Kouri Richins appears in court on June 12, 2023 (Law&Crime Network), Eric Richins (pictured in obituary)
The Utah wife and mom accused of murdering her husband and writing a book for her kids on grief is trying to force the sale of her million-dollar “Family Home,” claiming in a civil lawsuit that she is “entitled” to receive half of such a sale, plus proceeds from the sale of business her spouse co-owned.
Kouri Brock Darden Richins, 33, remains detained pretrial in the alleged murder of Eric Eugene Richins, a 39-year-old Francis, Utah, husband and father who died of a fentanyl overdose at home in March 2022. The suspect allegedly poisoned his Moscow Mule — weeks after a similar alleged attempt on his life on Valentine’s Day.
Those details alone would have been enough to get anyone’s attention, but Richins made national news in no small part because she also publicly went on to write a book — purportedly to help her kids and other children — better understand and cope with the loss of a loved one. On Amazon, Kouri Richins’ book “Are You With Me?” was branded a “heartwarming and reassuring […] must-read” for children who “experienced the pain of loss,” and for parents “who want to provide their children with the emotional support they need to heal and grow.”
Richins even talked about the book in April 2023 on ABC 4’s “Good Things Utah,” a segment calling her an “incredible mother” — just a month before her arrest.
More Law&Crime coverage: Mom of three who literally wrote the book on grieving a dad’s death now accused of murdering husband by putting ‘the Michael Jackson stuff’ in his Moscow Mule
“So my husband passed away unexpectedly last year, so it’s March 4th is our one year anniversary for us. He was 39. It completely took us all by shock and we have three little boys — 10, 9, and 6,” Richins said on TV. “And my kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced in the last year, hoping that it can help other kids, you know, with this and, you know, find happiness some way or another.”
“So you actually wrote this book with your children?” Richins was asked.
“I did,” she replied. “I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night.”
Court records show that the criminal defendant filed a lawsuit in Summit County on June 9 against Katie Richins-Benson, Eric’s sister and a representative of his estate, contending that the “widow” is “entitled” to large sums of money as part of a prenuptial agreement. The lawsuit hit the docket three days before 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik credited prosecutors’ argument that Kouri posed a “substantial danger.”
“The circumstances of this case weigh soundly against granting pretrial release of any kind,” the judge ruled.
Notably, prosecutors cited something Kouri Richins allegedly said about Katie Richins-Benson in a recorded jailhouse call as proof she remained a danger undeserving of bail.
“[T]he State is in possession of an audio recording from the Summit County Jail where the Defendant is discussing with her family about the State’s need to prove that the Defendant is a danger to the community,” the motion said. “During the conversation, Defendant’s mother suggests that the only person Defendant is a danger to is Katie [Richins-Benson], Eric Richins’ sister and trustee. Defendant responded, ‘Yeah, ha, ha.””
According to the civil lawsuit, Eric and Kouri, while engaged in November 2021, “purchased certain real property and related improvements located at 282 Willow Court” — the “Family Home” where Eric was allegedly murdered — from Katie Richins-Benson and her husband “for a total purchase price of $400,000.” That house’s value has ballooned near $2 million, and Kouri wants half of any sale amount, the filing said.
“After jointly purchasing the Family Home and moving in together, Eric and Kouri each contributed to the monthly mortgage payments,” Kouri Richins’ suit said. “Specifically, from at least September of 2013 until Eric’s death on March 4, 2022, all first mortgage payments on the loan they used to acquire the Family Home have been made from Eric and Kouri’s joint America First Credit Union (‘AFCU’) account.”
Kouri said that she and Eric were married in the backyard on June 15, 2013 and raised their three sons at the home — until March 4, 2022, when Eric “passed away.”
“Since Eric’s death, and until May of 2023, Kouri paid virtually all expenses related to the Family Home, and neither Kate nor the Estate had provided material contribution. Specifically, Kouri made virtually all required mortgage payments on the Family
Home, and paid nearly all insurance, utility and other expenses for the Family Home, from her separate funds after Eric passed away,” the suit said, also referencing the completion of swimming pool and fencing jobs at the home.
