A grand jury has charged a current and a former Utah sheriff with obstruction of justice in connection with the high-profile prosecution of Kouri Richins, the realtor convicted of poisoning her husband.
Court records unsealed Wednesday in Utah’s 3rd District Court show Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby and former Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds were charged by a grand jury on September 24. Both have pleaded not guilty. Rigby faces a second-degree felony count of obstructing in a criminal proceeding and an additional misdemeanor charge of making a written false statement. Edmunds is charged with a third-degree felony of obstructing in a criminal investigation.
These charges against Rigby mark the second criminal case filed within a week against a sitting public official in Utah. Last week, a Republican state lawmaker from Layton, Rep. Trevor Lee, resigned after being charged with fraud.
Grand juries are a rare occurrence in Utah’s state courts, where prosecutors typically file charges and a judge later determines at a preliminary hearing if there is sufficient evidence for a trial. Prosecutors on the case against the sheriffs stated in court filings that these indictments replace the preliminary hearing. State law mandates that grand juries must comprise at least nine and up to 15 members and require a three-fourths vote for an indictment.
As sheriffs, Rigby and Edmunds have overseen law enforcement in Utah’s two most affluent counties. The specific allegations against them were fully redacted from the charging documents unsealed Wednesday, which is an unusual practice in the state court system. Prosecutors in Summit County are arguing in court filings that the indictments should be made public under the First Amendment.
Attorneys for Rigby and Edmunds have stated in court filings that they do not want the indictments released without redactions. They have raised concerns about potential pretrial publicity, given the intense public interest surrounding the Richins case. A hearing to address these arguments is scheduled for November 4.
The majority of available information regarding the indictment comes from these legal motions. Edmunds’ attorneys indicated in an October 2 court filing that the charge against him arose from a statement he is accused of making during an interview in March. They also stated that the indictment connects the charge to "alleged misconduct involving a sheriff’s deputy, an anonymous letter, and State of Utah v. Kouri Darden Richins." Similarly, Rigby’s attorneys wrote that the case against him is "predicated on allegations that he interfered" in the Richins prosecution, which garnered extensive local and national media coverage.
Utah Investigative Journalism Project reported that the charges follow their investigation coverage. In January of this year, Rigby "allegedly presented an anonymous letter" to Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates. This letter reportedly contained severe allegations about a Summit County sheriff’s deputy, Eric Mainord. The Utah Investigative Journalism Project reported that Mainord was a detective on the Richins case and was also challenging Rigby in the race for Wasatch County sheriff.
Rigby subsequently lost the Republican primary election in June to Jeremy Hales, who serves as the county’s emergency manager. Mainord withdrew from the race prior to the primary election.
According to KPCW, Edmunds served as Summit County sheriff from 2003 to 2014, while Rigby began his tenure as Wasatch County sheriff in 2019. Attorneys for the two men did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Kouri Richins, who was sentenced in May to life without parole for the murder of her husband Eric Richins, was ordered this week to pay over $55 million to his estate. This order was a result of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his sister. Richins’ trial was among the most high-profile in the nation this year, attracting extensive attention from news media and court watchers across the country.
