A woman in Utah, USA, was convicted of felony murder on Monday (March 16) after poisoning her husband with fentanyl and then self-publishing a children’s book about coping with the loss of a loved one.

Prosecutors allege Kouri Richins secretly added five times the lethal dose of fentanyl (a synthetic opioid) to the cocktail her husband, Eric Richins, drank in March 2022. According to court documents, Kouri owed $4.5 million and believed she would inherit over $4 million in assets after her husband’s death. The prosecution also claims she was planning a future with another man she was secretly dating.

The author who wrote the book about the pain of losing her husband turned out to be the one who poisoned him - Image 1.

Kouri Richins published a book about grief and overcoming the shock of losing a loved one, one year after murdering her husband.

“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but didn’t want to leave his money,” Brad Bloodworth, the Summit County prosecutor, told the court. Kouri Richins stared at the floor and took a deep breath as the judge read the sentence.

The jury took less than three hours to deliberate and reach a decision. Afterward, family members from both sides left the courtroom in tears and embraces. In addition to murder, Richins was convicted of several other serious charges, including conspiracy to murder in an attempt to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich, rendering him unconscious. The jury also found Richins guilty of falsifying documents and committing insurance fraud following her husband’s death.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 13th, the day Eric Richins would have turned 44. The felony charge alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment. “Honestly, we are all in shock,” said Amy Richins, the victim’s sister. She added that the family can now focus on remembering her brother and supporting his children. “We have gotten justice for my brother.”

The trial, which was expected to last five weeks, was shortened last week when Kouri Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team abruptly ended the defense without calling any witnesses. Previously, Richins’ lawyers were confident that the prosecutors did not have enough evidence to convict her of murder.

The author who wrote the book about the pain of losing her husband turned out to be the one who poisoned him - Photo 2.

The woman had meticulously planned and executed the crime.

However, the prosecution presented compelling evidence that Richins, a real estate agent, was deeply in debt. She had secretly purchased multiple life insurance policies for her husband without his knowledge, totaling approximately $2 million in payouts. The jury also reviewed text messages between Richins and her lover, Robert Josh Grossman, in which she fantasized about leaving her husband, making millions after the divorce, and marrying Grossman.

Richins’ internet search history on her phone also included phrases like “what is the lethal dose of fentanyl,” “luxurious prisons for the rich in America,” and “if someone is poisoned, what will the cause of death be on their death certificate?” Prosecutor Bloodworth played back Richins’ 911 call recording from the night her husband died and emphasized that it “was not the sound of a widowed wife, but the sound of a Black widow.”