A team of attorneys has withdrawn from representing a Utah mother accused of killing her husband with fentanyl and then publishing a children’s book about loss and grief.
It was unclear why Kouri Richins’ private attorneys withdrew from the case; they cited only an “irreconcilable and unresolvable situation” in a lawsuit asking to leave. Judge Richard Mrazik of Utah District Court in Salt Lake City granted the request Monday after a closed hearing.
The move could delay the case against Richins, who has adamantly maintained her innocence. As of Tuesday, no new lawyer has come forward to represent her.
Richins, 33, is accused of killing her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule cocktail she made for him in March 2022 at their home near Park City. Additional charges filed in March accuse Richins of trying to poison her with fentanyl in a sandwich a month earlier.
Prosecutors accuse Richins of making secret financial arrangements and purchasing the illegal drug while her husband began harboring suspicions about her.
After her husband’s death, Richins self-published an illustrated storybook about a father with angel wings watching over his young son, entitled “Are You With Me?” The mother of three has repeatedly called her husband’s death unexpected and many praised the book for helping children cope with the loss of a close family member.
In the year since her arrest, the case of a once-beloved author accused of profiting from her own violent crime has fascinated true-crime enthusiasts.
Richins’ lead attorney, Skye Lazaro, had argued that the evidence against her client is questionable and circumstantial. Lazaro and other attorneys for Richins did not return messages Tuesday seeking comment on their withdrawal from the case.
Eric Richins, 39, died amid marital discord over a multimillion-dollar mansion his wife bought as an investment. She also opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with payouts totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors allege.
Kouri Richins had a negative balance in her bank account, owed lenders more than $1.8 million and was being sued by a creditor at the time of her husband’s death, court documents show.