Transcript of A Utah grief author's murder trial. Eyewitness drama in Florida. Plus, Nancy Guthrie and Olivia Lone Bear. New

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Hey, good morning. You're listening to the Dateland Story meeting. I'm here. We can get started. Our producers are swapping tips and story ideas. Explain a little bit more about the evidence case file.

The killer was a local drug dealer who wanted to make nice with the witch doctor.

They really believe that he's innocent. Welcome to Dateland True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's February 26th, and here's what's on our docket. In Miami, a jury hears unusual testimony at the trial of a former college football player accused of murdering his teammate.

They decided to have him testify on videotape just in case something happened to him.

In Dateland Roundup, the son and alleged killer of slain Hollywood director Rob Reiner appears in court, and a former American idol contestant is accused of murder.

He was a golden ticket winner. He described himself as a music pastor who absolutely loves to sing.

Plus, after Savannah Guthrie calls for more attention to be paid to the families of the missing, we bring you the case of a young mother I've never been able to forget.

In the end, Olivia and her children still deserve some type of justice.

But before all that, we're heading to Utah, where the highly anticipated murder trial of mom of three, Cori Richens, is finally underway. Cori Richens first made news in April 2023 when she appeared on a local ABC4 morning show, Good Things Utah. To promote a children's book, she wrote about grief after her husband Eric died suddenly the year before. My kids and I wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we've experienced last year and hoping that it can help other kids. A month later, she was arrested and charged with her husband's murder. Prosecutors say Richens poisoned her husband, Eric, with fentanyl so she could cash in on his life insurance. Richens has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her. And as she told Dateline in an exclusive recording she made from jail back in 2024, she's been eagerly awaiting the chance to defend herself.

I'm anxious. I'm anxious to prove my innocence. I'm anxious to get trial, and I'm ready to get this one heck of a fight.

That time has finally come. Richen's trial began Monday in the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah. Dateline producer Karen Israel was there and is joining us to give us all the details. Hey, Karen.

Hi, Andrea.

I know that you're a little under the weather, and it didn't help that you had to wait hours to get into the courtroom, right?

No, and I apologize for my voice. So, yeah, there's been a lot of anticipation for this trial, and especially on day one, there were spectators lined up well before 6: 00 AM to get seats in the courtroom.

The trial began with opening statements. The prosecution went first, and Karen You and I, we've been on this story for a while. We've learned pieces of their case over the past few years. What exactly did they share on Monday in their openings?

The state is accusing Cori of intentionally poisoning Eric with fentanyl. The attorney for the state, Brad Bloodworth, began by giving the jury a dramatic play-by-play of what the prosecution alleges happened that night. Starting with Cori texting the man that she was having an affair with, Love you, and then handing Eric a drink in their bedroom.

He drinks on the bed. She departs the bedroom. Cori Richens returns to the bedroom at about 3: 00 AM. She feels that Eric is cold. She nudges him. He does not respond. She sees that he is stiff and pale. His mouth is wide open.

The prosecution told the jury this wasn't the first time Cori had attempted to murder Eric, that she'd allegedly laced a sandwich with poison a couple of weeks earlier on Valentine's Day.

Did the prosecution offer a theory about how Cori got her hands on the fentanyl?

Yes. So the prosecution told the jury that Cori got the fentanyl from her housekeeper who had bought the fentanyl from a drug dealer. That housekeeper is expected to be a key prosecution witness.

The prosecution talked about the possible motive for these alleged crimes, which, of course, money is at the center.

The evidence will prove that Cori Richens murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life. More than anything, she wanted his money to perpetuate her façade of privilege, affluence, and success.

Eric Richens was well off. His estate was worth over $4 million when he died. According to the prosecution, Cori, on the other hand, was in financial trouble. She was allegedly over $4. 5 million in debt. What the prosecution is arguing is that not only did Cori believe she was set to inherit Eric's business, but also other assets and various life insurance payouts.

