A Utah woman suspected of fentanyl-spiking her husband’s drink and then writing a children’s book about sorrow after he died is now accused of surreptitiously taking out almost $2 million in life insurance policies on him.
The charges against Kouri Richins were brought in an updated court document submitted on Thursday, May 18, which resulted in the delay of a detention hearing set for Friday, May 19.
Following her husband Eric Richins’ death on March 4, 2022, Richins, 33, is charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a dangerous narcotic with the purpose of distribution.
He was discovered unconscious in their bedroom in Kamas, Utah, some 40 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, after she prepared him a Moscow Mule to celebrate a business transaction. According to a probable cause statement, he died from a fentanyl overdose, according to an autopsy and a toxicology result.
Prosecutors said Richins injected the concoction with five times the deadly quantity of fentanyl.
A year after his death, she wrote “Are You With Me?” to “create peace and comfort for children who have lost a loved one,” according to the Amazon description. The book was dedicated to “my amazing husband and a wonderful father.” It was later deleted from Amazon.
According to the court complaint filed on Thursday, Eric Richins discovered in September 2020 that his wife had secured and used a $250,000 home equity line of credit on their Kamas house, had taken at least $100,000 from his bank accounts, and had spent more than $30,000 on his credit cards.
Kouri Richins is also accused of misappropriating company distributions with the aim of making federal and state quarterly tax payments and not paying the taxes, according to the document. According to the report, the stolen tax payments amounted to at least $134,346.
According to the affidavit, Eric Richins questioned his wife about the money, and she promised to repay him.
According to the document, Eric Richins met a divorce lawyer and an estate planning lawyer the next month, in October 2020. According to the petition, he rewrote his will, established a living trust, delegated administration of his estate to his sister Katie Richins-Benson, and named the trust as the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy, all without informing his wife.
It also claims that Kouri Richins purchased at least four life insurance policies on her husband totaling approximately $2 million between 2015 and 2017. According to the affidavit, Eric Richins was ignorant that she had obtained the insurance.
Kouri Richins is also accused of changing the beneficiary on a second life insurance policy that her husband was required to have. The beneficiary of the insurance was first named as Eric Richins’ business partner.
According to the petition, Eric Richins was notified and was allowed to shift it back to his business partner.
The paper also gave further information about Kouri Richins’ alleged efforts to poison her husband with fentanyl tablets purchased from a friend named C.L. in court filings.
According to Eric Richins’ relatives, she attempted to poison him many times.
On Valentine’s Day 2022, one of the efforts occurred. Kouri Richins reportedly cooked her husband a sandwich and placed it on the seat of his vehicle with a love note, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after eating the sandwich, Eric Richins broke out in hives and had trouble breathing, the report said. Eric found his son’s EpiPen, administered it to himself, and slept.
According to the affidavit, Eric Richins feared he had been poisoned and informed a friend that he suspected his wife was attempting to poison him. According to his family’s spokesman, Eric Richins continued in his marriage with Kouri Richins despite his doubts.
According to the paper, Kouri Richins reportedly requested that C.L. get stronger fentanyl tablets in late February 2022.
C.L. originally said the defendant specifically requested some of the Michael Jackson stuff during this request for fentanyl; however, she later conceded that the defendant may have made the Michael Jackson reference during her first request for fentanyl. (Jackson died at his Los Angeles home in 2009 after receiving a deadly dosage of propofol.)
According to the paper, C.L. got the medications for Kouri Richins.
Eric Richins had five times the deadly dose of fentanyl in his system when he died, according to a medical examiner, and it was “illicit” fentanyl, not medical-grade. According to the statement, it is also likely he took the medications orally.
According to Thursday’s complaint, Kouri Richins reportedly had a locksmith drill into his safe, which held between $125,000 and $165,000 in cash. When Eric Richins’ sister urged that Kouri Richins not handle the money, Kouri Richins reportedly grew upset and attacked the sister in the face and neck.
According to the affidavit, Kouri Richins instructed C.L. to place extra fentanyl tablets in a fire pit at a property Kouri Richins owned on March 9 or March 10.
According to a request filed on Thursday, prosecutors said that they needed additional time to provide discovery relating to the new claims in the document.
The counsel for Richins said that they needed time to evaluate the information and prepare for the hearing.
“The state amended the charging information and has not yet turned over discovery that supports it,” Skye Lazaro, Kouri Richins’ attorney, said in an emailed statement. “As a result, we couldn’t be prepared to debate the sufficiency of the evidence.”
The new detention hearing date is set for June 12.
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