Kouri Richins, author of a children’s book on grief, gets life sentence
for killing her husband
[May 14, 2026]
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah mother who published a children’s book
about grief after the death of her husband will serve a life sentence
for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled
Wednesday.
Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her
husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of
fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her
guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and
attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on
Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.
Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be
free” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would
have turned 44.
Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins
has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that
the verdict was “an absolute lie.”
Richins stood at the podium in a lime-green jail uniform as she asked
her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on
me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.”
Prosecutors said Richins, a 36-year-old real estate agent with a
house-flipping business, was millions in debt and planning a future with
another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her
husband without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his
estate worth more than $4 million after he died.
Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, had urged the judge to impose a
life sentence without parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9,
7 and 5 when their father died.
“This sentence is important so Eric’s three sons never have to live with
the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever
harm them again,” he said.
The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in
2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the
death of his father.
Sons say they're afraid of their mother
Richins' sons “are not props for some twisted children’s book about
grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,”
said her sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson, who now has the boys in her
care.
Social workers read letters from the sons, who all said they would feel
unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said
Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of
famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked
food.
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Kouri Richins prepares to speak at her sentencing in 3rd District
Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The
Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only
cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle
son, now 11. He described having to “be a parent” to his younger
brother because his mother did not watch over them. Richins made the
boy paranoid about sitting on his dad's side of the bed, saying he
might die, too, he alleged.
The oldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care
of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him
inside his room while she drank.
“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in
court after hearing her sons’ statements.
Greg Hall, a friend and business associate of Richins, told
reporters he was disappointed by the sentence and urged people to
“have an open mind” about her.
Trial cut short by defense
The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when Richins
waived her right to testify, and her legal team rested its case
without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were
confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to
convict her of murder.
The jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding her
guilty of all counts.
During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between
Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her
husband and gaining millions in a divorce. Prosecutors also
displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which
included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons
and how poisoning is marked on a death certificate.
The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers.
Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the
night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her
husband had no history of illicit drug use.
Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal
charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.
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