Weeks before attempting to murder Eric Richens, Cori Richens took out an insurance policy by fraud and forgery on Eric's life. Two weeks after Eric died, she submitted a fraudulent claim on yet another insurance policy. She believed that she would benefit from nearly $2 million in insurance on Eric's life.

The fresh start part of the alleged motive, does that tie back to this man she's having the affair with?

It does. The prosecution told the jury about Cori's paramour, a man named Robert Josh Grossman. The prosecution He says internet history and text messages will show they were having a full-blown affair and that Cori wanted to be with Josh, not Eric.

Eleven days before the charged murder, Cori Richen text messaged Josh Grossman, I do want a future together. If he could just go away and you could just be here, life would be so perfect.

Karen, then it was the defense's turn. What did they hit on in their opening statement?

The defense there's simply not enough evidence to prove that Cori gave Eric Fentanyl and caused his death. The defense attorney said the drugs Cori got from the housekeeper were Oxycodone, not Fentanyl. And so the Fentanyl that killed Eric couldn't be connected to Cori. An important point to emphasize, Andrea, the defense isn't disputing that Eric died of fentanyl poisoning, but they're saying there's reasonable doubt about how he ingested it. The defense argued that Eric had consumed drugs before, mainly weed gummies, but there was an empty pill bottle by his bedside, too.

Cory's attorney made a lot of references to Eric Richen's family members and their involvement in the investigation. Where were they going with that?

That's right. Cori's attorneys say Eric's family was pointing the finger at Cori immediately. They're suggesting that the family's hostility towards Cori maybe somehow contaminated the investigation.

Cori's attorney finished off her opening statement with an interesting image. Tell us about that.

Yes. She shared on the screen an optical illusion that went viral a while back. Some of our listeners have probably seen this. It's a drawing that from one angle looks like a young woman, and if you look at it differently from another angle, it looks like an older woman. Look at this picture of a young woman in a fur coat.

See it?

Now look again.

You see a witch?

There's going to be times in this case where the state is going to show you the witch, and I'm going to show you a widow. At the end of the trial, if you can still see both faces, that's reasonable doubt. So fascinating. Now, once Karen, the opening statements were done, the prosecution started right away to call their first witnesses, and among those first witnesses, Eric's family.

Yeah. They started with Eric's dad, followed by his sister, Katie Rich and Spensen, who got pretty emotional talking about her brother. Eric was one of the most likable people.

I'm sorry, guys. Sorry, I'm tired so hard.

Eric's sister told the jury that Eric was not a drug user, as the defense had implied. They were raised to be aware of the dangers of drugs.

The prosecution also showed jurors some body cam footage from a police officer who responded to Cori's 911 call. What's interesting, Karen, is that you see Cori in her pajamas. She's very emotional. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

But then you also see Katie arrive with her husband.

This body cam video was so interesting because Katie mentioned in her direct examination, she told the prosecutor that Cori didn't really console her when she was so upset. But in this clip, you could see Cori did embrace Katie at one point. It felt like a contrast to what we had just heard Katie say.

Who else do we expect the prosecution to call to the stand?

We know that Cori's mom is on the witness list as a prosecution witness. There'll be more first responders and investigators.

The trial is going to be quite long.

Yeah, it's expected to last five weeks.

Okay, and we know you've got it covered, Karen. Thank you for getting there early and waiting in line in the cold and bringing us All the updates from the trial.

Thank you.

Coming up, the prosecution makes its case against a college football player on trial for murdering his teammate 20 years ago, but has too much time passed. For our next story, we're back at the Miami Dade County Courthouse. It's week two in the murder trial of Rashaun Jones, a former University of Miami football player. Prosecutors say nearly 20 years ago, Jones was so consumed by jealousy of his more successful teammate, Brian Pata, that he ambushed him in the parking lot of Brian's off-campus apartment and shot him dead. Brian's roommate found his body and called 911. Somebody got shot.

The guy was on the ground.

I don't know where he's bleeding from, but he's on the ground, man. Okay. I need you three to stay with me.

I'm going to lie.

