The Utah mother of three accused of spiking her husband’s cocktail with a lethal dose of fentanyl has made her first comments since her arrest.
Kouri Richins, 34, has been behind bars since a judge denied her bail last year. She is accused of killing her husband Eric by putting fentanyl in his Moscow mule on Valentine’s Day.
In comments provided exclusively to correspondent Andrea Canning and the Dateline: True Crime Daily PodcastRichins blasted prosecutors for “doing everything they could to prolong this process and cover up their corruption.”
‘I’ve been silent for a year, locked away from my children, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived ,’ she said.
“You took an innocent mother away from her babies. And this means war.”
Kouri Richins, 34 (left), has spoken out for the first time since her arrest in May 2023, accusing prosecutors of corruption and accusing them of ‘taking an innocent mother away from her babies’
Richins is accused of killing her husband Eric (right) by slipping a lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow mule cocktail
The comments came after a judge granted her lawyers’ request to withdraw from her defense on May 17, with lead lawyer Skye Lazaro attributing the decision to an “irreconcilable and inexcusable situation,” according to documents reviewed by DailyMail .com.
“To properly protect the constitutional rights of the defendant, this court should immediately grant the company’s request to withdraw and immediately appoint new counsel to continue the vigorous defense of the criminal charges against Ms. Richins,” said Friday’s file.
In her comments, Richins directly addressed her legal team’s withdrawal from the case.
“Represented or not, we all know and must understand that there is only so much I can say,” she said.
‘But what I want to say is that this withdrawal was not my choice. And it was not a personal choice of any counsel on my defense team.”
The request was filed just a day after the defense asked a judge to disqualify prosecutors for “serious violations” of Richins’ right to effective legal representation.
The motion pointed the finger at plaintiff Brad Bloodworth, claiming he violated attorney-client privilege through multiple violations of Richin’s 6th Amendment rights.
The document accused authorities of recording prison conversations between Richins and her defense team without their consent. Bloodworth allegedly watched and listened to the recordings from May to December 2023.
Prosecutors allege the mother of three was in debt and fraudulently obtained four different life insurance policies totaling $1.9 million before Eric’s death
The comments came after a judge granted the defense’s request to withdraw from the Richins case, citing an “irreconcilable and unresolvable situation.”
The request was filed just a day after the defense asked a judge to disqualify prosecutors for “serious violations” of Richins’ constitutional rights, including wiretapping prison sentences between attorneys and clients.
When one of Richins’ attorneys made the discovery and asked prosecutors if they were aware of it, Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson insisted she had no idea, records show.
Bloodworth, meanwhile, claimed the defense was “well aware” the conversations had been recorded, as one of the lawyers had refused to use a phone application that shielded conversations between lawyers and clients.
He claimed that prosecutors had not listened to any of the calls and insisted that the defense had obtained the recorded calls through discovery over a period of nearly eight months.
“I will no longer engage in the prosecutor’s unconstitutional conduct,” Richins said in statements to Dateline.
“While I am extremely disappointed where we are now with this matter, I am concerned. I would like to prove my innocence. I look forward to appearing in court.”
Prosecutors allege the mother of three was in debt and fraudulently took out four different life insurance policies totaling $1.9 million before challenging her husband Eric, 39, with the spiked Moscow mule in March 2022.
A year after his death, Richins published a children’s book in which a father watches over his children while wearing a pair of angel wings.
She dedicated it to Eric, calling him an “amazing husband” and “amazing father.”
Richins is charged with aggravated murder, forgery and mortgage and insurance fraud. This year she was again confronted with attempted murder, because she allegedly drugged her husband’s sandwich in an earlier attempt.
“I think my wife tried to kill me,” Eric told his friends at the time, according to witness statements.
A month later, Richins called 911 after finding Eric “cold to the touch” at the foot of their bed, according to a police report. Medical examiners discovered he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.
DailyMail.com revealed last week that the 34-year-old was dating 41-year-old Robert Grossmann, a handyman.
“If I were divorced today and asked you to marry me tomorrow, would you?” Richins texted Grossmann just weeks before Eric’s death.
The mother of three is currently being held in the Summit County Jail. She has not entered a plea and maintains her innocence.