UT - Kouri Richins, 33, Author, wife, mom, charged in husband’s “unexpected” death last year, May 2023-- MEDIA, MAPS, TIMELINE **NO DISCUSSION**

[Seattle1]

Latest Crime and Trial News | Court TV

The latest trial coverage and crime news from Court TV, including breaking news, cold cases and major legal stories.

www.courttv.com

KAMAS, Utah (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — Newly obtained court documents related to a Utah murder investigation reveal that the suspect’s now-deceased husband believed she tried to poison him before, and he changed his life insurance policy shortly before his death.

Kouri Richins, 33, was charged Monday with the murder of her husband, 39-year-old Eric Richins. Eric passed away in March 2022.

 

[Seattle1]

After her husband died last year, she wrote a children's book on grief. Now she's charged with his murder.
Kouri Richins wrote a children's book on grief after her husband died. Now she's charged with his murder.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1656011152294395905

Kouri Richins wrote a children's book on grief after her husband died. Now she's charged with his murder.

The dedication section of her book reads: "Dedicated to my amazing husband and a wonderful father."

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Seattle1]

Eric Richins 'killer wife' thought she would get $3.6m from his death

DailyMail.com can reveal that Kouri Richins was due to get access to Eric's estate valued at $3.6million after his death, according to the terms of a prenup.

www.dailymail.co.uk

5/10/23

EXCLUSIVE: Moscow Mule victim's 'killer wife' thought she would get $3.6million after his death – but he quietly changed his will because he feared she planned to 'kill him for the money', shocking documents reveal​

• Kouri Richins is charged with murdering her husband Eric in Utah last year after he died of a fentanyl overdose placed in a Moscow Mule at their home
• DailyMail.com can reveal that Kouri was due to get access to his estate valued at $3.6million after his death, according to the terms of a prenup
• But fearing his wife might 'kill him for the money', he transferred his assets into a trust that he placed in control of his sister

 

[Seattle1]

In a lawsuit disputing her late husband's will, Kouri not only claimed that the money is rightfully hers but accused Eric of trying to 'defraud' her by taking legal action to shield his property and business from her without her knowledge.

KR's Claim against ESTATE

View attachment 421280
View attachment 421282

 

[Seattle1]

KR's claim against Trustee of the LIVING TRUST

View attachment 421284

View attachment 421285

View attachment 421286

View attachment 421287

 

[Seattle1]

Court: Children’s author accused of murder had previous poison allegations from husband

Not much is known about Kouri or if police have identified a motive that would support the accusations, but here is what we do know about the woman who has captured headlines nationwide.

www.abc4.com

5/10/23

According to a search warrant obtained by ABC4, Eric and Kouri had gone to Greece a few years before Eric’s death. After he allegedly became violently ill from a drink his wife had given him, Eric told a family member that he believed his wife tried to kill him.

Kouri allegedly attempted to kill Eric again, on Valentine’s Day 2022. The search warrant says Eric bit into a sandwich brought to him by his wife and he broke into hives and couldn’t breathe after one bite. He used his son’s epi-pen and took Benadryl before passing out for “several hours.” When he woke up, he reportedly called his business partner about the incident.

Eric had also reportedly changed his will and life insurance from Kouri to his sister. Eric was beginning to look to get a divorce from Kouri and wanted to make sure their three sons were taken care of.

 

[Seattle1]

5/19/23- detention hearing

https://legacy.utcourts.gov/cal/data/PARK_CITY_Calendar.pdf

 

[Seattle1]

5/10/23

Attorney: State has 'strong case' against woman accused of poisoning husband | CUOMO​

 

[Seattle1]

Sports

Sports news, analysis, rumors, statistics, predictions and roster moves around the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and more.

heavy.com

Kouri Darden Richins is a Utah mother of three and author of a children’s book on grieving who is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl that authorities say was slipped into a Moscow Mule drink, according to court records.

Kouri Richins, 33, was charged on May 9, 2023, with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and three counts of second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to a Summit County, Utah, court docket. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance on May 19, 2023, for a detention hearing, records show.

Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022, at the age of 39, according to his obituary, which says he “made his last extravagant and largely unexpected gesture on March 4, 2022, signing off on a life, in his own words, ‘lived to the fullest and with few regrets.'” According to KPCW, the Richins family “is one of the oldest and largest in Summit County,” Utah. “A notable member was Sheldon Richins, for whom Summit County’s Richins Building in Kimball Junction is named.”

The Summit County court docket lists the date of the murder charge as March 3, 2022, with the drug-charge dates as January 1, 2022; February 11, 2022; and February 26, 2022.

 

[Seattle1]

5/11/23

Husband of Utah grief book author Kouri Richins suspected she was trying to poison him — but stayed for kids’ sake

Kouri Richin’s late husband, Eric, stayed with her despite suspecting his wife of previous poisoning attempts because he didn’t want his three boys growing up in a broken home.

nypost.com

[..]

The slain husband of Kouri Richins stayed with her, despite suspicions the accused wife-from-hell was trying to poison him, to spare their kids from growing up in a broken home.

Greg Skordas, a spokesperson for the late Eric Richins’s family, told the Post the devoted Utah dad left himself in a dangerous situation to keep his strained marriage going and do what was best for his three sons.

Skordas described Eric, 39, as the quintessential family man — coaching his kids’ soccer, basketball and baseball teams, and teaching the boys about hunting and the outdoors.

[..]

 

[Seattle1]

Moscow mule victim told family to 'check out' wife if he disappeared

Eric Richins stayed in his marriage for the sake of his children, despite fears that his wife would 'kill him for the money' and suspicions that she had been unfaithful, DailyMail.com can reveal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Moscow mule victim Eric Richins stayed in his marriage for the sake of his children, despite fears that his wife would 'kill him for the money' and suspicions that she had been unfaithful throughout their ten-year union, DailyMail.com can reveal.


Speaking to DailyMail.com, family attorney and spokesperson Greg Skordas said: 'There are three reasons Eric stayed: one is 10 years old; one is nine, and the third is six.

'He lived for his three boys and unfortunately he died for them too.'

It is a tragic and chilling statement.

But, according to Skordas, Richins, 39, would have done and sacrificed anything for the three boys he had with wife, Kouri Darden Richins, 34.

<snip>

Skordas said: 'There were rumors that Kouri maintained a relationship with somebody else for pretty much the duration of the marriage.

'It wasn't something the family ever discussed with Eric or anything that rose above the level of hearsay.'

But, for all his desire to keep his family together, Skordas revealed, Richins had begun to think the unthinkable in the weeks before his death.

He explained: 'Eric was considering divorce at the time he died. It was something he and Kouri had both discussed. They had argued over financial issues and both appeared to be a little more realistic about that prospect.'

He added: 'The sad truth is Eric was worth more to Kouri dead than divorced.'

<snip>

In an extraordinary demonstration of just how concrete Richins's concerns were, DailyMail.com has learned that he not only told family members to 'check Kouri out' if anything happened to him because he 'didn't want her to get away with anything.'


He left written instructions for what to do if he disappeared or was 'detained under duress.'

The instructions were included in Richins's Living Trust and Estate obtained by DailyMail.com and written without his wife's knowledge in 2020.

 

[Seattle1]

May 11, 2023

Author of Children's Book on Grief Charged With Murdering Husband​

 

[Seattle1]

Mom Accused of Husband's Overdose Murder Asked Dealer for 'the Michael Jackson Stuff'

Kouri Darden Richins was charged Monday with the murder of her husband, Eric, who was found dead from a massive fentanyl overdose in March, 2022.

www.rollingstone.com

5/9/23

In March, around the one-year anniversary of Eric’s death, Richins, 33, published a children’s book about a boy who’s lost his father called Are You With Me? She gave interviews promoting its release, and said she’d written it with her kids to help address some of the questions that had come up in the year since they’d lost their father. “It’s been a long, long year and difficult year,” she told public radio station KPCW. “Writing this book has brought a little peace to me, to me and my boys.” She hoped it would help other families going through similar losses, she’d said. The book’s sale page on Amazon has been removed.