Did you see what happened? No, I did not see what happened. Nobody see what happened, man. But according to prosecutors, someone did see something that night. They say one of Brian's neighbors heard what sounded like a gunshot and then saw a man walking briskly past him, a man he later identified as Rashaun Jones. On Monday, the jury got to hear from that eyewitness, only he didn't show up in person. Because of his age and failing memory, the jury watched a video recording of his testimony instead. Here to walk us through what happened and how the defense is pushing back on all of this is Dateline producer Jay Young, who has been in the courtroom. Jay, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me, Andrea.

Jay, we should just start this off by saying that Rashaun Jones has pleaded not guilty. He says he was never jealous of Brian, certainly not jealous enough to kill him. What evidence has the prosecution presented so far to try to prove Jones's state of mind at the time of the murder?

Well, prosecutors are saying that Rashaun was both envious and jealous of Brian. Brian was a shooting star at the time of the murder. He had everything going for him, and it was a huge Allen on the football field, destined for the NFL. Rashaun, on the other hand, was suspended right before the murder for having tested positive for marijuana use. So, yeah, his future wasn't nearly as bright as Brian's was. And then there was Brian's girlfriend, Jada Brody. Apparently, she had had a relationship with Rashaun before she met Brian. Prosecutors have been trying to hammer home that that, too, was a source of tension. And then, prosecutors have spent a lot of time presenting evidence of a fight between Rashaun and Brian two years before the murder. Brian punched Rashaun, and Rashaun responded, You better clip up, which Brian understood to mean, You better get your guns.

Did anything happen closer to the time of the murder?

Well, that's interesting. Not really. Except for this. Once it was announced that Brian was shot and killed, the team gathered, and it was, according to some, a mandatory meeting. The only person not there was Rashaun Jones.

So beyond this idea that Rashaun may have been jealous of Brian, is there any physical evidence connecting him to the crime?

The answer to that question is no, not really. I mean, there were no shell casings found at the crime scene. What they did know, there was close to his body. You could see his keys were left at the crime scene. Also, there was roughly $900 in his wallet. So they did know that it likely was not a robbery. But beyond that- Yeah, that's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. Finally, the state presented It's cell phone tower evidence that put Rashaun very close to the crime scene at the time of the murder. Now, the defense is going to argue, well, that Rashaun lived close to the crime scene.

Yeah, I was just going to say, they went to the same school. They were on the same team.

That's right. We'll see how that plays out.

We talked, Jay, off the top about this eyewitness, the state's star witness, who testified through a video recording. What do we know about him?

Well, this was really interesting. This is a man who actually lived in the apartment complex with Brian Pata. And on the day of the shooting, as he was walking home, he said he heard a pop, and then he saw somebody walking briskly past him. It didn't mean much to this person, Paul Connor. But later, when he heard reports of the shooting, he realized he should call the police, and the police had him do a sketch. Seven months later, police called him in again and asked him to try to identify the person that he saw in a photo lineup, and he did. It turns out that the person he identified in that photo lineup was Rashaun Jones.

That was in 2007. Years passed, a new detective got the case, and Rashaun Jones was arrested. By that point, Paul Connor was in his late '70s, and prosecutors did something unusual.

What they did is they decided to, in a pre-trial hearing, have him testify on videotape just in case something happened to him. It's called perpetuated testimony. As far as the prosecution is concerned, they're glad they did because soon after testifying, Paul Connor vanished, and they suspected he had died. Ultimately, investigative journalists at ES SPN, they were able to find Paul Connor and get him to do an interview.

What did he tell the reporters, Jay?

Well, he basically told them that he didn't remember much, and he sounded very unsure of himself. In the end, the judge ruled that Mr. Connor was not able to testify. She allowed Paul Connor's 2022 videotape statement to be played before the jury in this trial.

Let's listen to some of that testimony. How would you describe the person that you saw, Mr. Connor? I would describe him as a young African-American, 6 feet to 6 foot 1, tall. Were you able to make in our contact with him? Yes. In order to enter the parking lot, I had to turn left. For a moment, that brought me face to face with one. After you passed by him, Mr..

