A mother of three, who published a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death, is to stand trial for his murder.
Kouri Richins, 34, is accused of fatally poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022 at their home in Kamas, about 40 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
In the months before her arrest in May 2023, the Utah mother self-published the children’s book Are You with Me? about a father with angel wings watching over his young son after passing away.
The book could eventually play a key role for prosecutors in framing Eric Richins’ death as a calculated killing with an elaborate cover-up attempt.
Prosecutors claim she slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a Moscow mule cocktail that Eric, 39, drank.
Ms Richins entered not guilty pleas to all 11 counts during a preliminary hearing in Park City, Utah on Tuesday.
One of those counts includes attempted murder, after prosecutor Brad Bloodworth accused her of slipping fentanyl into her husband’s sandwich on Valentine’s Day 2022, causing a severe but nonfatal reaction.
Kouri and Eric Richins. Pic: Facebook
Mr Bloodworth told the hearing that he thinks Ms Richins learned lessons during the first unsuccessful attempt on her husband’s life which helped her carry out the killing 17 days later.
A day after Valentine’s Day, prosecutors allege she texted her lover: “If he could just go away [referring to her husband] … life would be so perfect.”
Police interviews also allege that Ms Richins subsequently asked her housekeeper to procure stronger fentanyl.
Detective Jeff O’Driscoll said: “She learned that putting it in a sandwich, where Eric Richins could take a bite, feel the effects and set the sandwich down, was not the proper way to administer it.”
The prosecution claimed it was evidence that she learned “it takes a truckload” of fentanyl to kill him.
Kouri Richins has been accused of murdering her husband with fentanyl, days after a failed attempt. Pic: AP
Days later, Ms Richins called 911 in the middle of the night to report that she had found her husband “cold to the touch” at the foot of their bed.
A medical examiner later found five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system.
Nearly $2m in life insurance cover
Prosecutors say Ms Richins mistakenly believed she would inherit her husband’s estate under the terms of their prenuptial agreement and had taken out life insurance policies on him without his knowledge which totalled nearly $2m (£1.6m).
Defence attorneys Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis argued that because police never found fentanyl in the Richins home, detectives could not be certain that the drugs Ms Richins bought from the housekeeper matched those found in Eric Richins’ system.
In a joint statement lawyers acting for Ms Richins said: “We firmly believe the charges against Kouri do not withstand thorough scrutiny and are confident that a jury will find the same.”
The judge scheduled a pretrial conference on 23 September for the prosecution and defence to discuss jury selection ahead of a trial in April.