[..]

Information recovered from Richins’ cell phone also revealed communications with an acquaintance of Richins’ who is identified in court records as C.L., court filings reveal. According to the warrant, C.L. had a record of drug charges, including multiple charges for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. In a May 2, 2023, interview with detectives, C.L. said that between December 2021 and February 2022, Richins had asked C.L. for some prescription pain medication. It was for an investor with a back injury, she’d said. C.L. had gotten her some hydrocodone pills.

[..]

On Monday, Richins made her initial court appearance via Webex. A judge advised her of the charges, and spoke with her attorney Skye Lazaro in a virtual breakout room. Richins is being held without bail in Summit County Jail until a detention hearing set for May 19.

 

[Seattle1]

Kamas mother and children write book to heal after loss

Last year, a Kamas woman unexpectedly lost her husband, and their three children lost their dad. Now the family has published a book they said helped them deal with their rollercoaster of grief and they’re hopeful it can help others who may be in similar situations.

www.kpcw.org

4/13/23

Last year, a Kamas woman unexpectedly lost her husband, and their three children lost their dad. Now the family has published a book they said helped them deal with their rollercoaster of grief and they’re hopeful it can help others who may be in similar situations.​

A mother from Kamas, Utah, Kouri Richins, said she never expected she would be raising her three boys on her own. When her husband Eric died in March 2022, she said she looked around for ways to help them cope with their grief. She wasn't able to find much and that's why she said she wrote a book.

“It's been a long, long year and difficult year,” she said. “Writing this book has brought a little peace to me, to me and my boys.”

She said she's hopeful their book, “Are You With Me?,” which was published a year after her husband Eric died, can help other families in a similar situation.

The book is based on questions that her children asked in the months after their dad died.

NPR - 12 MIN FULL INTERVIEW : Kamas mother Kouri Richins

 

[Seattle1]

Utah author argued with husband over buying $2M house before he was killed, records state

A Kamas man who prosecutors say was fatally drugged by his wife last year had been arguing with her over her decision to buy a $2 million-dollar property in the days before his death, court documents show.

www.sltrib.com

5/11/23

The wife and murder suspect, Kouri Richins, is a licensed real estate sales agent, records with the Utah Department of Commerce’s real estate division show. According to a search warrant affidavit filed in the homicide case, she had wanted to “flip” the house in question, but her husband, Eric Richins, “was planning on telling her that he wasn’t going to sign the papers” because he thought they would lose a lot of money.

[..]

The next day, she closed on the multimillion-dollar property alone, the document says.

[..]

Eric had wanted a divorce, according to the affidavit. Following his death, a probate dispute over his estate, as well as a separate dispute over his trust, ignited in civil court between Kouri Richins and Eric’s sister Katie Richins-Benson, court records show.

[..]

This week, following Kouri Richins’ arrest, Kouri filed a motion in the trust case requesting that the trust case and estate case be stayed pending the outcome of the homicide case. The sister disagreed.

“The Estate must be administered regardless of what is happening with Kouri’s criminal prosecution,” a response from the sister in the trust case states. “The administration of the Estate cannot and should not be put on hold waiting for the outcome of the murder charges against Kouri, a process that could take years.”

The sister also filed a motion Wednesday in the estate case that requested that Kouri Richins be disqualified from receiving any benefits under Eric’s estate, “otherwise preventing Kouri from in any way profiting from Eric’s death.” The motion cited the ongoing homicide case.

Kouri’s motion in the trust case states, “Kouri should not be forced to choose between waiving her constitutional rights or effectively forfeiting her civil claims.”

As of Thursday afternoon, a judge had not made a decision on the motions.

View attachment 421578


(KPCW.org via AP) This photo provided by KPCW.org shows Kouri Richins at the KPCW studio in Park City, Utah, April 12, 2023.

