A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book on grief after her husband’s death has now been accused of murdering him. Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested earlier this week for allegedly poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
The events leading to Eric Richins’s death unfolded one night in March 2022, when Kouri Richins called emergency services to say she had found her husband “cold to the touch.” Police arrived at their Utah home at around 3.20 am, and found Eric lying on the foot of his bed.
Kouri told police that she had made a vodka cocktail for her husband and served it to him in bed. She later left their bedroom to look after one of their children who was had a nightmare. The mother of three said that when she returned to their bedroom at around 3 am, she found Eric cold to the touch and called 911.
According to KSL TV, the 33-year-old author told police that she had left her phone in her bedroom. However, phone records revealed her phone was active in her child’s room and she had received messages during that time which were deleted.
A medical examination later concluded that Eric Richins had died of a fentanyl overdose.
Police found several messages between Kouri and an “unnamed acquaintance” after obtaining a search warrant for her computer and phone. The acquaintance had been charged in the past for drug possession. According to court documents, Kouri had texted the person several times to ask for drugs and had obtained fentanyl.
Three days after she obtained fentanyl, the couple had a Valentine’s Day dinner after which Eric fell violently ill. He told a friend his wife was trying to poison him. Investigators say that these allegations of poisoning were repeated by Eric’s sisters, who recalled another instance where Eric fell ill during a holiday in Greece.
It was only two weeks after the Valentine’s Day dinner that Kouri called 911 to say her husband was cold to the touch and unresponsive. He was found dead when police arrived at their home on March 4, 2022.
Kouri has now been charged with first-degree aggravated murder and three counts of second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, officials said
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