Grief book author Kouri Richins — who’s accused of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail — must stand trial next year, a Utah judge ruled Tuesday.
Salt Lake City Judge Richard Mrazik said prosecutors brought enough evidence to allow their 11-count felony case to go forward against Richins, 34, who is charged with killing husband Eric Richins by slipping him five times the lethal amount of the synthetic opioid into a Moscow mule cocktail.
Richins — the Kamas, Utah, mom of three — pleaded not guilty. She faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted. Her trial is tentatively set to begin the last week of April 2025, KPCW reported.
Mrazik’s ruling comes after a day-long hearing Monday where prosecutors called witnesses including a Summit County detective that worked Richins’ case, a forensic digital expert who testified about Kouri’s phone records and a forensic accountant who testified about the couple’s financial records.
In the Beehive State, judges — rather than grand juries — decide on whether a criminal case can proceed to trial.
Prosecutors argued that Kouri was both financially and romantically motivated to kill Eric, 39, as she had allegedly been having an affair with her handyman Robert Grossmann and had mounting debts that she hoped to solve with the money she mistakenly believed she would inherit when Eric died.
Kouri is charged with aggravated murder and related charges for allegedly first attempting to kill Eric on Feb. 14, 2022 by spiking his breakfast sandwich with fentanyl before succeeding weeks later when she fatally poisoned his drink on March 4, 2022.
“The best evidence of the attempted homicide is the actual homicide,” Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth argued Tuesday. “The defendant learned from the attempt and applied it to the actual homicide.”
“She learned that whatever she used on Valentine’s Day wasn’t strong enough so she went back and asked for something stronger,” Bloodworth added.
Bloodworth claimed that Kouri’s text messages to Grossman and to her drug dealer were strong evidence of her lethal plan.
On Feb. 15, 2022, Kouri “lamented” about her failed murder attempt to her lover, texting, “if [Eric] could just go away…life would be perfect.”
“Then two weeks later, [Kouri] assured her paramour ‘Life is going to be different, I promise. Hang in there until Friday,’” Bloodworth said, apparently reading from text messages. “On Friday, Eric Richins is dead.”
But Kouri’s lawyer Kathy Nester told the judge that the case against her client was highly circumstantial — especially the charges related to the attempted murder.
Prosecutors and Eric’s sister have claimed that Kouri was trying to profit off of Eric’s death in multiple ways, including putting out a self-published children’s book called “Are You With Me?” about coping with grief.
She had also allegedly taken out multiple life insurance policies totaling almost $2 million without Eric’s knowledge. But Eric eventually found out, cutting her out of his will and changing the life insurance policies.
“There are innocent explanations for everything that happened on the 14th [of February],” Nester argued.
Nester also claimed that the seemingly damning text messages Kouri sent are simply evidence that she and Eric were not the “perfect couple,” rather than evidence of a nefarious plan.
Kouri is due back in court on Sept. 23 for the parties to finalize a date for jury selection.
With Post wires
