Grief book author Kouri Richins gave chilling interview before arrest

news

To Yaron Steinbuch

May 10, 2023 | 7:45 AM

A Utah mother of three who has been charged with murdering her husband appeared on a local TV show last month to promote a book she wrote about dealing with grief.

On March 4, 2022, 33-year-old Kouri Richins poisoned her husband Eric Richins with a lethal dose of fentanyl, which he mixed into a Moscow Mule cocktail.

She then wrote a children’s picture book titled Are You With Me? To help children cope with the death of a loved one.

Kouri, who appeared on ABC4’s “Good Things Utah” on April 6 to promote the book, spoke about her husband’s “unexpected” death.

“Last year my husband passed away suddenly. We had a one year anniversary on March 4th. He was 39,” she said.

We have three boys aged 10, 9 and 6 and my children and I have been through all the different emotions and grief we have experienced over the last year. It’s like writing this book about the process of

When asked how she handled the deaths, she said, “I went to Amazon and Barnes and Noble to find something that would help me deal with the night. The night is the hardest.”

“I wanted a story to read to my kids at night, but I couldn’t find one that would work for them, so I thought, ‘Let’s write one,'” Richnes said.

She told the hosts, “As a widow, not just as a wife, I try to understand how to grieve with my children, how to help them, how to help them understand what happened.” started.

In the interview, Richens described the “three C’s” she wrote: Connection, Continuity, and Care.

She teaches children that ‘connection’ is the most important factor, and that the spirits of deceased loved ones are ‘always in your home’.

Richins explained that the best way to achieve that is to bring back memories and participate in activities loved ones enjoyed in their lives.

She said that ‘continuity’ refers to keeping routines and schedules as normal as possible, and ‘care’ is showing affection and affirmation of children’s feelings.

“Just because he’s not here with us physically doesn’t mean his presence isn’t with us,” Richmond said in “Good Things Utah.

“Dad is still here. Just in a different way.”

The host praised her for being a wonderful mother.

“Are you with me?” is no longer available on Amazon.

Kouri reportedly told police that her husband made a mixed vodka cocktail and served it to him in his bed at his home in Camas, a small mountain town near Park City, to celebrate the sale of the house. said.

She told investigators that she fell asleep with one of the children who had nightmares.

When she woke up around 3 a.m., she told police that Eric felt “cold to the touch” and called 911.

Police found him lying at the foot of the couple’s bed.

Eric died of an oral overdose of fentanyl — an autopsy found that his system levels were five times the lethal dose.

Kouri is currently facing three counts of aggravated murder and possession of a controlled substance intended for distribution.

In addition to murder charges, the mother faces charges of possession of GHB, a narcolepsy drug often used recreationally.

The charges were based on police interactions with Richmond that night and an account of an “unnamed acquaintance” who claimed to have sold her fentanyl.

The couple apparently had problems long before Eric’s death.

One of his two sisters called police years ago when he and his wife were vacationing in Greece, claiming she made him a drink that made him very sick. It is reported that he said that

She claimed Eric believed his wife tried to kill him.

On February 14, 2022, the couple had a Valentine’s Day dinner where Eric “fell very sick,” according to a probable cause statement.

After taking his son’s EpiPen and Benadryl, he reportedly developed hives, could not breathe, and passed out.

“Eric believed he had been poisoned. He told a friend that he thought his wife was going to poison him,” the documents read.

Kouri’s attorney, Sky Lazarus, told The Post in an email: