Utah Mom Who Wrote Kids’ Book On Grief After Husband Died Convicted On All Charges After Slipping Poison Into His Moscow Mule

A Utah mother who wrote a children’s book astir condolences aft her husband’s abrupt decease has been recovered blameworthy connected each charges aft fatally poisoning him by slipping a lethal dose of fentanyl into his cocktail.

After deliberating for conscionable nether 3 hours, a Salt Lake City assemblage swiftly convicted Kouri Richins, 35, successful nan decease of her husband, Eric Richins, who died astatine their location extracurricular nan able skis municipality of Park City, Utah, connected March 4, 2022

She was recovered blameworthy connected each charges, including aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, 2 counts of security fraud, and forgery. Richins had pleaded not blameworthy to each charges.

Prosecutors said Richins secretly slipped 5 times nan lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow Mule cocktail she made for her husband, sidesplitting him. A twelvemonth later, she wrote a children’s book to thief their sons process nan loss.

In closing arguments connected Monday, Summit County charismatic Brad Bloodworth said Richins knowingly and intentionally killed Eric for his money because she was an “incompetent” business proprietor who had racked up thousands successful debt. He based on that she was “unhappy” successful her matrimony to Eric Richins and “wanted to time off Eric but did not want to time off his money.”

“She was a consequence taker,” Bloodworth added. “There was a measurement forward. Eric had to die.”

Richins’ defense squad based on nan authorities could not beryllium she gave her hubby fentanyl and yet chose not to coming a defense case.

The verdict connected Monday capped a proceedings that ended sooner than expected erstwhile Richins abruptly waived her correct to attest and her defense attorneys rested their lawsuit without calling a azygous witness.

The astir superior charge, aggravated murder, carries a condemnation of 25 years to life successful prison. She will beryllium sentenced connected May 13.

‘She wanted a cleanable life’

During 3 weeks of testimony, prosecutors called much than 40 witnesses arsenic they sought to person jurors that Richins cautiously plotted her husband’s death.

She had wanted to look privileged and successful and she achieved that extremity erstwhile she met Eric, a business proprietor pinch money, Bloodworth said.

“She wanted nan cleanable life,” he said. “Or, astatine least, nan quality of a cleanable life.”

Bloodworth said Richins had a troubled upbringing pinch a drunk dada who did clip successful situation and a mom who had a gambling problem. She was besides insecure astir her societal opinionated because of her clip arsenic a location cleaner for rich | people, he said. So she “carefully curated nan destruction of a privileged, affluent, successful business owner,” Bloodworth told nan court. But “behind nan facade, Kouri Richins was incompetent,” he argued.

“She took tremendous risks. She borrowed money by immoderate intends basal astatine exorbitant rates. She gambled different people’s money and lost. Her business was imploding.”

Bloodworth replayed for nan assemblage portion of Richins’ 911 telephone from nan nighttime of her husband’s death. That’s “not ‘the sound of a woman becoming a widow,’” he said, quoting nan defense’s opening statement. “It’s nan sound of a woman becoming a achromatic widow.”

Prosecutors said Richins, a existent property supplier focused connected flipping houses, was heavy successful indebtedness and readying a early pinch Robert Josh Grossman, pinch whom she was allegedly having an affair.

She had opened galore life security policies connected her hubby without his knowledge, pinch benefits totaling astir $2 million, prosecutors alleged.

They showed nan assemblage matter messages betwixt Richins and Grossman, successful which she fantasized astir leaving her husband, gaining millions successful a divorcement and 1 time marrying Grossman.

The net hunt history from Richins’ telephone included “what is simply a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl (sic),” “luxury prisons for nan rich | America” and “if personification is poisned (sic) what does it spell down connected nan decease certificate as,” a integer forensic expert testified.

Defense lawyer Wendy Lewis urged nan assemblage to find her customer not guilty, arguing that nan authorities had not done their job.

“They haven’t done their job, and now they want you to make inferences based connected paper-thin evidence,” Lewis said. “They want you to do their occupation for them. Tell them, ‘No.’”

She pointed retired erstwhile grounds by Detective Jeff O'Driscoll that claimed he did not find immoderate fentanyl anyplace aliases grounds that location was fentanyl successful Eric's cocktail. Lewis besides said that nan prosecution “looks astatine facts 1 measurement and sees a witch, but if you look astatine those facts different way, you spot a widow.”

"Can you judge her, beyond a reasonable doubt? You tin not," Lewis said astir . "If you can't judge her beyond a reasonable doubt, you person to find Kouri Richins not guilty."

The trial

Over nan people of nan trial, prosecutors painted a image of a troubled matrimony and mounting financial pressure.

