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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter. Thursday, February twelfth,
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twenty twenty six. Quick update on the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping.
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Then two cases That'll make your head spin. Day eleven.
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Nancy Guthrie still missing. Savannah Guthrie's eighty four year old
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mother believed kidnapped from her home outside Tucson on February first. Yesterday,
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a man was detained during a traffic stop near the
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Mexican border. Questioned for hours, released early this morning, he
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says he's never heard of the case. Meanwhile, chilling surveillance
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footage shows a masked figure on Nancy's porch around the
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time she vanished, ski mask, gloves, backpack, appears to be
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armed with a pistol. Investigators are no closer to solving this.
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Eleven days, no suspects, no answers, Park City, Utah. Jury
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selection began Tuesday for Corey Richins, the thirty five year
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old mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband Eric with
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fentanel in March twenty twenty two. Here's the twist. A
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year after his death, Richins went on national television to
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promote a children's book she wrote about dealing with grief
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called It Are You with Me, dedicated to her three
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sons and the memory of their father, the father she
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allegedly murdered. Prosecutors say she took out two million dollars
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in life insurance policies on Eric without his knowledge, found
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a jail house letter titled walk the Dog that allegedly
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outlined false testimony for her family. Trial starts February twenty third.
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And Salem, Massachusetts. Kelsey Fitzsimmons, a twenty nine year old
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former police officer, was shot in the chest by her
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own colleagues while they served a restraining order at her home.
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Defense says she raised the gun to hurt herself. Prosecution
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says she pointed it at a fellow officer. She spent
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over a one hundred days in jail because a gunshot
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wound to the chest made it impossible to blow into
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a breathalyzer. Now, her attorney is accusing the judge of
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secretly assigning herself to the case, holding exparte meetings with
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probation officers, and filing complaints against anyone who supports the defense.
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I'm read Carter today, a grief book author on trial
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for murder, a cop shot by cops, and a judge
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accused of running her courtroom like a personal vendetta. This
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is Celebrity Trials. Quick update on Nancy Guthrie before we
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dive into today's main stories. If you're just joining us,
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Nancy Guthrie is the eighty four year old mother of
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Today's show anchor Savannah Guthrie, believed kidnapped from her home
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in a gated community outside Tucson on February first. Blood
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found inside the home, signs of forced entry, her wallet, phone, car,
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and keys all left behind. Investigators are treating it as
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a kidnapping. Tuesday, law enforcement released forty four seconds of
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surveillance footage from Nancy's porch camera. Black and white silent
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shows a masked figure approaching the house around the time
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she's believed to have vanished ski mask, gloves, backpack. The
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figure raises a gloved hand to block a nest door
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bell camera. That camera was eventually disabled, which is why
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the footage was initially inaccessible until it could be recovered
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from backups. That same day, a man was detained during
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a traffic stop near the Mexican border in Rio Rico,
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Arizona about an hour south of Nancy's home, The FBI
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and Pima County Sheriff's Department carried out what they called
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a court authorized search of a home in Rio Rico.
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The search was completed by early Wednesday morning, but the
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man was released told reporters he'd never heard about the
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Guthrie case. His mother in law said he'd been delivering
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food when police stopped him. As of this morning, he
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is not considered a suspect. So where does that leave us?
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Eleven days a masked armed figure on video, a failed
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lead at the border, ransom demands sent to a Tucson
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television station, but no direct contact with the family. Savannah
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Guthrie and her siblings still releasing videos, pleading for whoever
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is involved to reach out. Nancy has a pacemaker, needs
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daily medication. Every day that passes makes this more dire.
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The timeline. Nancy's daughter Annie and son in law Tomaso
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Sioni were the last to see her. Sioni drove Nancy
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home from dinner on January thirty. First hours later, around
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one forty seven am, the front door camera was disconnected.
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Investigators believe she was taken soon after. We'll keep following
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this eleven days is a long time, and the silence
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from the kidnappers is deafening. Park City, Utah, Summit County
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jury selection began Tuesday, State versus. Corey Richins March fourth,
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two thousand and twenty two. Commas, Utah, small town in
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the mountains east of Salt Lake City, population around two thousand.
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Corey Richins, then thirty one years old, called police early
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in the morning, said her husband, Eric was cold to
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the touch. Eric Richins was thirty nine years old, found
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dead in their home, unexpectedly, no warning, no illness, just dead.
