Mother who wrote children’s grief book guilty of killing husband with poisoned cocktail

Kouri Richins, 35, slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that her husband Eric Richins drank in March 2022.

Prosecutors said the mother-of-three fed her partner the toxic drink, as she falsely believed she would inherit his $4 million estate when he died to pay off her $4.5 million debt.

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“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money,” Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said.

Richins' sick plan was carried out at their home outside the affluent ski town of Park City.

She was found guilty of aggravated murder and convicted of several other felonies, including attempted murder, forgery, and fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after his death.

The court heard about Ritchins' failed poisoning attempts, such as when she tried to feed her husband a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine's Day, which made him black out.

Richins stared at the floor and took deep breaths as the judge read the verdict, which came after the jury deliberated for just under three hours.

As the guilty verdict was announced, family members on both sides of the case left the courtroom hugging and crying.

Amy Richins, Eric Richins’ sister, said outside the courtroom: "Honestly I feel like we’re all in shock. It’s been a long time coming.

"I'm just very happy that we got justice for my brother."

Richins' trial was scheduled to be a five-week trial, but was cut short when she waived her right to testify and her legal team rested its case without calling any witnesses.

Her attorneys were confident prosecutors did not produce enough evidence to convict her of murder.

Real estate agent Richins was deep in debt before the March 2022 poisoning incident and was planning to run off with another man, the prosecution said.

Prosecutors told jurors that she had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, totalling about $2m.

Text messages between Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair, were shown to the court.

In the exchanges, the defendant fantasised about leaving her husband, gaining millions in a divorce and marrying Grossman.

A forensic search of Richins' internet history on her phone showed she had searched “what is a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl", “luxury prisons for the rich America” and “if someone is poisned what does it go down on the death certificate as".

Carmen Lauber, a housekeeper for the family who claimed to have sold Richins fentanyl on multiple occasions, was quizzed by attorney Wendy Lewis.

Lewis argued Lauber did not deal fentanyl and was motivated to lie for legal protection.

The housekeeper denied dealing the synthetic opioid in early police interviews, but later admitted it after being informed that Mr Richins died of a fentanyl overdose.

Lauber was already in a drug court program and she was told her deal could be pulled after she was arrested in connection with the Richins case.

Lauber was granted immunity for her cooperation in the case and testified that she felt a need to “step up and take accountability of my part in this.”

Shortly before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published the children’s book “Are You with Me?” about coping with the loss of a parent.

She promoted it on local TV and radio stations, which showed she "planned the killing and tried to cover it up", prosecutors said.

After she was arrested, Richins' mother sent the book to Summit County Sheriff’s detective Jeff O’Driscoll's office in an anonymous package with a note saying it exemplified the "true Kouri, a devoted wife and adoring mother".

A letter was also found in Richins’ jail cell that prosecutors said appeared to outline testimony for her mother and brother.

Richins instructed her brother to tell her former attorney that Mr Richins confided in him about getting fentanyl from Mexico and “gets high every night.”

The defence argued Mr Richins was addicted to painkillers and asked his wife to procure opioids for him.

However, body camera footage played in court showed Richins told police on the night of her husband’s death that he had no history of illicit drug use.

Richins will be sentenced on May 13, the day her husband would have turned 44.

The aggravated murder charge alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.