KAMAS, Utah — The Utah woman accused of poisoning her husband to death and then writing a children’s book about “dealing with grief” is speaking out from jail.
Kouri Richins, a mother of three, has proclaimed her innocence, saying she is determined to beat the charges against her and get back to her kids.
The 33-year-old has been in jail for more than a year now after being accused of killing her husband by giving him a lethal dose of fentanyl in their Utah home in March 2022. She later wrote a children’s book about grief.
According to court documents, Kouri Richins faces one count of aggravated murder, one count of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of mortgage fraud, two counts of insurance fraud and three counts of forgery. She was arrested in May 2023.
‘This means war’
The Utah mother told NBC’s “Dateline” that she is ready for a fight.
“I’m anxious,” she said. “I’m anxious to prove my innocence. I’m anxious to get to trial. And I’m ready to give this one hell of a fight.”
Kouri Richins said she hopes to prove she did not lace her husband’s Moscow mule with fentanyl.
“I’ve been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived. And it’s time to start speaking up. You took an innocent mom away from her babies,” Richins said.
She continued, “This means war.”
Eric Richins found dead
Eric Richins’ body was found unresponsive at the foot of his bed in March 2022. Prosecutors claim the couple’s marriage was falling apart and Kouri Richins wanted to cash in on multiple life insurance policies.
Search warrants made public in January say medical examiners discovered traces of Kouri Richins’ medication in her husband’s system during an autopsy.
Plus, prosecutors claim they have proof that Kouri Richins bought $900 worth of fentanyl. They claim the Utah mother placed the fentanyl in a “Moscow mule cocktail” and then gave it to her husband so they could celebrate closing on a multimillion-dollar mega-mansion.
The autopsy revealed that Eric Richins had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his body.
‘Damaging’ evidence revealed
Earlier this year, more documents filed against Kouri Richins claimed it wasn’t the first time she tried to kill her husband. Prosecutors allege she also tried to kill him about a month earlier with a drugged Valentine’s Day sandwich.
Two of Eric Richins’ friends said they remember him telling them that he thought his wife tried to kill him, court documents revealed.
Shortly after Eric Richins’ death, and just a month before Kouri Richins was arrested, she promoted a children’s book she wrote about dealing with grief called ”Are You With Me?”
“He was 39. It took us all by shock. We have three little boys — 10, 9 and 6 — and we kind of, my kids and I, kind of wrote this book about the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced last year,” Richins said during an April 2023 interview.
Kouri and Eric Richins were married for nine years at the time of his death. The state has decided not to pursue the death penalty, but she does face 25 years to life in prison.
The trial has faced a number of setbacks since 2023, including delays caused by a document Kouri Richins allegedly wrote that appeared to tell her family members how to testify in court. Known as the “Walk the Dog Letter,” Richins claims the document is part of a fictional novel she is working on while in jail.
When the letter went public in September 2023, Kouri Richins’ defense attorney Skye Lazarro attempted to have the case dismissed, arguing it violated a gag order set up by the court in May 2023. In November 2023, Utah 3rd Dist. Court Judge Richard Mrazik denied the motion to dismiss.
Richins’ next hearing date is set for June 18.
Truth Voices affiliate Truth Voices contributed to this report.
