Woman in Utah who wrote a children's book about coping with grief is charged with murder
A woman in Utah who previously “touched the hearts” of the public with her children’s book about coping with grief, has been arrested for allegedly murdering her husband.
Kouri Richins was charged with murder following the death of her husband Eric last year. According to a FOX 8 report, Kouri allegedly poisoned him with a lethal dose of fentanyl in their home in Kamas City in Utah.
Eric’s lifeless body was found at the foot of their bed on the morning of March 4 last year. According to court documents, Kouri made her husband an alcoholic drink to “celebrate him selling a home,” and then she proceeded to tuck one of their children to bed, where she also fell asleep.
She woke up at 3 a.m. and went down to check on her husband, where she found him unresponsive, and “cold to the touch.” She immediately called 911.
Upon investigation, Kouri said she left her phone unattended since it was plugged in inside their bedroom while she was with her child. However, investigators retrieved her phone records, showing that “it was locked and unlocked multiple times.”
It added that there were messages she sent and received within the hour of his husband’s death, but it was all deleted.
It was later found out that her husband had “five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl,” which caused his death.
Following Eric’s autopsy, authorities got a search warrant to seize more devices owned by Kouri, where they alleged that Kouri has contact with getting prescriptions for pain medications.
Kouri specifically requested something stronger, which she described as “some of the Michael Jackson stuff,” in which her friend gave her 15 to 20 fentanyl pills.
Aside from the murder charge, Kouri is also charged for allegedly possessing GHB—a narcolepsy drug.
Kouri was featured in Good Things Utah for writing a children’s book about dealing with the grief of losing a loved one dubbed Are You With Me? which she took inspiration from her personal experiences following his husband’s "unexpected" death. The concept of the book anchored on three Cs: Connection, Continuity, and Care.
“My kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced last year, hoping that it kind of help kids deal with this and find happiness some way or another,” she said.