Author Kouri Richins Is Accused of Killing Her Husband: What to Know

Richins wrote a children's book about dealing with grief before she was charged with her husband's murder.

By Michael Hein

The case against author Kouri Richins is building, and the story of this alleged murder is getting more complicated to follow. Kouri is accused of killing her husband, Eric Richins, and last week prosecutors added new charges and new evidence in her case. Read on for a breakdown of the case and the latest updates.

Kouri and Eric Richins lived in Kamas, Utah with their three children up until Eric's death on May 4, 2022. Months after, Kouri published a children's book about processing grief, which is why her story went viral. Shortly after the book came out, Kouri was arrested and charged with poisoning her husband. Prosecutors initially believed she did it for a profitable life insurance payout, but now they claim Kouri had a secret lover as well.

Other recent developments include Kouri's lawyers dropping out of her case and her first public statement since her arrest. On social media, commenters are amazed at how many twists and turns this story has had before even going to trial. Keep reading for a timeline of Eric's death and the case against Kouri.

The Basics

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Eric Richins died in the early morning hours of May 4, 2022 at the family home in Kamas, Utah. According to a report by The Washington Post, Kouri called 9-1-1 at 3:21 a.m., saying that her husband was "not breathing, he's cold... he doesn't have a pulse." She told authorities that she and Eric were celebrating a major career milestone on the night of May 3, and that she made him a cocktail and brought it to him in bed. She also claimed that he had consumed a THC gummy.

Kouri told investigators that Eric fell asleep at around 9 p.m. and had a night terror, so she left the room so as not to disturb him. She said that she dozed off in one of her children's bedrooms until about 3 a.m., then returned to her bedroom where she felt that Eric was "cold to the touch." She then called police, and Eric was pronounced dead.

The Family

Eric and Kouri Richins were married for nine years before Eric's death, according to Eric's obituary. He was just nine days away from his 40th birthday. They had three children – 9-year-old Carter, 7-year-old Ashton and 5-year-old Weston. Eric co-owned a business called C&E Stone Masonry and also dedicated a lot of time to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as well as other community organizations. Kouri was a real estate agent, according to a report by PEOPLE.

Eric's siblings were not shy about sharing their suspicions with investigators. They described previous incidents where Eric told them he was afraid Kouri was trying to poison him, and where he said that he was afraid of her. One warrant obtained by The Washington Post says: "He warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame."

On the other hand, friends of Kouri disputed these accusations in an interview with PEOPLE last summer. They said that Kouri was too in love with Eric to hurt him, and they believe she is being set up as a scapegoat by prosecutors. They also believe more details will come out in the trial that will exonerate their friend.

Kouri's Book

The factor that is making this story go viral is Kouri's book, Are You With Me? It was published using Amazon Digial Services on March 7, 2023 – less than a year after Eric's death and a few weeks before she was arrested. The 41-page book is intended to give children the tools to process their grief and other emotions in a healthy and timely way, though reviews of its efficacy are mixed.

When the book came out, Kouri spoke to several local news outlets about how writing it had helped her grieve and helped her children as well. She told KTVX that she couldn't find any resources suitable for her kids, and added: "It's – you know – explaining to my kids just because he's not present here with us physically, doesn't mean his presence isn't here with us... I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night, and I just could not find anything."

Kouri mentioned plans for a follow-up book called Mom, How Far Away is Heaven? However, at the time of this writing, Are You With Me appears to have been removed from Amazon.

Eric's Autopsy

The Utah Medical Examiner's Office determined that Eric Richins "died from an overdose of fentanyl," with the examiner writing: "The level of fentanyl in Eric's system was approximately five times the lethal dose." Police said that they were already suspicious of Kouri's involvement, but before arresting her they spoke to an "unnamed acquaintance" of hers who claimed to have sold fentanyl to her. The acquaintance is referred to as "C.L." in court filings.

C.L. told authorities that Richins had asked them for pain medication multiple times before Eric's death. They even said that she specifically requested fentanyl, referring to it at one point as "some of the Michael Jackson stuff." C.L. said they obtained between 15 and 30 fentanyl pills from another dealer, then sold them to Kouri for $900 some time before Valentine's day. C.L. said that they obtained more fentanyl for Kouri about two weeks later, meeting her at work and exchanging the drug for another $900.

