Woman who wrote book about grief found guilty of murdering husband

By John Ogunsemore

A 35-year-old woman, Kouri Richins, was on Monday found guilty of murdering her husband, Eric Richins in Park City, Utah, in a case that drew attention across the United States as she had written a children’s book about coping with grief.

A jury convicted the estate agent and mother of three on all charges, including attempted aggravated murder, forgery, and two counts of insurance fraud.

Eric Richins, 39, died in March 2022 at the couple’s home near Park City, Utah, after drinking a cocktail laced with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Weeks earlier, on Valentine’s Day, Richins allegedly tried to kill him by placing fentanyl in a sandwich, causing him to black out but survive.

Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth argued Richins carried out the killing for financial gain. She was deeply in debt and stood to inherit her husband’s estate, valued at more than $4 million, while secretly opening life insurance policies on him worth about $2 million without his knowledge.

The prosecution further said she was also planning a future with another man.

Evidence presented in court included Richins’ internet search history on her phone, which contained queries such as “what is a lethal dose of fentanyl” and “luxury prisons for the rich America.”

The prosecutor played her 911 call from the night of the death, describing it as the voice of a “black widow” rather than a grieving widow.

The prosecution also presented testimony that she asked her house cleaner to obtain illicit street drugs.

Richins’ defence team argued that Eric was addicted to painkillers and had asked her to obtain opioids for him.

Attorney Wendy Lewis told jurors the evidence could be viewed as that of a widow helping her husband rather than a murderer.

The book that brought additional scrutiny was titled “Are You With Me?”, a self-published children’s story about losing a parent that Richins promoted on local television and radio as a way to help her sons grieve.

The prosecution said it was part of a cover-up, noting she had paid a ghostwriter to produce it and that it was published shortly before her arrest in May 2023.

Richins, who hung her head as the verdict was read, faces 25 years to life in prison on the aggravated murder charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 13, the day Eric Richins would have turned 44.