Murder of Eric Richins

On March 4, 2022, Eric Eugene Richins (May 13, 1982 - March 4, 2022) died at the age of 39 from a lethal dose of illicit fentanyl.^[2] On May 8, 2023, Kouri D. Richins was charged with the murder of her husband; financial charges were added on June 27, 2025, and the murder charges were amended on October 6, 2025. Kouri Richins stood trial for the murder in March 2026.^[3] Kouri was convicted by the jury on all counts on March 16, 2026.^[1]

A 2026 jury trial determined that he was murdered by his wife, Kouri Richins (born April 20,1990), who surreptitiously administered the drug in a cocktail.^[2] The case received national attention, particularly given that the eventual defendant had authored a children's book, Are You with Me?, about processing grief following the death of her husband; it has been referred to as the "grief author murder trial".^[4]

On March 4, 2022, Kouri Richins called authorities to report that her husband, Eric Richins, was unconscious at their home in Kamas, Utah. According to her initial statement, the couple had been celebrating the closing of a real estate sale for Kouri and she had made him a cocktail (a "Moscow Mule") before going to bed.^[5][6]

A subsequent autopsy revealed that Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose. Blood levels of the substance were five times higher than a lethal dose and had been ingested orally.^[7][8]

Before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published the children's book about coping with the loss of a parent. However, during the trial, the lead investigator revealed that she had in fact paid a ghostwriting company to write the book for her. The book claimed to bring peace and comfort to children who have lost a loved one and was about a child wondering if their father was with them during special times like birthdays, Christmas and their first day of school.^[9]

Kouri D. Richins, a real estate agent, was deeply in debt and planning her future with another man. Prosecutors said she had taken out numerous life insurance policies for her husband without his knowledge, which could have brought her benefits totaling about $2 million. In addition, her phone's Internet search history included queries such as "what is a lethal dose of fentanyl" and "luxury prisons for the wealthy in the United States," according to a digital forensics analyst.^[10]

Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth played a clip of Kouri's 911 call the night her husband died in court, saying it was "not the sound of a wife becoming a widow," citing the defense's opening statement. Brad said it was "the sound of a wife becoming a black widow." Defense attorney Wendy Lewis said the prosecution "looked at the facts in a way that you want to see a witch, but if you look at them another way, you see a widow." The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and that he was the one who asked his wife to buy him opioids. Kouri Richins, 35, was ultimately convicted on March 18, 2026, of aggravated murder. She was also convicted of other crimes, including attempted murder, as she had tried to poison her husband weeks earlier, on Valentine's Day, with a fentanyl sandwich that rendered him unconscious. The jury also found Kouri guilty of forgery and fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after his death.^[10]

While the investigation was ongoing, Kouri Richins published the children's book titled Are You With Me? in March 2023, dedicated to her three children to help them cope with the loss of their father.^[11][12] During the promotional campaign, she appeared on television programs as an example figure in overcoming grief, a fact that the prosecution later described as a facade to hide the crime.^[13][14]

The trial formally began in 2026, and the prosecution presented an economic motive based on Richins' accumulated debt (more than $2 million) and her interest in collecting on her husband's life insurance policies.^[15][16]

Key evidence accepted by the court included:

• Acquisition of substances: Testimony from a supplier who confirmed that he had sold fentanyl pills to the defendant weeks before her husband death.^[5]
• Background: Eric Richins had expressed to family and friends that he feared that his wife was trying to poison him after he had become seriously ill on two previous occasions.^[17][13]
• Forged documents: Evidence that the defendant had tried to change the beneficiaries of Eric's will without his knowledge.^[18]

On March 16, 2026, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all major charges, including first degree murder.^[5] The victim's family reacted with relief, declaring that "the truth had come out".^[19]

Kouri Richins faces a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.^[20]