‘I’m afraid if she gets out’: US author’s sons say they want mother to stay in jail | Utah

The young sons of Utah author Kouri Richins said ahead of a sentencing hearing Wednesday that they would not feel safe if their mother was released from prison after being convicted of killing their father in March.

Richins, 35, faces life in prison for five felonies, including aggravated murder.

Prosecutors said Kouri spiked her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with a five-fold lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near the ski town of Park City in 2022. He later published and promoted a children’s book about a boy trying to cope with his father’s death shortly before his arrest in 2023.

Richins’ attorneys declined to comment Tuesday ahead of her husband’s sentencing hearing, which falls on the day he would have turned 44.

Testimony from his sons, who were nine, seven and five when their father died, came with a note from prosecutors urging Judge Richard Mrazik to sentence Richins to life in prison without parole.

The oldest child, now 13, said he wanted the court to know he didn’t miss his mother.

“I’m afraid if he gets out he’ll come after me, my siblings, my whole family,” the eldest son said. “I guess he’ll come and get us and not do good things like hurt us.”

Prosecutors allege the boy suffered emotional and physical abuse from Richins after his father’s death, which they say is supported by findings in a sealed court document obtained from the Utah division of child and family services.

Prosecutors said Richins, a home-based real estate agent, was millions in debt and was planning a future with another man. She had taken out numerous life insurance policies without her husband’s knowledge and believed that she would inherit his assets worth more than $4 million after his death.

An aggravated murder conviction alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison or life without parole. Prosecutors did not press for the death penalty.

Jurors also found Richins guilty of other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder, for trying to poison her husband weeks ago on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that knocked him unconscious.

The Richin family’s middle child, now 11, has denied his mother’s claim that she slept with him in his bedroom the night his father died. He recalled unusual events from that night, including being put to bed early without bathing, his parents’ bedroom being locked, and the television blaring from inside. The boy said his mother yelled at him to leave after he used the broom to reach his bedroom key, and Richins later told the 911 operator that she found her husband cold.

The 11-year-old boy told the judge he was upset that his father could no longer coach him in sports, celebrate his birthdays, take him camping and fishing, teach him how to drive or attend his graduation. Like his brother, he said he wouldn’t feel safe if his mother wasn’t behind bars.

“With [her] In prison, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear. [her] Hurting me or anyone I love,” the statement read.

The youngest son, who was still in kindergarten when his father died, said he felt “hateful and ashamed” when people talked about his mother because she “took my father away.” He said he would be “very scared” if his mother was released from prison.

“After he’s gone, I’ll feel happy, I’ll feel safer and more comfortable, and I’ll trust people more,” he said.

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related charges in a separate case that has not yet been tried.