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“That work was completed after Eric’s death, and Kouri paid the entirety of these improvements from her separate funds,” the filing said.
Kouri Richins calculated the “approximate value” of the family home as “at least $1,900,000.”
“Kouri is entitled to 1/2 of all equity in the Family Home. Alternatively, if she is not entitled to 1/2 of all the equity, she is at least entitled to 1/2 of the increase in equity value that occurred after her marriage to Eric,” her attorneys with Ray Quinney & Nebeker P.C. argued. “The Prenup’s exclusion of the Family Home is further evidence that, notwithstanding how legal title was held, the Family Home was and is a joint marital asset.”
The plaintiff also claimed she’s entitled to proceeds from the reportedly paused sale of her husband’s ownership interest in C&E Stone Masonry, LLC, a company he co-founded with Cody Wright.
“The approximately $2 million in proceeds (the ‘Proceeds’) from that sale are currently on deposit with the Court,” the suit said, citing the prenup as grounds to void the sale: “The Prenup expressly provides that should Eric die while he is legally married to Kouri, the Business Interest transfers to Kouri.”
Asserting that she and the estate are “tenants in common,” Richins suit said “Kouri is entitled to a declaratory judgment from this Court that she and the Estate each own a one-half interest in the Family Home.”
“Eric’s transfer of the Family Home, the Personal Property, and the Business Interest conferred a substantial benefit on the Estate, and a substantial detriment upon Kouri,” plaintiff’s case said. “The Estate clearly knew of and appreciated the benefits it has received.”
Kouri Richins is asking a judge to help “prevent unjust enrichment” by finding that she is “entitled to a money judgment against the Estate in an amount to be proven at trial, but which is not less than $300,000.00 and which is believed to be well in excess of $2,000,000.00.”
“Such money damages include, the value of the Proceeds, the value of Kouri’s interest in the Family Home and Personal Property, and that portion of the costs and expenses that should have been be paid by the Estate as a partial owner of the Family Home,” the lawsuit concluded. “Therefore, Kouri requests that the Family Home and/or the Personal Property be partitioned and sold at their fair market value, with the proceeds thereof being split 50/50 by and between Kouri and the Estate.”‘
Authorities have alleged that the Kouri “surreptitiously and without authorization” made herself the beneficiary of Eric Richins’ life insurance policy in January 2022, months before his death. Investigators also alleged that the suspect’s online searches about Eric’s death certificate were related to the defendant’s attempt to reap a life insurance windfall.
In late January 2022, the defendant “applied for $100,000 in term life insurance through a credit union and forged Eric Richins’ signature on the application,” the state’s motion against bail said. “This policy issued on February 4, 2022, insuring Eric Richins’ life with the Defendant as beneficiary.”
Prosecutors alleged that Richins was found to have a second iPhone in a dresser drawer next to her bed, revealing highly suspicious internet searches, including one about what a lethal fentanyl dose is: “luxury prisons for the rich in america”; “women utah prison,”; “can cops force you to do a lie detector test,”; “death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay?”; “FBI analysis of electronics in an investigation”; “When does the FBI get involved in a case”; “how long does life insrance companies takento.pay”; “how to.permanently delete information from an iphone remotely”; “what is a lethal.does.of.fetanayl.”
“Most telling among these searches,” authorities said, “are her queries about how a death caused by poisoning is categorized on a death certificate and what constitutes a lethal dose of fentanyl.”
In addition to seeking the “imposition of a constructive trust on the Family Home, the Personal Property, and the Proceeds,” Kouri Richins is asking a judge to “order partitioning the Family Home and/or the Personal Property, requiring that such property be sold with the proceeds to be split 50/50 between Kouri and the Estate.”
Read the civil lawsuit and the prenup.
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