Mother accused of fatally poisoning husband returns to court as trial approaches

A Utah woman accused of causing her husband's death with fentanyl is set for a court appearance this Friday, leading up to her trial scheduled for next year. Kouri Richins, 35, a realtor and mother of three who authored a self-published children's book about coping with grief, was arrested in 2023 after an extensive investigation.

Richins faces charges of aggravated murder linked to the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins. Authorities claim she added a deadly dose of fentanyl to his drink. Additionally, she is charged with attempted aggravated murder, with prosecutors alleging she had previously tried to poison him with a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine's Day two weeks prior to his death.

Prosecutors contend that Richins had a financial motive, claiming she fraudulently obtained a life insurance policy on her husband and stood to benefit from his death. Court documents indicate that she sent a text to a romantic interest on February 15, 2022, stating that life would be perfect if Eric were "just gone."

Eric Richins, 39, was discovered deceased in the couple's bedroom on March 4, 2022. An autopsy revealed his death resulted from fentanyl intoxication, with the amount in his system approximately five times the lethal dose. The medical examiner noted that the fentanyl was illicit, not pharmaceutical-grade.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon at a Park City courthouse in advance of the February 2026 trial. Richins has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

Richins is also facing more than twenty additional charges from an unrelated case alleging mortgage fraud in 2021. Court records claim she submitted falsified bank statements for mortgage applications, engaged in money laundering, and issued bad checks. Prosecutors further argue that financial desperation may have motivated the alleged murder, noting her realty business owed lenders roughly $1.8 million at the time of her husband's death, while his estate was valued at about $5 million.

She is expected to make an initial court appearance for the mortgage fraud case Friday afternoon as well. No plea has yet been entered for these charges.

Since her arrest, Richins has remained in Summit County Jail after a judge denied a motion to reconsider her bail. In May 2024, she released an audio message asserting her innocence, stating, "The world has yet to hear who I really am, what I've really done or didn't do. What I really didn't do is murder my husband."

Just a month before her arrest in May 2023, Richins appeared on a "Good Things Utah" segment to promote her book, describing her husband's death as "unexpected" and shocking for the family.

Author: Caleb Jennings