On March 4, 2022, Kouri Richins, 35, made a distressing call to paramedics, reporting that she had found her husband, Eric, unresponsive in their Utah home. Upon arrival, emergency responders discovered Eric had already passed away, with toxicology reports later revealing a fentanyl concentration in his system five times higher than what is considered a lethal dose. Investigations confirmed the drug had been obtained illegally.

In a shocking twist, over a year later, on May 8, 2023, Richins was arrested and charged with her husband’s murder. Her arrest came just weeks after she had appeared on a local Utah broadcast to promote her book intended to comfort widows and children dealing with loss. The book, titled Are You With Me?, tells the story of a child coping with the death of a father, offering solace in the belief that the loved one’s presence remains with them, a sentiment detailed on Goodreads.

The case took a dramatic turn when a jury, after three hours of deliberation, found Richins guilty of murdering her husband. Evidence presented during the trial also revealed a previous attempt on Eric’s life, involving a sandwich laced with fentanyl.

Additionally, Richins faced convictions for forgery and fraudulent attempts to claim multiple life insurance policies under Eric’s name after his death. These charges further painted a grim picture of the events leading up to her husband’s untimely demise.

However, she was convicted of the murder of her husband by a jury that deliberated for three hours, and she was also found guilty of trying to murder him on an earlier occasion by lacing a sandwich he ate with fentanyl.

She was also convicted of forgery and attempting to fraudulently claim several life insurance policies in her husband’s name after his death.

Prosecutors had alleged Richins falsely believed she would be the sole beneficiary of her husband’s will, worth more than $US4 million ($5.64 million), and that she was in about $US4.5 million of debt after the failure of her house flipping business after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money,” Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said.

What was scheduled to be a five-week trial was cut short when the defendant waived her right to testify, and her legal team abruptly rested its case without calling any witnesses.

Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors did not produce enough evidence over the past three weeks to convict her of murder.

However, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair, in which she fantasised about leaving her husband, gaining millions in a divorce and marrying Grossman.

The internet search history from Richins’ phone included “what is a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl,” “luxury prisons for the rich America” and “if someone is poisned what does it go down on the death certificate as”, a digital forensic analyst testified.

Bloodworth replayed for the jury a clip of Richins’ 911 call from the night of her husband’s death. That’s “not ‘the sound of a wife becoming a widow’,” he said, quoting the defence’s opening statement. “It’s the sound of a wife becoming a black widow.”

Defence attorney Wendy Lewis responded that the prosecution “looks at facts one way and sees a witch, but if you look at those facts another way, you see a widow”.

Richins stared at the floor and took deep breaths as the judge read the verdict.

She also faces 26 other money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

Reported with Associated Press

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