Utah mom Kouri Richins to be sentenced for fatally poisoning husband with fentanyl

Kouri Richins, a Utah woman convicted of fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl, is set to be sentenced for murder on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old mother of three, who self-published a children's book on grieving following her husband's death in 2022, was found guilty on all counts in March following a weekslong trial. The Summit County jury reached a verdict after about three hours of deliberations.

She faces 25 years to life in prison without parole.

Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in bed on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document.

Kouri Richins was found guilty of aggravated murder, with prosecutors saying she spiked his drink with a lethal dose of fentanyl that she purchased illicitly after asking two people for the "Michael Jackson drug."

She was also found guilty of attempted aggravated murder, with prosecutors saying she gave her husband a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine's Day two weeks before his death in an initial, failed attempt to kill him.

She was additionally found guilty of insurance fraud for taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on her husband's life with his forged signature and for submitting a claim following his death.

Prosecutors asked Judge Richard Mrazik to hand down a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, saying she "murdered Eric in the presence of their children, using poison, and for money."

"Such a person should never again lurk among the rest of us," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed ahead of Wednesday's hearing. "Her children should never worry that they may one day encounter her."

The memo included statements from the couple's three boys, who were 9, 7 and 5 years old when their father was murdered.

The eldest son, identified by his initials as C.R., wanted the court to know that "my dad was a good person and very thoughtful and kind and helped whoever needed help."

Prosecutors said that the Utah Division of Child and Family Services supported a finding of emotional and physical abuse by Kouri Richins against C.R. following the death.

"I'm afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family. I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us," the filing stated. "I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be, I don't miss Kouri, I will tell you that."

The middle child, A.R., was a "material witness" to the murder, according to prosecutors, as Kouri Richins told police that she had gone into his room before returning to bed and finding her husband dead. Had he taken the stand during the trial, "A.R. would have testified at trial that the Defendant did not sleep in his room with him the night she murdered his father," prosecutors stated.

A.R. said he doesn't want his mother out of jail "because I will not feel safe," the filing stated. The youngest son, W.R., also said he would feel "so scared" if his mother ever got out, and that she "makes me feel hateful and ashamed."

The three boys are now in the care of one of Eric Richins' sisters and her husband, according to the filing.

In addition to the maximum sentence, prosecutors asked that Kouri Richins be ordered to pay restitution to two insurance companies totaling more than $1.3 million.

Prosecutors argued that Kouri Richins wanted a "fresh start" and to leave her husband, but didn't want to leave his money. They said she was in "financial desperation" due to her house flipping business' debts and needed a significant influx of cash immediately.

According to prosecutors, she believed she would have financially benefited from her husband's death -- without realizing that his assets were in a trust overseen by one of his sisters.

The defense, meanwhile, said the case was "sloppy" and "driven by bias" and argued that the state failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. Kouri Richins did not testify during the trial and the defense called no witnesses.

Kouri Richins also faces more than two dozen charges in a separate case filed last year, including allegations that she committed mortgage fraud in 2021. The charging document alleges she submitted falsified bank statements in support of mortgage loan applications for her realty business, committed money laundering and issued bad checks. 

The charges in the case also allege she murdered her husband for financial gain as she "stood on the precipice of total financial collapse."

She has not yet entered a plea to those charges.