Kouri Richins Story Wikipedia: What Did She Do, Where Is She Now, Job, Husband, Kids, Family, Siblin
Kouri Richins, 33, is accused of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022. Her biography is explored below.
In March 2022, Eric Richins, 39, died after he was found unresponsive in his home in Kamas. Later, his wife, Kouri Richins was charged for murder.
Following his death, his author spouse went on to write a children’s book about dealing with grief and then sued his estate.
The Utah mom allegedly poisoned her partner with fentanyl which she denies.
She was arrested on May 8, 2023, and faces charges of aggravated murder and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Who is Kouri Richins?
Kouri Richins is a real estate agent and an aspiring children’s book author who worked as a housekeeper through college.
She was born on April 20, 1990 to mother Lisa Darden and father Ronald Horace Darden and has a brother Ronney Darden.
Kouri’s husband was Eric Richins who was an affluent business owner.
About a year after the birth of their first son, Carter, Eric and Kouri married in a backyard wedding in their Kamas, Utah home June 15, 2013. Shortly before Kouri walked down the aisle – decked in her wedding gown and pearls – Eric’s mother presented her with a prenuptial agreement barring Kouri from claiming Eric’s 50 percent stake in his stone masonry business except in the event of his death, according to a civil suit over Eric’s estate filed by Kouri in the Summit County District Court in June.
The couple came to a head when Kouri decided to start a real estate business a few years ago, Kouri told investigators in an email sent weeks before her May 8, 2023 arrest. “Eric wanted us to live the typical conservative life where the man takes care of his family and the wife is a homemaker, wife, mom and that’s it. That is not my personality and not the way I was raised,” Kouri said in the email, adding: “I wanted to be more.”
The couple lived in Kamas, Utah – about 40miles east of Salt Lake City, with their three children – whose names are Carter, 10, Ashton, 9, and Weston, 6.
The Mormon mom-of-three and grief book author Kouri Richins is accused of killing her husband by spiking his Moscow Mule with a fentanyl overdose mix of vodka
After the death of her husband in March 2022, she wrote Are You With Me? – a children’s book about grief that features an angel wing-clad father watching over his children after passing away.
The Utah mom – who prosecutors say was deeply indebted real estate agent and owed creditors more than $2 million- was charged on May 8, 2023, with the aggravated murder of her husband and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Her case became a true crime sensation in May 2023, when charges were filed as a transfixed public pored over remarks Richins made promoting the illustrated storybook.
What happened to Kouri’s husband Eric Richins?
On March 4, 2022, Eric was found dead from a fentanyl overdose at his family’s home.
Eric was found at the foot of his bed and was declared dead at the scene by officials after efforts to save him had failed.
His wife was interviewed by investigators, telling them that they were celebrating closing on a house for her business the night before.
She described mixing him an alcoholic drink before finding him unresponsive and “cold to the touch”.
The only people in the house at the time were Eric, Kouri, and their children, said investigators.
On May 8, 2023, Kouri was arrested in connection to Eric’s death.
An autopsy determined that Eric died of an overdose after the medical examiner found five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system.
The medical examiner concluded that the drug had been ingested orally.
Authorities also uncovered a previous incident that happened weeks prior, on Valentine’s Day, that saw Eric “became very ill.”
“Eric believed that he had been poisoned,” a probable cause statement read, via KUTV.
“Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him.”
Investigators also say they have obtained alleged text messages between Kouri and an unidentified acquaintance that shows the author soliciting fentanyl from the person in question.
Later it was revealed that the said person was Kouri’ housekeeper — a convicted drug dealer — who also confessed to selling the Utah mom two batches of fentanyl in the weeks before Eric’s death.
The two had reportedly been texting one another between December 2021 and February 2022.
According to court documents, she was charged with first-degree aggravated murder and second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Kouri Richins’ disturbing google searches after her husband’s death
Court documents obtained by CNN revealed that prosecutors are claiming Richins had a suspicious search history in the run-up to the alleged killing.
The Utah woman looked at several articles about fentanyl and life insurance payouts.
She allegedly searched for queries like “Can cops force you to do a lie detector test?” and “Death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay?”
Kouri is also accused of asking “If someone is poisoned what does it go down on the death certificate as?”.
She also searched for “luxury prisons for the rich in America” and “how to permanently delete information from an iPhone remotely.”
Where is Kouri Richins now?
Kouri remains in custody, while she awaits trial.
At a detention hearing on June 12, 2023, she cried as prosecutors argued the evidence against her was strong enough to deny her bail.
Prosecutors alleged that Richins had calculatingly plotted to kill her husband, making financial arrangements and purchasing drugs found in his system.
Summit County Chief Prosecutor Patricia Cassell said: “One or two pills might be accidental. Twenty or five times the lethal dose is not accidental. That is someone who wants Eric dead.”
Richins’ attorneys argued the evidence against her was both dubious and circumstantial.
If the case goes to trial, it will likely revolve around financial and marital disputes as possible motives.
In addition to arguing over real estate, prosecutors also say Kouri Richins made major changes to the family’s estate plans before her husbands death, taking out life insurance policies on him with benefits totaling nearly $2 million.
In mid-June, 2023 court documents revealed that Kouri was suing her husband’s estate as she remains in custody.
The suspect filed a lawsuit claiming that she’s owed money and assets from Eric’s estate due in part to a prenuptial agreement, KUCW reported.
Kouri also claimed she’s entitled to the family home, much of Eric’s personal property, and a portion of the proceeds generated from the sale of his business.
The couple signed the prenup in 2013.
What is Kouri Richins’ book?
Just a few days after the one-year anniversary of Eric’s death, Kouri published the children’s book, Are You With Me?, which helps guide children through grief.
Per PEOPLE, Kouri had wanted to hire Shane Walter as her ghostwriter to work on a children’s book she was planning to publish around the anniversary of Eric’s death and based on her own family’s story.
“She was all alone at that point,” says Walter, adding that Kouri often teared up when talking about her husband and boys. “She was doing everything that a mother can do.”
She told ABC4: “So my husband passed away unexpectedly last year, so March 4th is our one-year anniversary for us. He was 39.
“It completely took us all by shock and we have three little boys — 10, nine, and six.
“I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night.
“I took some things that my kids have said to me in the last year and we kind of articulated it and put it in a story.”
The book was available on Amazon and had began racking impressive sales but has since been taken down.
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