by Debbie Burke
In March 2022, Eric Richins died suddenly, two months before his 40th birthday, leaving his three young sons grieving. His obituary described him as a devoted family man married to the “love of his life,” Kouri. His funeral was held at the Henefer (Utah) LDS Church.
After his death, Kouri wrote and self-published a children’s book entitled Are You With Me? She claimed her motive for writing the book was to help her children through their grief but also to help other families dealing with loss of a loved one.
She promoted the book on a Utah radio station. According to the interview, “The book is based on questions that her children asked in the months after their dad died.”
Kouri planned to publish another grief-themed children’s book: Mom, How Far Away is Heaven?
But her literary career was cut short when she was charged with murdering her husband. She was accused of spiking his Moscow Mule with Fentanyl that, according to the autopsy, was five times the lethal dose.
Her motive for that act wasn’t as altruistic as writing a grief support book.
Kouri reportedly believed she would inherit the successful businessman’s estate. She had also taken out multiple life insurance policies on him while having an affair.
But Eric had discovered the love of his life had run up more than a million dollars in debts and he had cut her out of his will years before.
Kouri was charged with insurance fraud, forgery, and aggravated murder for pecuniary gain, as well as attempted murder for a previous unsuccessful attempt to kill Eric on Valentine’s Day, 2022.
The evidence against Kouri included her phones and other devices that showed damning online searches:
“what is a lethal.does.of.fetanayl,” “can cops.uncover deleted.messages iphone,” “women utah prison,” “if someone is poisned what does it go down on the death certificate as,” “death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay?” and “luxury prisons for the rich in america.”
When they married in 2013, the couple had a prenup agreement that kept Eric’s prior assets separate, including the home the family lived in. Kouri’s financial deceptions included: taking out a quarter-million-dollar home equity line of credit on that residence without Eric’s knowledge; running up charges on his credit accounts; and diverting money that was earmarked to pay taxes. She also changed beneficiaries on a life insurance policy from Eric’s business partner to herself. The insurance company became suspicious and alerted Eric who removed her as beneficiary.
The Richins’s housekeeper, who received immunity for her testimony, stated that in the months prior to Eric’s death, Kouri asked her repeated times to buy illicit drugs, including Fentanyl. The housekeeper obtained drugs through acquaintances and delivered them to Kouri.
On Valentine’s Day, Kouri left Eric a sandwich in his truck with a “love note.” Soon after he ate it, he broke out in hives, and had trouble breathing. He used an EpiPen to treat himself and reportedly told a friend he believed his wife had tried to kill him.
During the three-week trial, more than 40 witnesses testified for the prosecution. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis claimed the prosecution’s investigation was “sloppy” and “driven by bias.”
“Everything about this investigation was led by [Eric Richins’] family. They started on day one, and they continued until trial,” the defense attorney said. “They are the ones who initially hired and paid for experts. Their private investigator gave information to the police.”
The jury of two women and eight men only took three hours to find Kouri guilty on all counts.
On May 13, 2026, Eric’s 44th birthday, Kouri was sentenced to life without parole.
This video includes the victim impact statements from her sons that their therapists read for the court.
Letters she wrote to her sons from prison have reportedly been returned unopened.
The book Are You With Me? has been removed from sale by Amazon. Goodreads still includes reviews of it. The majority are one star.
A big thank you to Lindsey Hughes for alerting me to this true crime story.
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TKZers: Crime writers often joke about worrying their online searches look suspicious to law enforcement. Do you have suggestions for authors doing research that could appear incriminating?