UT - Kouri Richins, 33, Author, wife, mom, charged in husband’s “unexpected” death last year, May 2023

[RickshawFan]

Eric's First Marriage Ended in Divorce.

@Herat Thanks for your post about this difficult divorce background info. It helps explain why a groom's parent may expect son to have a prenup governing terms of prop division etc., even if doubting prospective dau-in-law is looking for monetary gain.

In reading obit, I do not recall any mention of children from first marriage or about fact of first marriage itself.
ETA: Yes, I'm curious about the time gap. Was relationship & marriage #2 made on the rebound?

I’m more curious, not about rebound, but whether KR offed the first wife by staging an accident.

 

[RickshawFan]

Totally. I'm just trying to figure out where all that money went, and I've definitely known of some rich people who p*ssed it all away on drug habits. Like, that is just so much money to steal without anything to show for it when you're living in a house presumably paid for or the mortgage payments being paid by the spouse.

Maybe she’s a gambler?

 

[Chelly]

It seems to me KR kept digging her financial hole deeper and deeper. I don't know if she despised her spouse or loved money more... or a combination of both. She certainly seems to be an evil, money-loving weirdo. jmo

Her actions were just plain dumb. Even more stupid is she believed she could get away with drugs, murder and fraud.

 

[Chelly]

I agree. 'Sounds like someone she had been doing (regular & irregular) business with.

Agree. Someone she trusted. Maybe a good friend

 

[JosieMae]

Her actions were just plain dumb. Even more stupid is she believed she could get away with drugs, murder and fraud.

Right? I just can't understand this level of reckless stupidity. KR must have been beyond desperate.

 

[Herat]

The valuation of C&E Stone Masonry per the 2013 prenup, 50% of the business interest was cited at $2.5M.

It follows that the mutual life insurance policies were valued at about $2M since they are intended to buy out the interest of the late partner. I recall the actual business policy was said listed in a recent probate petition but I've not seen the petition in MSM as of yet and waiting patiently. (I'm not willing to pay for the document from Utah Court XCHANGE).



No, the value of ER's personal life policy Eric changed w/o KR's knowledge was $500K per the post below.




I believe your estimate on the business policy was correct. The personal policy was $500K.

Thanks Seattle1

Now just to get the insurances straight:

1. C&S Masonry and Stone had $2,000,000 owner life insurance policy payable to the other owner in the event of the other owner's death. This was the policy that Kouri attempted to change to name herself as beneficiary instead of Cody Wright, in January 2023. Do we know if this policy has paid out to Cody yet?

2. Eric Richens had his own personal life insurance policy for $500,000 payable to his Trust which had his sister as the trustee, and did not name Kouri as a beneficiary.

3. Eric Richens unknowingly had 4 (or 5) life insurance policies taken out on him between 2015 and 2022, all naming Kouri as the beneficiary. Totalling something like $1,900,000. The last policy for $100,000 was made by Kouri in January 2023. Eric knew nothing about these policies, is this correct?

 

[Lore Listener]

Maybe she’s a gambler?

Yep. Now that I read the article @Seattle1 posted last night, I'm thinking she made some poor "investments" in her real estate business. But they also state that she "may have taken more money for a purpose that’s “yet to be discovered,” the petition states." It'll be interesting to see what that turns out to be.

Eric Richins, whose wife is accused of killing him, ‘hoped to keep his family together,’ spokesperson says

Utah author Kouri Richins is accused of killing her husband Eric Richins, who was an avid outdoorsman and devoted father, a spokesperson for the family said.

www.sltrib.com

 

[Herat]

Right? I just can't understand this level of reckless stupidity. KR must have been beyond desperate.

Beyond greedy. I think this unfinished home became her vision of her Big Strike, the one that would put her in the big money. She appears to have already gotten herself into huge debt to some unknown person for $1,840,000, likely for the down payment.

It cannot be coincidence that she had the long IRS discussion and a discussion with Eric the day he was poisoned for failing to sign on to or provide cash or some other deal that would facilitate the closing of the deal on the Big Strike. As she signed the documents after his death, and took possession two days later, with a big celebratory party, she evidently thought all the cash from the hidden insurances and whatever else she was doing would provide the money necessary to clear that mysterious hard loan.

