Accused husband killer Kouri Richins claims a letter she wrote in jail was part of a fiction book she plans to write, but prosecutors say the letter facilitated “witness tampering involving her brother, seeking to have her brother support a false factual narrative,” in connection with her husband’s death.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Summit County deputies in Utah found Richins’ hand-written letter to her mother, Lisa Darden, during a search of the defendant’s jail cell in September. She instructed Darden to tell her brother to repeat, “Eric told [redacted name] that he got Pain Pills and fentanyl from Mexico from workers on the ranch.”
Richins is currently behind bars at the Summit County jail, charged with killing her husband, Eric Richins, by lacing his Moscow Mule drink with drugs. Prosecutors say she purchased fentanyl pills days before his death in March 2022.
“Those papers were not a letter to you guys,” Richins told her mother during a September 16 jail call. “They were part of my freaking book…I was writing this fictional mystery book.”
The filing also said that during a September 13 video conference with her mother, Richins held up a different letter for her mother to read. Afterward, they said, the letter was flushed down a toilet or otherwise destroyed.
In a motion filed in September, prosecutors said that “it is imperative that Richins be barred from all contact with her mother and brother because of the letter.”
Read the “Walk the Dog” letter below.
‘Walk the Dog’ Lett… by Leigh Egan
A few years before his death, Eric took a trip to Greece with the defendant, where he “became violently ill” after his wife served him a drink, an arrest affidavit stated. The victim survived that particular incident and told his sister about it.
Two months before his death, the suspect allegedly logged into Eric’s life insurance policy and changed the beneficiary from his business partner to herself. She also changed the business partner’s policy, removing Eric Richins as beneficiary and changing it to herself.
The insurance company reversed the changes after contacting the two men and inquiring about the switch.
Then, two weeks before Eric’s death, on Valentine’s Day 2022, Kouri Richins made him a sandwich, that again, left him violently ill.
“After one bite, Eric broke into hives and couldn’t breathe,” an arrest affidavit read. “He used his son’s EpiPen and Benadryl “before passing out for several hours.”
Eric told his business partner about the sandwich incident afterward. Eric then changed his life insurance policy, named his sister as beneficiary, and removed the suspect from his will, with an estate estimated at around $3.6 million.
An arrest affidavit indicated that Eric did not tell his wife about the will and policy changes.
Following Eric’s death, the suspect self-published a book the day after his death, entitled, “Are You With Me?”
The book is about families dealing with the sudden loss of a father and husband and how children can learn to cope.
Kouri Richins remains in jail without bail. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Kouri and Eric Richins/Facebook]
