Utah grief author Kouri Richins offers chilling details about her husband being charged with poisoning

A Utah mother and children’s author accused of poisoning her husband wrote a chilling email to police in an attempt to explain away the “exotic vacations” she took after his death.

Kouri Richins, 33, allegedly poisoned her husband Eric with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule in March 2022, before publishing a picture book to help children cope with the loss of a loved one.

In an email to authorities while the death was being investigated, Richins answered questions about why she was taking lavish vacations while mourning his death.

“You asked about all the exotic vacations I’ve taken since Eric passed away. I made two trips last year,” she wrote.

“First off, my kids tried it out at soccer camp in SLC [Salt Lake City] to qualify to play in Spain in June and both my kids made it. So yes, I took them to Spain in October 2022.’

In the months before her husband’s death, Kouri had tried to make herself the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy.

A police search warrant noted that Eric 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.

While the investigation was ongoing, police discovered that Kouri had made a number of trips shortly after her husband’s ‘shock’ death.

Despite describing two trips she made in 2022 in the email to police, she also noted a third trip to Mexico five months after his death.

“I took my kids and my mom came with us to Mexico in August 2022. As I hope you understand, the months leading up to Eric’s death were difficult to deal with,” Richins wrote.

Although police investigated the suspicious trips, the Utah mother claimed her family routinely vacationed abroad every year.

‘Eric and I also went to Mexico every year, sometimes twice. We have traveled A LOT. We’ve been to Mexico a few times with the boys,’ she said.

“This is not new for us to go to Mexico or for us to go out of the country or go on vacation with our kids.”

The email also stated that Richins claimed her husband “didn’t want me to work” because his ex-wife was having an affair with a colleague.

She said that Eric had wanted her to be a “housewife” and a “typically conservative woman,” and that her job as a real estate agent threatened him.

“Eric wanted us to live the typical conservative life where the man takes care of his family and the woman is a housewife, wife, mother and that’s all,” she said.

‘That’s not my personality and not the way I was raised. I’m very independent.’

Eric reportedly had been having an affair for some time before his death, but Richins said the couple had tried to work through their issues.

She added that she had restrained herself from leaving their home and only threatened to do so to get him to end the alleged affair.

Richins described her mental health issues in the email to police, saying she took medication for postpartum depression following the birth of her second child in 2014.

She said she hoped to end the investigation into her husband’s death as soon as possible, including ending alleged harassment by a private investigator and her husband’s family.

“I just want this to be over, I just want our lives to go back and forth and grieve and grieve for my husband without constantly looking over my shoulder at you guys or the idiotic private investigator or the Richins family,” she wrote.

“Whatever I can do to help fix this, just ask, I’ll give or tell you anything you want to know!”

Earlier this year, Richins had appeared on a local TV station to promote her book “Help Coping With Grief” to children, titled “Are You With Me?”

Video from that performance shows her calling her husband’s death a “shock” and talking wistfully about how she helped their three sons through the grief.

My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. March 4 was an anniversary for us, he turned 39.

“It completely shocked us all,” she said.

“We have three little boys, ten, nine, and six, and my kids and I have written this book about the different emotions and grieving we’ve been through over the past year.”

She said 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 out 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.’

Richins had told police she had resuscitated Eric after finding him unconscious in their home, but the fire department and medics who arrived at the scene said this was unlikely as blood was coming from his mouth.

According to court documents, Richins had purchased $900 worth of fentanyl pills from an acquaintance for the Valentine’s Day meal, and two weeks later asked for another $900. Days later, Eric died of an overdose.

Court documents show 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.

In addition to the murder charge, Richins also faces charges for alleged possession of GHB – a narcolepsy drug commonly used in recreational settings, including dance clubs.

She was arrested May 8 and is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a controlled substance.