A Utah mom who authorities say fatally poisoned her husband with fentanyl in 2022 now faces more charges in the case. According to court documents, the woman published a children’s book about grief after allegedly poisoning her husband.
Kouri Richins, 33, was charged last year with aggravated murder and drug charges in connection with the death of her husband, Eric Richins, 39. She has yet to enter a plea regarding the charges but denies the allegations. Authorities accuse Kouri of killing her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
According to reports, she poisoned him at their home in a small mountain town near Park City in March 2022. On Monday, March 25, 2024, Summit County prosecutors filed new charging documents. The documents allege that it wasn’t her first attempt on his life.
They detail the perilous months preceding Eric Richins’ death in the filing. They painted a picture of a paranoid man walking on eggshells around his wife as she made secret financial arrangements.
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A month before her arrest in May 2023, the mom of three appeared on a “Good Things Utah” segment to promote a book. In the segment, Kouri Richins said her husband of nine years died “unexpectedly.” Also, she said that his death “completely took us all by shock.”
In a new filing, prosecutors allege that Kouri initially poisoned Eric on Valentine’s Day. According to a probable cause statement in the document, that was before he died from a lethal dose of fentanyl on the night of March 3, 2022.
The document states Eric “broke out into hives” after eating one bite of his “favorite sandwich” that Kouri bought. The mom of three reportedly bought the snacks for him from a diner. Furthermore, the document says Eric injected himself with his son’s EpiPen, “drank a bottle of Benadryl,” and went to sleep.
“I think my wife tried to poison me,” Eric Richins allegedly told a close friend later that day. The court documents also state that he had no food allergies. Hence, the filling noted that “opioids, including fentanyl, can cause allergic and pseudoallergic reactions, including hives.”
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Despite the new charges, Kouri Richins’ attorney, Skye Lazaro, said her client “continues to maintain her innocence.” Lazaro said, “Nothing in the document affects Kouri’s approach to defending whatever charges the State levies against her.”
Authorities found Eric dead in the couple’s bedroom on March 4, 2022, nearly a month after the Valentine’s Day incident. An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication. Court documents also say the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage.
Furthermore, the medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade. According to the charging document, Eric ingested fentanyl orally. Investigators allege Kouri bought snacks from a local diner the same week she purchased several dozen fentanyl pills.
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The state’s star witness, a housekeeper, told law enforcement that she gave Kouri the pills days before Valentine’s Day. Later that month, Kouri allegedly told the housekeeper that the pills she provided weren’t strong enough and asked her to procure stronger fentanyl.
In addition to the murder charges, authorities charged Kouri with three counts of forgery and two counts of insurance fraud. Also, they charged her with two counts of mortgage fraud, according to the amended charging document. Prosecutors allege that she forged her husband’s signature on an insurance application weeks before he died.
The insurance policy became effective ten days before the alleged Valentine’s Day poisoning. Also, the insurance had a death benefit of $100,000, according to the charging document.
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