US ‘grief author’ convicted of murdering husband with lethal fentanyl dose

A Utah woman who authored a children's book about coping with loss has been found guilty of murdering her husband with fentanyl. Kouri Richins, 35, was convicted on Monday of aggravated murder for poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022 at their home near Park City. Prosecutors presented evidence that she slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail he drank. The motive, according to Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth, was financial: Richins was $4.5 million in debt and falsely believed she would inherit her husband's estate, valued at over $4 million. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching their verdict.

Richins was also convicted on several other felony charges, including attempted murder for a prior incident on Valentine's Day where she allegedly poisoned her husband with a fentanyl-laced sandwich, causing him to black out. Additional convictions included forgery and fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after Eric's death. Sentencing is scheduled for May 13, which would have been Eric Richins' 44th birthday. The aggravated murder charge alone carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Following the verdict, emotional family members from both sides were seen hugging and crying in the courtroom, marking a tragic end to a case that intertwined literary pretense with lethal intent.