Kouri Richins faces an aggravated murder charge for allegedly poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule on March 3, 2022, but the Kamas mother of three is facing a new felony for his attempted homicide about a month earlier.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office on Monday submitted court documents accusing Kouri of tampering with a Valentine’s Day meal that later caused Eric to black out and feel like “he was going to die.” Prosecutors charged her with first-degree attempted criminal homicide, as well as several new financial crimes in connection to her husband’s death.
‘I think my wife tried to poison me‘
According to court documents, Kouri placed an order at “a certain diner in Kamas” around 9 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. Then she left him a sandwich with a note in the front seat of his truck.
Eric told a close friend he thought his wife was trying to poison him after he fell ill eating the sandwich. Eric told the friend he took one bite and broke out into hives. Then he injected himself with his son’s EpiPen, took some medicine and went to sleep.
Prosecutors suspect the sandwich contained fentanyl, which can cause allergic and pseudoallergic reactions such as hives. Eric did not have food allergies.
Eric texted Kouri around 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 14 saying he didn’t feel well and contemplated going to the hospital. She responded a minute later encouraging him to take a nap and call her when he wakes up, according to court documents.
His phone ceased activity for nearly two hours. Eric texted Kouri around 1:43 p.m. to ask if she was home. Then he called a friend. “You almost lost me,” he reportedly said. The friend said Eric sounded fearful as he recounted what happened.
Kouri was not home at the time of the alleged poisoning, according to court documents. She told Eric she was in Provo. Earlier in the day, she texted her “paramour” that she was headed that way and sent a map of her driving on S.R. 32 to an unknown location. Her projected arrival was 10:49 a.m.
Kouri texted her best friend a few months after Eric’s death saying she ordered lunch, but he never used an EpiPen. She also told her mother and brother she was the person who picked up the sandwiches.
Drug charges amended
Prosecutors said Kouri exchanged 30 text messages with the woman, her house cleaner, who supplied her with fentanyl on Valentine’s Day. The pair were also in constant communication between Jan. 1, 2022, and March 15, 2022; cell phone records show 746 texts, 94 multimedia messages and 12 phone calls.
Kouri allegedly tried to purchase drugs from someone she employed to help her renovate houses before she secured a dealer. The individual told law enforcement Kouri asked him for fentanyl and propofol. He told her he could not get it, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Kouri later asked her dealer for something stronger in late February. Court filings show she purchased $1,800 worth of fentanyl pills in the weeks leading up to Eric’s overdose.
She was previously charged with three counts of possession with intent to distribute. The charges have been amended to two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony.
Accusations of fraud, forgery
The County Attorney’s Office also charged Kouri with new financial crimes. Prosecutors allege she had a motive to kill her husband for money, saying Kouri was in “financial distress” at the time of Eric’s death.
Kouri now faces two counts each of mortgage and insurance fraud, second-degree felonies, as well as three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
Prosecutors said Kouri was the beneficiary of at least three life insurance policies on Eric with aggregate death benefits of $1.3 million. She also mistakenly believed she was the beneficiary of a fourth policy for $500,000.
Kouri learned she would not inherit her husband’s estate soon after his death.
According to court documents, she had a negative bank balance, owed hard money lenders at least $1.8 million and was being sued by a creditor for tens of thousands of dollars. Kouri also allegedly bounced several checks, submitted false bank statements in support of a mortgage loan, submitted a false insurance application on Eric’s life and fraudulently claimed benefits from his death.
Kouri allegedly told a friend she felt stuck and trapped in her marriage, and that “it would be better if Eric Richins just died,” according to court documents.
She is being held without bail for the duration of her trial. A preliminary hearing date has been set for 9 a.m. on May 15 at the Third District Court.