Kouri Richins sentenced to life for husband’s fentanyl murder
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)
PARK CITY, Utah - A Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering him, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The backstory:
Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ 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’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich. Her defense said it will appeal the conviction and sentence.
Kouri Richins found guilty of murdering her husband
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Criminal defense attorney Matt Tympanick with Tympanick Law joins LiveNOW's Shawna Khalafi with instant reaction to Kouri Richins being found guilty of murdering her husband in Utah.
What they're saying:
"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.
RELATED: Utah mom who wrote children's book about grief found guilty of murdering husband
Dig deeper:
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.
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."
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."
BREAKING: Kouri Richins convicted of murdering husband
FROM THE ARCHIVES: We are now watching as Kouri Richins, a Utah woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief after her husband's death, is convicted of aggravated murder in his death. The jury found her guilty of poisoning him with fentanyl. Richins was also found guilty of fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after the death of her husband in March 2022 at their home outside the ski town of Park City. After her husband's death, Richins self-published a children's book about grief to reportedly help her sons.
Jurors also found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.
Eric Richins’ 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.
Big picture view:
The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father.
What's next:
Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from court proceedings, including the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentencing decision, as well as statements made in court by prosecutors, the defense, and Judge Richard Mrazi. This story was reported from Los Angeles.