A jury in Utah has convicted Kouri Richins, a mother of three and author of a children’s book on grief, of aggravated murder for poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Richins was found guilty on Monday in the death of her husband, Eric Richins, who died in March 2022 after ingesting a cocktail that prosecutors say she laced with five times a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City.
The trial drew national attention because Richins had self‑published a grief‑themed children’s book in the months following her husband’s death, a contrast prosecutors argued was part of a calculated façade.
In addition to the murder conviction, Richins was also found guilty of attempted murder, insurance fraud, and forgery, with the jury delivering its verdict after roughly three hours of deliberation.
Prosecutors asserted that Richins, who faced significant financial troubles, stood to benefit from her husband’s estate and life insurance policies and had previously attempted to poison him including an alleged fentanyl‑laced sandwich incident weeks before his death.
Richins now faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison when she is sentenced on May 13, 2026, which would have been her husband’s 44th birthday.
Her conviction marks a dramatic and troubling conclusion to one of the most closely watched murder trials in the state, exposing a case where a story of coping with loss was overshadowed by allegations of premeditated violence for financial gain.
ELIJAH ADEYEMI
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