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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) New charges, including attempted murder prior to Eric Richins’ death, as well as incidents of fraud, have been brought forth in the case of Kouri Richins. She is currently awaiting trial after being accused of poisoning her husband to death with fentanyl in March 2022.
According to court documents, Richins now faces aggravated murder (first-degree felony), attempted aggravated murder (first-degree felony), two counts of distribution of a controlled substance (second-degree felony), two counts of mortgage fraud (second-degree felony), two counts of insurance fraud (second-degree felony), and three counts of forgery (third-degree felony).
Attempted murder charge Valentine’s Day
Richins, who was charged with murder in May 2023, is now also facing an attempted murder charge for allegedly attempting to poison her husband on Valentine’s Day, a month before his death.
Prior to Eric Richins’ death, prosecutors say he told witnesses that he believed his wife was trying to poison him. Those witness statements, along with additional evidence, are now being used by prosecutors to charge Kouri Richins with attempted murder.
On Valentine’s Day in 2022, charging documents say Kouri Richins called a local diner and paid the restaurant $41.29. Later that afternoon, Eric Richins called a close friend saying “you almost lost me,” according to documents.
He allegedly told his friend that Kouri Richins had left him a sandwich with a note and he took one bite and “broke out into hives.” Documents say he told his friend he used his son’s epi-pen and drank a bottle of Benadryl before falling asleep.
According to prosecutors, he later called another friend saying he thought his wife tried to poison him through his favorite sandwich, saying he got sick and blacked out after eating some of it. The witness told authorities Eric Richins said “he felt like he was going to die.”
Prosecutors note that Eric Richins did not have any allergies and fentanyl can cause allergic and pseudoallergic symptoms.
Months later, Kouri Richins allegedly denied that Eric Richins broke out into hives or had to use an epi-pen on Valentine’s Day in a conversation with her friend, saying they ate lunch from the diner and it hurt his stomach so he took a nap.
Prosecutors also cite several text messages from January and February with witnesses who told law enforcement that Kouri Richins had asked for fentanyl.
One witness told law enforcement she delivered fentanyl pills to Kouri Richins on Feb. 11 or Feb. 12. Later that month, the witness allegedly said Kouri Richins reached out saying the pills were not strong enough.
After Kouri Richins’ arrest, prosecutors say she told her mother and brother on a jail call that “[Eric] asked me to ask [the witness] for pain pills.”
Fraud charges
Prosecutors allege that in July of 2021, Kouri Richins applied for a loan with Iron Bridge Financial, providing them with a falsified account balance of $210,898. According to prosecutors, the statement of the account she provided, at the very same date, showed a balance of $15,609.
According to court documents, while processing the mortgage loan, an Iron Bridge representative told Richins, “When I ran your credit it was lower than I expected [redacted]. Looks like there are some delinquencies with regards to a few credit cards. I was just a bit surprised by that. I know you have a lot of $$ in the bank to cover expenses.”
Reportedly, three days later, Richins replied, “I recently learned about all of this as well LOL and then my husband tried to explain to me this was his doing a while ago.. (sic) We are in the process of separation for one of many reasons but this is one of them to keep it short and sweet LOL… It’s been crazy to say the least!”
In August of 2021, Richins allegedly applied for another loan with Boomerang Finance, submitting a bank statement with an account balance of $702,831. According to prosecutors, the true balance of that account was $15,339.
In addition to the counts of mortgage fraud, prosecutors also allege that Richins submitted a falsified life insurance application on her husband, Eric Richins, naming herself as a beneficiary with a death benefit of $100,000.
This life insurance policy was taken out just one month before Eric Richins’ death, prosecutors say.
Kouri Richins is also accused of providing an address for Eric Richins that was actually a PO Box solely belonging to her, as well as forging Eric’s signature on the application.
Additionally, the phone number for Eric Richins provided on the application contained an incorrect digit, according to court documents. Kouri Richins was allegedly the fraudulent beneficiary of two insurance policies on Eric Richins’ life, with an aggregate death benefit of $350,000.
