Jury reaches verdict in Utah author Kouri Richins’ murder case
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Utah children’s book author Kouri Richins, accused of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced drink before publishing a book about her children’s pain, has been found guilty in his 2022 death.
Prosecutors allege the mother of three killed her husband, Eric Richins, in a calculated plan to collect millions of dollars in life insurance and gain control of the couple’s finances.
Richins denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty; In his defense, it was claimed that the state could not prove that he was responsible for the fatal dose of fentanyl found in his body.
Richins, 35, of Kamas, Utah, was charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of false insurance claims and forgery in connection with her husband’s death.
Jurors also found the mother guilty of three counts of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud and forgery after deliberating in the closely watched case.
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Body camera video is shown on screen during the murder trial of Kouri Richins at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Stacks/AP Photo, Pool)
The case received intense national attention in part because Richins later released a song called “Are You With Me?”, which she said was intended to help her three young sons process the loss of their father. She wrote a children’s book about coping with grief titled.
Prosecutors alleged that Richins poisoned her husband with a cocktail containing illegal fentanyl in March 2022 while the couple was celebrating at their home.
A medical examiner later determined that Eric Richins had more than five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system, according to charging documents.
Authorities also said 16,000 ng/ml of quetiapine (an antipsychotic drug sometimes prescribed as a sleeping pill) was found in Eric Richins’ gastric fluid.
Investigators argued that the fatal poisoning was not the first assassination attempt on Eric Richins.
Court records allege Richins tried to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day 2022 by putting fentanyl in his favorite sandwich.
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Kathy Nester, the defense attorney for Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband, shows a picture of a pill bottle to the jury as she delivers the opening statement in Richins’ murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Stacks/AP Photo, Pool)
According to investigators, Eric Richins developed hives and had trouble breathing after eating the sandwich. She used her son’s EpiPen and took Benadryl before falling asleep for a few hours. He survived the incident.
Prosecutors argued that Richins killed her husband as part of a scheme to collect millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds.
Court documents say the woman purchased multiple life insurance policies totaling nearly $2 million and then changed the beneficiary to herself without her husband’s permission.
Authorities said Eric Richins noticed the change and transferred ownership back to his business partner.
Investigators also alleged that Richins planned to use the insurance money to finish and replace a $2 million mansion in Wasatch County; It’s an investment that Eric Richins’ family says he disapproves of.
During the trial, a forensic accountant testified that Richins was $7.5 million in debt before her husband’s death. Jurors heard his accounts were repeatedly overdrawn and he owed nearly $80,000 a month.
The accountant also testified that Richins applied to multiple payday lenders, at one point paying approximately $2,100 a day to four lenders and closing on a $2.9 million mansion the day Eric Richins died.
Prosecutors said the woman spent $1.35 million in life insurance proceeds in the three months after her death.
Jurors heard three weeks of testimony from family members, investigators, forensic experts and law enforcement.
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Kouri Richins, left, a mother of three who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief following the death of her husband and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, speaks with her attorney, Kathy Nester, during a hearing on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer/AP Photo via the pool)
Eric Richins’ close friend and business partner testified that he never saw Eric use illegal drugs; This contradicted claims that the fentanyl found in his system was from his own drug use.
Investigators also told jurors that Eric Richins said his sister expressed fears that Kouri might try to kill her before she died.
The hearing also included the testimony of Richins’ ex-boyfriend; Jurors were shown text messages in which she wrote “I’m done loving you,” while another text purportedly from Richins read: “I’m in love with a man who is not my husband.”
Jurors also heard that Eric Richins consulted a divorce attorney and made changes to his estate before his death, planning to pass his assets to his children.
A family friend testified that Richins once said she felt “trapped” in her marriage and worried that a prenuptial agreement could leave her worse off financially if the couple divorced.
A key witness at the trial was the Richins family’s maid, Carmen Lauber, who testified that she helped procure drugs for Richins.
Lauber said Richins first asked for painkillers in early 2022 and claimed an “investor” wanted something stronger. He later testified that Richins referred to the request as looking for “Michael Jackson stuff”; prosecutors said the phrase referred to powerful drugs.
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Judge Richard Mrazik (R) speaks with Summit County attorney Brad Bloodworth during the hearing of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband, at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Stacks/AP Photo, Pool)
Lauber told jurors he left pills for Richins and that Richins later left $1,000 at his home to buy more drugs.
Prosecutors argued that these purchases ultimately led to illegal drugs containing fentanyl.
Prosecutors also presented a series of text message and phone records during the trial.
Jurors saw messages Richins allegedly sent after her husband’s death, saying “they won’t take from me what’s mine.”
Another message shown during testimony was of Richins telling a friend, “If I die, Eric did it.”
A forensic analyst also testified that hundreds of text messages were deleted from one of Richins’ phones between January and mid-March 2022.
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Richins’ defense team attempted to challenge the prosecution’s narrative throughout the trial.
Defense attorneys grilled investigators about delays and missing notes in reports and pressured law enforcement to handle evidence in the early stages of the investigation.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three and children’s book author, was accused of poisoning her husband to death. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool/Facebook)
One of the state toxicologists also acknowledged during testimony that Eric Richins may have taken fentanyl before consuming the drink, possibly raising questions about prosecutors’ claim that Richins secretly laced the Moscow mule.
Defense attorneys also examined how evidence collected from the home where Eric Richins died was handled, including phones, THC gummies and items mapped during a 3D scan of the residence.
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During closing arguments, Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors that Richins wanted a perfect life and the outlook for financial success.
“He wanted a perfect life. Or at least the appearance of a perfect life,” Bloodworth said.
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Bloodworth argued that Richins wanted to separate from her husband but maintain access to his money.
He also replayed the first minute of the 911 call made the morning Eric Richins was found dead, telling jurors it revealed more than just shock.
“This was not the sound of a wife becoming a widow,” Bloodworth said. “It was the voice of a black widow.”
“The evidence proves that Kouri Richins killed, attempted to murder, Eric Richins,” he told jurors.
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In a statement following closing arguments, Richins’ attorneys, Wendy Lewis, Kathy Nester and Alex Ramos, said the case is now where it belongs: with the jury.
They thanked jurors for their care and attention during three weeks of testimony and argued that prosecutors failed to meet the high legal standards required for a conviction.
“For nearly three years, the public has heard accusations about Kouri that have created a narrative that extends far beyond this courtroom,” the attorneys said. “But accusations are not enough in court. The law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The defense said Richins has maintained his innocence since the beginning of the case and expressed confidence in the jury system, saying they hope he will eventually be able to return home to his three sons and rebuild his life.
Stepheny Price covers crimes including missing persons, murders and immigration crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