 

[Herat]

It occurs to me that the purchase of the "Michael Jackson strength" fentanyl 5 days after Eric death may have been to poison someone else, as mentioned above. Some choices are:

1. Eric's sister who broke the news Kouri was not receiving Eric's money. ( KRB did assault her)

2. Cody Wright, who would be the beneficiary of the $2,000,000 business life insurance that Kouri had already tried to steal in January 2022.

3. One or more of her children. I am still concerned she took out life insurance policies on the children. It would be easy to poison them with the stronger fentanyl she just bought and claim they were Eric's hidden pills that the kids found and ingested.

Yeah. I think she is very capable of that.

More tragedy, more sympathy, more TV appearances.

 

[Chelly]

Right? I just can't understand this level of reckless stupidity. KR must have been beyond desperate.

Well, we know desperate people do desperate things. But.... did she ever imagine the consequences of her actions? Did I miss that she might have engaged in coverups for her behavior? Whatever... I think KR is mostly afflicted with a bunch of loose-screws.
MOO

 

[windrower]

No, I’m also picking up on something, just not sure exactly what.
But it seems clear that Eric’s family didn’t trust KR from the very beginning. It is strange that his mother, not him, presented the prenup, and on their wedding day at that! Maybe KR was already coming across as a gold digger, who knows.

Also, that ER and KR didn't seem to be on the same page at all when it came to money matters. If she was so unhappy that she allegedly had boyfriends on the side, why on earth did she have three children with him.

And of course thinking the best option was murder is way beyond the pale!

Presenting the PreNup?

snipped for focus. @neesaki Wait, what???
Eric's Mother "presented" the prenup?

I'm trying to imagine how this could have transpired.
Presumably drafted by atty on Eric's behalf? Maybe at his fam's request?
(Or a doc. Eric - or Mom - completed from online template at DIY legal website?
"W your prenup doc. now, get a free tutorial: DIY Brain & Heart Surgery.")
With or without disclosure of financials of each?
Executed by Eric?
Witnessed? Notarized?
Presented to Kouri?
On wedding day?
///ETA: Saying what? "Sign here or else." ///

Srsly? No opportunity for Kouri to consult w atty to advise her?
Any links w info about the prenup presentation? Anyone?

I'm no attorney, but I've always heard that a prenup that's presented as a fait accompli (especially on the wedding day!) and with no attorney for the spouse would be looked on pretty dubiously by the court.

Could KR have simply divorced Eric and gotten the money she wanted in a settlement after the prenup was invalidated?

Indeed, I am also not a lawyer, but I am a former paralegal, and this is my understanding of prenups as well.

Here's a link to a law firm briefly describing signing under duress:


Here's a link to another law firm stating that just under 50% of prenups are invalidated in court.

I’ve been following this case from the beginning. But I do not recall where the prenup was first mentioned.

Who told the story of the prenup being presented on their wedding day?

If this information came from Kouri, then that’s highly suspect as to the truth of it.

And if it could have possibly been nullified, wouldn’t that have been done at least within this last year, if not before?

Thank you for reposting the information.

 

[neesaki]

The obituary I saw had to have been written by Kouri as it was so sarcastic and disrespectful of Eric's death. I see no reason why she would mention a prior marriage.

And disrespectful of the Mormon church.…. “Church of Ladder Day Saints”.
I doubt that will bode well for her in that community. She could claim it was a misprint, but that wouldn’t happen around there. IMO
Since she wasn’t Mormon, I’m really surprised Eric married her. Did she convert just to get ER? I just know in the TV interview she says she’s not religious.

I remember poor Travis Alexander, may he rest in peace, was mormon, and he was determined to find a good Mormon girl to marry.

 

[neesaki]

It's been reported they married in 2013 (June 15)-- not that they met in 2013.

According to the co-worker from Home Depot that introduced the couple, seems they met a decade before his death.

Family friends shocked by Utah author's arrest for husband's murder

A family friend who says she introduced Kouri Richins to her late husband Eric spoke about her shock to the news of her arrest.

kutv.com

That would have been 2013. If the son is 10, he had to have been born then.
I guess later that year? Maybe she purposefully got knocked up so ER would marry her.

