(Trends Wide) — Kouri Richins’ husband was found dead at the foot of her bed in March 2022.
She had just bought a house for her business, she told investigators. Around 9 pm, she brought her husband, Eric Richins, a Moscow Mule cocktail to celebrate in the bedroom of her home in Kamas, Utah.
She went to sleep with her son in his room and returned at 3 am Then she found her husband lying on the floor, cold to the touch, she told authorities. About a year after her husband’s death, Richins published a children’s book, “Are You With Me?”, about grieving the loss of a loved one.
Kouri Richins is accused of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City, Utah. Credit: KPCW.org/AP
But investigators now say she killed her husband, whom she had been married to for nine years, with a lethal dose of illicit fentanyl. This month, she was charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Recently released court documents detail a series of illicit purchases of fentanyl in the months leading up to his death.
Richins, 33, allegedly purchased the drugs from an acquaintance identified as CL in court documents. Weeks before her husband’s death, the Richins had celebrated Valentine’s Day with dinner at their home.
“Shortly after dinner, Eric became very ill…Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him,” court documents say.
Richins was arrested Monday and remains in custody. Trends Wide has contacted his lawyers for comment.
lethal dose of fentanyl
The autopsy and toxicology report revealed that 39-year-old Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose. He had about five times the lethal dose in his system, according to the coroner.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and seized his wife’s phone and several computers from their home. They discovered communications between Richins and CL, who had an extensive police record that included drug-related offenses, according to court documents.
CL told detectives that sometime between December 2021 and February 2022, Kouri contacted CL and asked for prescription pain relievers for an investor. CL said she obtained hydrocodone and left the pills at a property Kouri was reselling, collecting the cash she had been left, court documents say.
A couple of weeks later, Richins contacted him again and asked for “some of Michael Jackson’s stuff,” according to court documents. The woman allegedly went to CL’s house around February 11 and paid $900 for “15-30 fentanyl pills” that CL had obtained from a dealer.
About two weeks later, on February 26, he allegedly contacted CL asking for more fentanyl pills. CL left them at an outdoor bonfire on the same property where the hydrocodone had been delivered. Once again the money was left there for them to pick up. By then, according to court documents, Richins no longer owned the property.
He died six days after the alleged delivery of pills
At around 3:30 a.m. on March 4, 2022, Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies and emergency personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive male at the couple’s home.
Rescuers attempted to revive Eric Richins, but were unsuccessful. It was six days after the last alleged delivery of pills.
His wife gave investigators her version of what happened that night. The couple were celebrating the closing of a house for her business and she brought a cocktail to her bed. Richins said she left him in the bedroom and went to sleep with one of her three children in her bedroom because the boy was “having night terrors,” court documents say.
“Defendant said she woke up around 3:00 am and went back to her and Eric’s bedrooms. She felt Eric and he was cool to the touch. That’s when defendant called 911,” the court documents say.
Kouri Richins said she wrote a book about the grief of loss with her children to help them articulate their feelings, she said. Credit: Amazon
Kouri Richins allegedly told police officers that she had left the phone connected next to her bed and had not taken it to her son’s room.
“However, between the time Defendant said she went to the boy’s room and the time she called 911, the status of her phone shows that it was locked and unlocked multiple times and movement was also recorded on the phone. phone. In addition, defendant’s phone messages show that messages were sent and received during that time. These messages were deleted,” the court documents state.
For months, Kouri Richins worked on her book. Last month, she appeared on “Good Things Utah,” a program on local ABC4 television, to discuss the importance of her children’s book on grief.
He said that it is based on three concepts: connection, continuity and care.
“Connection: keeping the spirit of the person who has died alive… Continuity: trying to keep routines and schedules as normal as possible… Caregiving: affirming their feelings; understanding when they are sad, angry, lonely and talking about those feelings and let them know that it’s okay,” Richins said in the interview.
Her three young children helped her write the book to help them express their feelings.
Weeks later, Richins was arrested in the death of her husband.
His detention hearing is set for May 19.
— Trends Wide’s Sara Finch contributed to this report.
