In a strange and ominous warning, a murdered Utah man reportedly told family members to suspect his wife if he died suddenly, according to court records in the case reviewed by The Western Journal.
Eric Richins, a father of three young children, died unexpectedly on March 4, 2022. Since that time, his wife, Kouri Richins, 33, wrote a children’s book on grief, dedicated the book to her “amazing husband” and was charged with poisoning his beverage with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
At the time of his death, Eric, 39, had five times the lethal limit of fentanyl in his system.
NBC News noted court documents show that Eric suspected his wife had previously tried to poison him on several occasions and warned family members “that if anything happened to him, she was to blame.”
Police arrested Kouri Richins on Monday at her home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City, Utah.
CBS noted the sad and strange course of events: “Kouri Richins wrote a children’s book on grief after her husband died. Now she’s charged with his murder. The dedication of her book reads: ‘Dedicated to my amazing husband and a wonderful father.’”
Kouri Richins’ self-published book “Are You with Me?” was written shortly after Eric’s death. The illustrated storybook profiles a young boy who wonders if his deceased father’s spirit is still present.
Police have charged Kouri with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Eric’s sister told NBC News that “Eric and his wife went to Greece a few years ago, and after his wife gave him a drink he became violently ill. He later called his sister saying he believed his wife had tried to kill him.”
Court records reveal a similar event occurred on “Valentine’s Day of 2022, [when] his wife brought him a sandwich, which after one bite Eric broke into hives and couldn’t breathe. He used his son’s epi-pen as well as Benadryl before passing out for several hours.”
Eric and Kouri eventually separated — family members shared that Eric stayed in the relationship longer than he wanted for the sake of the children.
Attorney Greg Skordas agreed, telling KUTV: “It appears Eric may have stayed in a relationship that wasn’t good because he loved his boys, and wanted to keep the family relationship together. Maybe he was hopeful things would change, but his number one concern was for his boys.”
Skordas added: “They have three boys, three young boys, and I think Eric, being so involved in their lives as a soccer coach, baseball coach, basketball coach, wanted to keep the family together.”
“Eric was a good father. … He was a philanthropist. He cared about a lot of people. … He did the best he could to make the most of his marriage,” the attorney said.
The New York Post tweeted that the purchase of an estate was a source of discord in the marriage. Kouri wanted to purchase the multimillion dollar home, and Eric did not:
“Utah author fought with hubby she’s accused of murdering over buying a multimillion-dollar estate. … Eric Richins’ family claims he planned to tell his wife, Kouri Richins, that they were not buying the $2 million mansion on the night he died.
Court documents reveal that family members believed Eric was planning to tell his wife he would not proceed with the in-process sale agreement.
Kouri reportedly believed she would receive a settlement and finalized the real estate contract the day after Eric was murdered, only to find out later that she had been written out of his will.
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