PARK CITY, Utah — A Utah mother accused of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule cocktail to collect millions in life insurance money entered the second week of her murder trial as prosecutors detailed her mounting financial crisis and secret affair.
Kouri Richins, 35, faces charges including aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery in Summit County Court for the March 4, 2022 death of her husband Eric Richins, 39. The real estate agent and mother of three has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors allege Richins killed her husband to escape crushing debt and start a new life with her handyman lover, while defense attorneys argue Eric may have accidentally overdosed on drugs he purchased during a trip to Mexico.
Forensic accountant Brooke Karrington testified this week that Richins owed a staggering $7.5 million in debt by March 2022, making monthly payments of around $80,000 to more than 20 different lenders. Her real estate business, K Richins Realty, was “perpetually in a hole” as she bought up 22 properties within three years of launching the company. “It was imploding,” Karrington told jurors. “As of the date Eric Richins died, Kouri Richins was in financial distress and her financial enterprise was collapsing. But for a significant infusion of cash and capital, it would have continued to collapse.” Court records show Richins closed on a $2.9 million mansion deal just one day after her husband’s body was found, completing a transaction that pushed her net worth to negative $1.6 million.
An autopsy revealed Eric Richins had more than five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system when he died in the couple’s bed at their Kamas, Utah home. Prosecutors say Richins obtained the deadly drug from her housekeeper-turned-dealer Carmen Lauber, asking specifically for the “Michael Jackson stuff” — a reference to the powerful opioid that killed the pop star. The charges also include an alleged previous murder attempt on Valentine’s Day 2022, when prosecutors say Richins spiked Eric’s sandwich with fentanyl but the attempt failed. Defense attorneys argue investigators failed to thoroughly test the Moscow Mule cup for evidence and suggest Eric’s Mormon family wants to blame the widow because they cannot accept he willingly took illegal drugs.
Financial records presented in court show Eric’s estate was worth more than $4 million, including over $2 million in life insurance policies. Richins collected $1.36 million in insurance payouts within months of his death, including from a $100,000 policy taken out just one month before Eric died. Anne Coates from TruStage insurance testified the new policy application was filed February 3, 2022, listing Kouri as beneficiary and using a PO Box rather than the family home address. The policy was approved the next day, exactly one month before Eric’s death and 10 days before the alleged failed poisoning attempt. Two other policies totaling over $800,000 were paid to Eric’s trust rather than directly to his widow.
The prosecution’s case also centers on Richins’ affair with handyman Robert Josh Grossmann, who broke down on the witness stand as jurors viewed romantic text messages exchanged around the time of Eric’s death. Phone records and testimony reveal the extramarital relationship provided additional motive for murder, as prosecutors argue Richins wanted both financial freedom and a fresh start with her lover. Court documents from a 2021 Arizona wellness retreat show Richins wrote extensively about discovering Eric’s “emotional affair” in 2018, describing how it sent her life into a spiral of anxiety and depression. “She instantly fell for the idea of a marriage with kids and a happy family, a stable family,” Richins wrote of herself in third person, but said she tried to “chase happiness” through marriage and having more children.
Following Eric’s sudden death, Richins maintained the facade of a grieving widow for more than a year, self-publishing a children’s book titled “Are You with Me?” about a father with angel wings watching over his young son. The book was marketed as helping children cope with the death of a parent, with Richins appearing on local television shows to discuss grief and loss. She was arrested in May 2023 and has remained in the Summit County jail ever since. Eric’s family members, including his sister Katie Richins-Benson, have testified about their shock at Kouri’s behavior immediately after his death, particularly her insistence on closing the real estate deal just hours after Eric’s body was removed from their home.
Judge Richard Mrazik allowed prosecutors to present Richins’ personal “life story” she wrote during the 2021 wellness retreat, ruling it was relevant to her feelings about the marriage. The document reveals a troubled childhood marked by frequent moves across 17 states, her father’s imprisonment for drunk driving that killed a police officer, and her mother’s gambling addiction that cost the family their house and cars. Defense attorneys initially sought to exclude the personal narrative but ultimately asked for the complete, unredacted version to be shown to jurors. The trial continues through March 27, with prosecutors building their case that financial desperation and romantic desires drove Richins to commit murder, while the defense maintains Eric’s death was an accidental overdose.
