In March, Kouri Richins released an illustrated children’s book “designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds” as they deal with grief. She dedicated the work to her late husband, Eric, who she writes was an “amazing husband and a wonderful father.” On Monday, prosecutors said she killed him.
The 33-year-old mom, who had three kids with her husband, was arrested Monday and accused with poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl at the family’s home in the town of Kamas, Utah, on March 4, 2022. Her book, Are You With Me?, was released a year later, according to its Amazon page.
Kouri Richins has been charged with aggravated murder as well as drug possession offenses. Prosecutors said in court documents that Eric was found at the foot of his bed when deputies arrived at their house. Kouri allegedly called 911 after she found Eric “cold to the touch” and said she had made him an alcoholic drink earlier in the evening.
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A medical examiner later found that Eric had died from a fentanyl overdose, with an autopsy showing that he had five times a lethal dose of the opioid in his system.
Authorities say that during their investigation into Eric’s death, they learned that Kouri had contacted an acquaintance asking if they could provide her with “some prescription pain medication for an investor who had a back injury.” The contact allegedly gave her hydrocodone pills but was then asked by Kouri to get her more powerful medication, specifically requesting “some of the Michael Jackson stuff.”
The acquaintance told police they gave Kouri between 15 and 30 fentanyl pills. Three days later, Eric became “very ill” after having dinner with Kouri at their home, court documents say. He became suspicious and “told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him,” prosecutors claim.
Around two weeks after the dinner, Kouri allegedly asked for more fentanyl pills from her contact. Less than a week after she took receipt of the extra drugs, Eric was found dead, authorities say.
An obituary to Eric described him as a “family man, who always strove to be the absolute best father and husband.” It added that he was a “devoted husband to the love of his life, and wife of nine years, Kouri,” and that he “did absolutely everything in his power to provide his family with every possible opportunity to learn, grow, and have fun.”
An illustration included in Kouri’s book depicts Eric with a halo and angel wings looking out over a body of water, one arm wrapped around one of his sons and the other around his wife. “Always on our minds,” an inscription above the image reads. “Forever in our hearts.”
