Utah Mom Charged with Murder of Husband: Text and Google Evidence May Incriminate Her
In a recent development, criminal defense attorney Lexie Rigden has analyzed the text and Google evidence that could potentially incriminate Kouri Richins, a Utah mom of three and children’s book author accused of murdering her husband in 2022. Richins, now 35, has been charged with aggravated murder and drug possession by the authorities in 2023. It is alleged that she poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, on March 3, 2022, with illicit fentanyl in order to collect millions in life insurance funds. Additionally, she is now facing a new attempted murder charge for allegedly poisoning her husband on Feb. 14, 2022.
The investigation conducted by the Summit County Attorney’s Office and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office has revealed new information regarding the events leading up to Eric’s death. Greg Skordas, an attorney representing Eric’s family, stated, “It seems that the [Summit] County Attorney’s Office and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office are continuing their investigation, and … they’ve been able to discover more and more about what happened prior to the time Eric was ultimately killed. I think it’s entirely appropriate that they’ve continued that investigation … and that it’s brought more charges.”
According to new charging documents, prosecutors allege that Kouri texted her “paramour” on the night of Eric’s murder. The documents state, “At 7:22 p.m. on March 3, 2022, the night of Eric Richins’ death, the Defendant’s Paramour text messaged the Defendant a photograph of two people kissing that was captioned, ‘love you.’ At 8:36 p.m., the Defendant responded, ‘… love you [kiss emoji].’” This text exchange has raised suspicions about Kouri’s involvement in her husband’s murder.
Attorney Skordas had previously expressed his belief that Kouri was having an extramarital affair. He stated, “We always knew Kouri was having an extramarital affair. It’s just that the district attorney’s office hadn’t … equated that to having relevance to the charges. As they dug deeper, it really, I think, establishes another motive besides financial for her to want Eric out of her life.”
Kouri’s defense attorney, Skye Lazaro, maintains her client’s innocence in light of the new charge. Lazaro stated, “We have reviewed the State’s Amended Information filed today. There is nothing in the document that affects Kouri’s approach to defending whatever charges the State levies against her. She continues to maintain her innocence.”
The prosecution’s initial allegation was that Kouri killed Eric to collect life insurance funds and flip a $2 million mansion. Eric’s family claimed that he did not approve of this investment. Warrants show that Kouri closed a deal on the mansion a day after Eric’s death, despite his plans to tell her not to purchase it.
On the night of Eric’s death, the couple, along with Kouri’s mother Lisa Darden, were celebrating the closure of the mansion. Kouri allegedly poisoned her husband by lacing his Moscow mule with fentanyl. The medical examiner found that Eric had more than five times the lethal amount of illicit fentanyl in his system. The examiner also discovered a significant amount of Quetiapine, an atypical antipsychotic medication, in Eric’s gastric fluid.
Furthermore, it has been revealed that Eric had taken steps to remove Kouri from his will and protect his finances from her abuse. His estate is worth approximately $3.6 million.
In a surprising twist, a recently unsealed search warrant implicated Lisa Darden, Kouri’s mother, in Eric’s death. A detective expressed the belief that Darden may have been “involved in planning and orchestrating Eric’s death” based on her connection to a suspicious death in 2006. The detective noted that Darden had been named as the beneficiary of her partner’s estate shortly before her partner’s death, which was ruled as an oxycodone overdose. However, Kouri’s defense attorney denied these allegations, stating that Darden’s partner was a victim of the national opioid crisis.
The investigation into Kouri Richins’ alleged crimes is ongoing, and new evidence continues to emerge. The preliminary hearing for Kouri is scheduled to take place soon.
