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

[Cindizzi]

I feel like since police took a full year before charging her, I believe that they have been investigating to make certain that KR was the only one buying fentanyl in the house. She is the only one changing life insurance policy beneficiaries. She is the only one stealing money from her husband.

I am curious - I do not see any of her family members standing up and defending her.

She lied about using her cell phone the night he died and deleted text messages. She is the one that signed on a house that he said no to the DAY AFTER he died. She is the one that had a party THE DAY AFTER he died! She is the one that told people he died of an aneurism.

I think you are absolutely right.

There‘s no need to look at who else might have motive or intent to steal his money. The Defense could try to muddy the waters with that idea.. but I doubt it.

It boils down to ER’s cause of death- fentanyl poisoning.

And LE seems to have plenty of evidence backed up by text messages and Facebook messages showing KR buying the drugs.

She even admits to serving him a drink in bed just hours before he died.

Game Over. ( I hope)

jmo

 

[MrsWatson]

‘So Many Red Flags’: Shocking Evidence Revealed in Case of Utah Mom Accused of Poisoning Husband​

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Thanks for posting this, @arielilane.

I'd forgotten about Kouri lying about the location of her cell phone the night Eric died. Her story is that she left her phone charging in their bedroom with Eric. However, she took her phone with her while she was soothing one of their sons and was texting. Those messages were erased.

Why did she lie about something so easy to disprove?
Who was she texting?
Why did she erase the messages?

Worth reiterating, imo.

 

[neesaki]

Thanks for posting this, @arielilane.

I'd forgotten about Kouri lying about the location of her cell phone the night Eric died. Her story is that she left her phone charging in their bedroom with Eric. However, she took her phone with her while she was soothing one of their sons and was texting. Those messages were erased.

Why did she lie about something so easy to disprove?
Who was she texting?
Why did she erase the messages?

Worth reiterating, imo.

I can’t wait to hear all about those texts. The who and the what. Hopefully they can retrieve them, or at least find out who it was and get them to talk.

I suspect that KR had a love interest outside the marriage, which aside from her greed, was added motivation for her to murder ER. She wasn’t going to settle for divorce. All speculation at this point though, and Jmo.

 

[arielilane]

Apparently, she was busy with cellular phone the night ER died. As we all know phone data is never truly deleted. Financial timeline of events, surveillance cameras, mobile technology and ME/Coroner reports will most likely seal her fate. May have left out a few other important factors because she left a trail of evidence - mainly she was at the crime scene. Not sure if prior attempts to kill ER will be allowed in trial. It will be interesting to see how the MJ drug request will play into all of this... it's a big deal.

Also, curious if she will go ahead and plead guilty.

Speculation, a matter of opinion, no legal background.

 

[Gardenista]

I'm suspicious of her having a BF too. I ordered some of the court docs and his sister said she was renting a home in another city

Xchange: Public Case Search

www.utcourts.gov

 

[watergirl62]

Thanks for posting this, @arielilane.

I'd forgotten about Kouri lying about the location of her cell phone the night Eric died. Her story is that she left her phone charging in their bedroom with Eric. However, she took her phone with her while she was soothing one of their sons and was texting. Those messages were erased.

Why did she lie about something so easy to disprove?
Who was she texting?
Why did she erase the messages?

Worth reiterating, imo.

Having lived with a lying liar who lies, I was constantly amazed by how spontaneously details could roll off the tongue to fit the narrative of the moment. Not all of them were particularly credible or sustainable when compared with the truth. I'm guessing it was all she could come up with at the time.

 

[Cindizzi]

This is an older article but has lots of details I don’t recall reading elsewhere ( or I’ve forgotten)
Contains original charging document.

[…]
The Richins family is one of the oldest and largest in Summit County. A notable member was Sheldon Richins, for whom Summit County’s Richins Building in Kimball Junction is named.
[…]
Kouri claimed to have performed CPR on Eric, but fire and EMS first responders said that was unlikely, citing blood coming from his mouth.

During CPR, when responders asked where Eric’s medications were, warrants state she claimed not to know because “the maid just puts medications in random places.”

Kouri claimed her husband had a pain pill addiction in high school but no substance abuse issues since.

Friends and family told police they did not notice any behavior indicative of drug use, and no pain killers were found in the family home.
[…]

Almost a year to the day after Eric’s death, on March 7, Kouri published a children’s book entitled “Are you with me?”

She reached out to KPCW a few weeks afterward to set up an interview promoting the book, which she said “is designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds.”

It renders Eric with angel wings and a halo watching over their youngest child while they grow up.
[…]
During the interview, she disclosed plans to publish sequels. The next title in the works was “Mom, how far away is heaven?” as well as a book for young girls struggling with grief and husbands who lost their wives.

On Friday, Kouri posted a reel of photos of her and Eric to Facebook.

“Life is just so damn hard without you here! The cards I have been dealt just seem like a game that cant [sic] be played,” the caption read.
[…]

Summit County mom arrested for husband's murder

The Kamas mother who wrote a book with her children to help them deal with the grief over losing their father is now facing charges for his murder.

www.kpcw.org

 

[TheLoadedGoat]

Where is support for Kouri? Her stage of life would expect friends, coworkers, her children's friends' parents, neighbors, family, etc. to at least speak to request that people not "rush to judgment." Is a reporter digging into her background? All I have heard is she was from Oklahoma and met Eric while working at Home Depot, I guess in Utah. She was a real estate agent and a mom. It def sounds like the Richins family and she do not have a good relationship and maybe never accepted her. I also think a plea deal is likely. I hope not, because we won't get all of our answers, but I do want justice for Eric.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I've followed pretty closely but have we been privy to anything that SHE has said yet, defending or explaining herself? How does she explain the fentanyl except to deny the buy ever happened. Were she to contend she was getting it for him opens a huge new can of worms IMO - hoping prosecutors are dotting and crossing ALL the letters!

