Children’s book author Kouri Richins, who is accused of killing husband, will go to trial

The trial of Kouri Richins is scheduled to begin on 28 April 2025.  When she appeared in court this week, she pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all 11 counts she’s facing. People magazine reported that “Kouri allegedly used fentanyl purchased from the family’s housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, to poison Eric that March. She is also accused of adding fentanyl to his sandwich on Valentine’s Day in 2022, after nine years of marriage.”

According to The New York Times, “Prosecutors said Ms. Richins had killed her husband for financial gain, as she was deeply in debt, and that she was planning a future with a man she had been having an affair with.

The New York Times also reported that “In March 2022, Ms. Richins and Mr. Richins were celebrating the closing of a home sold by Ms. Richins, a real estate agent, according to court documents. She made her husband a Moscow Mule, which prosecutors allege Ms. Richins drugged and then brought to their bedroom, where Mr. Richins drank it in bed.

“Ms. Richins later told investigators that she woke up around 3 a.m., when one of their sons had a nightmare. When she went back to the couple’s bedroom, she said she found Mr. Richins unresponsive and called 911. Emergency responders found Mr. Richins at the foot of the bed and tried to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kouri Richards published a children’s book a year after the incident entitled Are You With Me? The book was about grief and she appeared on Good Things Utah a month before her arrest to talk about the book. Good Things Utah reported that “While learning to navigate grief in a new normal, Kouri and her sons began to write a children’s book to help others cope with the loss of a loved one. She tells us she needed the distraction, and a way to channel and articulate the family’s feelings.”