Husband Who Was Allegedly Poisoned by Wife Gave Haunting Warning Before His Death
A Utah man whose wife has been charged in his murder had warned family members to suspect her if he died suddenly, according to court records.
Affidavits for search warrants obtained through the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said relatives of Eric Richins relayed what he told them he feared, according to NBC News.
“They advised he warned them that if anything happened to him she was to blame,” the records said, indicating that Richins told them he suspected his wife of trying to poison him in the past.
Kouri Richins, Eric’s widow, was arrested Monday and is accused in charging documents of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City.
A medical examiner later found five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.
Kouri Richins wrote a children’s book on grief after her husband died. Now she’s charged with his murder. https://t.co/GkDyxChdBd
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 9, 2023
The murder charges come months after Kouri Richins’ self-published “Are You with Me?” — an illustrated storybook about a young boy wondering about his father’s presence in his life after the dad dies.
Eric Richins, 39, was founded dead in his home on March 4, 2022.
The charges against his widow include one count of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
“According to a sister, Eric and his wife went to Greece a few years ago and after his wife gave him a drink he became violently ill and called his sister saying he believed his wife had tried to kill him,” the records said, according to NBC News.
“On Valentine’s Day of 2022, his wife brought him a sandwich, which after one bite Eric broke into hives and couldn’t breathe. He used his son’s epi-pen as well as Benadryl before passing out for several hours,” the records said.
According to the documents, two family members said that before he died, Eric Richins made changes to his will and life insurance and told them that “Kouri would kill him for money and he wanted to make sure the kids were taken care of financially.”
A representative of Eric Richins said he remained with his wife for the sake of their children.
“It appears Eric may have stayed in a relationship that wasn’t good because he loved his boys, and wanted to keep the family relationship together. Maybe he was hopeful things would change, but his number one concern was for his boys,” attorney Greg Skordas said, according to KUTV-TV.
“They have three boys, three young boys, and I think Eric, being so involved in their lives as a soccer coach, baseball coach, basketball coach, wanted to keep the family together,” Skordas said, according to NBC News.
“Eric was a good father. … He was a philanthropist. He cared about a lot of people. … He did the best he could to make the most of his marriage,” the attorney said.
According to KPCW-TV, a massive mansion was one other source of discord in the marriage.
Utah author Kouri Richins fought with hubby she’s accused of murdering over buying $2M mansion: docs#utah #kouririchins #hebercity #ericrichins #kamas #parkcity
➡️ Now on https://t.co/CAhbgw5KUu — https://t.co/ImikjpSwic— Upstract (@upstract) May 11, 2023
Kouri Richins wanted to buy it, but her husband opposed doing so, saying its $2 million cost was too high.
Court documents said family members believed Richins was planning to tell his wife he was not going forward with a deal that was in the works. However, she closed on the deal the day after he died, only later to realize she was cut out of her husband’s will.
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