Kouri Richins' Trial Got Two Sheriffs Indicted for What

Twelve days before Kouri Richins' murder trial opened, the prosecutors preparing to try her served Verizon with a warrant for the phone records of a sitting sheriff, a former sheriff, and a police chief. Two of those men, Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby and former Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds, pleaded not guilty October 7 to obstructing justice in her case.

The Summit County Attorney's Office says it received an anonymous letter in January listing thirteen allegations against Detective Eric Mainord, one of the lead investigators on the Richins case and a candidate against Rigby for Wasatch County sheriff. Search warrant affidavits say Rigby had shown the same thirteen allegations to Mainord's boss the day after Mainord entered the race, and that she believed the Richins prosecution would be hurt unless he dropped out. County Attorney Margaret Olson's office opened a felony investigation into the sheriff instead of acting on the letter, and kept the case when Rigby asked a judge to take it away.

Rigby is charged with second-degree felony obstruction, which carries one to fifteen years in Utah, plus a misdemeanor false-statement count. A filing from his own attorney says the charges accuse him of sending the letter, which prosecutors say contained false information. Edmunds faces a felony obstruction count; his lawyers say the charge arose from something he told investigators in a March interview. Rigby says he acted lawfully. Police Chief Wade Carpenter, whose records were also seized, has not been charged.

What's at stake for Kouri Richins: Mainord was pulled from the witness list and never testified, which prosecutors say settles the question. Her lawyers say the state knew about the allegations when he testified at the suppression hearing. The judge rules on her new-trial motion after October 16. Tony Brueski connects the two cases.

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