Grief book author ‘tried poisoning husband with sandwich on Valentine’s Day before killing him’
A mother who published a children’s grief book allegedly tried to poison her husband with a sandwich on Valentine’s Day before drugging and killing him.
Utah mom Kouri Richins, 33, has been charged with serving Eric Richins, 39, a poisoned sandwich weeks before he died of a fentanyl overdose, according to court documents filed on Monday.
‘I think my wife tried to poison me,’ Eric told his friend after taking one bite of a sandwich that Kouri bought from a diner and left in his car with a note on February 14, 2022.
Eric broke out in hives and blacked out after digesting the food, said Summit County prosecutors.
The husband texted his wife saying he was feeling unwell and thinking about going to the hospital. Kouri allegedly replied that he should take a nap, state the new charging documents against her.
‘Eric Richins told Witness 1 that he had almost died,’ state the documents, in reference to his friend. ‘Witness 1 could hear the fear in Eric Richins’ voice and tell that Eric Richins was scared.’
The husband, a realtor who did not have any known food allergies, told his friend that he used his son’s EpiPen and ingested a bottle of Benadryl to survive the unusual reaction.
One month later, Kouri, a mother-of-three, called 911 to report that she found Eric ‘cold to the touch’ by their bed. He was pronounced dead, and found to have five times the lethal fentanyl dosage in his system.
Kouri was arrested in May and charged with first-degree aggravated murder in her husband’s death, as well as three counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Prosecutors at the time alleged that Kouri laced a Moscow mule cocktail she made for her Eric with fentanyl. They also claim that Kouri took out four life insurance policies under her husband’s name.
The couple had reportedly been fighting over their multimillion-dollar mansion.
Kouri in June filed a civil lawsuit against her late husband’s estate seeking half of the equity of the property believed to be valued at $1.9million or more.
Before being disgraced, Kouri self-published the illustrated children’s book, Are You With Me?, telling the story of a father with angel wings watching over his son. It was aimed at helping their sons cope with Eric’s death.
Kouri now faces another attempted murder charge for the alleged Valentine’s Day incident. She has been behind bars since last year and is being held without bail.
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