Connor, what did you notice about the man in the station?

Well, he spied that man. Since the judge ruled Connor was too incompetent to testify in person, the defense didn't get to cross-examine Paul Connor in front of this jury. But what the jury did get to hear this week was a defense attorney challenging Connor at that 2022 videotape testimony. They got him to admit some things, right?

You bet. They got him to admit that it was, in fact, dark that night. They also got him to admit that he had type 2 diabetes and that did compromise his eyesight. There was a question as to whether he was wearing glasses when he saw that person walk past him.

If you're wearing your glasses. Do you think you would have had a better look? Yes.

So all those things could potentially raise a little doubt about the credibility or at least the believability of this particular witness.

All right, Jay, thank you very much. This is a riveting case.

Thank you, Andrea.

We have a quick update for you about this trial. On Wednesday afternoon, after I taped my conversation with Jay, the prosecution wrapped up its case, and then the defense did something surprising. They rested without calling a single witness. Closing arguments quickly got underway. We'll bring you all those details and what the jury had to say next week. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. Updates from the courtroom on the double homicide of Robin Michelle Reiner and the trial of Dale Warner, the Michigan farmer accused of murdering his wife and concealing her body in a fertilizer tank. Plus, the case of a mom of five who went missing that I've never been able to shake. Welcome back. Joining us for this week's Roundup is Dateland Digital producer, Veronica Mzezeca. Hey, Veronica.

Hey, Andrea.

For our first story, we're heading to LA, where nick Reiner, the son of legendary Hollywood producer Rob Reiner, and photographer Michelle Reiner, appeared in court on Monday. He has been accused of stabbing both of his parents to death in their bed in December. It was an appalling crime that stunned the country. Tell us what happened in court this week.

This was Nick's arraignment. That is usually when a defendant formally hears the charges against them and enters a plea. Nick's arraignment was originally scheduled for early January, but his previous defense attorney, Alan Jackson, who you know Andrea from the Karen Reid case, withdraw at the last minute. So the hearing got pushed to this week.

Walk us through this latest hearing.

According to our producer in court, nick walked in wearing a jumpsuit with a buzzcut and a scruffy beard. He talked to his public defender, and then he slumped over when he got into the glass box where defendants go during the hearing. He waived his right to a speedy trial and pleaded not guilty to the two murder counts he's facing.

After the arraignment, LA district attorney Nathan Hockman spoke to the press. What did he say?

He said the case is on track. They are waiting on a coroner's report, but the majority of discovery has been over to the defense. He said that the prosecutors are considering whether to pursue the death penalty in this case, though.

We will be looking at all aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and we have invited defense counsel to present to us, both in writing and orally in a meeting any arguments that they would like to make in consideration for our going forward or not going forward with the death penalty.

How are Rob and Michelle's other children, Nick's siblings, handling these new developments? I mean, this whole thing, our hearts just go out to them.

Nick's sister and brother have not attended any of the hearings. Back in January, they did issue a statement through a family spokesperson saying that they have the utmost trust in the legal process.

Nick's next hearing is scheduled for April, and we will, of course, update you with anything we hear before that. Next, we're heading to Lenaway County, Michigan, where the murder trial of farmer Dale Warner, which we told you about last week, is still underway. Okay. Veronica, remind us of what happened there.

Dale is accused of murdering his wife, Dee, back in 2021 and hiding her body in a fertilizer tank on his farm. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and tampered with evidence.

What's unfolded in the courtroom since last week.

The prosecutors painted the portrait of a troubled marriage. Dee's former nanny and personal assistant, Madison Wolf, testified that Dee started talking about divorce three years before she disappeared.

Do you know what the sleeping arrangement movements were between Dale and Dee? Yes. What were they?

Most of the time, Dee slept on the couch, and Dale would sleep in the bedroom. She also said that Dee had an affair. Other people close to Dee, like her massage therapist and one of her employees, testified about seeing bruises and marks on her. The prosecution is using that testimony to suggest that the marriage may not have just been unhappy, but possibly physical.

