A mother who published a children’s book about grief after the sudden death of her husband was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of his murder.
A jury in March found that Kouri Richins of Utah killed her husband in 2022 by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced drink.
Richins, 36, had racked up millions of dollars in debt, taken out life insurance policies on her husband and was having an extramarital affair, prosecutors said during her weekslong trial this year.
When issuing the sentence on Wednesday – the day Eric Richins would have turned 44 – Judge Richard Mrazi said: “A person convicted of those things is simply too dangerous to ever be free.”
Utah mother who wrote book about grief found guilty of poisoning husband
The mother of three, who did not testify during her trial, spoke for about 30 minutes on Wednesday, mainly addressing her children, the BBC’s media partner CBS News reports.
“I know today you don’t want to speak to me and you hate me. That’s OK. When you are ready, I will be here for you,” she said.
Richins was also found guilty of fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after her husband’s death at their home outside the ski resort town of Park City. Prosecutors said during the trial that she falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4m (£3m) after he died.
They also said she was planning a future with a man with whom she’d had an affair.
Richins was also found fuilty of attempted murder over an earlier incident when she poisoned her husband’s sandwich.
Richins was arrested in March 2023 – two months after she published the picture book Are You With Me?, which she said was designed to help people – including her three children – cope with the death of a loved one.
“We wrote this book and we’re really hoping that it provides some comfort for not just obviously, our family, but other families that are going through the same thing,” she told radio station KPCW in an interview before her arrest.
She dedicated the book to her husband, calling him “my amazing husband and a wonderful father”.
