Category Archives: grief

True Crime Thursday – Kidlit Author Convicted of Husband’s Murder

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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?

 

 

 

 

 

One Life That Still Touches Me

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I was remembering our old dog, Feliz, the other day after I had found her collar in a box and wanted to share something that I had written to get past the profound sorrow of losing her.

Feliz had passed from this life after sixteen years of sharing her love. And as we knew it would, her death broke our hearts. Grief manifests itself in many ways. We still hear the click of her nails on tile, still see her shadow at the door, and we still linger at the garage, waiting for her to show and claim a biscuit. All of these moments are products of our wishful thinking and old habits are hard to deny, but it’s amazing how well she trained us. And if Stephen King’s story in Pet Sematary were true, we’d gladly welcome her back to this life, even if she were the spawn of Satan. That’s how much we loved her. She would always enjoy her dog playpen. If you wanted to learn more about dog playpens check out this guide on dog playpens.

Her full name was Feliz Navidog. Yes, she was a Christmas present, but not for us. We had given her to my parents with the caveat that if they truly didn’t want a puppy, they could return her to us. And within two weeks, back she came. In hindsight, she was the best present we ever got. We nearly called her Boomerang, but in Spanish, the word Feliz translates to ‘happy’ and that suited her just fine. She always had a smile on her face.

When she was a pup, she had a dark muzzle, one ear up and one down, a curled tail and an unfaltering bounce to her step. People often asked us what breed she was. In truth, she was a German Shepherd Chow mix, but we lovingly called her a “Somma Dog”—because she was somma dis, somma dat. But one man’s mutt is another man’s idea of perfection.

And Feliz had many admirable skills, despite her questionable lineage.

She was a practitioner of puppy telepathy, transmitting her thoughts to us with a meaningful stare. And she spoke the language of human beings with unfailing accuracy, developing an extensive vocabulary. Balancing a biscuit on the end of her nose then tossing it into her mouth had become her signature move. And in later years, she mastered sign language when her hearing was failing. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? I remember we bought her one of the best dog strollers and used to push her around the village when she was getting older. I have such great memories of her.

And every morning of her life—without fail—she awoke for the sole purpose of pleasing us. We saw it in her face and felt it on her warm wet tongue. She never tired of the routine or the mundane, even after her joints got stiff and her eyesight grew dim—because in her mind, she was always that puppy with a bounce in her step. Luckily we had read some pet insurance reviews and bought some pet insurance, since vet bills can get pretty expensive. She was totally worth all the costs though.

Dogs remind us that love should be unconditional. And in their world, friendships begin with a well-placed and unerring sniff—completely devoid of an ulterior motive or personal agenda. If you pass the sniff test, you’re in. No cover charge and no membership fee. And with a mere wag of a tail, a dog can make you smile and lift your spirits. We can all learn from them—because their love comes from a higher place.

I’d love for you to share your pet stories. Do you have a favorite pet?