Writer Of Grief Book Tried Killing Husband Many Times: Prosecutors

PARK CITY, UT — A Utah mother accused of killing her husband and writing a children's book on grief following his death tried killing him multiple times before succeeding, prosecutors said before a judge denied her bail Monday.

Kouri Richins cried as a detective testified about authorities finding her husband, Eric Richins,dead and "cold to the touch" at their Kamas, Utah, home in March. Her sister-in-law, who was among the prosecution's witnesses, described Richins as "desperate, greedy and extremely manipulative" as others painted a picture of someone who calculatingly plotted to kill her husband.

Richins, 33, is charged with first-degree criminal homicide after prosecutors said she poisoned her husband's cocktail with a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to court documents.

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"One or two pills might be accidental. Twenty — or five times the lethal dose — is not accidental. That is someone who wants Eric dead," Summit County Chief Prosecutor Patricia Cassell said.

Richins was arrested and charged in May, months after Richins self-published "Are you with me?" — an illustrated storybook about a young boy wondering about his father's presence in his life after the father dies.

Richins' husband, Eric Richins, was found dead by authorities on March 4, according to a probable cause statement. Prosecutors said Richins called 911 after discovering her husband's unresponsive body.

According to prosecutors, Richins told investigators that around 9 p.m., she made Eric a mixed drink before bed to celebrate him selling a house. According to court documents, she went to soothe one of their children in the next room before finding her husband's lifeless body hours later.

An autopsy by a medical examiner later discovered the level of fentanyl in Eric Richins' system at the time of his death was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to court documents. The autopsy also determined the drug was ingested orally.

According to court documents, authorities charged Richins after discovering text messages between her and an acquaintance on her phone. Authorities said the acquaintance sold Richins opioids and fentanyl multiple times, adding that Richins purchased $900 worth of fentanyl six days before her husband's death.

Authorities said that Richins deleted text messages from the night of her husband's death before handing her phone over to authorities.

Meanwhile, court documents say Richins tried to lethally poison her husband multiple times, including on a vacation to Greece and on Valentine's Day weeks before his death. Witnesses interviewed as part of the investigation allege in February 2022 she laced a sandwich made for him with hydrocodone. She repeatedly denied her involvement on the day of his death in March 2022, even telling police, "My husband is active. He doesn't just die in his sleep. This is insane."

A judge denied Richins bail after prosecutors questioned the detective about the family's "bug out bags" full of emergency provisions and passports, a discovery prosecutors suggested made her a flight risk unsuitable for bail.

Prosecutors also asked a forensic accountant about Richins' personal financial struggles and the millions of dollars at stake in her husband's estate.

In addition to arguing over real estate, prosecutors also say Kouri Richins made significant changes to the family's estate plans before her husband's death, taking out life insurance policies on him with benefits totaling nearly $2 million.

In court filings, Richins' attorneys say prosecutors "simply accepted" the narrative from Eric Richins' family that his wife had poisoned him "and worked backward in an effort to support it," spending about 14 months investigating and not finding sufficient evidence to support their theory. She said the prosecution's case based on Richins' financial motives proved she was "bad at math," not that she was guilty of murder.

"Being bad with money does not make you a murderer," Skye Lazaro, Richins' attorney, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.