Famous Author Allegedly Killed Husband With Fentanyl

(Scypre.com) – A Utah woman, Kouri Richins, has been accused of poisoning her husband in 2022 and then writing a children’s book about dealing with grief. Now, she’s facing another charge for allegedly attempting to poison him earlier on Valentine’s Day.

Kouri Richins, 33, is charged with killing her husband, Eric Richins, by giving him a fatal dose of fentanyl in their home near Park City in March 2022. New court documents say this was not the first time she tried to poison him.

Before his death, Eric Richins lived in fear, feeling paranoid around his wife. He discovered she was making secret financial deals and buying illegal drugs that were later found in his system.

Previously, prosecutors suggested that Kouri tried to poison her husband a month before his death, but they officially filed the new charges this week.

This shocking case has caught the attention of many true-crime fans. Kouri Richins wrote a book called “Are You With Me?” about a father watching over his son from heaven. The book, once praised as a comforting read for children who lost a loved one, is now seen as evidence of her alleged murder plot and cover-up.

Kouri, a mother of three, often spoke of her husband’s death as a sudden tragedy while promoting her book, receiving praise for helping her sons and other children cope with loss.

Her lawyer, Skye Lazaro, has claimed the evidence against Kouri is weak and circumstantial but has not commented on the new charges.

According to the new documents, on Valentine’s Day, Eric Richins had an allergic reaction and blacked out after eating a sandwich his wife left in his truck. Witnesses and deleted text messages suggest Kouri bought the sandwich and also bought dozens of fentanyl pills that week.

A housekeeper, who admitted to selling Kouri the drugs, told police that she gave her the pills a few days before Valentine’s Day. Later, Kouri allegedly told the housekeeper the pills were not strong enough and asked for stronger fentanyl.

Two of Eric’s friends testified that he called them the day he was first poisoned. After using his son’s EpiPen and taking Benadryl, he woke up and told a friend, “I think my wife tried to poison me.” He was scared and believed he might die because of his wife’s actions.

A month later, Kouri called 911 in the middle of the night, saying she found her husband unresponsive. He was declared dead, and the medical examiner found five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.

Summit County Chief Prosecutor Patricia Cassell stated, “One or two pills might be accidental. Twenty — or five times the lethal dose — is not accidental. That is someone who wants Eric dead.”

Prosecutors say Kouri put the fentanyl in a Moscow mule cocktail she made for her husband during a period of marital problems and arguments over a multimillion-dollar property she bought.

Years before his death, Kouri secretly opened several life insurance policies on Eric worth nearly $2 million. She also faces charges for mortgage and insurance fraud, accused of forging loan applications and falsely claiming insurance benefits after his death.

Prosecutors claim Kouri was in financial trouble when her husband died and wrongly believed she would inherit his estate. Documents showed she had a negative bank account balance, owed over $1.8 million, and was being sued by a creditor.

Eric Richins had met with a divorce lawyer and an estate planner in October 2020, after discovering his wife made significant financial decisions without his knowledge. Their prenuptial agreement only allowed Kouri to benefit from his business if he died while they were married.

Utah law states that anyone convicted of murder cannot profit from their crime.