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Autopsy found fentanyl in his system. Also found medications prescribed
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to Koury, not to Eric, to Koury, in Eric's body.
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But here's where it gets dark. One year later, March seventh,
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two thousand and twenty three, Corey Richins published a children's
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book called It Are You With Me? Said she wrote
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it to help her three young sons cope with the
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loss of their father. The book featured their family addressed
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grief through a child's eyes. She went on national television
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to promote it in book signings. The grieving widow and
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devoted mother turning tragedy into something beautiful for her children.
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Two months later, May eighth, two thousand and twenty three,
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Couriy Richins was arrested, charged with murdering her husband through
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fentanyl poisoning let that sink in. She allegedly killed her husband,
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then wrote a children's book about missing him, promoted it
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on television, profited from his death while allegedly being the
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one who caused it. Truth is stranger than fiction. Prosecutors
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built their case methodically. According to amended charges filed in
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May twenty twenty three, Curry took out two million dollars
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in life insurance policies on Eric without his knowledge. Her
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real estate company was under financial pressure. Eric was worth
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more dead than alive. That's the prosecution's theory. Money pure
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and simple, but it gets worse. March twenty fifth, two
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thousand and twenty four, amended charges revealed prosecutors believe Corp
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didn't just kill Eric on March fourth. She tried to
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kill him weeks earlier Valentine's Day two thousand and twenty two,
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attempted murder on Valentine's Day, then finished the job less
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than three weeks later. Prosecutors also allege fraud and forgery
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related to those insurance policies and mortgage fraud charges in
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a separate but related case. Then came the jail house letter.
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September two thousand and twenty three, prosecutors said they found
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a letter in Richins's jail cell titled Walk the Dog,
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outlined what prosecutors described as false testimony for her mother
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and brother, coaching witnesses from behind bars, planning a defense
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based on lies. Richins has pleaded not guilty to everything,
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denied bail multiple times, been sitting in jail since May
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twenty twenty three, nearly three years awaiting trial. Her mother,
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Lisa Darden, told forty eight Hours she's one hundred percent
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certain her daughter is innocent. For anybody who knows Curry
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just knows she could not have done this. She'd never
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do this. There's always a mother who says that the
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road to trial has been long and messy. Richin's original attorney,
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Sky lazarro withdrew in May twenty twenty four after her
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firm reported an ethical issue. New attorneys appointed Catherine Nester,
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Wendy Lewis, and Alexander Ramos. Before her new lawyers took over,
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richand sent voice recordings to national media proclaiming her innocence,
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speaking directly to the public from jail. A woman who
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can't stay quiet, can't stop trying to control the narrative
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even from behind bars. Defense tried repeatedly to move the
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trial out of Summit County, filed multiple motions for change
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of venue, argued Richens can't get a fair trial in
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a small community where everyone knows the case. Judge Richard
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Murrazik denied every request February second, just last week, denied
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the second venue change motion after finding an off Potential
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jurors returned questionnaires, and the Utah Supreme Court declined to intervene,
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said it wouldn't consider the appeal of the venue decision.
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Trial stays in Summit County. Now jury selection this is
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going to be a challenge. Summit County is small. This
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case has been national news for nearly three years. The
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grief book angle made it unforgettable. CBS, NBC forty eight hours,
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Court TV podcasts, true crime forums. Everyone knows this story.
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Potential jurors were sent a twenty three page questionnaire with
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ninety nine questions ninety nine. Former prosecutor Nathan Evershed, who's
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not affiliated with the case, called it about as long
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as I've ever seen, questions about where they get their news,
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what TV they watch, what organizations they support, social media accounts,
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specific opinions on specific things. Tuesday's first day of jury
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selection was tedious. Judge Murrazak started by asking each potential
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juror for questions whether they'd heard about the case in
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the media, whether they did online research, whether they'd discussed
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it with anyone, and whether they recognized anyone in the courtroom.
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From there, defense and prosecution took over personal questions about employment,
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interactions with law enforcement, feelings about the legal system, whether
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any of those answers would affect their ability to be fair.
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The defense made a point of asking almost every candidate
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whether Richand's decision to testify or not would impact their
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ability to reach a fair verdict, smart move, planting the
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seed early that Richens might not take the stand, getting
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jurors to commit publicly to not holding silence against her.
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More than twenty five potential jurors were questioned Tuesday they'll
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get an email next week telling them whether they've been selected.
