On Monday, Kouri Richins was arrested in Provo, Utah, as the prime suspect in her husband Eric Richin’s death. The mother of three wrote a book about dealing with grief, reportedly designed to help her children cope with the loss of their father. Kouri is now being charged with his murder.
According to Daily Mail, a medical examination revealed a lethal dose of fentanyl was in Eric’s system. Fentanyl is said to be 100 times stronger than Morphine, and allegedly the examiner found five times the lethal amount in Eric’s body after he passed away on March 4, 2022. Friends and family claimed they had no knowledge of any pain pill addiction, and investigators did not find any when they searched the home.
Kouri claims she gave her husband an adult beverage and a THC gummy to celebrate a business deal and then left him by himself while she cared for their children. She said when she returned to their room in the middle of the night, he was passed out and cold to the touch.
Kouri is now being accused of adding fentanyl to her husband’s drink.

A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about dealing with grief after her husband died last year was charged with his murder. Prosecutors say Kouri Richins spiked her husband's drink with 5 times the lethal dose of fentanyl and called authorities hours later. pic.twitter.com/0xrEMxEuIz

— Teresa Whitaker (@TVNewsTeresa) May 9, 2023

 

The picture book she wrote for her children was sold on Amazon and was intended to help kids cope after the death of a loved one. She apparently did television interviews and promoted it on social media. Richins promoted her book on a local TV segment called ‘Good Things Utah’ and called her husband’s death unexpected. She detailed how the loss sent her and her three boys reeling.
In the interview, Richins said part of grieving was “making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home. It’s – you know – explaining to my kid just because he’s not present here with us physically, doesn’t mean his presence isn’t here with us,” she told the news anchors. They, in turn commended her for the good job she was doing as a mom.

Police say they believe Kouri poisoned her husband but have not yet confirmed a motive. Before his death, Kouri attempted to change his life insurance policy. Apparently, two months before Eric died, Kouri reached out to the insurance company asking to be made the sole beneficiary on the policy, according to a warrant. Eric’s insurance policy was joint and covered his business partner at C&E Stone Masonry, as well. The insurance company notified Eric’s business partner and was able to change the policy back to its original joint intent.

At that point, Eric quietly changed his will, making his sister his beneficiary along with giving her power of attorney. Eric apparently believed that his wife might attempt to kill him for the payoff.
Eric’s family agreed, telling investigators they suspected Kouri. They said Eric had “warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame.”

One of Eric’s sisters also said there had been a similar incident three years ago when Eric had called her from his Grecian vacation with his wife to say that he had become violently ill after his wife made drinks. He reportedly told his sister he believed Kouri was attempting to kill him. According to court documents, Eric also suffered after sharing a meal with his wife on Valentine’s Day. He had an intense allergic response and struggled to breathe, passing out after taking Benadryl and administering an EpiPen.

Kouri had purchased $900.00 worth of fentanyl pills shortly before their Valentine’s meal and bought another $900.00 worth two weeks later, shortly before her husband died from an overdose. She told police she had performed CPR upon finding Eric unresponsive, but first responders said that was unlikely because there was blood coming from his mouth.