Utah mother to be sentenced for killing husband then writing book on grief
Children’s book author Kouri Richins goes on trial in husband’s death
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who authored a children’s book on grief, was convicted in March of aggravated murder for poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022.
Prosecutors said Richins was deeply in debt and sought to collect on multiple life insurance policies she had taken out on her husband without his knowledge, falsely believing she would inherit more than $4 million.
In addition to the murder conviction, jurors in Park City found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for a prior attempt to poison her husband with a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine’s Day.
Richins faces a sentence ranging from several decades to life in prison at her sentencing hearing, which coincides with what would have been her husband’s 44th birthday.
Her three sons, aged 9, 7, and 5 at the time of their father’s death, expressed fear for their safety if their mother were ever released from prison, according to a memo filed by prosecutors.
