MURDER SHE WROTE: Grief author Kouri Richins sentenced to life in prison
· Toronto Sun
As one family member after another read their heartbreaking victim impact statements, grief author Kouri Richens sat stone-faced.
Even the harrowing missives from her own children expressing their sorrows and fears seemed to make no impact.
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The 36-year-old was sentenced to life in prison in a Utah courtroom on Wednesday for the March 4, 2022, insurance murder of her husband, Eric Richins, with a deadly fentanyl-spiked cocktail.
Kouri told cops the couple had been celebrating a successful business deal when she discovered him unresponsive in the bedroom. An autopsy revealed Eric had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.
Book’s bitter irony
Her notoriety came when she released a self-published children’s book about dealing with the death of a parent called Are You With Me? She was arrested while promoting the book on a local TV station.
She had dedicated the book to “my amazing husband and a wonderful father.” Amazon later pulled it.
In their victim impact statements, her children said they were terrified she might be released.
“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,” one son, now 13, said. “I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us. … 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.”
Another said on the night his dad was murdered he put to bed unusually early and without a bath. His mother yelled at him.
“I will not feel safe” if she is released, he said. “With [her] in jail, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear of [her] hurting me or anyone I love.”
‘She took away my dad’
A third son added: “She took away my dad, if she got out I would be so scared. … I’m worried that she would take me away. … Once she is gone I will feel happy and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust people more.”
Prosecutors have requested that Richins be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Eric’s father and sister also submitted statements. Kouri Richins glared at her former sister-in-law while making faces when she discussed her money-driven machinations.
During her trial, friends described a marriage frought with financial difficulties and infidelity. Richins told friends she felt “trapped” because a pre-nup would leave her with nothing.
‘Better if he were dead’
Friend Becky Lloyd testified that the black widow told her: “She said that in many ways it would be better if he were dead.”
Court also heard about earlier incidents, including Eric becoming deathly ill after eating a sandwich his wife had prepared on Valentine’s Day 2021.
Even Richins’ former boyfriend Robert Josh Grossman laid in the boots during emotional testimony. He expressed “guilt” and “sorrow” over the affair with the petite murderess. They split several months after Eric Richins’ death.
Richins’ former boyfriend, Robert Josh Grossman, also took the stand, occasionally getting emotional as he talked about the “guilt” and “sorrow” he had about their affair. He told the court that the relationship ended a few months after Eric’s death.
She lied pills weren’t for hubby
After Eric’s death, the housekeeper said she spoke to Richins over the phone.
“I said, ‘Please tell me these pills were not for him,’” Carmen Lauber testified. “She said, no they were not. Eric passed away from a brain aneurysm.”
Richins did not testify at her trial, and her lawyers did not call witnesses.
But she did embark on a 30-minute monologue. She specifically addressed her children.
“I know today you don’t want to speak to me and you hate me. That’s OK. When you are ready, I will be here for you,” she said.
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