A Utah woman who gained national attention after publishing a children’s book about grief following her husband’s death was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally poisoning him with fentanyl.
Kouri Richins, 35, was convicted in March of aggravated murder in the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, along with additional felony counts that included attempted murder, insurance fraud, and forgery.
Judge Richard Mrazik imposed the sentence on what would have been Eric Richins’ 44th birthday.
“A person convicted of those things is simply too dangerous to ever be free,” Mrazik said during the hearing, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Prosecutors said Richins killed her husband for financial gain while facing mounting debt tied to her house-flipping business and pursuing a relationship with another man. Authorities said she secretly obtained multiple life insurance policies on her husband and wrongly believed she would inherit an estate worth more than $4 million.
Jurors concluded that Richins laced her husband’s cocktail with fentanyl at the couple’s home near Park City. Prosecutors said the amount found in his system was about five times the lethal dose. The attempted murder conviction stemmed from an earlier incident in which prosecutors said she tried to poison him with a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine’s Day weeks before his death.
During the sentencing hearing, Richins addressed her three sons while wearing a lime green jail uniform and handcuffs.
“Please just don’t give up on me,” she said, per Fox 4.
Richins maintained her innocence and called the verdict “an absolute lie.” She told the court she planned to appeal the conviction.
“I will not be blamed for something I did not do,” she said, per ABC News.
Defense attorneys argued for a sentence of 25 years to life rather than life without parole, saying the decision about any future release could be left to another time. Attorney Kathryn Nester told the court Richins was not the “monster” portrayed by prosecutors and described her as a mother and community member who had also shown kindness to others.
The judge said he struggled with the long-term impact the sentence could have on the couple’s three sons, but ultimately concluded public safety concerns outweighed the possibility of parole.
Based on the information presented at trial, Mrazik said Richins ‘doubled down’ on her efforts to kill her husband after her first attempt failed.
Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence, arguing Richins murdered her husband “using poison, and for money.”
The couple’s children, who are now living with Eric Richins’ sister and her husband, submitted statements expressing fear that their mother could one day be released from prison.
“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,” one son said in a statement read during the hearing. “I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us,” per ABC.
Another son said, “I will not feel safe” if his mother were released.
Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, also urged the judge to impose life without parole, citing the need to protect his grandsons.
The case drew widespread public attention after Richins was arrested while promoting a self-published children’s book focused on coping with the loss of a parent following her husband’s death.
Richins still faces more than two dozen additional criminal charges in a separate financial crimes case, including allegations involving mortgage fraud and money laundering. She has not yet entered a plea in that matter.
