Utah mom who wrote a kids’ book on grief after husband died is convicted of slipping poison into his Moscow Mule
A Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s sudden death has been found guilty of fatally poisoning him by slipping a lethal dose of fentanyl into his cocktail.
After deliberating for just under three hours, a Salt Lake City jury swiftly convicted Kouri Richins, 35, in the death of her husband, Eric Richins, who died at their home outside the affluent ski town of Park City, Utah, on March 4, 2022
She was found guilty on all charges, including aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud, and forgery. Richins had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors said Richins secretly slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow Mule cocktail she made for her husband, killing him. A year later, she wrote a children’s book to help their sons process the loss.
In closing arguments on Monday, Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said Richins knowingly and intentionally killed Eric for his money because she was an “incompetent” business owner who had racked up thousands in debt. He argued that she was “unhappy” in her marriage to Eric Richins and “wanted to leave Eric but did not want to leave his money.”
“She was a risk taker,” Bloodworth added. “There was a way forward. Eric had to die.”
Richins’ defense team argued the state could not prove she gave her husband fentanyl and ultimately chose not to present a defense case.
The verdict on Monday capped a trial that ended sooner than expected when Richins abruptly waived her right to testify and her defense attorneys rested their case without calling a single witness.
The most serious charge, aggravated murder, carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. She will be sentenced on May 13.
During three weeks of testimony, prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses as they sought to convince jurors that Richins carefully plotted her husband’s death.
She had wanted to appear privileged and successful and she achieved that goal when she met Eric, a business owner with money, Bloodworth said.
“She wanted the perfect life,” he said. “Or, at least, the appearance of a perfect life.”
Bloodworth said Richins had a troubled upbringing with a drunk dad who did time in prison and a mom who had a gambling problem. She was also insecure about her social standing because of her time as a housecleaner for rich people, he said. So she “carefully curated the facade of a privileged, affluent, successful business owner,” Bloodworth told the court. But “behind the facade, Kouri Richins was incompetent,” he argued.
“She took tremendous risks. She borrowed money by any means necessary at exorbitant rates. She gambled other people’s money and lost. Her business was imploding.”
