Mom Laced Sandwich With Lethal Drugs, But For Who?

Kouri Richins, 35, has been found guilty of murder after the Summit County jury in Utah began deliberating late Monday afternoon and reached a verdict after about three hours as she has been found guilty on all five counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder.

Her sentencing has been scheduled for May 13.

Kouri was charged with aggravated murder in connection with the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins when he was found dead in bed on March 4, 2022.

An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document.

The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, according to the charging document.

Prosecutors allege she spiked his drink with a lethal dose of fentanyl that she purchased illicitly after asking two people for the “Michael Jackson drug.”

Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said during closing arguments on Monda, “Kouri Richins was a suburban mother, real estate agent. She does not know a lot about the illicit street drug world, but she knows Michael Jackson died from taking drugs. She doesn’t know how to order a street drug, but she knows she wants the Michael Jackson stuff. She knows she wants it because it is lethal. It is fatal. It kills. And she wanted lethal, fatal death.”

Her charges also include attempted aggravated murder, with prosecutors alleging she gave her husband a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine’s Day two weeks before his death in an initial, failed attempt to kill him.

She was also accused of committing insurance fraud by taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on his life with his forged signature and then submitting a claim following his alleged murder.

She pleaded not guilty and has maintained her innocence.

A witness testified during the trial that in December 2021, the 35 year old said to her that “in many ways it would be better” if Eric Richins “were dead.”

In February 19, 2022, days after the alleged attempted murder attempt, prosecutors said Kouri texted her boyfriend, “If he could just go away and you could just be here! Life would be so perfect!!”

Kouri deleted her texts and phone logs with multiple people, including her former housecleaner, Carmen Lauber, who testified about obtaining illicit drugs at Kouri's request in the weeks prior to Eric's death.

She argued that the suspect was worried about being investigated and her deleted messages in the wake of her husband’s death, as evidenced by searches on her phone such as, “can cops force you to do a lie detector test” and “can deleted text messages be retrieved from an iPhone.”