A Utah judge ruled Monday that murder suspect Kouri Richins, who authored a children’s book addressing grief after her husband’s death, will be held in custody without bail for murder and drug offenses charges.
Richins, 33, bowed her head Monday afternoon and wept as a detective described finding Eric Richin, “cold to the touch.” Judge Richard E. Mrazik denied bail after prosecutors presented substantial enough evidence to warrant denying in connection with her husband Eric’s death.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, in May 2022, Eric was found in his Francis home with five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system. After his death, the defendant wrote a children’s book entitled, “Are You With Me?”
The book is about families dealing with a sudden loss of a father and husband and how children can learn to cope.
Prosecutors said Kouri Richins spiked her husband’s Moscow Mule drink after she made a “series of illicit fentanyl purchases” prior to his death. The prosecution said she also allegedly forged financial documents, CNN reports.
Two months before his death, the defendant allegedly logged into Eric’s life insurance policy and changed the beneficiary from his business partner to herself. She also changed the business partner’s policy, removing Eric Richins as beneficiary and changing it to herself.
The insurance company reversed the changes after contacting the two men and inquiring about the switch.
Then, two weeks before Eric’s death, on Valentine’s Day 2022, Kouri Richins made him a sandwich that left him violently ill, according to an arrest affidavit.
“After one bite, Eric broke into hives and couldn’t breathe,” the affidavit read. He used his son’s EpiPen and Benadryl “before passing out for several hours.”
Eric told his business partner about the sandwich incident afterward. Eric then changed his life insurance policy and named his sister as beneficiary, and removed the suspect from his will, with an estate estimated at around $3.6 million.
The affidavit also indicated that Eric did not tell his wife about the will and policy changes.
During a victim impact statement Monday, Eric’s sister called Kouri Richins “desperate, greedy, and extremely manipulative,” and questioned how “anyone could value human life so cheaply.”
Meanwhile, the defense argued that no evidence exists that proves Kouri Richins laced her husband’s drinks or poisoned him in any way.
“Law enforcement never identified or seized any fentanyl or other illicit drugs from the Family Home,” the defense wrote in a motion. “The state has provided no evidence that there was fentanyl found in the home. Nor have they provided any evidence that Kouri gave Eric the fentanyl at issue.”
The judge ultimately denied bail, adding that the possibility of a murder conviction “creates a powerful incentive for a defendant to resort to desperate acts that might include harming themselves, harming the members of their family, or harming witnesses in the case.”
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[Feature Photo: Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who authorities say fatally poisoned her husband then wrote a children’s book about grieving, cries during a bail hearing Monday, June 12, 2023, in Park City, Utah. A judge ruled to keep her in custody for the duration of her trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
