Utah book author – who penned a book on children facing death of a parent – found guilty of husband’s murder

A Utah mom accused of killing her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl in his cocktail and then writing a children’s book about grief is guilty on all charges, a jury found after just three hours of deliberation on March 16.

Kouri Richins‘ husband, Eric Richins, was found unresponsive in his Kamas, Utah, home in March 2022 and later pronounced dead from what was determined to be a fentanyl overdose, administered to him in his Moscow Mule cocktail that Kouri fixed for him the night before, prosecutors alleged.

Kouri, now 35, said she found Eric unresponsive at around 3 a.m. and called 911. Richins’ defense argued his death could have been caused by underlying medical issues or possibly a tainted THC gummy Eric consumed.

Kouri’s attorneys also argued Eric may have accidentally overdosed on the fentanyl, taking the drug without anyone’s knowledge for pain relief.

The Kouri Richins children’ book

Then, a year after Eric died, Kouri self-published a children’s book, Are You With Me?, telling the story of a child who believes his deceased father still watches over him. It was dedicated to Eric and marketed as a grief-support book for children.

Kouri even appeared on the local TV program Good Things Utah, promoting her book and discussing grief after her husband’s death. She says the book was created to help her children process their father’s loss.

Richins’ affair, arrest, and trial

But in May 2023, Utah police arrested Kouri, charging her with Eric’s murder, alleging that Kouri faced significant debt tied to her real-estate business.

She had taken out or expected to receive millions of dollars in life-insurance payouts after Eric’s death, and investigators uncovered attempts to change estate documents and gain control of properties and finances after he died.

According to the prosecution, Eric had recently changed his will and finances to limit her control after learning about secret loans she had taken against properties without his knowledge, creating tension in the marriage and reducing the money she could access if he remained alive.

After several delays, allegations of witness tampering on Kouri’s part, adjusted charges, and a defense request to move the high-profile court proceedings out of Summit County, Kouri’s trial, which was expected to last as long as five ended in just three.

At the trial, the prosecution presented testimony alleging that on Valentine’s Day 2022, Kouri gave Eric a sandwich that caused a severe allergic reaction, suggesting it, too, was poisoned. Eric reportedly survived after using his son’s EpiPen. Prosecutors argued this showed premeditation.

Investigators also said Kouri obtained fentanyl from a drug dealer shortly before Eric’s death, presenting text messages arranging drug purchases, testimony from the alleged dealer, and the toxicology report showing Eric had about five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system as evidence.

Also in court, a man named Robert Josh Grossman testified he had a romantic and sexual affair with Kouri before Eric died, and that Kouri told him her marriage was strained and unhappy.

Convicted on all charges, including aggravated murder and financial crimes, Kouri will be sentenced on May 13, 2026, which would have been Eric’s 44th birthday. She faces life in prison without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.