Utah Children’s Book Author Kouri Richins Found Guilty of Aggravated Murder

Kouri Richins, the children’s book author accused of killing her husband Eric, has been found guilty of murder.
Richins, 35, was accused of lacing her husband’s Moscow Mule with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022.
On Monday, March 16, Kouri was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, as well as two counts of falsifying insurance claims and forgery, according to The New York Times.
The verdict was read after the jury deliberated for three hours, which found that the attempted homicide was committed for financial gain. The weeks-long trial began on Feb. 23, and the prosecution called 40 witnesses, while her defense team did not call any, CBS News reports.
Richins now faces 25 years to life in prison. Her sentencing was scheduled for May 13, which would have been Eric’s 44th birthday, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Prosecutors alleged the mother of three, who had started a house-flipping business, was millions in debt, per the Associated Press. Believing she would be the beneficiary of life insurance policies on her husband that would cover her debt, Richins, who wrote a children’s book about her husband’s death, allegedly laced his drink with the opioid, prosecutors argued.
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During the trial, Richins friend Becky Lloyd testified that Richins told her less than three months before Eric died that “she was feeling trapped; she was feeling like there wasn’t an easy way forward out of her marriage,” per the Salt Lake Tribune.
Richins allegedly also said “in many ways, it would be better if he were dead,” according to the Tribune.
Also testifying was Richins’ ex-boyfriend Robert Josh Grossman, who told the jury that he began a romantic relationship with Richins in early 2020 after he moved to Utah for a job working with her. Richins allowed him to stay at a home she was flipping, he testified, per NBC News.
Prosecutors showed the jury texts between the former lovers.
In one text exchange prior to Eric’s death, Richins allegedly texted Grossman,