A Utah jury found Kouri Richins guilty of murder and all other charges she faced in the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, who died of a lethal dose of fentanyl.
The jury deliberated for about three hours after hearing closing arguments on Monday. In addition to aggravated murder, the eight-person panel convicted Kouri Richins of attempted aggravated murder for a failed attempt to kill her husband on Valentine’s Day, .
weeks before his death. She was also found guilty of forgery and two counts of insurance fraud related to Eric Richins’ life insurance coverage
The mother of three – who published a children’s book on grief after her husband’s death – bowed her head when the guilty verdict was read aloud in court. She could be sentenced to life in prison without parole, the maximum penalty for the murder charge. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 13.
Over 13 days, prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses who testified about purported troubles in the Richins’ marriage, her affair with another man and the millions of dollars she owed in debt – all factors prosecutors argued motivated her to fatally poison her husband.
“She did not have the money to leave Eric or the money to salvage her business,”
prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said in his closing argument Monday,
Eric Richins was found dead in the couple’s home in Kamas, Utah, early in the morning on March 4, 2022. An autopsy revealed he had roughly five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.