The Utah mother, who has been dubbed the “Moscow Mule Killer,” will appear for a bail hearing this morning to decide whether or not to be released from prison pending her trial in the March 2022 death of her husband Eric not.
Kouri Richins, 33, faces murder and drug possession charges. Later, the mother-of-three self-published an illustrated book about an angelic father watching over his sons.
Prosecutors say in court documents that she dumped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule cocktail she prepared for her husband Eric Richins amid marital strife and bickering over a multimillion-dollar mansion she ended up buying as an investment .
“The state has presented no evidence that fentanyl was present in the home.” “Nor has they presented any evidence that Kouri administered the fentanyl in question,” Richins’ attorney Skye Lazaro said. The author will appear in court in Park City at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
It later emerged that Richins had Googled “luxury prisons for the rich in America” and “Is Naxolon similar to heroin,” ABC 4 reports.
Mosow Mule “killer” Kouri Richins, who wrote a book for children about dealing with grief after her husband’s death, reportedly googled “luxury prisons for the wealthy” after his assassination.
Richins attorney Skye Lazaro, pictured here, said the state had not produced any evidence that fentanyl was present in the home.
When indictments were filed last month, the case became a real crime. This caused people to brood over the children’s book and question its remarks, while also promoting it as a tool for children to grieve the loss of a loved one.
Lazaro called Eric Richins a “party-goer” who used “alcohol and THC.” “Law enforcement has never investigated an alternative theory that Eric’s alcohol and drug use may have escalated,” she added.
It has now been revealed that Richins has also been looking into whether police can see deleted texts, whether cops can force you to take a lie detector test and how long life insurance payouts take.
Curiously, Richins was also researching how to hire someone to write a book and suggested that their now infamous band Are You With Me? could have been written by a ghostwriter.
According to ABC 4, Kouri allegedly used her personal devices to access an article titled “Signs of Being Under Federal Investigation.”
Another article titled “Delayed payment of death certificate claim with cause of death pending” was in the woman’s browsing history.
This last article is related to other previously released financial documents, such as their attempt to collect at least $2 million after his death.
Other, less somber searches included “how to reverse microblading?”, “what kind of doctor was dr. Pepper’ and ‘Lil Nas X Married’.
The mother is also said to have googled how to hire someone to write a book for you.
Criminal defense attorney Clayton Simms said she may have been trying to understand the trial and how long it might take to investigate his death
After Eric’s death, Kouri wrote a book called Are You With Me?. – a picture book designed to help children deal with the death of a loved one.
Sometime after Eric’s death, she appeared on a local television show to promote the book, saying she co-wrote it with her three children after their father’s death.
Her search history also revealed that the woman had googled multiple times to see if her family had donated money to the Summit County Police Department.
A lawyer who spoke to ABC 4 said she didn’t think the searches conclusively indicated guilt on her behalf.
Criminal defense attorney Clayton Simms said she may have been trying to understand the trial and how long it might take to investigate his death.
However, Simms stated that he did not consider the searches to be “insignificant”.
“I think her state of mind, what she sees, what she researches might be important, but I don’t think there’s definitely anything to suggest guilt,” he said.
Eric’s family told investigators shortly after his death that they suspect Richins killed the father of three. Pictured: Kouri and Eric Richens with their three children
After Eric’s death, Kouri wrote Are You With Me? – a picture book she wrote to help children cope with the death of a loved one
Just last week, reported that Kouri was allegedly speaking to documentary filmmakers from behind bars while awaiting trial.
The Summit County District Attorney’s Office requested a judge in the Kouri case to bar those involved from speaking to the media.
Prosecutors say at least four documentary crews in North America and Europe have expressed an interest in making a documentary about the case.
Third Circuit Court Judge Richard Mrazik denied the motion Friday.
If the case goes to trial, it could depend largely on an unidentified whistleblower who prosecutors say sold Richins the drugs coroners later found in her husband’s system.
Indictment documents and warrants detail interviews in which the whistleblower said she sold Richin’s hydrocodone and fentanyl in the weeks and months leading up to her husband’s death.
Prosecutors say the drug purchase timeline coincides with the death of Eric Richins and her allegation that his wife spiked hydrocodone into a Valentine’s Day sandwich weeks earlier.
After her husband survived the first suspected poisoning, Kouri Richins demanded stronger drugs, “some from Michael Jackson,” the dealer told investigators, according to prosecutors.
When the pop star died of cardiac arrest in 2009, medical examiners found prescription drugs and powerful anesthetics, not fentanyl, in his system.
Richens repeatedly denied her involvement on the day of his death in March 2022, even telling police, “My husband is active.” He doesn’t just die in his sleep. That’s crazy.’
In a motion for his release filed Friday, Richins’ attorneys argued the evidence against them was circumstantial because police never seized fentanyl from the family home.
They also questioned the credibility of the key witnesses, who were expected to support the prosecution’s request to keep her in custody.
Lawyers said prosecutors “simply accepted” Eric Richins’ family’s account that his wife poisoned him and “acted backwards to back it up,” spending about 14 months investigating and finding no evidence had that could support their theory.
The case also brought the spotlight to Kamas, Utah, a farming town in the back of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains near Park City, one of the premier skiing, hiking and recreational destinations in the western United States.
Richins and her husband had been arguing over their plans to buy and remodel a 10-acre, $2 million home (pictured here) in the days before he was found dead
Prosecutors say Eric found out his wife took out a $250,000 home equity loan and spent it in the months leading up to his death
The couple and their three sons lived in a new development in the town of Francis, about 50 miles east of Salt Lake City.
The indictment documents indicate that the case will likely revolve around financial and marital disputes as possible motives. The couple had been arguing over whether to buy an unfinished 20,000-square-foot mansion nearby and were discussing a divorce before his death, court filings say.
Prosecutors also say that prior to her husband’s death, Kouri Richins made major changes to the family’s estate plans and purchased life insurance for him
with benefits totaling nearly $2 million.
They also allege that Richins took out and spent $250,000 on a home equity loan, withdrew $100,000 from her husband’s bank accounts, spent more than $30,000 on his credit cards, and spent about $134,000 on taxes on his company stolen.
Some of the allegations correspond to civil court records
filed various cases following the death of Eric Richins in which his blood relatives and widowed wife filed competing lawsuits over how a bricklaying business with his former partner could be split and whether Kouri Richins could benefit from a trust fund for his next of kin.
Greg Skordas, an attorney and victim advocate who works with Eric Richins’ relatives, said Richins’ three children are staying with a relative while their mother awaits trial. Katie Richins-Benson, Eric Richins’ sister and executor of his estate, has applied for guardianship.