How did the defense handle all of this?

The defense has leaned heavily into the trouble with marriage, suggesting that the relationship was strained long before she disappeared, but arguing that the problems don't equal murder. They are also stressing the fact that none of the witnesses directly saw Dale Harmde, and the state's evidence is highly circumstantial, and the prosecution has merely interpreted the data to fit the theory that they've developed.

This is one of those trials where the jury is allowed to ask questions along the way. Was there anything that stuck out to you, what they're curious about?

The jurors have asked for explanations on the more technical parts of the trial. Dr. Patrick Chou, the medical examiner, was asked about whether contusions can form after death, referring to the bruises found on Dee's body. So could they have formed while the body was being moved? Dr. Chou answered no, that both the bruises and brain bleeding found on Dee could have only happened when she was alive.

Okay, and we have a few more weeks left with that trial. Finally, we're headed to Tip City, Ohio, where a former contestant on American Idol has been charged with his wife's murder. Bring us the latest on that case.

Yeah, you might remember seeing Caleb Flynn on Season 12 of American Idol. He was a golden ticket winner. At the time, he described himself as a music pastor who absolutely loves to sing. He talked a lot about his wife, Ashley, in his interview for the show.

I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty.

Just I love her.

What do authorities, Veronica, say happened the Ashley died?

Caleb called 911 around 2: 30 AM on February 16th about an intruder he said had come into the house and shot his wife in the head. He sounded very distraught.

Let's take a listen to part of that 911 call. My wife, she got two shots to her head. It's been blood everywhere. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. So what did the police find at the house when they got there?

According to the police report, Ashley was found dead from gunshot wounds in her bed. There were two shell casings on the floor. The officers also observed that the side garage door was open, but there was a refrigerator in front of the door that would have needed to be pushed away for it to be open. The officers also determined that the children were asleep when the shooting happened. This led police to the conclusion that there was no intruder, and Caleb had actually shot his wife and then tried to stage the scene as a break-in.

Caleb was arrested, and on Friday, he was charged with Ashley's murder, felony assault, and tampering with evidence. Did he enter a plea?

He is pleaded not guilty and is denying everything.

Okay, thank you for these updates, Veronica.

Thank you.

For our next story, we're shifting gears to a story that's close to all of us here at NBC News, the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of our friend and colleague, Savannah. Investigators say they continue to work all viable leads. On Tuesday morning, Savannah posted a new video message.

It is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed. Every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then.

Savannah thanked people for their prayers and announced that the family is offering a $1 million reward for information that helps bring Nancy home. And she also said this, We also know that we are not alone in our loss.

We know there are millions of families that have suffered with this uncertainty. And for that reason today, We also are donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their work in helping families who are coping with loss and actively looking for those who are lost. We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours who are in need and need prayers and need support.

Bringing attention to cases of the missing is something we feel very strongly about here at Dateland. Twelve years ago, we started our series, Missing in America. Since then, we have published hundreds of digital articles and produced more than a dozen podcast episodes, spotlighting cases of people who have gone missing. One of those cases was Olivia Lohnbear. Olivia went missing on the night of October 24th Earth, 2017. She was a 32-year-old mother of five. She was living on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in Newtown. She was last seen leaving a local sports bar in her teal Chevy pickup truck. Her daughter, Haley Abramson, told us that The family knew instantly that something was wrong. We had met with some detectives, and they just tried to convince me that she was fine, that she had gone somewhere and she'd be back, but we didn't really believe it. Olivia's loved ones did all they could to get attention for her case. They held candlelight vigils, distributed flyers, and searched tirelessly for her. Her brother, Matthew, spoke to the news program, Democracy Now. We do still need water support.

We do need people on the ground, definitely, because the Fort Barthold Reservation is just about a million acres, so that's a lot of ground to cover.

