Prosecutors on Monday portrayed a Utah mother and children’s book author as a money-driven killer at the start of her murder trial, while her defense attorneys urged jurors to withhold judgment until they hear her side.
Kouri Richins, 35, faces multiple felony charges in the March 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, at their home near the ski town of Park City. She has denied the allegations.
Prosecutors allege she mixed five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, into a cocktail her husband drank. She is also accused of attempting to poison him about a month earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that allegedly caused him to break out in hives and lose consciousness, according to court documents.
After her husband’s death, Richins self-published a children’s book about grief aimed at helping her sons and other children cope with the loss of a parent.
As opening arguments began, Richins sat beside her attorneys, taking notes and occasionally passing them along. It was not immediately known whether she would testify.
Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors that Richins was $4.5 million in debt and believed she would inherit an estate worth more than $4 million if her husband died. Prosecutors also allege she was planning a future with another man.
“The evidence will prove that Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,” Bloodworth said. “More than anything, she wanted his money to perpetuate her facade of privilege, affluence and success.”
Nearly $2 million in life insurance
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester opened by playing the recording of Richins’ 911 call from the night of her husband’s death. Richins can be heard sobbing and struggling to answer the dispatcher’s questions.
“Those were the sounds of a wife becoming a widow,” Nester said.
Nester argued that Eric Richins had Lyme disease and struggled with painkiller addiction, suggesting he may have overdosed.
However, his sister, Katie Richins-Benson, testified that their mother was a drug and alcohol counselor who had warned her children from a young age about the dangers of substance abuse.
The trial is expected to run through March 26. Dozens of people hoping to attend camped outside the courthouse in lawn chairs starting at 4 a.m., hours before proceedings began.
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Internet searches recovered from the phone of Kouri Richins
(Photo: Associated Press)
Richins faces nearly three dozen charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, forgery, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud. The aggravated murder charge carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
In the months before her May 2023 arrest, Richins published the illustrated book “Are You with Me?” about a father with angel wings watching over his son after death. Prosecutors say the book may help show that Eric Richins’ death was a calculated killing followed by an attempt to shape a public narrative. Bloodworth told jurors she promoted the book on local television and radio.
Prosecutors also allege that years before her husband’s death, Richins took out multiple life insurance policies on him without his knowledge, totaling nearly $2 million. Court documents indicate she had a negative bank balance and was being sued by a creditor.
Bloodworth presented text messages between Richins and a man identified as Robert Josh Grossman, with whom she was having an affair. In the messages, prosecutors said, she discussed leaving her husband, receiving millions in a divorce and eventually marrying Grossman.
Jurors were also shown screenshots of internet searches attributed to Richins, including “luxury prisons for the rich America” and “Can cops force you to do a lie detector test?”
Body camera footage shown
Body camera video from Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy Vincent Nguyen showed Richins distraught as she told officers her husband had complained of chest pain before going to sleep and may have taken a THC gummy. She said he had no history of illicit drug use.
“My husband’s active. He didn’t just die in his sleep. This is insane,” she said in the footage.
The video showed Richins in pajamas as paramedics attempted to resuscitate her husband in another room. At times she held her head in her hands and paced while speaking with deputies and family members.
Richins-Benson testified that she rushed to the house after learning her brother was not breathing. She said she locked eyes with Richins, who shook her head.
“That’s when I knew my brother was gone,” she said.
“I observed that she was not how she normally was,” Richins-Benson added. “She was very well put together. She had a matching pajama-type outfit on. Her hair was done.”
Disputed fentanyl source
Among the witnesses expected to testify is the family’s housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who has said she sold fentanyl to Richins on multiple occasions. Lauber has not been charged and was granted immunity, according to investigators.
Defense attorneys argued that Lauber did not provide fentanyl and was motivated to lie in exchange for legal protection. No fentanyl was found in the Richins home. The housekeeper’s alleged dealer initially told investigators he sold fentanyl to Lauber but later signed an affidavit stating he sold her only OxyContin and was in jail and detoxing at the time of the earlier statement.
Nester also showed jurors photos of an empty pill bottle on Eric Richins’ bedside table and bags of marijuana gummies he regularly used. She said he had asked his wife to obtain opioids for him.