Author of children's book about grief hit with another attempted murder charge in death of husband
A Utah widow who gained notoriety last year after she was accused of murdering her husband and then writing a children's book about grief is facing another criminal charge.
Kouri Darden Richins, 33, was arrested in Park City, Utah, in May of last year on charges of murder linked to the death of her husband, Eric Richins, via fentanyl poisoning. Now, prosecutors have filed an additional attempted murder charge for an alleged poisoning attempt they believe Richins previously made on her husband before his death in March 2022.
The new charges were filed Monday by Summit County prosecutors, who allege Richins had tried to poison her husband at least once before, on Valentine's Day. In new documents, prosecutors allege Eric took a bite of a sandwich left in his truck along with a note on that day, only to end up breaking out in hives and blacking out.
Witness testimony recounted Kouri buying the sandwich from a local diner the same week her housekeeper allegedly sold several dozen fentanyl pills to Kouri. Prosecutors allege that Kouri later returned to the same housekeeper asking for stronger fentanyl.
Kouri Richins arrested:A woman wrote a children's book about grief after her husband died. Now she is charged with his murder.
Two witnesses also recounted an alleged phone call the same day in which Eric told one of them "I think my wife tried to poison me.” After reacting to the sandwich, Eric used his son's EpiPen and drank Benadryl to counteract the hives. It is alleged Eric had no known food allergies at the time, but fentanyl can cause a similar reaction.
Prosecutors had previously indicated they believed Kouri attempted to poison her husband more than once but only filed official charges this week. She was also hit with mortgage and insurance fraud charges for allegedly forging documents and claiming insurance benefits after her husband's death.
Richins denied bail:Utah mom Kouri Richin accused of killing husband denied bail before murder trial
Author allegedly kills husband, writes children's book about loss
According to court documents, deputies from the Summitt County Sheriff's Office responded to the Richins' home around 3 a.m. on March 4, 2022, to find Eric dead on the floor at the foot of his bed.
Kouri originally told authorities she awoke about 3 a.m., returned to the couple's bedroom after falling asleep in one of their children's beds, found Eric and dialed 911.
According to Kouri's arrest warrant, autopsy and toxicology reports found nearly five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in Eric Richins' system. It was determined that the fentanyl was obtained illegally and ingested orally. Kouri has previously recounted serving her husband a mixed drink, a Moscow mule, that night and prosecutors believe she used this as the vehicle to deliver the drugs.
Prosecutors also allege that Kouri was in financial trouble and the pair had been at odds over the purchase of a multimillion-dollar mansion. They also said Kouri had several life insurance policies out on her husband totaling somewhere around $2 million in benefits and a significant amount of debt in her name.
Following her husband's death, Kouri self-published a children's book about grief titled "Are You With Me?" The illustrated book was written to help young children understand and cope with the death of a loved one and featured images of a father with angel wings looking over his young child in the afterlife.
She appeared on local television shows to discuss the book and was ironically praised for using her own grief to tackle such a difficult topic for children to understand. The book no longer appears to be available for purchase on Amazon.