In brief
Kouri Richins, a Utah author of a children's book on grief, has been declared guilty of murdering her husband, Eric Richins, by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced drink. Evidence presented in court included Richins' financial troubles and extramarital affairs, leading to the conclusion that she intended to profit from his life insurance policies. In a harrowing case that featured testimony from over 40 witnesses, the jury found her responsible for the heinous crime after deliberating for just three hours. The case unfolds layers of betrayal intertwined with her public persona as a grieving wife and author.
A Utah mother who published a children's book about grief after the sudden death of her husband has been found guilty of his murder. A jury found that Kouri Richins killed her husband in March 2022 by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced drink. The jury deliberated the case for about three hours before reaching its verdict.During the trial, the court heard how Richins, 35, had racked up millions of dollars in debt, had taken out life insurance policies on her husband, and was having an extramarital affair. Prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses, including the woman who said she sold the drugs used to kill Eric Richins. Her defence team chose to not call any witnesses, and rested their case without having her take the stand to testify in her own defence.Richins was also found guilty of fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after her husband's death at their home outside the ski resort town of Park City. Prosecutors said during the trial that she falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died. They also said she was planning a future with another man she had been having an affair with.Officials said Richins was found to have poisoned her husband's sandwich on an earlier occasion, nearly killing him. She was also found guilty of attempted murder during this incident. Richins pleaded not guilty to all the charges, with the most serious, aggravated murder, carrying a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.'She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money, said Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth. Richins was arrested in March 2023, two months after she published the picture book Are You With Me?, which she said was designed to help people, including her three children, cope with the death of a loved one.'We wrote this book and we're really hoping that it provides some comfort for not just our family, but other families that are going through the same thing, she told a radio station in an interview before her arrest, dedicating the book to her husband.
