took a break. Said he wanted to make sure she had a bathroom break, got a bite to eat. So it took a half hour before they came back and she gave her statement. And this thing went, what, 45 minutes at least. Ropes. And she's standing up there with all of her attorneys flanking her, and she reads a pretty long statement. But the statement robes turns out to be not a statement of any kind. It's a letter to her sons.

[Emmy Robach]

Yes. She said she was going to take the opportunity so that her sons could finally hear from her directly, even if it was 10 years from now, 20 years from now. She wanted it to be on the court record. She wanted them to be able to, at least at some point in their lives, access what she had to say. And so she took the liberty of speaking. And basically, it was a lifetime of parenting. All the things that you'd want to

[T.J. Holmes]

tell yourself there was.

[Emmy Robach]

And it was as if she was recognizing that she was almost certainly never going to get to Ever speak to them again or at least while before they're adults. And so she took the opportunity to say everything a mom would want to say to her kids, knowing that she was never going to be able to speak to them again.

[Rider Strong]

That.

[T.J. Holmes]

That's a good way to put it. She put a lifetime apparent. She gave us a heads up, this is going to be long. And we thought, oh, what's happening? And she didn't take an opportunity. Right. Necessarily ropes here to defend herself or even to lash out. She had a couple of lines here or there where she was trying to get a point across, but generally speaking, she was talking directly to those boys.

[Emmy Robach]

Yeah. And the only time at the end she did say that what happened was completely wrong, that that is an absolute lie about killing her dad. She said the Justin said, the justice system will get this right, though this courtroom can't seem to. Yeah, that was maybe not a good move when the person who's making the decision about your sentencing is hearing you. But look, she. She did pretty much just keep it to her sons, telling them how to live, telling them what to do, what not to do, just basically trying to. To parent them and telling them that you're my reason for living. But she did defend herself. Not as much as I thought she would have, though.

[T.J. Holmes]

I'm trying to find that line, something she said to them about don't ever apologize for something you do.

[Emmy Robach]

She said, never beg for mercy for something you didn't do.

[T.J. Holmes]

Yeah. Okay. We'll see what happens at appeal. But this was again, Robes, I. I said to you, as we were discussing, I think might have said on the mic here, you and I watched almost every second of testimony in that trial. And we started to get a. They painted a picture and you get an idea of her. But this today painted a much different picture, even that we had of her before when it was, when everybody got to say their piece, it did paint a picture about her. A lot of that stuff wasn't allowed to get in as evidence during the trial. But when everybody got to speak and you can say, yes, they were motivated because they didn't like her and they believe she killed their loved ones. But Robe, they painted a pretty damning picture of her, her behavior over time. Robes, I cannot believe boys that age could speak about their mom in such a way. You just, they just don't get reprogrammed that quickly. Robes, I just. All of my faith, I will listen to those kids. I, I just. To speak about your mom that way.

[Emmy Robach]

I mean, this was one of those moments where I started thinking to myself, it's in a, in a perfect world or whatever, anyone, anyone who is even considering and scarily enough, obviously somehow people, it has to be for greed or maybe even just for access to your kids. Why anyone would consider murdering their spouse rather than just getting a divorce should just watch this trial from start to finish and the sentencing hearing today and see the damage, the harm, everything that's caused by a selfish act of wanting to a have your kids to yourself or b to keep all the money for yourself or c all of the above. It is disgusting what happens when people act for whatever reason, but specifically that's, that's the motivation.

[T.J. Holmes]

Oftentimes you spoke of her selfish act, but Eric Richen's sisters today spoke of his selfless act that they believe got him killed, which was being committed to staying in this marriage in which he even thought this woman was dangerous just for the sake of protecting the kids. Rose what a freaking story. But it is at least over for now. We always appreciate you spending some time with us and, you know, going along with us for this trial, but for my dear Emmy Robach, I am T.J. holmes. We'll talk soon.

[Emmy Robach]

If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club.

[T.J. Holmes]

Hosted by Kal Penn, each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres. Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening to.

[Emmy Robach]

It's a fun, easy way to discover your next great audiobook.

[T.J. Holmes]

Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you you funnier. This week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Timbo]

Where does your group perform?

[Robert Smigel]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Timbo]

Last night a blown call changed the game. This morning the Internet lost its mind and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source. The athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

[Rider Strong]

Hey, everyone. It's Rider Strong and Will Friedle from Pod Meets World. And now the Pod meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality tv, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of Survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just gonna remind you.

[Emmy Robach]

Aha. Ooh, ah, ooh.

[Rider Strong]

Again, we are Experts. Listen to Podmeets twirled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Robert Smigel]

Podcasts.

[Emmy Robach]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.