Wife Kills Husband for Insurance Money by Poisoning him with Fentanyl in Utah
Salt Lake City, UT: Kouri Richins became famous across the country, but not because of the children’s book she wrote about dealing with grief following the death of her husband. Her husband, Richins, was murdered, and she is now on trial for his murder.
The 33-year-old Kouri Richins is facing three counts of possession with intent to distribute and one count of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony.
In their prenuptial agreement, Kouri and Eric laid out their respective financial plans for the future of their marriage. In the event of a divorce, it specified that they would continue to be owned by Eric. If “[Eric] should die prior to [Kouri] while the two are lawfully married,” the prenup stipulates that Kouri could seek ownership of certain assets.
A forklift, skidsteer, scaffolding, saws, two trucks, and a dump trailer were among the assets listed, in addition to Eric’s 50% ownership stake in C&E Stone Masonry, LLC.
It is believed that Kouri bought a total of four policies on Eric’s life, with a death payout of $1,947. Katie Richins Benson, Eric’s sister, petitioned the court to determine whether Kouri had started stealing from Eric to fund her real estate transactions.
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Kouri allegedly borrowed $30,000 in total, using false Power of Attorney to obtain money, and Eric found out that he had taken $100,000 out of his bank accounts. Allegedly, he approached Kouri, who then pledged to repay him. Nevertheless, she kept mum on the subject.
Reportedly, Eric sought the advice of attorneys specializing in estate preparation and divorce. In order to ensure that his three children would primarily benefit from his assets, he revised his will and established the Eric Richins Living Trust, with his sister Katie Richins-Benson serving as trustee. In addition to remitting his business partnership stake to his trust, he changed the beneficiary of his $500,000 life insurance policy from Kouri to the trust.
The $2 million life insurance policy owned by Eric Richins was allegedly transferred to Kouri ‘without authorization.’ Initially, Eric’s business partner was the one who benefited. Unfortunately, the insurance company caught wind of this, and Eric’s business partner is now back on the list of beneficiaries.
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Kouri allegedly asked her acquaintance multiple times for pain medicine prescriptions for an investor who had hurt his back. While reportedly flipping a property near Midway, Kouri left some hydrocodone tablets and some cash.
After that, Kouri allegedly contacted her old acquaintance again, this time asking for fentanyl or “some of the Michael Jackson stuff,” as Kouri put it. According to reports, Kouri paid $900 for the fifteen to twenty fentanyl pills that his acquaintance provided him.
In their Kamas home, Eric and Kouri celebrated Valentine’s Day with a supper, according to the charge papers. As soon as the meal ended, Eric supposedly started to feel really sick and confided in a friend that he believed his wife was attempting to poison him.
Reportedly, Kouri reached out to her acquaintance once more, this time requesting 900 more fentanyl pills. As before, the tablets were left at the same Midway residence by the friend.
According to Kouri, she and Eric were celebrating her business closing on a residence. According to her, Eric drank his Moscow Mule in bed after she mixed it in the kitchen and took it to their bedroom. A THC gummy was present in his system.
Kouri mentioned that not long after that, she went to bed to put her child to sleep and promptly dozed off.
Claiming to have woken up at 3:22 a.m., Kouri contacted 911 after discovering Eric Richins’s body at the foot of their bed.
While she was in her bedroom with her child, she allegedly left her phone plugged in. However, the phone indicated many instances of being locked and unlocked, and there was movement on the screen. Additionally, within this time frame, other communications were sent and received; however, those messages were later erased.
An autopsy confirmed that Eric’s cause of death was a fentanyl overdose. According to the medical examiner, he had almost five times the fatal dosage of fentanyl in his system. The medical examiner found that the fentanyl was taken orally.
In a challenge to Eric’s sister’s authority as executor of the trust, Kouri asserted a claim against the estate.
Kouri was taken into custody on three charges of drug possession with the intent to distribute and one charge of aggravated murder.
