{"id":641212,"date":"2026-05-13T19:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641212\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:50:14","slug":"utah-grief-author-convicted-in-husbands-poisoning-death-to-be-sentenced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641212\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah grief author convicted in husband\u2019s poisoning death to be sentenced"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Utah grief author convicted of murder<\/a> after prosecutors said she laced her husband\u2019s cocktail with a fatal dose of fentanyl is expected to be sentenced Wednesday, on what would have been his 44th birthday. <\/p>\n

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Kouri Richins, 36, was found guilty in March of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, fraud, and forgery in the March 4, 2022, death of Eric Richins. She told investigators that they had been celebrating a business deal when she found him unresponsive in the bedroom of their home. <\/p>\n

A medical examiner determined that Eric had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system \u2014 illicit, not medical-grade \u2014 and that it had been orally ingested.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors requested that Richins be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the aggravated murder charge, according to a sentencing memorandum filed Monday. They also asked for a standing protective order covering Eric\u2019s family members, including the couple\u2019s three children. <\/p>\n

Judge Richard Mrazik said he could not issue the order because of how the law is written. <\/p>\n

Children say they\u2019re fearful, describe alleged abuse <\/p>\n

In the sentencing memo, the couple\u2019s children said they would be fearful if Richins were ever released. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,\u201d one son, who is now 13, said, according to the memo. \u201cI think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us. \u2026 I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be, I don\u2019t miss Kouri, I will tell you that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another son recalled the night of the murder, saying he was put to bed early without a bath \u2014 unusual for the family. When he tried to enter his parents\u2019 bedroom that night, his mother yelled at him to go away, according to the memo. He also said his mother did not sleep in his room that night, contradicting what she had previously told investigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not feel safe\u201d if she is released, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith [her] in jail, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear of [her] hurting me or anyone I love,\u201d the son said. <\/p>\n

The third son, who was in preschool at the time of Eric\u2019s death, said he felt scared that night and wet his pants, the memo states. The child said whenever someone talks about his mother, \u201cit makes me feel hateful and ashamed,\u201d according to the memo. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe took away my dad,\u201d the son said, according to the memo, adding, \u201cif she got out I would be so scared. \u2026 I\u2019m worried that she would take me away. \u2026 Once she is gone I will feel happy and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust people more.\u201d <\/p>\n

All three children have undergone intensive therapy and are being raised by Eric\u2019s sister and her husband, the memo states.<\/p>\n

At the hearing, licensed therapists read victim impact statements from the three boys. One child described waking up to sirens on the night Eric died and feeling \u201cscared\u201d and \u201chelpless.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also talked about how Richins would \u201cput us in the basement while she was with the neighbor.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI felt scared because I thought something really bad was happening again,\u201d the child said in his statement. \u201cShe would take me to places that smelled really bad. Everything she did made me feel uncomfortable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another child accused Richins of killing Eric for \u201cgreed\u201d and alleged that she would lock one of her sons in their room. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would have to go and bring him food,\u201d the child\u2019s statement said. \u201cYou took away everything from me and my brothers.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 13-year-old child said in his statement that he wanted Richins to get life in prison \u201cbecause what she did is very sick.\u201d <\/p>\n

Richins\u2019 family and friends talked about how much she loved her children, the work she did in the community, and asked the judge for leniency. Richins cried as the statements were read. <\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s family says death has been \u2018devastating\u2019 <\/p>\n

Gene Richins, Eric\u2019s father, said in an impact statement that his son\u2019s death was a \u201cpermanent hole in our family that will never be filled.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo parent should ever have to bury their child,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a loss that changes you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s sister, Katie Richins-Benson, cried and said her brother\u2019s death has been \u201cdevastating.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNearly every aspect of our lives has been permanently changed, and we have no choice but to live with those changes and Eric\u2019s loss forever,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Richins stared at her sister-in-law and made faces as she spoke about Richins allegedly trying to take Eric\u2019s money after his death. At one point, Richins leaned over to whisper to her attorney. <\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s other sister, Amy Richins, told the court that she had \u201cbegged\u201d her brother to divorce Richins, but he would not leave because he \u201cwas determined to protect his boys.\u201d <\/p>\n

Richins convicted after weekslong trial<\/p>\n

Richins was arrested in May 2023<\/a>, shortly after she appeared on a local television station to promote a children\u2019s book she wrote about grief. In the book titled \u201cAre You With Me?,\u201d a child loses his father and questions whether he is still with him for special moments in his life. <\/p>\n

Richins dedicated the book to \u201cmy amazing husband and a wonderful father.\u201d The book was eventually removed from Amazon. <\/p>\n

During her weekslong trial<\/a>, friends of Richins and Eric described how the couple had moments of material strife and struggled with infidelity. Allison Wright, whose husband owned a stone masonry business with Eric, testified about a time Richins told her that she felt \u201ctrapped\u201d in her marriage because of a prenuptial agreement. <\/p>\n

Wright told the courtroom that Richins worried that Eric would be \u201cfinancially secure, and her the opposite\u201d if they divorced. Richins also had concerns about \u201chow she would be represented by him in the community,\u201d Wright testified. <\/p>\n

Another friend, Becky Lloyd, testified that Richins had confided in her about feeling stuck in the marriage. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe said that in many ways it would be better if he were dead,\u201d Lloyd testified. <\/p>\n

Richins\u2019 attorneys tried to undermine Lloyd\u2019s testimony by playing a recording of Lloyd telling someone that she could not confidently say on the stand that Richins wanted her husband dead. <\/p>\n

Other friends testified about a time Eric told them how he got sick after he ate a sandwich his wife had made him on Valentine\u2019s Day 2022. One of the charges against Richins is connected to this incident after prosecutors accused her of poisoning his sandwich in an attempt to kill him. Court documents state that Eric broke out in hives after taking a bite of the sandwich, used his son\u2019s EpiPen, and then took a nap. <\/p>\n

Richins\u2019 friend Allie Staking told the court that Eric did not seem upset about what happened. But Eric\u2019s friend, Josh Kraze, testified that Eric was \u201csomber\u201d and \u201cvery serious\u201d when he called and told him about the situation. Cody Wright, Eric\u2019s business partner and friend, said Eric had \u201cfear in his voice\u201d when he told him about it. <\/p>\n

Richins\u2019 former boyfriend, Robert Josh Grossman<\/a>, also took the stand, occasionally getting emotional as he talked about the \u201cguilt\u201d and \u201csorrow\u201d he had about their affair. He told the court that the relationship ended a few months after Eric\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

One of the most pivotal testimonies came from Richins\u2019 housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who testified about purchasing illicit pills for her in early 2022. Lauber told the courtroom that Richins asked for pills on three occasions, including days before Valentine\u2019s Day 2022. <\/p>\n

After Eric\u2019s death, Lauber said she spoke to Richins over the phone. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Please tell me these pills were not for him,\u2019\u201d Lauber testified. \u201cShe said, no they were not. Eric passed away from a brain aneurysm.\u201d <\/p>\n

Richins did not testify at her trial, and her defense team rested without calling any witnesses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Utah grief author convicted of murder after prosecutors said she laced her husband\u2019s cocktail with a fatal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-641212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}