Mormon mother-of-three and funeral author Kouri Richins, who is accused of murdering her husband by spiked his Moscow Mule with a lethal mix of vodka and fentanyl, will not face the death penalty if convicted.
Richins, 33, who allegedly poisoned her millionaire businessman Eric Richins, 39, in March 2022 at their home near Park City Utah and then published a picture book about grief to help her children cope with the loss to go, the possibility of an execution will be spared.
The victim’s sisters and father reached the decision Friday after Summit County prosecutors said the decision was made in “careful consultation.” The notice has been filed in Utah’s 3rd District Court, The New York Post reported.
Richins was arrested in May on charges of first-degree murder and multiple counts of second-degree possession of a control substance with intent to distribute.
Prosecutors said her murder charges will be treated as a premeditated felony, according to the news outlet.
Pictured: Mormon mother of three accused of poisoning her husband with a deadly cocktail in March 2022 is seen in court on June 12 during a bail hearing in Park City, Utah
Richins was handcuffed and wearing a chain around her waist when she was escorted out of the courtroom by police
A close-up of Richins looking morose while handcuffed in court with a chain around her waist
Richins is also suing her husband’s estate, claiming she earns money and physical assets, as set out in a prenuptial agreement entered into prior to their marriage in June 2013.
On June 9, she filed a civil suit claiming to be entitled to half of all shares in the couple’s home, which she estimates are “worth at least $1.9 million, as well as approximately $2 million in proceeds.” from the sale of Eric’s share. of a stonemason company after his death.
She is currently being held without bail in Summit County Jail for allegedly murdering her husband on March 4, 2022 by feeding him a Moscow Mule laced with approximately five times the lethal dose of fentanyl.
She has not yet entered a plea to charges of murder, aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance, but her sister-in-law, Katie, claimed she had a financial motive for the murder.
Kouri and Eric got married in June 2013, but before walking down the aisle, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement in which Eric included a list of assets and debts acquired prior to their marriage that he wanted to keep in his possession when the two were to divorce.
It included Eric’s 50 percent ownership stake in C&E Stone Masonry LLC, saying the company would remain his sole property even if Kouri invested in or spent money on the company.
According to the agreement, obtained by ABC 4, the only way Kouri can claim ownership or rights to the company is if Eric “dies before (Kouri) while the two are legally married.”
But prior to his death, Eric reportedly transferred ownership of the company to the Eric Richins Living Trust, and after he was found dead in their childhood home in Kamas, the company’s interest was sold to his partner, Cody Wright.
Proceeds from that sale were about $2 million, according to the lawsuit, but are currently on hold as Kouri claims that while her husband transferred the business interest to the trust, it does not diminish her rights as set out in the prenuptial agreement.
Pictured: Kouri and Eric Richins got married in June 2013
An undated family photo taken during the holidays and the dog
The mourning book ‘Are you with me?’ which Richins wrote a year after her husband’s death
She also argued that their family home was not included in Eric’s list of assets before their marriage, which she says is proof that it is a joint matrimonial property, and that she should therefore be entitled to half of all home equity on the house they had. purchased in 2012 for $400,000.
Kouri argued that she contributed to the down payment on the house, monthly mortgage payments and utilities.
She also said that after Eric’s death, she financed a pool and fencing at the house, which were contracted before his death.
But a search warrant following Eric’s sudden death noted that he had expressed concern that his wife was trying to kill him, and that he had changed his will and power of attorney to give his sister full control before he was allegedly poisoned.
Eric set up a trust on November 3, 2020, and Kouri said he put the family home into the trust without her consent or knowledge.
He also allegedly transferred personal property (purchased with money from his and Kouri’s joint bank accounts) without Kouri’s knowledge or consent.
But Eric’s sister claimed he set up the trust after discovering Kouri had stolen or embezzled about $494,000 of his money.
Katie alleged in a petition to block Kouri’s claims to Eric’s estate that in 2016, just three years after their marriage, Kouri started having financial problems and started stealing money from Eric to help with her real estate business.
She argued that Kouri had taken money from his bank accounts and gone into debt on his credit cards without his knowledge — even trying to change his life insurance policy to make her the sole beneficiary.
According to the petition, Eric learned in September 2020 that Kouri had taken at least $100,000 from his bank accounts and borrowed about $30,000 from his credit cards.
Katie said he then confronted Kouri about the stolen money and she admitted to taking it.
Around the same time, Katie claimed, Eric discovered that Kouri had borrowed another $250,000 using a fraudulent power of attorney claim.
Kouri Richins can be seen in a professional photo posted to her Facebook account
The petition alleged that in March 2019, Kouri opened a bank account with a revolving line of credit and borrowed $250,000 without Eric’s knowledge or consent, forging his signature.
She then allegedly had Eric sign a power of attorney legally binding Eric to the loan, but “when signing, Eric did not believe he was signing such substantial rights.”
Katie said that Eric confronted Kouri about the fraudulent loan and she allegedly admitted that she took the loan in error and promised to pay it back.
She reportedly repeated this promise – as well as the one to pay Eric back for the stolen bank money and credit card charges just a few days before Eric’s death.
In addition, the petition states, in January 2022, Kouri allegedly logged into Eric’s life insurance account without his consent and turned Cody’s beneficiary into herself.
But her attempt was unsuccessful, as the change had been discovered, and Eric turned it back into Cody.
Kouri also reportedly promised that she would pay Eric’s tax obligations for his business and for his personal account with Eric’s money, but she reportedly misused funds to be paid by C&E for both the company’s tax obligations company as well as Eric’s personal tax obligations.
The total amount Kouri misdirected or stole that was intended to be paid for Eric’s federal tax liabilities is at least $80,024, according to the petition, while the total amount for state tax liabilities is reportedly at least $134,346.
However, Katie’s motion to disqualify Kouri from the estate cannot be granted until Kouri is found guilty or not guilty of her husband’s murder.
Authorities said Richins told police she had resuscitated Eric after finding him unconscious in their home, but firefighters and medics who arrived at the scene said this was unlikely as blood was coming from his mouth.
According to court documents, Richins had bought $900 worth of fentanyl pills from an acquaintance before the Valentine’s Day meal, and two weeks later she asked for $900 more. Days later, Eric died of an overdose.
Court documents showed he had an allergic reaction after a meal with Richins. He couldn’t breathe and passed out after using an EpiPen and taking Benadryl.
After Eric’s death, Richins had claimed he was addicted to painkillers in high school, but had no substance abuse issues since then.
But friends and family told police they had no idea Eric was addicted to any kind of drug, and officers found no painkillers in the family home.
It was later discovered that Kouri took her children on lavish vacations shortly after Eric’s death.
Nearly a year later, she wrote a book to help children deal with grief entitled “Are You With Me?”
She said in an interview earlier this year that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding “nothing” to help them “cope.”
“I went on Amazon and Barnes and Noble to try to find something to help us cope at night, nights are the hardest. I just wanted a story to read to my kids at night and I couldn’t find anything that suited them, so I was like, ‘Let’s just write one.’
She went on to describe her husband’s death as a “shock.”
My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. March 4 was an anniversary for us. He was 39.
“It completely shocked us all,” she claimed.