Kouri Richins, Children's Author Accused of Murdering Husband

Children's book author, Kouri Richins, who recently wrote about grieving a loved one after her husband passed, has now been accused of his murder.

Kouri (33) was arrested on May 8th in connection to the 2022 death of her husband Eric Richins (39). An arrest warrant claims she's being charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and has been accused of killing her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl.

This arrest comes two months after she published her children's book 'Are You With Me?' which is about dealing with the loss of a loved one.

Her attorney has declined to comment on any of this.

The charging warrant states police responded to a 911 call from their home in the early hours of March 4th, 2022. There were reports of an unresponsive male, and police found Eric on the foot of the couple's bed. Life saving measures were taken but failed and he was declared dead.

The warrant states Kouri told authorities that the evening before Eric drank a Moscow Mule cocktail she made him in order to celebrate her closing on a house for her business. These documents also state she went to bed that night but later went to sleep with one of their sons because he was "having a night terror."

She then allegedly woke up around 3AM, discovered his body in the bedroom "cold to the touch" and called 911.

An autopsy proved that Eric died due to an overdose of fentanyl and that it was ingested orally. A search warrant was executed by police of the couple's home, where they seized Kouri's phone and multiple computers. Kouri had told police she left her phone charged next to her bed the night he died, however, the charging warrant proved it locked and unlocked multiple times, and text messages were sent, received and deleted.

Investigators also found she had had communications with an acquaintance who was identified as C.L. On May 2nd, detectives interviewed the person who had alleged Korui was texting them between December 2021, and February 2022.

She had allegedly asked if they could get her "prescription pain medication for an investor who had a back injury."

The charging warrant claims C.L. had procured the hydrocodone pills from a dealer, and two weeks later, Kouri allegedly said her investor wanted something stronger and asked for "some of the Michael Jackson stuff."

Court documents claim that C.L. alleged Kouri had "asked specifically for fentanyl" and had later acquired 15-30 pills. Days after this alleged conversation, Kouri and Eric had a Valentine's Day dinner at home and he "became very ill," and he "thought his wife was trying to poison him."

Kouri obtained more fentanyl pills from C.L. later allegedly, and after six days "Eric was found dead of a fentanyl overdose."

An April 2022 search warrant quotes Summit County Sheriff's Office Detective Jayme Woody saying investigators found "no painkillers or other concerning medications for Eric" and there was also "no indication of Eric from friends or family or on scene that Eric was a drug user or that he had had any use or behavioral changes to indicate drug use."

Eric had allegedly also spoke about his suspicions about Kouri trying to poison him to his family who said he "warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame."

The detective claimed he was told Eric became ill on two occasions after ingesting a drink and sandwich made by his wife.

Before his death, it was noted Eric changed his will and life insurance policy without telling his wife, making his sister the beneficiary instead of Kouri. The warrant states "he was looking into a divorce and wanted his kids taken care of."

Kouri allegedly logged into his account and tried to make herself the beneficiary, but Eric was notified by the insurance company.

A judge has ordered Kouri to remain detained without bail after she charged, with court documents showcasing a detention hearing has been scheduled for May 19th.