Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three convicted of murdering her husband, Eric Richins, took the stand in Summit County’s Third District Court shortly before she was sentenced to life in prison without parole to read an open letter to her young sons, offering them parental advice in addition to declarations of her innocence and comments slamming local court staff and law enforcement officials for how they handled her case.
Criminal defendants typically have a chance to address the judge before sentencing is determined. Many take the opportunity to express remorse, apologize to victims or convince the judge that they’re working toward rehabilitation to receive a lighter sentence.
But Kouri had a different approach, reading a letter she’d written to her children, saying it was the only available route she had to contact them.
“When the day comes that you’re ready, I will be here for you, waiting for you and loving you,” she said. “But I need you boys to know and understand that I have been desperately trying to get in contact with you any way that I can for years, that all of my communication has been completely cut off from you since early 2024, and now I will use any opportunity I can to get a message to you even if that means sharing it publicly to the world, fully restrained in my jail clothes in one of the most horrible situations possible.”
Kouri told her children that their aunt and uncle had obtained temporary custody of them “against (her) wishes” after her arrest, cutting off all communication between them and their mother. She said she “warned” social services that giving custody to Eric’s sister would mean she would never see her kids again and that they would start to believe the same narrative and allegations levied against her during her trial.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Kouri said. “You need to know the Darden side of the family fought a long, hard battle for custody but was eventually ignored and denied.”
She also told her sons she was sorry for the trauma they had experienced and their feelings “were completely valid.” She called herself an imperfect person before launching into a lengthy list of advice, encouraging them to be honest, resilient and ambitious.
“We are not defined by our best or our worst moments,” Kouri said.
Kouri acknowledged marital problems, saying she knew it was wrong that the couple hid things from each other, and encouraged her kids to not keep secrets. However, she also insisted that there was “big love” in their marriage, which is why they stayed together for the boys and committed to resolving their issues instead of seeking a divorce.
“When your love is enough, your love keeps you together,” she said. “Your love is all you need to ignore the noise. Your love never fails. Sometimes your dad would want to throw in the towel in our marriage, or I would want to throw in the towel in our marriage, but we never did. We always found our way back to each other.”
Not everything in Kouri’s statement seemed solely directed at her children, though, with a few pieces of advice appearing to refer to criticisms and comments Kouri has faced online and in the media since her arrest. Specifically, she told her kids to be proud of their ability to “hold it together” when going through a tough time, even if they look “emotionless” to others.
“True strength comes when everyone is expecting you to fall apart,” Kouri said. “There’s always going to be someone out there ready to tear you down, misrepresent you, lie about you, tell half-truths and judge you. They will judge you on decisions you do or don’t make, what you did or didn’t do, what you did or didn’t say. They will take it out of context or twist your words. They will judge you on your emotions and the way you grieve.”
Kouri also seemingly referred to Summit County prosecutors’ decision to pursue charges against her, a move she has repeatedly depicted as the result of a conspiracy theory crafted by Katie Richins-Benson, Eric’s sister.
“Ignore their egos, their entitlement and their biased judgment,” Kouri said. “Those who abuse the power in the positions they hold will have a higher power to report to one day, and that higher power holds the final truth, their final truth. … Never apologize for something you didn’t do. Never admit to something you didn’t do, and never beg for mercy for something you didn’t do.”
She told her sons that she knows they’ll want answers from her about what happened to their dad when they’re older, but she claimed she didn’t have any information she could give them.
“I do know what it’s like to wonder, ‘What if Dad could have watched me graduate college, walk me down the aisle, be there for the birth of one of you boys?’” Kouri said, drawing parallels between her sons and the death of her own father when she was a child. “I do know what that’s like, the lifetime of pain that brings, the sadness and the anger. I would never wish that upon anyone, especially you boys, my own, sweet babies.”
Kouri said it was “cruel” and “heartless” for people to “scare” her kids into thinking she doesn’t have their best interests at heart, adding that their health and happiness has always been her top priority. She called any accusation that she murdered their dad “an absolute lie.”
“I’m sorry that eight people from a jury who have never met you or me or our family have the right to determine our future, and they did that in less than three hours,” Kouri said. “In a perfect world, there might be justice, but in a perfect world, nothing ever goes wrong. Tragedies don’t happen. … God did not put me in this world to take a life. God put me in this world to give life, your lives, and I don’t know who or what I’m supposed to be if it’s not a mother.”
She added that she will appeal her case and continue to fight her charges “no matter how long it takes.”
“I can beat myself up all day about how I could have been a better person or made better personal choices, and I can understand and accept you boys being upset about those things, but murder? No. Absolutely not,” Kouri said. “I will not accept that, and I will not be blamed for something I did not do. … I need you boys to know the truth, and because of that, I will never quit or give up on this fight for justice, the truth and coming home to you.”
Amy Richins, Eric’s sister, remarked on Kouri’s letter shortly after the ruling, telling media outlets she wished Kouri would look inward and take some of her own advice.
“I just think some of the lies are intense,” Amy said. “They’re still lying, and I don’t understand why, but I wish more than anything, because she was talking about how they should be honest, … I wish she would look in and follow some of that on her own.”
She said Kouri didn’t show any remorse during the sentencing hearing and that she “lives in her own little world.”
“No sentence can undo the trauma this has caused,” Amy said. “It has affected every part of our lives. It changed holidays, birthdays, relationships and a sense of safety and trust we once had in the world around us. For more than four years, my family has endured unimaginable grief while also facing misinformation and intense public and media scrutiny. Today, the noise stops.”
Amy thanked Summit County prosecutors, law enforcement, jurors, friends and the family’s team of civil attorneys who have worked to protect Eric’s assets and finances for the sake of his children’s future.
“Most importantly, I want Eric’s sons, my nephews, to know this: Your father mattered,” Amy said. “He was completely loved, as are you, and no verdict, sentence or passage of time will erase that. As a family, we will continue moving forward as best we can, carrying Eric with us, honoring his memory and choosing to live in a way that honors the life he deserved to live.”
Amy encouraged others to perform kind acts for strangers in Eric’s memory, saying he was a “wonderful man” and that everyone else will now need to step up “to embody his kindness.”
“We just hope that the story about Eric continues on and that people will live through (him) and do kind things and look up to him,” she said.