A new court filing reveals that a Utah woman, who was initially accused of killing her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl, is now facing additional charges in the case. One of the new charges is attempted aggravated murder, as she is alleged to have poisoned her husband a month before his death.
Kouri Richins, 33, faces charges of aggravated murder and drug-related offenses in relation to the death of her husband, Eric Richins, 39. Although she has not yet pleaded to the charges, she maintains her innocence and denies the allegations.
A month before being arrested in May 2023, Kouri Richins, a mother of three, made an appearance on a segment of “Good Things Utah” on Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX. She was there to promote a book. During the segment, Kouri Richins shared that her husband of nine years had passed away “unexpectedly” and that his death had “completely taken us all by surprise.”
According to the charging document’s probable cause statement, prosecutors claim that Eric Richins was first poisoned on Valentine’s Day, several weeks before his death from a fatal dose of fentanyl on March 3, 2022.
According to the charging document, Eric Richins allegedly experienced an outbreak of hives after taking a single bite of his beloved sandwich, which was purchased for him by his wife from a local diner. In an attempt to alleviate his symptoms, he resorted to using his son’s EpiPen and consuming a bottle of Benadryl before going to sleep.
According to the charging document, Eric Richins reportedly confided in a close friend, expressing his suspicion that his wife had attempted to poison him.
According to the charging document, Eric Richins did not have any food allergies. The document also mentioned that opioids, including fentanyl, can cause allergic and pseudoallergic reactions, such as hives.
According to the charging document, Kouri Richins stated in a text to a friend about the incident on June 18, 2022 that her husband had never experienced hives or used an EpiPen.
In response to the new charges, Kouri Richins’ attorney, Skye Lazaro, released a statement to ABC News stating that her client firmly asserts her innocence.
According to Lazaro, they have carefully examined the revised information and determined that it does not impact Kouri’s strategy for defending herself against any charges brought by the State.
On March 4, 2022, Eric Richins was discovered deceased in the bedroom he shared with his partner, following an alleged incident on Valentine’s Day. Prosecutors have revealed that an autopsy confirmed Eric Richins’ cause of death as fentanyl intoxication. The charging document states that the level of fentanyl in his bloodstream was approximately five times higher than a lethal dosage. Additionally, the medical examiner determined that the fentanyl ingested was “illicit fentanyl,” not of medical grade, and that it was taken orally.
According to the probable cause statement, Kouri Richins reportedly informed the police that she and her husband had enjoyed Moscow Mules on the night of his death to celebrate an achievement at work. She stated that they drank their cocktails while sitting on the bed.
According to the amended charging document, prosecutors claim that she bought illegal fentanyl shortly before her husband’s near-death episode on Valentine’s Day 2022 and his subsequent passing. The revised filing shows that she is now facing two charges of distributing a controlled substance in connection to the alleged poisoning incidents. Notably, one drug count from her previous charging document has been removed.
Kouri Richins is facing additional charges, as stated in the amended charging document. These charges include three counts of forgery, two counts of insurance fraud, and two counts of mortgage fraud.
According to prosecutors, she is accused of forging her husband’s signature on an insurance application just weeks before his death. The insurance policy, which took effect 10 days prior to the alleged poisoning on Valentine’s Day, had a death benefit of $100,000, as stated in the charging document.
According to prosecutors, she allegedly provided multiple falsified bank statements when she applied for a mortgage with multiple companies in 2021.
When Kouri Richins’ husband passed away, she was facing financial difficulties and had outstanding loans of over $1.8 million from hard money lenders related to her house-flipping ventures, as stated in the charging document. The document also reveals that she had multiple insurance policies on Eric Richins’ life, which had a combined death benefit of $1.35 million. Additionally, she mistakenly believed that she was the beneficiary of another policy with a death benefit of $500,000, according to the charging document.
Kouri Richins is currently being held in custody as she awaits trial. A preliminary hearing for her case is set to take place on May 15th.