 

[Herat]

And disrespectful of the Mormon church.…. “Church of Ladder Day Saints”.
I doubt that will bode well for her in that community. She could claim it was a misprint, but that wouldn’t happen around there. IMO
Since she wasn’t Mormon, I’m really surprised Eric married her. Did she convert just to get ER? I just know in the TV interview she says she’s not religious.

I remember poor Travis Alexander, may he rest in peace, was mormon, and he was determined to find a good Mormon girl to marry.

Eric's first wife does not appear to be LDS Church, either. Her obituary does not mention the LDS Church, which would be customary in that community if she was a member. Here is the phrase in the late Julie Jorgensen's obituary:

" Julie was a born again believer in Christ and loved her family with all of her heart"

 

[Herat]

I’m more curious, not about rebound, but whether KR offed the first wife by staging an accident.

Eric's first wife, Julie Jorgensen died in 2011. I suppose it's possible Kouri had met the divorced Eric in 2011. But he had been divorced for 2 or 3 years, I believe and I wouldn't think Julie would have been much of a rival.

 

[Herat]

And disrespectful of the Mormon church.…. “Church of Ladder Day Saints”.
I doubt that will bode well for her in that community. She could claim it was a misprint, but that wouldn’t happen around there. IMO
Since she wasn’t Mormon, I’m really surprised Eric married her. Did she convert just to get ER? I just know in the TV interview she says she’s not religious.

I remember poor Travis Alexander, may he rest in peace, was mormon, and he was determined to find a good Mormon girl to marry.

It could also just be stupidity.

Eric's sister would certainly not have made that mistake, so it's unlikely she wrote that obituary. His parents and family must have been appalled by that obituary.

 

[Chelly]

Family friends shocked by Utah author's arrest for husband's murder

A family friend who says she introduced Kouri Richins to her late husband Eric spoke about her shock to the news of her arrest.

kutv.com

KR was a cashier at Home Depot when she met Eric. I missed that part.

 

[Megnut]

Now that we know she's capable of murder and quite magical with other people's life insurance, all of her life demands scrutiny.

One wonders if, at the time of the ex-wife's tragic death, she had a life insurance policy of which she was unaware.

Some people feel compelled to come by money honestly, and some do not.

I think this winner sees other people as mean$ to her end$.

Author?

Hardly.

Grifter.

jmo

 

[Herat]

Thanks Seattle1

Now just to get the insurances straight:

1. C&S Masonry and Stone had $2,000,000 owner life insurance policy payable to the other owner in the event of the other owner's death. This was the policy that Kouri attempted to change to name herself as beneficiary instead of Cody Wright, in January 2023. Do we know if this policy has paid out to Cody yet?

2. Eric Richens had his own personal life insurance policy for $500,000 payable to his Trust which had his sister as the trustee, and did not name Kouri as a beneficiary.

3. Eric Richens unknowingly had 4 (or 5) life insurance policies taken out on him between 2015 and 2022, all naming Kouri as the beneficiary. Totalling something like $1,900,000. The last policy for $100,000 was made by Kouri in January 2023. Eric knew nothing about these policies, is this correct?

Oops - I had the wrong date on item #1. Of course, it was January 2022, not 2023

Eric was not alive in January 2023.

That's one thing that's a bit perplexing. For more than a year, Kouri had that unfinished megamansion to take care of and such. I would not think that any of the insurances had paid out to her, as they would likely be waiting for LE to close the death investigation.

What was she using for money for the last year?

 

[Gardenista]

I went down the rabbit hole looking at her RE transactions. I only got through 2 counties and can't figure out what's what and there are all kinds of weird lenders involved. I assume they've had a forensic accountant digging thru that mess. I did see she got default notices for 2 Summit County properties on 5/12/23.

I've been thru Summit County and Utah County - if anyone else wants to look, here are the links

Property Page | Summit County, UT - Official Website

Find Property Records such as Deeds and Property Values. Links to GIS maps are also available on this page.

www.summitcounty.org

Web Access to Utah County Land Records