{"id":1373,"date":"2026-05-13T21:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1373"},"modified":"2026-05-13T21:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:01:41","slug":"kouri-richins-sentenced-to-life-for-husbands-fentanyl-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1373","title":{"rendered":"Kouri Richins sentenced to life for husband\u2019s fentanyl murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

Kouri Richins listens to statements written by her children during her sentencing in 3rd District Court on May 13, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Trent Nelson – Pool\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Spring Fire Department opens 62-acre W.W. Cotton Weaver Training Center<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

PARK CITY, Utah<\/strong> – <\/span>A Utah mother who wrote a children\u2019s book about coping with grief after her husband\u2019s death has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering him, a judge ruled Wednesday.<\/p>

The backstory:<\/p>

Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins\u2019 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\u2019s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich. Her defense said it will appeal the conviction and sentence.<\/p>

<\/div>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“A person convicted of those things is simply too dangerous to ever be free,” Judge Richard Mrazi said when handing down the sentence on the day that Eric Richins would have turned 44.<\/p>

RELATED: <\/strong>Utah mom who wrote children’s book about grief found guilty of murdering husband<\/strong><\/p>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-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 Eric Richins without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.<\/p>

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.”<\/p>

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Richins faces several decades to life in prison. She has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that the verdict was “an absolute lie.”<\/p>

Jurors also found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine\u2019s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.<\/p>

Eric Richins\u2019 father, Eugene Richins, urged Mrazik to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.<\/p>

Big picture view:<\/p>

The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children\u2019s book about a boy coping with the death of his father.<\/p>

What’s next:<\/p>

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.<\/p>

Read more South Carolina officer killed during pursuit involving teen driver<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who gained attention for writing a children\u2019s book about grief after her husband\u2019s death, has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"\nKouri Richins sentenced to life for husband\u2019s fentanyl murder - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1373\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kouri Richins sentenced to life for husband\u2019s fentanyl murder - 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