They also turned to Lisa Yellow Bird-Chase, an advocate who has dedicated her life to finding missing people in Indigenous communities. Through her volunteer coalition, Sawnish Scouts, she organized search efforts and brought trained dogs to help cover areas that hadn't been thoroughly explored. In July 2018, nine months after Olivia disappeared, Lisa found her. Olivia's body was inside of a pickup truck, submerged in Lake Saccaquia on her reservation. Lisa is joining us now to tell us more about that search. Lisa, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you.

It's so good to hear your voice.

You, too.

It's been a while. It's been a while. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think about you and Olivia's case all the time. As I said, it's one of those cases that I can't shake, and I'm angry that it hasn't been solved because for whatever reason, I have it in my brain that it's solvable. Something that many people may not realize about the missing is that, like Olivia, a disproportionate number of cases involve Indigenous women. Why are they suffering like this?

I think it's a lot to do with systemic ills that happen in our communities. You got first responders that may minimize the situation. One of the recent things we've discovered here in North Dakota is when it comes to the investigations, we've had situations that could have been a potential homicide, overlooked, disregarded, and just not given any attention to.

Lisa, you were the first person to tell me about Olivia. Yeah. How did you get on to Olivia's case in the first place?

I actually got a phone call from her cousin Matt, who was the person who organized the big search efforts for Olivia in the very beginning. I remember her father said, I heard that you're the best, and I said, I can't say I'm the best at anything, but I can tell you I'll do my best.

Of course, you were really incredible how you took out, got a boat and bought some old sonar equipment and ended up finding her in this lake.

We had visited that spot before. Unfortunately, by the time we got to it during the initial search, it had frozen over and we didn't have access. So I knew I was coming back to look for her in that area, and it didn't take long.

Yeah, it was pretty quick. So remind me, we don't know too much about what happened to Olivia. Her cause of death was ruled undetermined after an autopsy. There were no obvious injuries. You believe this was a murder, and correct me if I'm wrong, was she not found in the passenger seat of the pickup truck?

Yes, she was.

Okay, so how is this undetermined if someone can't drive themselves into a lake in the passenger seat.

While they're buckled in.

While they're buckled in. I mean, it's either murder or someone had an accident and left her there. I mean, there's not a whole lot of options there, but you truly believe this was murder?

Oh, yes, definitely.

It's been over eight years since Olivia went missing, and we don't have an arrest. And even the FBI has gotten on board.

Right. Well, the FBI was on board from the very beginning because If it's a homicide, then this is a major crime which falls under their jurisdiction. So they did interview me, but everything went to a standstill. And then a few years back, I did inquire with the FBI, and I gave them some information.

Do you have a message for the FBI or for tribal police about what they could be doing?

I think they just need to get up and get busy and really do the work.

We should say, Lisa, we did reach out to the FBI. They told us they continue to diligently investigate Olivia's disappearance and death, and they're offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information, leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.

I mean, in the end, Olivia and her children still deserve some type of justice.

Lisa, thank you for all your work. You were just tireless with your efforts for all these families and for the people who don't have a voice anymore. Thank you. If you have any tips or information you want to share about the Olivia Lohnbear or Nancy Guthrie cases, you can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. That's 1-800-225-5-324. We will post that number in the episode description. We're thinking about all the families out there who are missing loved ones, and especially our friend and colleague, Savannah. That is it for this episode of Dateland True Crime Weekly. Coming up this Friday on NBC, the Winter Olympics are over, and we have an all-new episode of Dateland. When a loving father suspiciously dies, his family's decade-long fight for justice begins with a most unlikely piece of evidence, a hairbrush. Put the hairbrush in the bag. Don't tell anybody you have it. You basically have a detective mind at this point. No. Why just watch Dateline? Watch Blaine's episode, Malice, this Friday at 9: 00, 8: 00 Central on NBC. Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins, Caroline Casey, and Keanne Reid. Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone-Groth and Aria Young.

Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Kurloff. Production and fact-checking helped by Audrey Abrahams. Veronica Mzezeca is our digital producer. Riquan is our sound designer. Original music by Jesse McGinty. Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline. Thanks, everybody. Have a great day.