A Utah jury has convicted Kouri Richins of aggravated murder in the 2022 fentanyl poisoning death of her husband, Eric Richins, along with every charge she faced.
The eight-person panel deliberated for about three hours before also finding Richins guilty of attempted aggravated murder for a failed Valentine’s Day plot weeks earlier, forgery, and two counts of insurance fraud tied to her husband’s life insurance policies.
Richins, a mother of three, bowed her head and breathed heavily as the verdict was read. She could receive life in prison without parole when sentenced on May 13.
Prosecutors argued Richins killed Eric Richins, 39, to escape marital troubles, an affair, mounting debts, and a failing business. They said she spiked a Moscow Mule cocktail with nearly five times the lethal dose of fentanyl and served it to him at their Kamas home. He was found dead on March 4, 2022.
“She did not have the money to leave Eric or the money to salvage her business,” prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors in closing arguments, CNN reported. “Kouri Richins is an intensely ambitious person. She is a risk-taker. There was a way forward – Eric had to die.”
About a year after the death, Richins published a children’s book titled “Are You with Me?” to help their sons cope with grief. She promoted it on local television, describing the family’s unexpected loss, before her arrest in May 2023.
The defense rested without calling witnesses, arguing Richins was wrongly blamed after a flawed investigation. Eric Richins had been considering divorce and tried to remove her from his life insurance policies and will. The day after his death, she signed papers to close on a $2 million mansion for her real estate business.
Eric Richins’ sister, Amy Richins, said after the verdict, per CBS: “Honestly, I feel like we’re all in shock. It’s been a long time coming. So just very happy that we got justice for my brother.”