Life Insurance

Initially, investigators believed that Kouri had poisoned her husband to obtain the payout on his life insurance policy. They obtained evidence that Kouri's real estate business was going poorly and that she owed money lenders "at least" $1.8 million. Kouri had taken out a life insurance policy on her husband which would have covered that sum, according to PEOPLE. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that Kouri had logged into the life insurance policy Eric had through his business in January of 2022, and had changed it so that she would be the sole beneficiary, not Eric's business partner.

The insurance company contacted Eric about the sudden change, and Eric changed it back to the way it had been. Meanwhile, he reportedly changed his will and power of attorney without telling his wife. He gave his sister power of attorney, and she claims he told her it was because he believed Kouri might "kill him for the money."

Previous Incidents

There are two incidents prior to Eric's death that have been described as possible poisonings in the prosecution's legal filings so far. First, Eric's sister told authorities about a situation "years earlier" while he and Kouri were on vacation in Greece. At the time, Eric became "violently ill" and he related that to an alcoholic drink that Kouri had handed him. His sister reportedly said that Eric believed Kouri had been trying to poison him.

The second incident was on Valentine's Day 2022 – weeks before Eric's passing and shortly after C.L. claims they sold the first batch of fentanyl to Kouri. The earlier report suggests Eric got sick after dinner and "told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him." However, a more recent report by PEOPLE claims that he was sickened by a sandwich Kouri gave to him earlier in the day – with a love note to mark the occasion.

Kouri reportedly left a sandwich for Eric and left for work, but Eric took just one bite of the sandwich and broke out in hives. He sent his wife a photo of the reaction and, again, told a friend that he believed it was an intentional attack by Kouri. Authorities say Eric "injected himself with his son's epi-pen that was on the counter, drank a bottle of Benadryl," and tried to rest. He texted Kouri: "I'm gonna go lay down for a bit if I don't start getting better I'm gonna head to the hospital."

She responded: "Geez, it's that bad? Need me to come home?" When Eric woke up, he asked Kouri where she was and she said she was at work in a nearby town, although authorities say her texts with other people contradict that.

Kouri Behind Bars

Kouri was arrested on May 8, 2023 and has been held without bail ever since. She was initially charged with aggravated murder, possession or use of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. However, last month prosecutors eliminated all those charges except for aggravated murder, then added 10 new charges. These included attempted criminal homicide, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of mortgage fraud, two counts of insurance fraud and three counts of forgery.

A report by NBC News also describes the recent drama in Kouri's case including the departure of her defense attorneys. From the time of Kouri's arrest until December of 2023, phone calls between Kouri and her lawyers were recorded by authorities. Prosecutors had access to those recordings and even included them among the other evidence in discovery, but Kouri's team claimed that these recordings were made without their knowledge or consent. Prosecutors claimed that by declining to use technology that would disrupt recording, the defense team ahd implicitly agreed to it.

Kouri's lawyers formally asked the judge to disqualify the prosecutors from this case because of this recording incident, but the judge declined. That same day, the defense team filed a request to withdraw from the case. After that, Kouri gave a series of statements to the press, with one saying: "My defense team has been forced to withdraw from my case. Represented or not, we all know and should understand there's only so much I can say. But what I will say is this withdrawal was not my choice. And it was not a personal choice of any counsel on my defense team."

Kouri's Paramour

Last month's documents also include evidence that Kouri was having an extra-marital affair with another man at the time of Eric's death. They refer to this person as Kouri's "paramour," and include text message exchanges between them on Valentine's Day and on the night of Eric's murder. One text read "love you" followed by a kissing emoji.

Kouri's Statements

Finally, the last big piece of this puzzle so far is Kouri's statement from jail, published by NBC last month. She railed against her ongoing detainment, saying: "I've been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I've done or how they think I've lived. And it's time to start speaking up. You took an innocent mom away from her babies, and this means war."

Kouri also condemned the prosecution in her case, saying that they were doing "anything they can to prolong this process and hide their corruption." She went on: "I will not play into the prosecution's unconstitutional behavior anymore. Although I am extremely disappointed where we're at right now with this case, I'm anxious. I'm anxious to prove my innocence. I'm anxious to get to trial."

There's no word yet on when Kouri's case might go to trial, but prosecutors told NBC they have "deferred to and accommodated" her scheduling requests throughout this process. It's unclear who will represent Kouri going forward.

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