 

[Seattle1]

May 10, 2023

Co-worker of Utah mom accused of poisoning husband: 'It’s mind-boggling to me' | CUOMO​

 

[Seattle1]

5/11/2023

Women who interviewed Kouri Richins ‘completely shocked’ | Dan Abrams Live​

 

[Seattle1]

5/12/23

[…]

Financial motives for Kouri to allegedly murder Eric​

In the petition, Katie said that Kouri had a financial motive to murder Eric, and listed them as follows:

Eric married Kouri on June 15, 2013, and starting as early as 2016 (and perhaps earlier), Kouri allegedly began having serious financial troubles. Katie said she believed Kouri began stealing money from Eric to help her with buying and selling homes. This included Kouri allegedly taking money from bank accounts owned by Eric and running debts on credit cards in Eric’s name without his knowledge.

According to the petition, Eric learned in Sept. 2020, that Kouri had withdrawn at least $100,000 from his bank accounts. He also reportedly learned that Kouri had wrongfully borrowed large amounts of money on his credit cards. Eric allegedly confronted Kouri about the stolen money, and she admitted to taking it.

The amount of money Kouri reportedly stole from bank accounts is estimated to have been more than $100,000. The amount of money wrongfully charged to Eric’s credit cards is estimated to have been more than $30,000.

According to the petition, in September 2020, after Eric discovered the stolen money, he also discovered Kouri had borrowed $250,000 using a fraudulent Power of Attorney.

Kouri reportedly accomplished this by having Eric sign a Power of Attorney for certain activities, but Kouri allegedly forged Eric’s initials in several categories listed in the Power of Attorney.

“Upon signing, Eric did not believe he was signing over such substantial rights as outlined in the Power of Attorney,” the petition stated. Eric’s purported signature was dated May 8, 2013, but was not purportedly notarized until May 8, 2018.

According to the petition, around March 2019, without Eric’s knowledge or consent, Kouri opened a bank account with a revolving line of credit and borrowed $250,000. She allegedly did this with a Deed of Trust in which Kouri signed Eric’s signature. Eric reportedly confronted Kouri about the fraudulent loan in September 2020, and Kouri reportedly admitted she had wrongfully taken the loan and promised to pay it back.

[…]

Alleged financial motives for Kouri Richins to murder husband, petition asserts

A motion was filed to disqualify a man’s widowed wife, Kouri Richins, from his estate on grounds of homicide. The petition included several alleged financial motives for the murder of her hus…

www.abc4.com

 

[Seattle1]

5/13/23

Prosecutors allege that Kouri intentionally drugged Eric after court filings said she purchased $1,800 worth of fentanyl pills in the weeks leading up to his overdose. Court filings made by the Richins family state Kouri “had a financial motive to murder Eric.”

Kouri, who works as a realtor in Summit County, told deputies she and Eric were celebrating her closing on a house for the business, and that she made him a Moscow Mule, which he consumed in the bedroom. Kouri went to sleep shortly after in one of their children’s bedrooms stating that the child was having a night terror, according to charging documents. She told deputies her cell phone was left charging in her bedroom.

A medical examiner determined Eric was in good health and did not use medications that contained fentanyl. An autopsy determined he likely consumed the fentanyl orally. There was nothing to indicate Eric used illicit drugs recreationally

Kamas mother charged with husband's murder - Park Record

Kouri Darden Richins, 33, was arrested by Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Monday for the aggravated murder of Eric Richins, who was found deceased in the couple’s home last year. The mother of three is also facing three second-degree felonies for possession with intent to distribute a...

www.parkrecord.com

 

[Seattle1]

Eric Richins’ family says Kouri should not profit from her alleged crime.​

Utah has a law, called the "slayer statue," which says killers cannot profit from their crimes.
Now attorneys for the family of Eric Richins, who was found dead of a fentanyl overdose last March in their family home in Kamas, petitioned for the law to apply to his wife Kouri, who is charged with his murder.

Kouri Richins had 'financial motive' to kill her husband, says Eric's family

Eric Richins’ family says Kouri should not profit from her alleged crime.

www.kpcw.org