Utah children’s book author Kouri Richins sobbed and rocked bath and forth after her husband Eric was found unresponsive in 2022, according to video shown to jurors at her murder trial Monday.
But the histrionics were all just a craven act put on by the money-obsessed 35-year-old mom of three — who poisoned the father of her children with a fentanyl-laced Moscow mule and left him to die in the couple’s bed, prosecutors said.
In the video, Richins cried and put her head in her hands as she swayed on the family’s sectional couch, sat cross-legged in her plaid pajamas and also got up and paced around the house.
“I just thought he was cold. It was cold so I put the blanket on him. His body was just heavy,” Richens told investigating Summit County sheriff’s Deputy Vincent Nguyen in the footage.
“We were just fine. We were fine,” she insisted of the couple’s interactions before his death. “We had a drink together at 9 to celebrate something at work tomorrow.
“He’s gonna be OK, right?” she asked Nyugen.
The deputy responded, “They are doing their best, OK, ma’am.”
Nguyen, asked by a prosecutor whether the wife’s reaction was similar to others at death scenes he’s been at, replied no, according to East Idaho News.com.
“Every time I spoke to Ms. Richins, her face was in her hands, and I couldn’t see her face,” the investigator said. “At one time, I even leaned down to look and see her emotions, but it was just a little abnormal.”
Richens is accused of killing her hard-working stone-mason hubby, 39, to bail herself out of debt thanks to his hefty life insurance — and also to enjoy a “fresh start” with the man she was having an affair with.
She has claimed that she left the couple’s bedroom that night to sleep with one of their sons because he was having a nightmare and didn’t return to her and her husband’s room until around 3 a.m. — only to find Eric cold and stiff in the bed.
The 40-minute video played in court began with medics attempting to resuscitate Eric in their bed.
Family then started to arrive at the home, including Richens’ sister-in-law, Katie Richins-Benson, who could be heard sobbing on her arrival. At one point, Kouri hugged the inconsolable in-law after she collapsed on the floor.
Richens had told Nyugen that Eric may have taken a THC gummy that night but she didn’t know of anything else he’d taken.
Her statement appeared to contradict what her own lawyer said in their opening statement Monday morning when they suggested Eric accidentally died from pain medication and that he’d asked Kouri to get him.
Kouri also informed the deputy that Eric had chest pains when he went to bed but that she thought nothing of it.
Eric had allergies — which he was receiving allergy shots for — and Lyme disease. The whole family had gotten over COVID a few weeks before, Kouri told the deputy.
Nyugen asked if Eric ever had suicidal thoughts.
“No, never. No,” she answered.
Prosecutor Bradley Bloodworth, during his opening statements, painted Kouri as money- and image- obsessed and claimed she killed Eric to inherit his $4 million estate to help her clear her $4.5 million debt she racked up trying to project an image of success.
She also wanted to “fresh start” with Josh Grossman, the man she was having an affair with, the prosecutor alleged.
A year after the suspected March 3, 2022 killing, Kouri wrote a children’s grief picture book “Are You With Me?” — supposedly to help her and Eric’s three young sons cope with his loss.
She went on local tv and radio stations to promote the book and was arrested just a few months later.
But her lawyer, Kathryn Nester — who is also representing Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson — told the jury Eric’s death was accidental and that his sister and other family members sought to pin the murder on Richins because they didn’t want to accept he died from an accidental overdose.
“No family ever wants to believe that behind closed doors someone you loved is using drugs,” Nester said.
Richins has pleaded not guilty. She’s been locked up since her arrest.