A mother who published a children’s book about grief after fatally poisoning her husband was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday.
Kouri Richins was convicted in March this year of murdering Eric Richins in 2022 by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced drink.
She was found guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for poisoning him on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.
Ahead of her sentencing, representatives for Richins’s three young sons read letters the children had written in which all of them said they wanted her to receive a life sentence.
“I want her to go to prison forever,” one of the letters read. “If she got out, I would be so scared.”
Richins, who has maintained her innocence, made her own lengthy statement directed at her children before she was sentenced.
“I don’t know who or what I’m supposed to be if not a mother, your mother,” she said.
Jurors in Park City, Utah, found that Richins killed her husband by lacing his cocktail with what prosecutors said was five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City.
She subsequently published a children’s book titled Are You With Me? about a boy coping with the death of his father.
Prosecutors said Richins, a real estate agent with a house-flipping business, was millions of dollars in debt and believed she would inherit her husband’s estate, valued at more than $4 million, according to the Associated Press.
Richins was sentenced on what would have been her husband’s 44th birthday.
What was Kouri Richins found guilty of?
Jurors convicted Richins of aggravated murder and four additional felonies connected to her husband’s death.
Eric Richins, a 39-year-old stonemason and business owner, was found dead in bed on March 4, 2022. According to charging documents, an autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication. The couple’s three children believe he was killed while they were at home.
The most serious charge, aggravated murder, was punishable by 25 years to life in prison or life without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Richins was also convicted of insurance fraud for taking out a $100,000 life insurance policy on her husband using his forged signature and submitting a claim after his death, according to ABC News.
Two counts of insurance fraud, both second-degree felonies, each carry prison sentences of one to 15 years, while a third-degree forgery felony carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.
What has her family said?
In a memo filed by prosecutors ahead of the hearing, Richins’s children asked Judge Richard Mrazik to sentence her to life without parole, saying they would feel unsafe if she were ever released from prison.
The three boys are now in the care of one of Eric Richins’s sisters and her husband, according to the filing.
“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,” said the oldest boy, who is now 13, according to the Associated Press. “I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us. I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be. I don’t miss Kouri.”
The middle child, now 11, said he was saddened that his father would not be present for major milestones in his life.
The boy was considered a “material witness” to the killing, according to prosecutors, after Richins told police she had gone into his room before returning to bed and finding her husband dead, ABC News reported.
The middle son said he would have testified that his mother did not sleep in his room the night prosecutors say she killed his father.
With his mother in prison, he said he can “live a happy and successful life without fear of [her] hurting me or anyone I love.”
He added that his mother “makes me feel hateful and ashamed.”
The youngest child said he would be “so scared” if his mother were released.
Eric Richins’s sister, Amy Richins, who is caring for the boys, said after the verdict that she was “just very happy that we got justice for my brother” and she could now focus solely on supporting his sons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.
What was her book about?
Richins’s case drew widespread attention when she was arrested in 2023 while promoting her self-published children’s book, Are You With Me?, about a boy coping with the death of his father, who reappears as a firefly.
The book’s listing describes it as “a heartwarming and reassuring book that gently guides children through the difficult experience of losing a loved one.”
The listing adds: “Written by a loving mother who personally faced this challenge, this book is designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds in a way that is both accessible and engaging.”
Following Richins’s conviction, Amazon and other retailers stopped selling the title.