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(Trends Wide) — Kouri Richins’ husband was found dead at the foot of her bed in March 2022.
She had just bought a house for her business, she told investigators. Around 9 pm, she brought her husband, Eric Richins, a Moscow Mule cocktail to celebrate in the bedroom of her home in Kamas, Utah.
She went to sleep with her son in his room and returned at 3 am Then she found her husband lying on the floor, cold to the touch, she told authorities. About a year after her husband’s death, Richins published a children’s book, “Are You With Me?”, about grieving the loss of a loved one.
Kouri Richins is accused of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City, Utah. Credit: KPCW.org/AP
But investigators now say she killed her husband, whom she had been married to for nine years, with a lethal dose of illicit fentanyl. This month, she was charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Recently released court documents detail a series of illicit purchases of fentanyl in the months leading up to his death.
Richins, 33, allegedly purchased the drugs from an acquaintance identified as CL in court documents. Weeks before her husband’s death, the Richins had celebrated Valentine’s Day with dinner at their home.
“Shortly after dinner, Eric became very ill…Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him,” court documents say.
Richins was arrested Monday and remains in custody. Trends Wide has contacted his lawyers for comment.
lethal dose of fentanyl
The autopsy and toxicology report revealed that 39-year-old Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose. He had about five times the lethal dose in his system, according to the coroner.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and seized his wife’s phone and several computers from their home. They discovered communications between Richins and CL, who had an extensive police record that included drug-related offenses, according to court documents.
CL told detectives that sometime between December 2021 and February 2022, Kouri contacted CL and asked for prescription pain relievers for an investor. CL said she obtained hydrocodone and left the pills at a property Kouri was reselling, collecting the cash she had been left, court documents say.
A couple of weeks later, Richins contacted him again and asked for “some of Michael Jackson’s stuff,” according to court documents. The woman allegedly went to CL’s house around February 11 and paid $900 for “15-30 fentanyl pills” that CL had obtained from a dealer.
About two weeks later, on February 26, he allegedly contacted CL asking for more fentanyl pills. CL left them at an outdoor bonfire on the same property where the hydrocodone had been delivered. Once again the money was left there for them to pick up. By then, according to court documents, Richins no longer owned the property.
He died six days after the alleged delivery of pills
At around 3:30 a.m. on March 4, 2022, Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies and emergency personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive male at the couple’s home.
Rescuers attempted to revive Eric Richins, but were unsuccessful. It was six days after the last alleged delivery of pills.
His wife gave investigators her version of what happened that night. The couple were celebrating the closing of a house for her business and she brought a cocktail to her bed. Richins said she left him in the bedroom and went to sleep with one of her three children in her bedroom because the boy was “having night terrors,” court documents say.
“Defendant said she woke up around 3:00 am and went back to her and Eric’s bedrooms. She felt Eric and he was cool to the touch. That’s when defendant called 911,” the court documents say.
Kouri Richins said she wrote a book about the grief of loss with her children to help them articulate their feelings, she said. Credit: Amazon
Kouri Richins allegedly told police officers that she had left the phone connected next to her bed and had not taken it to her son’s room.
“However, between the time Defendant said she went to the boy’s room and the time she called 911, the status of her phone shows that it was locked and unlocked multiple times and movement was also recorded on the phone. phone. In addition, defendant’s phone messages show that messages were sent and received during that time. These messages were deleted,” the court documents state.
For months, Kouri Richins worked on her book. Last month, she appeared on “Good Things Utah,” a program on local ABC4 television, to discuss the importance of her children’s book on grief.
He said that it is based on three concepts: connection, continuity and care.
“Connection: keeping the spirit of the person who has died alive… Continuity: trying to keep routines and schedules as normal as possible… Caregiving: affirming their feelings; understanding when they are sad, angry, lonely and talking about those feelings and let them know that it’s okay,” Richins said in the interview.
Her three young children helped her write the book to help them express their feelings.
Weeks later, Richins was arrested in the death of her husband.
His detention hearing is set for May 19.
— Trends Wide’s Sara Finch contributed to this report.
