Utah mom and children's book author Kouri Richins, who is accused of killing her husband, Eric, is suing his estate for a share of his business sale and their $1.9 million family home.
Richins was arrested on May 8 on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated murder and three charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, following Eric's death from a fentanyl overdose, according to court documents.
Eric and Kouri Richins have three children. After her husband's death, Richins wrote a book about helping children deal with grief, and promoted it on local media.
"Kouri is entitled to half of all equity in the Family Home," reads the new lawsuit, filed June 9 in the Third Judicial District Court in Summit County, Utah. "Alternatively, if she is not entitled to half of all the equity, she is at least entitled to half of the increase in equity value that occurred after her marriage to Eric."
Kouri Richins has not yet entered a plea. After a hearing earlier this month, a judge denied her request for bail. In court filings, her defense has said “there is no substantial evidence to support the charges.”
The lawsuit also asks for approximately $2 million in proceeds from the sale of Eric's business, C&E Stone Masonry, LLC. According to the couple's prenuptial agreement, which is included in court filings, Kouri Richins has no claim to the business unless Eric dies during their marriage. In that case, the agreement says, "Husband’s partnership interest in said business shall transfer to the Wife.”
Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022. That morning, emergency responders were called to the couple's home in Kamas, Utah, where he was found unresponsive at the foot of his bed. In a search warrant affadavit, prosecutors allege that according to responders, Kouri Richins had not made attempts at resuscitating her husband and he was declared dead.
Kouri Richins told police that the previous night, she had made Eric a vodka cocktail and served it to him in bed, then went to sleep with one of their three children, who was having a night terror. According to charging documents filed in court, she told police that when she returned to her bedroom at 3 a.m., Eric was cold to the touch, so she called 911.
In his obituary, Eric was described as "an attentive and loving father to his three sons Carter, Ashton, and Weston and a devoted husband to the love of his life, and wife of nine years, Kouri."
One year after his death, Kouri Richins published a children's book titled "Are You With Me?"
"I just watched the struggle that my kids were going through," she told "Good Day Utah" in a television interview about the book, which is no longer available on Amazon.
"Nights are the hardest, it seems like for everybody ... I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night and I just could not find anything that really suited them or helped them find comfort and peace," said Kouri Richins. "I was like, 'Let's just write one.'"
Eric's extended family told police they suspected that Kouri Richins was involved in his death, according to court filings.
"They advised he warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame," says a search warrant affidavit. The document states that one of Eric Richins' sisters told police that during a previous trip to Greece, he became "violently ill" after Kouri Richins served him a drink. According to court filings, the sister said Eric told her that he believed his wife had tried to kill him.
On April 8, 2022, Eric's autopsy showed he died from a "massive overdose" of fentanyl.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Eric had changed the beneficiary from his wife to his sister, in his will and life insurance, and was looking into divorce.
In court filings, prosecutors said Kouri Richins' internet searches before her husband's death included the phrases:
- “if someone is poisned what does it go down on the death certificate as”
- “what is a lethal.does .of.fetanayl” “can cops force you to do a lie detector test.”
- “death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay?”
- “luxury prisons for the rich in america”
- “how to.permanently delete information from an iphone remotely”
- “FBI anyalsis of electronics in an investigation”