A Utah mom who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband died last year and was later accused of fatally poisoning him is facing a multimillion dollar lawsuit alleging financial wrongdoing.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Katie Richins, one of the sisters of Kouri Richins’ late husband, Eric Richins, alleges Kouri Richins stole money from her husband’s bank accounts and obtained a fraudulent loan without his knowledge, among other claims, before his death in March 2022. The suit seeks over $13 million.
“Kouri committed the foregoing acts in calculated, systematic fashion and for no reason other than to actualize a horrific endgame — to conceal her ruinous debt, misappropriate assets for the benefit of her personal businesses, orchestrate Eric’s demise, and profit from his passing,” the lawsuit alleges.
Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested and charged with murder in Park City, Utah, in May. She faces charges of criminal homicide, first-degree aggravated murder, and three counts of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said the 33-year-old author poisoned her husband Eric Richins, 39, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl.
Following her husband’s death, the widowed mom of three released a children’s book titled “Are You with Me?” about an angel wing-clad deceased father watching over his sons. The lawsuit alleges the book references details from Eric Richins’ life and his relationship with his children.
The complaint also seeks to prohibit Richins from selling the book and for her to turn over all the revenue made from its sales.
Accused of planning husband’s death
Prosecutors have accused Kouri Richins of planning her husband’s death and alleged that she bought four life insurance policies on her husband’s life totaling $2 million without his knowledge years ago.
Kouri Richins also allegedly stole and spent thousands of dollars from her husband, including $134,000 from his business, $100,000 from his bank accounts, and more than $30,000 from his credit cards, among other things.
In a victim’s impact statement during a June 12 detention hearing, one of Eric Richins’ sisters, Amy Richins, called her sister-in-law “desperate, greedy and extremely manipulative,” the Associated Press reported.
Kouri Richins was denied bail earlier this month after a judge determined that she posed “a substantial danger to the community,” KTVX-TV reported.
Late husband poisoned at home
Authorities said Eric Richins was poisoned at the couple’s residence in Kamas, a small mountain town in Summit County about 44 miles east of Salt Lake City.
Summitt County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Richins home on March 4, 2022, just after 3 a.m., and found Eric Richins dead on the floor at the foot of his bed, according to an arrest warrant.
The warrant said Kouri Richins was sleeping in one of her children’s bedrooms because the child was scared. She found Eric after returning to her room at about 3 a.m. and then called 911, the warrant added.
Kouri Richins told deputies at the time that she and her husband were celebrating closing on a home purchase for her business the night before.
“Defendant stated that she made Eric a Moscow Mule in the kitchen and brought it to their bedroom where Eric consumed it while sitting in bed,” the warrant reads.
According to the warrant, autopsy and toxicology findings show Eric Richins died from fentanyl overdose. Authorities accused Kouri Richins of slipping five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into the cocktail she made for him.
Contributing: Terry Collins and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY; Associated Press
USA TODAY
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