She Wrote a Book About Losing a Father—Now She May Spend Life in Prison: Kouri Richins Spared Death Penalty

killing her husband, Eric Richins. She has pleaded not guilty.
Pool

Over the last two weeks, jurors in Kouri Richins’ murder trial have heard wide-ranging testimony about troubles in her marriage, her secret affair and the millions of dollars she owed in debt – all factors prosecutors say led her to fatally poison her husband.

Prosecutors say the Utah mother of three killed her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022. She is also accused of attempting to kill him by lacing his sandwich on Valentine’s Day, weeks before his death.

Nearly 40 witnesses have testified so far, including the woman who allegedly gave Richins the drugs, friends who said they had heard about the couple’s marital problems and the man with whom she was having an affair.

“The evidence will prove that Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,” Brad Bloodworth, chief prosecutor in the Summit County Attorney’s Office, said in his opening statement. “More than anything, she wanted his money to perpetuate her facade of privileged affluence and success.”

Kouri Richins and her late husband Eric Richins are seen in an undated photo that Kouri Richins posted on social media in May 2023.
From Kouri Richins

Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges, with her defense arguing she has been wrongfully blamed for Eric Richins’ death and that prosecutors are unable to prove how the fentanyl entered Richins’ body. If convicted of the most serious charge, she could face up to life in prison.

“They’re going to spend weeks in this trial trying to convince you that Kouri had reasons to kill her husband, because they can’t show you that she did kill her husband,” defense attorney Kathy Nester said in her opening statement.

With prosecutors expected to conclude their case in the coming days, here are five key revelations from their witnesses so far:

Kouri Richins dreamed of future with another man, texts show

Robert Josh Grossmann, the man with whom Kouri Richins had a yearslong affair, wiped his eyes and put his head down as their affectionate text messages were displayed in court.

“I do want a future together. I do want you. Figure life out together,” Kouri Richins texted Grossmann roughly two weeks before her husband died. “If he could just go away and you could just be here! Life would be so perfect!!! I love you.”

Grossmann worked on houses Kouri Richins bought for her real estate business, he said, and their relationship became romantic around early 2020. She let him live in a home she was flipping, bought him two trucks and gave him money whenever he needed it, Grossmann said. He loved her, he testified, and believed she loved him, too.

The jury saw dozens of texts where the two expressed their love and dreamed about being together in the future – though both acknowledged the idea was more fantasy than reality.

During his testimony, Robert Josh Grossmann said he and Kouri Richins had a yearslong affair that ended months after Eric Richins’ death.
Pool

Grossmann and Richins planned to get brunch together on March 4, 2022, to celebrate her closing on a valuable property, he testified. The night before, he sent her a GIF – a type of animated image – of two people kissing with the caption, “love you,” according to messages shown in court.

Hours later, Eric Richins was dead.

The two stayed together for several months after Eric Richins’ death, Grossmann said. About a month after her husband died, Kouri Richins texted Grossmann, “I think I want you to be my husband one day.”

But their relationship soon ended. Grossmann said, “Things changed after Eric passed.”

Kouri Richins appeared to be grieving after Eric Richins died, Grossmann said on cross-examination.

Under questioning by defense attorney Wendy Lewis, Grossmann said after Richins’ arrest in May 2023, he spoke with a private investigator hired by Eric Richins’ family. The P.I., Grossmann said, told him Richins had killed her husband.

“I was blown away,” Grossmann said, “and then I’m like, looking at everything in our past with a different set of goggles on, through different lenses. And I was trying to figure out if she did it.”

He told the investigator about a sprawling conversation he had with Kouri Richins about two weeks after Eric Richins’ death, in which they discussed dying, God, bowhunting and “supernatural stuff.” During that conversation, Grossmann said Kouri Richins asked if he had killed anybody while serving in Iraq and how it made him feel.

“Today, sitting here, when you think back on that conversation, does that conversation seem like it was a strange conversation to you?” Lewis asked.

“I can’t tell one way from the other anymore,” Grossmann responded. “I’ve been confused for years.”