Utah woman's hopes of flipping mansion flop after murder charge

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CASE UPDATE: Kouri Richins was sentenced to beingness without the anticipation of parole connected May 13, 2026. In March, a jury convicted her of murder and different charges successful her husband's 2022 death.

In the aboriginal greeting hours of March 4, 2022, Kouri Richins says she recovered her hubby Eric unresponsive successful their bed. She said his decease was an accident, but a twelvemonth aboriginal she was arrested and charged with murder. The circumstances surrounding Eric Richins' death are investigated successful "The People v. Kouri Richins," reported by contributor Natalie Morales.

Kouri's household says she mislaid much than conscionable the begetter of her 3 young sons and hubby of 9 years. She besides mislaid a immense concern woody worthy millions.

Kouri owned a existent property concern specializing successful buying and flipping houses for a profit. Her parent Lisa Darden says it was a changeless rotation of caller projects, and astatine immoderate 1 clip Kouri could beryllium moving connected 3 antithetic properties, "I would accidental connected average." Darden had watched Kouri physique the concern from the crushed up and says Kouri was arrogant of her success. Greg Hall was her person and selling director. He says the crushed for Kouri's occurrence was that she had thing that a batch of radical don't. "A batch of times you find an idiosyncratic that is intelligent, but nary communal consciousness oregon communal consciousness and nary intelligence. She had both. She was a superb young lady," said Hall.

Before Eric died, Darden says Kouri was moving connected the biggest house-flipping woody of her career. The task was a 10-acre property successful Heber City, Utah, not acold from the famed Park City skis resort. It was premier existent estate. "I deliberation this was benignant of her imagination erstwhile she got into this thought of flipping houses was to beryllium capable to bash properties similar this," Kouri's attorney, Skye Lazaro, told Morales arsenic they toured the property.

The 20,000-square-foot mansion and its 4,000-square-foot guesthouse were primitively built successful 2017 but ne'er finished. Kouri discovered the abandoned task successful 2019 and made an connection connected it on with a radical of investors for $3.9 million. According to Lazaro, Kouri's program with the spot was to "turn it into a recreational hotspot, fixed this is astir apt 1 of the astir beauteous places successful the satellite and, hopefully, merchantability it astatine a profit." And Kouri's parent says that imaginable was jaw-dropping. "Her and Eric sat down with an accountant 1 time, and helium said, if you tin get it done and enactment nether budget, you could locomotion distant with $12 million," said Darden.

Darden says Kouri and Eric were excited astir the accidental and were celebrating finalizing the closing of the mansion the nighttime Eric died. "Eric's saying, let's person a shot. Come on, let's observe Kouri," she said. And the solemnisation continued. Kouri told investigators she poured Eric different drink aboriginal that night, a Moscow mule, earlier the mates went to bed. It was hours aboriginal that Kouri said she recovered Eric unresponsive successful their bed. The adjacent time Kouri closed connected the property, according to tribunal papers.

But the spokesperson for Eric's family, Greg Skordas, says Eric did not privation Kouri to bargain the mansion. "I don't deliberation helium was ever successful favour of that," Skordas said. Just days aft Eric died, his household told an researcher "Eric and his woman were arguing" astir buying the house. Eric's household believes Kouri was determined to spell guardant with the project, contempt Eric's opposition.

When Kouri Richins was arrested and charged successful her husband's death, her hopes for the task -- and the imaginable $12 cardinal payday -- came to an end. The mansion was enactment backmost connected the marketplace and precocious sold for $3.75 million.

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