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Jury selection is scheduled to take five days. Questioning was
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done remotely, so only a handful of people were actually
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in the courtroom. There was also a fight over whether
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jury selection should be open to the public. The judge
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bily planned to close the courtroom for the entirety of
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jury selection. Script's newsgroup filed a motion to keep it open.
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Their attorney, David Rayman, argued the public has a First
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Amendment right of access. Judge Murrazik agreed to keep most
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of the process open, with provisions for jurors who need
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to answer sensitive questions in private. Cameras are not allowed
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during jury selection to protect juror identities. Once the trial starts,
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rules will prohibit broadcasting images of jurors. This trial is
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expected to last up to five weeks forty six potential witnesses.
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That's massive. Prosecutors have built a comprehensive case. The fentanyl,
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the insurance policies, the Valentine's Day attempt, the jailhouse coaching letter,
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the financial pressure on her real estate business. Defense will
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argue what that Eric somehow took fentanyl on his own,
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that someone else poisoned him, That the insurance policies were legitimate,
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that the walk the Dog letter was misinterpreted. The evidence
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prosecutors have outlined is devastating, but has pleaded not guilty.
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She's entitled to her day in court, and twelve jurors
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will decide whether this grieving widow act was exactly that
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an act. Here's what kills me about this case. And
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I mean that figuratively, unlike Cory Richins, who meant it literally.
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She published a grief book, a children's book about her
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son's losing their daddy while allegedly being the person who
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took their daddy away. She went on television promoted it,
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played the heartbroken widow, all while the autopsy results were
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sitting in a file somewhere showing her medications in her
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dead husband's body. Google search history is forever, jailhouse letters
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are forever, insurance policies are forever, and children's books about
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dead husbands you allegedly murdered, that's forever too. Eric Richins
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was thirty nine years old, father of three boys. Husband.
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He should be raising his sons, watching them grow up. Instead,
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his wife allegedly poisoned him and then wrote a book
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about how sad it made the cause. Trial begins February
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twenty third. We'll be covering it. Make it make sense.
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We'll be right back with a former Massachusetts police officer
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who was shot in the chest by her own colleagues
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and is now accusing her judge of running a vendetta
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from the bench. Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed. Carter, Salem, Massachusetts,
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Essex County State v. Kelsey Fitzsimmons June thirtieth, twenty twenty five,
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North Andover, Massachusetts. Kelsey Fitzsimmons, twenty nine years old, police
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officer for the North Andover Police Department, former corrections officer,
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home with her four month old infant. Three of her
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colleagues from the department knocked on her door. They weren't
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there for a social visit. They were serving a restraining order.
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Her fiancee, Justin I. Layan, had been granted an abuse
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prevention order alleged Fitzimmons had physically assaulted him the previous weekend.
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Said he feared for his safety and the safety of
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their child. The order required Fitzsimmons to surrender her firearms
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to police and her child to a Layan. What happened
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next is where the stories diverge completely. Prosecutors say Fitzsimmons
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reacted by threatening one of the officers with a weapon,
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pointed a gun at a colleague, assault with a dangerous weapon.
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Defense says something very different. Fitzsimmons raised the gun to
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her own head, not threatening anyone, trying to hurt herself.
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A woman suffering from postpartum depression, four months after giving birth,
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having her baby taken away, and she wanted to end
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it either way. One of the Northandover officers fired shot
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Fitzsimmons in the chest. The bullet collapsed, her lung, broke
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her ribs, caused liver damage. She survived, was hospitalized, then arrested,
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charged with a single count of assault with a dangerous weapon,
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pleaded not guilty. Now here's where this case goes sideways.
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After her release from the hospital, Fitzsimmons was taken into custody,
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released on bond in September with conditions including scram monitoring.
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That's a breathalyzer device. You blow into it multiple times
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a day, proves you're not drinking problem. The woman had
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just been shot in the chest, collapsed lung, broken ribs,
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liver damage. Blowing intensely into a tube multiple times a
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day caused extreme pain. She physically couldn't comply. Her defense
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asked for an alternative urine test. Anything else. Judge Kathleen
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McCarthy naman denied it, said alcohol monitoring was a condition
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of release. If she couldn't comply, she goes back to jail.
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Back to jail she went September eleventh, bail revoked over
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one hundred days behind, not because she violated any terms,
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not because she drank, because a gunshot wound to the
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chest made it impossible to blow into a tube. Defense
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argued alcohol wasn't even alleged to be a factor in