A Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death last year is accused of poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl after serving him a celebratory Moscow Mule.
Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated manslaughter and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. His lawyers did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.
richins Husband, eric richinsdied at his home in Kamas, about 40 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, on March 4, 2022. Summit County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home after Richins called 911 to report finding him unconscious. in his room, based on a probable cause plea.
Agents found Eric Richins on the floor at the foot of the bed, according to the document. Rescue measures were attempted but he was pronounced dead.
Days before her death, Kouri Richins asked an acquaintance for fentanyl and said she wanted «Michael Jackson’s stuff,» according to court documents.
Richins told investigators that the night before her husband’s death, the couple were celebrating because she had closed on a house for her business, according to the document. She said she made him a Moscow Mule in the kitchen, took it to the bedroom, and he drank it while he sat up in bed, the statement said.
She told investigators, according to the document, that she slept in one of her sons’ bedrooms because the boy had a night terror. She allegedly woke up around 3 am to discover that her husband was in her bedroom «cold to the touch.»
Richins told officers that she had left her cell phone in her room and did not take it to her son’s room. Investigators later learned that his phone had been locked and unlocked multiple times and he showed movement during the time he said he was in his son’s bedroom, according to the probable cause plea. There were text messages sent and received that had been deleted, he said.
At the time of her death, the only people in the house were the couple and their three young children, she said.
A year after her husband’s death, Richins published a book titled «You are with me?to «create peace and comfort for children who have lost a loved one,» according to a description on Amazon. He said the book will help reassure children that even though their loved one «is not there, their presence is always there and they walk through life with you as if they were here.»
She dedicated the book to «my amazing husband and wonderful father.»
She also did an interview with a local news station about her book and her husband’s death, which she said happened «out of the blue.»
«It took all of us by surprise. My children and I wrote this book about the different emotions and grief processes we experienced in the past year, in the hope that it can help other children deal with this and find happiness in a way or another.» she said KTVX reporters in April.
He went on to talk about how he would tell his kids that their «daddy’s still here, just in a different way.» Richins said she wrote the book after watching her children struggle with the death of her father.
in a facebook post Last week, she posted a video collage of her husband and children, writing in the caption that life has been hard without him.
«The cards I’ve been dealt seem like a game that just can’t be played,» he posted, adding the hashtag «please come home.»
Investigators said an autopsy and toxicology report found that Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the probable cause statement. The medical examiner said that he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system and that it was “illicit” fentanyl and not medical grade. It is also believed that he ingested the drug orally, based on probable cause.
Authorities accused Richins of obtaining the fentanyl pills from an acquaintance identified as «CL,» the probable cause statement said. They also alleged that Eric Richins had told a friend that he believed his wife had tried to poison him after a Valentine’s Day dinner weeks before he died.
A search warrant obtained by investigators showed several communications on Kouri Richins’ phone between her and the acquaintance, according to the document.
The acquaintance, who had multiple drug charges, told investigators that Richins had contacted them between December 2021 and February 2022 and asked for «prescription pain medication for an investor who had a back injury.» depending on the probable cause.
“Within a few days, CL purchased hydrocodone pills from a dealer. The defendant told CL to leave the pills at a house that the defendant was buying in Midway. CL left the pills at the house and the defendant left cash for CL,” he alleged.
The acquaintance obtained between 15 and 30 fentanyl pills and delivered them to Richins, who paid $900 for the drugs. Three days later, on February 14, 2022, Eric Richins became seriously ill after having a Valentine’s Day dinner at his home with his wife, according to the document.
“Eric believed that he had been poisoned. Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him,” investigators wrote.
“About two weeks later, the defendant contacted CL again and told her that his investor wanted something stronger and asked for ‘some Michael Jackson stuff.’ Defendant specifically requested fentanyl,» according to the probable cause statement.
She again paid $900 for the drugs, she said. Days later, her husband was dead.
The sheriff’s office declined to answer questions about the case, saying it is being handled by the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office. Margret Olson, the county attorney, said her office will not comment on the matter.
«Please note that there are three small children belonging to the decedent and defendant, which makes this matter very sensitive and difficult,» he said in an email.
A detention hearing is scheduled for May 19.