{"id":355653,"date":"2026-05-13T19:25:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/kouri-richins-sons-asked-a-judge-to-never-let-her-out-he-gave-her-life-without-parole"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:26:03","slug":"kouri-richins-sons-asked-a-judge-to-never-let-her-out-he-gave-her-life-without-parole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/kouri-richins-sons-asked-a-judge-to-never-let-her-out-he-gave-her-life-without-parole","title":{"rendered":"Kouri Richins\u2019 Sons Requested a Decide to By no means Let Her Out. He Gave Her Life With out Parole"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The children\u2019s book Kouri Richins published after her husband died describes a father who stays close to his grieving child after death, a gentle presence that never really goes away.<\/p>\n

Her sons have a different view of presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,\u201d the oldest boy, now 13, said in court documents submitted ahead of Wednesday\u2019s sentencing. \u201cI think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us. I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be. I don\u2019t miss Kouri.\u201d<\/p>\n

His younger brother, now 11, kept his statement to the facts he could see most clearly. \u201cMy dad can\u2019t be my coach anymore, and can\u2019t be at any of my games,\u201d he said. \u201cHe won\u2019t be at my birthdays. He can\u2019t teach me how to drive. He won\u2019t be at my graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the boys the book was supposed to comfort.<\/p>\n

What She Sold as Comfort<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Amy\"Benadryl\"
Credit: Goodreads\/Kouri D. Richins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022, Kouri Richins paid a ghostwriting company<\/a> and self-published \u201cAre You With Me?\u201d The book was marketed as a children\u2019s story about coping with the loss of a parent. She promoted it on local television and radio, saying it was a resource to help her sons process their grief.<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s publisher description<\/a> called it \u201cwritten by a loving mother who personally faced this challenge.\u201d The challenge she had personally faced, a jury found in March, was murdering the father, whose death she was selling as a lesson in healing.<\/p>\n

A forensic pathologist testified that Eric Richins died from fentanyl intoxication. Prosecutors told jurors that Kouri Richins laced his cocktail with five times the lethal dose<\/a> at their home near Park City, Utah. He was 39. Their sons were 9, 7, and 5.<\/p>\n

The First Poisoning Did Not Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"coach\"\"EpiPen\"
Credit: Kouri Richins\/Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 4, 2022, was not the first time.<\/p>\n

On Valentine\u2019s Day 2022, ten days after a new life insurance policy on Eric\u2019s life went into effect, prosecutors said Kouri Richins gave her husband a fentanyl-laced sandwich. He broke out in hives, injected himself with his son\u2019s EpiPen, drank a bottle of Benadryl, called friends, and said he felt like he was going to die. He survived.<\/p>\n

She tried again three weeks later. This time, he did not.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Richins, a real estate agent running a house-flipping business, was millions in debt and pursuing a new relationship. They said she took out life insurance policies on Eric without his knowledge, forged his signature, and believed she would inherit an estate worth more than $4 million.<\/p>\n

She was not arrested until more than a year after his death. In that time, she made the book.<\/p>\n

The Son the Jury Never Heard<\/strong><\/h2>\n

During the 13-day trial, prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses<\/a>. The defense called none.<\/p>\n

What the jury did not hear was the testimony of the middle son, then 7 and now 11. Prosecutors said he would have directly contradicted his mother\u2019s account of the night Eric died. Richins told police she had gone to sleep in the boy\u2019s room before returning to the master bedroom and finding her husband dead. Her son said the TV was playing loudly in his parents\u2019 room that night, the door was locked, and she was not with him.<\/p>\n

His statement was not used at trial. He made it available for sentencing.<\/p>\n

The Text Message After the Guilty Verdict<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A jury convicted Kouri Richins of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud, and forgery in March. After the verdict, prosecutors said she sent a text message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going away, I won\u2019t be silent,\u201d it read. \u201cThey picked the wrong one. They think sentencing is \u2018the end\u2019 \u2018closure\u2019 it\u2019s just the beginning\u2026 They haven\u2019t seen anything yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s book promises that a lost father remains close. Its author was convicted of murdering him. Its intended readers asked a judge to make sure she never comes back. On Wednesday, the judge did.<\/p>\n