A Utah father and husband of three sons, Eric Richins, was found dead in his home in March 2022 when he was just 40 years old. His wife, 34-year-old Kouri Richins, claimed she found her husband dead in his sleep. The widow, seemingly grieving over losing her husband, penned the children's book Are You With Me?, supposedly hoping it would help children work through the loss of a loved one.
According to police, not only did Richins write the book on grief, but she allegedly also killed her husband. An autopsy revealed Eric Richins died from a fatal dose of fentanyl. Soon afterward, his wife was arrested and charged with murder. She appeared in Summit County Court on Monday and faced her dead husband's family for the first time.
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Richins reportedly tried extremely hard to hide her alleged involvement in her husband's death.
During her court appearance, prosecutors read a text message Richins allegedly sent to her "best friend" about the night Eric Richins died. "I pumped so d— hard, so hard, screaming at him to come back to life," the text reportedly stated.
Prosecutors, however, claimed EMS was the first to perform life-saving measures on Eric Richins, Law & Crime reported.
"The Defendant informed dispatch and police that she performed CPR on Eric Richins while awaiting EMS response. Foam coming from Eric Richins' mouth, however, indicates that EMS personnel were in fact the first to perform CPR on him," the state's motion read. "The evidence shows that the Defendant did not perform CPR on her husband."
Richins allegedly obtained the drugs from a woman who worked for her family.
Richins purportedly obtained the drugs that killed her husband from a woman named C.L., who worked for the family at times cleaning their home and properties, according to Law & Crime. C.L. allegedly bought the drugs that killed Richins and wanted to cooperate with investigators because she felt guilty about Eric Richins' death.
The defense said C.L.'s testimony is not trustworthy. Law & Crime reported Richins' defense claimed C.L. suggested coercion between herself and Richins.
"C.L. is currently on probation pursuant to a plea in abeyance agreement in two-separate cases wherein she plead to four (4) first-degree felony charges, one third-degree felony and several misdemeanor charges. A search warrant executed at the time of her arrest revealed that C.L. had a firearm in her bedroom," the defense claimed. "Specifically, law enforcement demanded that C.L. give good enough details' that will ensure that [Kouri] gets convicted of murder.' Further, law enforcement explained to C.L. that her life was 'screwed at this point for a minute or for a few years if there's not cooperation.'"
Kouri Richins' phone allegedly tracked suspicious activity.
According to the state, an iPhone found in a dresser drawer allegedly included damning searches such as "luxury prisons for the rich in america;" "women utah prison;" "can cops force you to do a lie detector test;" "death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay?;" "FBI analysis of electronics in an investigation;" "When does the FBI get involved in a case;" "how long does life insrance companies takento.pay;" "how to.permanently delete information from an iphone remotely;" and "what is a lethal.does.of.fetanayl," Law & Crime reported.
Chris Kotrodimos, a private investigator, testified in court that Richins unlocked her phone at 3:07 a.m. and called 911 at 3:22 a.m., KUTV reported. Kotrodimos claimed someone deleted data from the device. The state reportedly felt these searches would help strengthen its case that Richins acted willfully.
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While she reportedly grieved, Richins appeared on radio and TV to promote her book.
In early April 2023, Richins was interviewed by KPCW about Are You With Me?, a book she wrote to help children experiencing grief after losing a loved one. She told the news outlet she wasn't a professional writer, just a mom trying to help her kids.
"I think it gave us a sense of distraction for one, and gave us something to put our minds towards," she said. "So that was huge for us. Because you can go every day, and you know, you can either live in sadness or you can take that sadness and make something good out of it. So, it was a really good distraction from this last year and going through, you know, the first holidays without my husband, his birthday, like our anniversary, you know, all these things, and it gave us something to work towards."
A second book, Mom, How Far Away is Heaven? was due in May. Amazon pulled Are You With Me? from its site when Richins was charged in her husband's death, KSL-TV noted.
Eric Richins' sister, Amy Richins, addressed her former sister-in-law in court.
Amy Richins looked at Kouri Richins tearfully and addressed the courtroom, asking the judge to keep the accused killer in jail because she feared for her life and the life of Eric and Kouri Richins' three sons, KUTV reported.
"Please do not let Kouri out on bail where she will be a risk to do further harm," she pleaded. "Please protect what Eric put his life on the line for – his three boys."
Richins was denied bail and will remain in Summit County Jail. She is due back in court on June 27.
