A Utah mother accused of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule appeared in court looking disheveled as she cried in court.
Richins is accused of poisoning her husband Eric, 39, by putting five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow mule in March 2022.
Richins appeared in court again today in Summit County along with her attorney, Skye Lazaro.
Richins wore a blue prison uniform and appeared disheveled as Lazaro comforted her after the hearing.
When asked about that moment after the hearing, Lazaro told KUTV 2News, “It’s hard.” “She was in custody. She lost her children. She’s going through a lot. “All she wanted from the start was to mourn her husband.”
Richins appeared in court again today in Summit County along with her attorney, Skye Lazaro
Richins looked disheveled in her prison uniform next to her attorney, who briefly comforted the mother of three
During Friday’s hearing, Lazaro told Judge Richard Mrazik that she had a lot of documents to go through and needed more time.
Mrazik agreed with her and set another updated status for November 3, when the case will be called again.
Richins and her husband had argued over their plans to buy and remodel a 10-acre, $2 million home in the days before he was found dead in their Utah home last March, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Eric discovered that his wife had taken out and spent $250,000 on a home equity loan, withdrawn $100,000 from his bank accounts and spent more than $30,000 on his credit cards.
According to the documents, Kouri Richins also stole approximately $134,000 from her husband’s business that was intended for tax payments.
The documents show that she agreed to pay her husband back when he confronted her about the missing money.
A day after his death, search warrant affidavits show that Kouri signed closing papers on the property and invited friends to a party where she drank and partied.
The mother of three later self-published a children’s book called “Are You with Me?” about a deceased father wearing angel wings who watches over his sons.
The mother of three, pictured here with her late husband Eric, is said to have poisoned her husband
Richins had written a book, pictured here, after her husband’s death and appeared on television to promote it
Richins and her husband had argued in the days before he was found dead over their plans to buy and remodel a 10-acre, $2 million home (pictured here).
She promoted it on television and radio, describing the book as a way to help children grieve the loss of a loved one.
She said in an interview that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding “nothing” that “could handle it.”
“I went on Amazon and Barnes and Noble to find something to help us get through the night. Nights are the hardest.” I just wanted a story to read to my kids at night, but I couldn’t find anything that would suit them, so I thought, “Let’s just write one.”
She continued to describe her husband’s death as a “shock.”
“My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. March 4th was a one-year anniversary for us. He was 39.
“It completely shocked us all,” she claimed.
Prosecutors say Kouri poisoned Eric with a lethal amount of the drug to get money from his life insurance policy.
Richins was arrested in May on charges of first-degree aggravated murder and multiple counts of second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
After Richins published her children’s picture book about grief, she appeared on television shows to promote it and tell her story
Prosecutors say Kouri poisoned Eric with a lethal amount of the drug to get money from his life insurance policy
Before his death in March 2022, Eric had changed his will to make his sister the sole beneficiary of his life insurance and, according to his family, even considered divorcing Kouri.
Family lawyer and spokesman Greg Skordas previously told that Eric feared Kouri would try to kill him after he became violently ill in two separate cases after drinking or eating with his wife.
According to authorities, Kouri altered Eric’s joint life insurance policy, which he shared with his business partner Cody Wright, so that she was the sole beneficiary.
But when the insurance company notified the partners who own C&E Stone Masonry of the change, they were able to reverse it.
An undated family photo taken during the holidays with the dog
After discovering that Richins had attempted to change his life insurance policy, Eric changed the beneficiary of his will and power of attorney to his sister.
An arrest warrant states he did so without telling his wife because he was afraid she would “kill him for money.”
After his death, an unnamed acquaintance came forward and revealed that he had sold Kouri the fentanyl.
After his death, Kouri claimed he had been addicted to painkillers in high school, but there have been no substance abuse problems since then.
Friends and family told police they had no idea Eric was addicted to any form of medication, and officers found no painkillers in the family home.
She has not yet entered a plea to felony murder, aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance
Pictured: Kouri and Eric Richins married in June 2013
If the case goes to trial, it could hinge largely on an unidentified informant who prosecutors say sold Richins the drugs that forensic investigators later found in her husband’s system.
Charging documents and arrest warrants detail detailed interviews in which the informant said she sold Richins hydrocodone and fentanyl in the weeks and months before her husband’s death.
Prosecutors say the timing of the drug purchase coincides with Eric’s death and her claim that his wife spiked a Valentine’s Day sandwich with hydrocodone weeks earlier.
After her husband survived the first suspected poisoning, prosecutors say Kouri Richins demanded stronger drugs, “some of Michael Jackson,” the dealer told investigators.
When the pop star died of cardiac arrest in 2009, medical examiners found prescription drugs and powerful anesthetics, not fentanyl, in his system.
Richins 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.’