A Utah woman who wrote a book on grief after husband's death found guilty of murdering him

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah pistillate was convicted Monday of aggravated execution aft poisoning her hubby with fentanyl and self-publishing a children’s publication astir coping with grief.

Prosecutors accidental Kouri Richins slipped 5 times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that Eric Richins drank successful March 2022 astatine their location extracurricular the skis municipality of Park City. They accidental Richins was $4.5 cardinal successful indebtedness and falsely believed that erstwhile her hubby died, she would inherit his property worthy much than $4 million. They besides accidental she was readying a aboriginal with different antheral she was seeing connected the side.

Richins stared astatine the level and took heavy breaths arsenic the justice work the verdict.

The assemblage deliberated for little than 3 hours. Afterward, household members connected some sides of the lawsuit near the courtroom hugging and crying.

She was besides convicted of different felony charges, including an attempted execution complaint successful what authorities alleged was different effort to poison her hubby weeks earlier connected Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him interruption retired successful hives and achromatic out. Jurors besides recovered Richins blameworthy of fraudulently claiming security benefits aft his death.

Sentencing was scheduled for May 13, the time her hubby would person turned 44.

Richins’ defence lawyer said Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and had asked his woman to procure opioids for him. Kouri Richins, however, told constabulary earlier successful a video that her hubby had nary past of illicit cause use.

“She wanted to permission Eric Richins but did not privation to permission his money,” said Summit County authoritative Brad Bloodworth.

Richins had pleaded not blameworthy to each charges.

The astir superior complaint — aggravated execution — carries a condemnation of 25 years to beingness successful prison.

What was scheduled to beryllium a five-week proceedings was chopped abbreviated past week erstwhile Richins waived her close to testify, and her ineligible squad abruptly rested its lawsuit without calling immoderate witnesses. Richins’ attorneys said they were assured that prosecutors did not nutrient capable grounds implicit the past 3 weeks to convict her of murder.

“They haven't done their job, and present they privation you to marque inferences based connected paper-thin evidence," defence lawyer Wendy Lewis told the assemblage connected Monday.

‘A woman becoming a achromatic widow’

Prosecutors said Richins, a existent property cause focused connected flipping houses, was heavy successful indebtedness and readying a aboriginal with different man. She had opened galore beingness security policies connected her hubby without his knowledge, with benefits totaling astir $2 million, prosecutors alleged.

They showed the assemblage substance messages betwixt Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the antheral with whom she was allegedly having an affair, successful which she fantasized astir leaving her husband, gaining millions successful a divorcement and marrying Grossman.

The net hunt past from Richins’ telephone included “what is simply a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl (sic),” “luxury prisons for the affluent America” and “if idiosyncratic is poisned (sic) what does it spell down connected the decease certificate as,” a integer forensic expert testified.

Bloodworth replayed for the assemblage a clip of Richins’ 911 telephone from the nighttime of her husband’s death. That’s “not ‘the dependable of a woman becoming a widow,’” helium said, quoting the defense’s opening statement. “It’s the dependable of a woman becoming a achromatic widow.”

Lewis responded that the prosecution “looks astatine facts 1 mode and sees a witch, but if you look astatine those facts different way, you spot a widow.”

'

Give america the details that volition guarantee Kouri gets convicted'

The defence focused connected trying to discredit the prosecution's prima witness, Carmen Lauber, a housekeeper for the household who claimed to person sold Richins fentanyl connected aggregate occasions.

Lewis argued Lauber did not woody fentanyl and was motivated to prevarication for ineligible protection. Lauber said successful aboriginal interviews that she ne'er dealt the synthetic opioid, but aboriginal said she did aft investigators informed her that Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose, the defence noted.

Richins had asked Lauber for “the Michael Jackson stuff," which Bloodworth said apt refers to the cause operation that killed the singer.

“She knows she wants it due to the fact that it is lethal,” helium argued.

The housekeeper was already successful a cause tribunal programme arsenic an alternate to incarceration connected different charges erstwhile authorities arrested her successful transportation with the Richins case, investigators said. She had besides violated immoderate conditions of cause court.

The defence showed a video of instrumentality enforcement informing Lauber that they could propulsion her cause tribunal woody and that she could look a lengthy situation sentence.

“Give america the details that volition guarantee Kouri gets convicted of murder,” a antheral successful the video said.

Lauber was granted immunity for her practice successful the case. She testified that she felt a request to “step up and instrumentality accountability of my portion successful this.”

Children’s publication becomes a instrumentality for prosecutors

Shortly earlier her apprehension successful May 2023, Richins self-published the publication “Are You with Me?” She promoted it connected section TV and vigor stations, which prosecutors pointed to successful arguing that Richins planned the sidesplitting and tried to screen it up.

Summit County Sheriff’s detective Jeff O’Driscoll, the pb researcher connected the case, testified that Richins paid a ghostwriting institution to constitute the publication for her.

Jury hears missive recovered successful jailhouse cell

Prosecutors showed the assemblage excerpts of a missive recovered successful Richins’ jailhouse compartment that they said appeared to outline grounds for her parent and brother. In the six-page letter, Richins instructed her member to archer her erstwhile lawyer that Eric Richins confided successful him astir getting fentanyl from Mexico and “gets precocious each night."

Defense attorneys said the missive contains a fictional communicative Richins was moving on. They argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and asked his woman to procure opioids for him.

However, Richins told constabulary connected the nighttime of her husband's decease that helium had nary past of illicit cause use, according to assemblage camera footage shown successful court.

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Associated Press reporters Jacques Billeaud successful Phoenix and Hallie Golden successful Seattle contributed.

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