Pictured left: Eric Richins (obituary photo); pictured right: Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three, who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, appears in court on May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Just over a week after prosecutors went into deep detail on allegations that a Utah mom of three murdered her husband by poisoning his Moscow Mule at home while simultaneously pursuing a new life with her lover, defendant Kouri Darden Richins has oddly decided to speak out about the pending matter, even as her lawyers are exiting the case.
Richins, 34, stands accused of murdering 39-year-old Eric Eugene Richins in March 2022 and subsequently going on the local news to talk about a book on grief that she claimed to write so her three sons could understand and cope with the sudden loss of their father.
Since her arrest, the defendant has avoided commenting publicly on the case, but that has apparently changed now that her lawyers, including Skye Lazaro, withdrew from the case citing an “irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation,” the report noted.
In comments handed to NBC’s “Dateline,” Richins cast herself as a victim of an “unconstitutional” prosecution in Summit County, claiming that her defense lawyers were “forced to withdraw from [her] case” last week after they accused the state of impermissibly recording and listening to attorney-client jailhouse calls.
In her reported remarks, Richins asserted “it’s time to start speaking up.”
“I’ve been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived,” she reportedly said, before declaring her innocence and announcing that she’s prepared to wage “war” on the prosecution for taking her “away from her babies.”
Richins reportedly said that her legal team was “forced” off of the case against her wishes and the wishes of the defense. The defense, meanwhile, had insisted that it was prosecutors who should be booted from the case.
While the defense reportedly claimed that prosecutors had been listening in on Richins’ jailhouse calls with her lawyers for half a year, prosecutors countered by saying they didn’t listen to the calls and that the defense was “well aware” the calls were being recorded since a defense attorney declined to use an app that would have prevented that.
Richins, accusing the prosecution of “corruption” and “unconstitutional behavior,” reportedly claimed that she’s actually looking forward to her murder trial.
“I’m anxious to prove my innocence,” she said, according to NBC. “I’m anxious to get to trial.”
Law&Crime reached out to the Summit County Attorney’s Office and to Richins attorney Skye Lazaro for comment.
Prosecutors referred Law&Crime to a statement that called the defense motion to disqualify “materially inaccurate” and “filed in bad faith.”
The office said it will speak through court filings by the end up the month.
“Furthermore, RQN’s filing of the Motion is actionable under Utah law. The SCAO will address RQN’s filing of the Motion at the appropriate times and in the appropriate forums.
The SCAO is aware that some anxious news agencies have reported on the Motion before the SCAO has had sufficient opportunity to respond,” the statement said. “The SCAO appreciates the news agencies that have taken a more professional and responsible approach.”
In a brief recently submitted to the court, prosecutors explained why they believe Richins “intentionally or knowingly cause[d]” her husband’s fentanyl death and why she allegedly tried to kill him weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day in 2022.
Prosecutors said that the investigation showed Richins had a second iPhone in a dresser drawer next to her bed that she allegedly used to conduct incriminating internet searches focusing on money, how the FBI does investigations, and what constitutes a lethal fentanyl dose.
The state painted a portrait of a defendant “in financial distress,” racking up more than $3 million in debt while she pursued a new life with her lover.
In December 2021, months before Eric Richins’ death, the defendant allegedly booked a “five-night, all inclusive, romantic accommodation at the SECRETS ST. MARTIN RESORT AND SPA” for her and an unidentified man. That lavish trip, prosecutors emphasized, was “scheduled for April 2022, the months after Eric Richins’ death.”
The defendant allegedly texted her lover, “I’m in love with a man that’s not my husband.”
“I want to but can’t break up my family. It’s having your cake and eating it too. I do just want to love you. I do love you,” she allegedly continued.
Prosecutors said the man replied that he thought Kouri was getting divorced.
“That’s what I’m saying.. what if that’s in a year? Your (sic) just supposed to sit around and wait for me? Uhh no. and I would never ask you lol,” the defendant allegedly answered.
In early 2022, Richins allegedly texted her lover a “[r]andom question” about drug use, revealing that she was interested in the opioid documentary “Dopesick.”
“Yeah. Pretty random. We’ve already had this talk,” the lover replied, according to court documents.
Then, the month before Eric Richins’ death, she allegedly told the other man, who appears to be a military veteran, that she wanted to “Watch a murder documentary and snuggle!”
“The following day, February 15, 2022, the Defendant asked her paramour, ‘… [i]f I was divorced right now and ask (sic) you to marry me tomorrow, you would?’ and ‘I just want to lay on the couch and cuddle you! Watch a murder documentary and snuggle!” documents said, emphasis in bold as it appeared in the documents. “On February 19, 2022, the Defendant told her paramour, ‘… I want you today, everyday. Not just sexually, but physically, mentally, everyday when I wake up I do want a future together. I do want you. Figure life out together. If he could just go away and you could just be here! Life would be so perfect!!! I love you….”
Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022, two days after Kouri Richins allegedly told her lover “Life is going to be different I promise.”
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