Medication prescribed to Utah mom Kouri Richins, who is accused of poisoning her husband, was found in his system after he died, KSL-TV reports.
The revelation comes from search warrants recently unsealed in the case involving the 33-year-old, who faces a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the death of husband Eric in March 2022.
As CrimeOnline has previously reported, prosecutors allege that Kouri killed Eric by lacing his Moscow Mule drink with a legal amount of fentanyl.
At the time of Eric’s death, the couple were married for nine years. They have three children.
The search warrants show that in addition to fentanyl, Eric had the drug Quetiapine in his system.
“Eric also had a small amount of Quetiapine in his stomach contents,” an investigator wrote in one of the warrants, according to Fox News. “Eric did not have a prescription for Quetiapine but his wife had a prescription as well as the pills at her home.”
Kouri claimed the Quetiapine was to improve sleep, but the medical examiner told police the medication is used typically as an antipsychotic to treat mental illness, Fox 13 reports.
The drug is authorized to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and depression if used with other antidepressants, according to the National Institutes of Health. It can also be used to treat generalized anxiety disorder.
Authorities say Kouri had purchased multiple life insurance policies on Eric worth nearly $2 million. Months before he died, she secretly appointed herself the beneficiary of the policies. Meanwhile, Eric had removed Kouri from his will and named his sister as the beneficiary, according to KPCW.
Eric had alleged to his family before he died that Kouri tried to poison him in multiple instances previously.
After Eric’s death, Kouri wrote a children’s book about the topic of grief entitled “Are You With Me?”
In addition to murder, Kouri is charged with three counts of drug possession. She is being held in the Summit County Jail without bond pending trial.
[Feature Photo: Kouri and Eric Richins/Facebook]
