A Utah mother of three who has been charged with murdering her husband appeared last month on a local TV show to promote a book she wrote about processing grief — chillingly declaring that his death “completely took us all by shock.”
Kouri Richins, 33, allegedly poisoned her hubby, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl, which she mixed into a Moscow mule cocktail, on March 4, 2022.
She later wrote a children’s picture book titled, “Are You With Me?” to help kids cope with the death of a loved one.
Appearing on ABC4’s “Good Things Utah” on April 6 to promote the book, Kouri spoke about the “unexpected” death of her husband.
When asked how she managed to process the death, she said she “went on Amazon and Barnes & Noble to try to find something to help us cope at night, nights are the hardest.”
Kouri allegedly told police she had made her husband the mixed vodka cocktail and served it to him in bed at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City, to celebrate him selling a home.
Eric died of an oral overdose of fentanyl — with a level in his system that was five times the lethal dosage, an autopsy found.
Kouri faces charges of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
In addition to the murder charge, the mom faces charges involving the alleged possession of GHB, a narcolepsy drug frequently used in recreational settings.
The charges are based on police interactions with Richins that night and the account of an “unnamed acquaintance” who claims to have sold her the fentanyl.
The couple apparently had issues long before Eric’s death. One of his two sisters reportedly told police that he called her from a vacation in Greece with his wife years earlier claiming that she made him a drink that made him very sick.
She alleged that Eric believed his wife had tried to kill him at the time.
On Feb. 14, 2022, the couple had a Valentine’s Day dinner in which Eric “became very ill," reportedly broke out in hives and couldn’t breathe. He later passed out after using his son’s EpiPen and taking Benadryl according to a probable cause statement.