Kouri and Eric Richins joined successful 2013 and raised 3 sons successful Kamas, Utah, wherever she flipped houses successful Summit County and he ran a stonemasonry business. But prosecutors said nan narration deteriorated complete money.

In 2020, Eric Richins accused his woman of “ongoing maltreatment and misuse of his finances” and removed her arsenic a beneficiary from his life security policy, according to charging documents. He besides transferred his location and institution interests into a spot managed by his sister.

By nan time Eric Richins died, prosecutors said, his woman owed much than $4.5 cardinal to much than 20 lenders.

On December 17, 2021, little than 3 months earlier his death, Richins told her friend Becky Lloyd she felt trapped successful her marriage.

“She was emotion trapped; she was emotion for illustration location wasn’t an easy measurement guardant retired of her marriage,” Lloyd testified.

Lloyd said Richins added that “in galore ways, it would beryllium amended if he were dead.”

An matter and plans for a caller life

Jurors besides heard grounds from Grossman, a contractor who said he began a romanticist narration pinch Richins while moving connected house-flipping projects for her.

Grossman testified that he moved to Utah successful 2020 and believed nan 2 were successful love.

“She took attraction of me,” Grossman told nan jury, explaining that Richins sometimes gave him ample sums of money, including 1 costs of $25,000.

Text messages presented successful tribunal showed Richins informing Grossman connected March 4, 2022, that her hubby had died.

“They deliberation aneurysm,” she wrote that evening.

Grossman said nan narration ended months later.

“Things changed aft Eric passed,” Grossman said.

When he later learned Richins had been charged pinch murder, he testified: “I was overwhelmed pinch guilt, sorrow, complete my wrongdoings. You know, infidelity.”

Defense: No execution weapon, nary proof

Richins’ attorneys based on nan prosecution’s lawsuit was riddled pinch gaps and speculation.

Carmen Lauber, nan family’s erstwhile housekeeper, testified that she purchased pills for Richins 4 times successful early 2022. But nan man she said supplied them, Robert Crozier, told jurors he was trading oxycodone, not fentanyl.

Both witnesses received immunity for their testimony.

Defense attorneys besides pointed to grounds suggesting Eric Richins had entree to narcotics himself, including a past hydrocodone prescription, marijuana gummies recovered successful nan home, and cited a travel he took to Mexico weeks earlier his death.

During cross-examination of nan lead detective, defense lawyer Kathy Nester highlighted nan deficiency of beingness evidence.

“In each of that, we person nary execution weapon, for illustration you haven’t recovered thing that was connected to Eric’s death, nary fentanyl successful nan house, correct?” she asked.

“There was a boatload of fentanyl successful his tummy that came retired of nan location pinch him,” Summit County Sheriff’s Detective Jeff O’Driscoll replied.

“Other than what’s successful his stomach, did you find thing other that had fentanyl successful it?” Nester followed up.

“No,” he said.

Asked whether he knew really nan fatal dose had been administered, he replied:

“That’s each I know, is that he took it orally.”

Another interrogator testified that constabulary ne'er collected aliases tested nan cups nan mates utilized while drinking celebratory cocktails nan nighttime earlier Eric Richins died.

“What you will ne'er perceive … is really that fentanyl sewage wrong of [Eric Richins],” Nester told jurors during opening statements, “because there’s zero grounds of that.”

Children’s book becomes portion of nan case

Months aft her husband’s death, Richins self-published a children’s book titled Are You pinch Me? astir helping kids header pinch nan nonaccomplishment of a parent.

She promoted nan book successful section media appearances, which prosecutors based on showed an effort to style nan communicative astir Eric Richins’ death.

Lead interrogator Jeff O’Driscoll testified that Richins had hired a ghostwriting institution to nutrient nan book. Shortly aft her apprehension successful May 2023, investigators received an anonymous package containing nan book and a note.

“There are 2 sides to each story. This is simply a existent Kouri, a devoted woman and adoring mother. Thought you should know.”

Authorities later learned nan package had been sent by Richins’ mother done Amazon, O’Driscoll said.

Letter recovered successful jailhouse cell

Jurors besides saw excerpts from a six-page missive recovered successful Richins’ jailhouse compartment that prosecutors said appeared to outline grounds for her mother and brother.

In nan six-page letter, Richins instructs her relative to show her erstwhile lawyer that Eric Richins confided successful him astir getting fentanyl from Mexico and “gets precocious each night.”

Defense attorneys person said nan missive contains a fictional communicative Richins had been moving on. They person based on that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and asked his woman to procure opioids for him.

However, Richins told constabulary connected nan nighttime of her husband’s decease that he had nary history of illicit supplier use, according to assemblage camera footage shown successful court.