Utah author Kouri Richins, who’s accused of fatally poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail last year, clashed with her spouse over the sale of a multimillion dollar estate prior to his death, court records show.
Kouri Richins is facing aggravated murder charges as well as possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute related to her husband Eric Richins’ 2022 death. The 33-year-old author, who penned a children’s book about grief in the wake of her husband’s death, was arrested at her Kamas, Utah home on Monday.
Eric Richins, 39, died of a fentanyl overdose on March 3, 2022.
Newly filed court documents show that before her husband’s overdose death, Kouri was fixated on purchasing a sprawling 22,000 square foot unfinished mansion in Wasatch County, KPCW reported. Her real estate company, K Richins Realty, had been enlisted to help sell it, but she instead wanted to purchase it and resell it herself. Eric was hesitant to shell out for the $2 million asking price, per court records.
Kouri Richins Photo: KPCW.org
Kouri ultimately closed on the lavish estate on March 5, just one day after Eric’s death.
Eric’s family, however, now claim that he’d planned to tell his spouse they weren’t purchasing the estate the same day Kouri was advised she’d been removed from her husband’s will.
Prior to his death, Eric Richins suspected his wife had been poisoning him and removed her as his beneficiary on his life insurance policy. He also allegedly told family members that if anything happened to him, Kouri Richins was likely responsible, KUTV previously reported.
Kouri Richins purportedly purchased the Wasatch County mansion from a young widow who backed out of the property after her spouse died, per Park City news outlet TownLift.
Less than a month after the purchase, Kouri Richins reportedly re-listed the house asking for $5 million — more than double what she paid. The home is on contract for $3.75 million, according to KPCW.
The listing describes the unfinished home as a “paradise, a “perfect retreat” and an “architectural masterpiece” with “breathtaking” mountain panoramas. According to the listing, the eight-bedroom home includes an additional 3,600 square-foot guesthouse, a butler’s pantry, a swimming pool, a therapy pool, a gym, golf simulator, indoor volleyball court, rock climbing wall and two kitchens and common rooms.
Locals, however, who have described the home as a monstrosity against the surrounding rustic mountain backdrop, have called for its demolition.
“That place is cursed,” one Instagram user commented on TownLift’s account, referring to the home.
Kouri Richins is the author of the children’ book “Are You With Me,” which centered on helping kid readers process familial grief. She dedicated it to her late husband.
Kouri Richins is scheduled to appear in court May 19.
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