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Wife allegedly poisoned husband for multimillion-dollar payout amid affair; Social media on trial – TCN Sidebar

·30 min·2 clips

Schoenstein says the case turns on whether Eric Richens died from a massive fentanyl ingestion or self-use.

1. True Crime News: The Podcast's Sidebar centers on Corey Richens' Utah trial and a Los Angeles social-media bellwether case. 2. Host Joshua Ritter, a criminal defense lawyer and former LA County prosecutor, is joined by Rich Schoenstein, a New York civil litigator and legal analyst on NewsNation. 3. The episode asks whether prosecutors can prove criminal liability through motive, expert testimony, and product-design claims. 4. In Park City, Utah, prosecutors allege Corey Richens was $4.5 million in debt when Eric Richens died. 5. The state says Richens was having an affair with Robert Josh Grossman and texted about leaving Eric and starting a new life. 6. The defense opened with the 911 call and argued Eric Richens' death was an accident rather than murder. 7. Ritter and Schoenstein repeatedly frame the key fight as cause of death, especially a fentanyl overdose versus recreational drug use. 8. They also discuss prosecution witness Robert Crozier, who allegedly tried to backpedal by saying he had been selling OxyContin or another drug instead of fentanyl. 9. The attorneys return to an earlier sandwich incident in which Eric Richens reportedly got sick after suspecting poisoning. 10. They note that the case includes a book Richens published after the death about grief, which prosecutors may use as part of their narrative. 11. Schoenstein says the prosecution still has a path to conviction, but not a slam dunk, because the witness problems are real. 12. He says the defense wants jurors to believe Eric Richens had painkiller addiction and Lyme disease and may have caused his own death. 13. The Michigan segment shifts to Dale Warner, who faces open murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Dee Warner. 14. Ritter and Schoenstein explain open murder as a Michigan charge that leaves the jury to determine the level of homicide. 15. They compare that approach with California instructions on first-degree, second-degree, and manslaughter options. 16. The Dee Warner discussion focuses on the alleged discovery of her body welded into a tank intended to hold ammonia. 17. Schoenstein says the body location, the property ownership, and Warner's welding equipment make the circumstantial evidence significant. 18. The tone is legal-analysis driven, with Ritter pressing on trial strategy and Schoenstein answering in a conversational, explanatory style. 19. Listeners interested in criminal trials, evidence disputes, and civil liability will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a single narrative story with no legal digressions may want to skip it.

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