Kouri Richins Charged For Her Husband’s Murder After Publishing A Book About Grief

After her husband died, the woman who wrote a children’s book about grief got accused of murdering him. Kouri Richins was arrested in Utah on Monday on suspicion of poisoning the man with fentanyl, according to Sky News.

The incident reportedly occurred on March 3, 2022. Kouri Richins’ husband, Eric Richins, died on March 4, 2022.

Kouri Richins allegedly told police that she made him a Moscow Mule in the kitchen and brought it to their bedroom for him to drink in bed to celebrate her business closing on a house.

She reportedly put one of her children to bed before returning to her room and passing out before celebrating with her husband. She awoke around 3 a.m. and noticed that Eric was cold to the touch, so she dialed 911.

Investigators disputed her claim that she left her phone plugged in in her bedroom while she was with her child because the phone’s records revealed that it had been locked and unlocked numerous times and was in use. Several messages were sent and received during this time period, but they were all deleted.

An autopsy revealed that Eric Richins had five times the fatal amount of fentanyl in his system when he died in their Utah home in March 2022.

According to the authorities, they were able to seize many of Kouri’s devices after obtaining a search warrant following Eric’s autopsy. Investigators allegedly discovered Kouri had made contact with someone to obtain prescription painkillers after examining those.

According to reports, Kouri contacted the same friend two weeks later and asked if she could get something stronger — “some of the Michael Jackson stuff,” Kouri reportedly said. Her request for fentanyl was very specific. The friend allegedly gave Kouri 15 to 20 fentanyl pills.

Following a Valentine’s Day meal, according to court documents obtained by ABC4 UTAH, Eric told a friend that he felt sick and believed Kouri was trying to poison him. After two weeks, Kouri allegedly requested more fentanyl pills. According to court documents, Eric was found dead six days later.

Kouri Richins published a children’s book to help kids cope with grief less than a year after her husband died. The book is about coping with the death of a loved one. She talked about it on Good Things Utah last month.

She got charged with three counts of drug distribution-related marijuana possession and aggravated murder. Her next hearing is scheduled for May 19th.