Mother promoted children’s grief book on TV before husband’s murder arrest

A mother promoted a children’s book about grief on local television before she was arrested for the murder of her husband.

Kouri Richins, 33, appeared on television last month to discuss her book. You are with me?

“My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. On March 4, he turned one year old for us, he turned 39 years old, ”he said on ABC4.

“It completely took us all by surprise,” he added. “We have three young children, ages ten, nine, and six, and my sons and I wrote this book about the different emotions and grief processes we’ve experienced in the last year. I went to Amazon and Barnes and Noble to try and find something to get us through the night, the nights are the hardest. I just wanted a story to read to my kids at night and couldn’t find anything to suit them so I said ‘let’s write one’.”

Ms. Richins was arrested Monday for the March 2022 murder. She is accused of poisoning her husband with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah, a small town in the mountains near Park City, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors argue that Ms Richins called authorities late at night in March last year to say that her husband was “cold to the touch”.

Ms Richins told police she made her husband a vodka mixed drink to allegedly celebrate a recent home sale before leaving to help one of their three children sleep in their bedroom.

She claimed that when she returned, she found him unconscious and called the emergency services.

A medical examiner discovered that Eric Richins had five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system.

Ms Richins has been charged with murder in addition to alleged possession of GHB. Ella is a narcolepsy drug often used for recreational purposes, such as in dance clubs, the AP notes.

The charges are based on the officers’ accounts of their interactions with Ms. Richins, as well as the account of an “unidentified acquaintance” who said they sold the fentanyl to Ms. Richins.

The charges come two months after Ms Richins appeared on local television to discuss her picture book. You are with me? – who wrote to help children after losing someone close to them.

Richins appeared in a segment called good things utahsaying that her husband’s death was unexpected and describing how it negatively affected her and her three children, all boys.

She said grieving for the children is about “making sure their spirit is always alive in your home.”

“It’s, you know, explaining to my son that just because he’s not physically present here with us doesn’t mean his presence isn’t here with us,” she told the local television station.

A police search warrant states that Mr. Richins died on March 4, 2022.

The Richins family is notable in Summit County, according to KPCW. The Richins Building at Kimball Junction was named for a family member: Sheldon Richins.

Richins’ family members said shortly after his death that they suspected his wife of killing him. The arrest warrants state that “he warned them that if anything happened to him, it was her fault.”

One of Richins’ sisters claimed that he called her a few years ago when he was on vacation in Greece. She claimed that one of the drinks his wife had given her had made him very ill. The sister claimed that Mrs. Richins had attempted to take her brother’s life.

An order also states that Ms. Richins was caught changing her husband’s life insurance policy to become the sole beneficiary.

On Valentine’s Day last year, less than a month before his death, Richins had an allergic reaction after having dinner with his wife. He developed hives, couldn’t breathe and passed out after taking Benadryl and using his son’s EpiPen.

According to court documents, Ms. Richins had purchased $900 of fentanyl pills a few days before the dinner. She asked for another $900 shortly before Mr. Richins’ death.

Before he died, Mr. Richins changed the beneficiary of his will and power of attorney from his wife to his sister. One warrant says he thought his wife might “kill him for the money.”

The orders also state that Mr. Richins planned to divorce his wife, but that the process had not yet begun at the time of her death.

Ms Richins published the book on March 7 this year and a few weeks later told KPCW that it is “designed to offer comfort and solace to young minds.”

Last month, she told KPCW that the book was inspired by her own children’s questions.

“You know, ‘Daddy’s with us?’” he said. “Because they are going through the sadness of knowing that he is not here, at this moment.”

the independent has contacted Ms. Richins’ attorney for comment.