 

[RickshawFan]

Apparently, she was busy with cellular phone the night ER died. As we all know phone data is never truly deleted. Financial timeline of events, surveillance cameras, mobile technology and ME/Coroner reports will most likely seal her fate. May have left out a few other important factors because she left a trail of evidence - mainly she was at the crime scene. Not sure if prior attempts to kill ER will be allowed in trial. It will be interesting to see how the MJ drug request will play into all of this... it's a big deal.

Also, curious if she will go ahead and plead guilty.

Speculation, a matter of opinion, no legal background.

All of a sudden, I had an awful thought. There's some obsession such that you'd be texting when not-texting was your alibi. Perhaps she was an online gambler.... I can't figure out where all that money went except on some kind of habit. She may have been online gambling while waiting for her dutiful husband to expire?

Now that I put my cards on the table, so to speak, let's see what the trial says....

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm suspicious of her having a BF too. I ordered some of the court docs and his sister said she was renting a home in another city

Xchange: Public Case Search

www.utcourts.gov

View attachment 424337

Oakley isn't that far from Kamas. Was this rental before they got married?

 

[RickshawFan]

Where is support for Kouri? Her stage of life would expect friends, coworkers, her children's friends' parents, neighbors, family, etc. to at least speak to request that people not "rush to judgment." Is a reporter digging into her background? All I have heard is she was from Oklahoma and met Eric while working at Home Depot, I guess in Utah. She was a real estate agent and a mom. It def sounds like the Richins family and she do not have a good relationship and maybe never accepted her. I also think a plea deal is likely. I hope not, because we won't get all of our answers, but I do want justice for Eric.

To me, KR's personality doesn't fit with a plea deal. I'm thinking especially of the whole strategy of publishing under her name a kid's book about grief. This is someone who is so far from confessing IMO she'll never cut a deal.

 

[Herat]

"During CPR, when responders asked where Eric’s medications were, warrants state she claimed not to know because “the maid just puts medications in random places.”

This is the first I've read of them having a maid.

This would be an extremely interesting witness to interview. A maid would have known a lot about interactions in that house.

And why would your "Maid" be handling your prescriptions?

Are the Maid's initials C.L.?

Makes me think Kouri is setting up someone else for the poisoning.

 

[303gmf]

Oakley isn't that far from Kamas. Was this rental before they got married?

Pricey area closer to Park City than Kamas
Home Depot salary prior to marriage isn’t jiving with resort area $$ rental

 

[Seattle1]

Pricey area closer to Park City than Kamas
Home Depot salary prior to marriage isn’t jiving with resort area $$ rental

I don't know where the Home Depot was located but I was under the impression that in 2012-13 era, both Mrs. King (co-worker) and KR lived in/around Heber City, UT. I must have heard this in one of Mrs. King's interviews. JMO

Also, I don't think the Oakley rental had anything to do with Eric and this was only a rental by KR per the court doc.

 

[neesaki]

I'm suspicious of her having a BF too. I ordered some of the court docs and his sister said she was renting a home in another city

Xchange: Public Case Search

www.utcourts.gov

View attachment 424337

I don't see any dates, but I'm tired and ready to go to bed anyway, lol. Was she renting this while she was married to ER ? Otherwise, I'm not sure what the point of it is legally speaking. Then again if it was during their marriage it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[MrsWatson]

Kouri Richins timeline: Utah grief author mom accused of poisoning husband

Kouri Richins allegedly spiked Eric Richins’ drink with fentanyl and then wrote a children’s book on grief after he died. Records reveal changes in life insurance policies before his death and estate battles after it.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Gardenista]

I don't see any dates, but I'm tired and ready to go to bed anyway, lol. Was she renting this while she was married to ER ? Otherwise, I'm not sure what the point of it is legally speaking. Then again if it was during their marriage it wouldn't surprise me.

There were no dates given for the home rental on the documents I've read to date, but I'm only up to those filed in June of 2022. In the image I posted yesterday, Katie was responding point by point to the original complaint filed by Kouri on 3/28/22. Below I attached the exact point Katie was responding to and I reposted the screenshot I posted yesterday for clarity. The first image is from Kouri and the second is from Katie.

I'd upload the entire documents, but they are huge and I know from past experience that they won't upload.

Xchange: Public Case Search

 

[raja]

Was she living in the marital home when she was arrested or could she have been living in the rental?

 

[Gardenista]

Was she living in the marital home when she was arrested or could she have been living in the rental?

IDK, but I do know that the address Kouri gave when Kouri's mom turned her home over to her was in St George Utah. You can see it by going to the link below, clicking Public Login and putting 01201955 in the Entry Number space on the form, then click where it says Trust Deed, then click view attachment. The date on the doc is 3/17/2023.

Login

property.summitcounty.org

If you want to look at the entire transaction history on the home, go back to the original form and put FCS-210 where it says parcel number