CNN
By Nicki Brown, CNN
(CNN) — Opening statements have begun in the murder trial of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of poisoning her husband and then writing a children’s book about coping with grief.
Prosecutors allege Kouri Richins, 35, killed her husband Eric Richins with a lethal dose of fentanyl. She is also accused of attempting to poison him on Valentine’s Day, just weeks before his death.
“The evidence will prove that Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,” Brad Bloodworth, chief prosecutor in the Summit County Attorney’s Office, said in his opening statement Monday. “More than anything, she wanted his money to perpetuate her facade of privileged affluence and success.”
Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty to counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery. If convicted of the most serious charge, she could face up to life in prison.
Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in the couple’s bedroom in March 2022 with about five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system, according to charging documents.
“That extraordinary amount of fentanyl was intentional, not accidental,” Bloodworth said.
Earlier that night, Kouri Richins brought cocktails up to their room, then left to sleep in the bedroom of one of their sons, according to an account she gave investigators outlined in court records. When she returned to the master bedroom around 3 a.m., she said she found Eric Richins dead in their bed.
About a year after her husband died, Kouri Richins wrote a children’s book about coping with the death of a loved one. In May 2023, she was arrested and charged with the murder of her husband.
Prosecutors allege Kouri Richins killed her husband to profit off his lucrative business and life insurance policies – funds she could then use to support her struggling real estate business.
On the day of Eric Richins’ death, his estate was worth roughly $4 million, and his wife owed more than $4.5 million to over 20 different lenders, Bloodworth said. Eric Richins’ life was insured for more than $2 million through several life insurance policies, one of which prosecutors allege his wife fraudulently applied for weeks before he died.
A woman who cleaned Kouri Richins’ houses told investigators that Richins asked for fentanyl in early 2022, charging documents said. The woman said she bought more than 15 pills she believed contained fentanyl on February 11, 2022, and then gave them to Richins.
On Valentine’s Day, a few days later, Richins left her husband a sandwich and a note before leaving to meet up with her “paramour,” prosecutors said in charging documents.
Later that day, Eric Richins told two friends he felt like he was going to die after eating the sandwich, according to the charging documents. “I think my wife is trying to poison me,” he said to one. He told the other friend he broke out in hives, then injected himself with an EpiPen and drank a bottle of Benadryl.
In late February 2022, Richins allegedly asked the woman for more fentanyl, saying the previous drugs were not strong enough. Prosecutors said the woman bought more drugs o