21 May Murder She Wrote Update: Will Convicted Husband Killer and Children’s Grief Book “Author” Kouri Richins, Profit by Murder?
Kouri Richins (hereinafter, “Kouri”) was found guilty of aggravated murder of her husband, attempted aggravated murder, forgery and two counts of insurance fraud on March 16, 2026. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on May 13, 2026.
Shortly after murdering her husband, Kouri published a book on how children can cope with sorrow after death entitled “Are You with Me?” The book even depicted her murdered husband as an angel.
The conviction included forging her husband’s signature on a power of attorney which she then used to withdraw money from his accounts and getting a $250,000 loan which she used to put in her faltering real estate business (her business had much debt). She also tried to make herself as the sole beneficiary of a life insurance policy on her husband before murdering him by spiking and serving Eric a “Moscow Mule” with fentanyl at 5 times the lethal limit.
It took the jury only 3 hours to convict Kouri after hearing about her substantial business debt, her shaky marriage and her potential new marriage (she asked her paramour if he would marry if something happened to her husband). Searches on her phone included (1) “What is a lethal dose of fentanyl?” (2) “If someone is poisoned, what does it go down on the death certificate as?” (3) “Death certificate still pending, will the life insurance still pay?” (4) “Can cops force you to take a lie detector test?” (5) “Luxury prisons for the rich in America”; and (6) “How to permanently delete information from an iPhone remotely?” Circumstantial evidence and motive lead to her conviction, but will she profit from her heinous act?
Kouri and Eric had a prenuptial agreement that stated Eric’s business and home would pass to Kouri upon Eric’s death. However, after Eric learned of the forgery whereby she transferred the $250,000 loan proceeds into her business account without his knowledge or consent, Eric transferred his business and home into a trust (without her knowledge or consent or revision of the pre-nuptial agreement) whereby Kouri was not a beneficiary. Kouri has sued Eric’s estate for the breach of the pre-nuptial agreement (a constructive trust) stating his family was unjustly enriched. However, the criminal conviction against Kouri substantially reduces her chances for success due to Utah’s laws that you should not profit for murdering someone. Eric’s estate has countersued for over $13 million for the fraudulent loan, the funds stolen from his bank account and credit card charges she made without his knowledge in addition to profiting by using his likeness in her published book “Are You with Me?” for grieving children. The book was actually written by a ghost writer.
Although a Utah court ruled that Eric Richins’ life insurance policy should go to his family as Kouri should not benefit from murdering her husband pursuant to Utah’s slayer statute (Texas has a similar law), the court expressed no opinion on who was entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the home (although Eric’s family, through the trust, was the owner of the home since only Eric’s name was on the title of the home). The home has since been sold and Eric’s family has kept the proceeds set aside until the court rules on Kouri’s suit and the countersuit against her.
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