U.S. Author Who Wrote Children’s Book Mourning Husband Indicted for Poisoning...Legal Battle Over the Truth

Five-week trial begins, with life insurance payout and fentanyl at issue
Suspicion of murder grows after memorial book published following husband’s death
Prosecutors say she planned a new life with her lover after receiving the insurance money

The trial of a U.S. author accused of publishing a memorial children’s book after poisoning her husband will begin three years after the incident.

On the 24th (local time), foreign media including the Associated Press reported that the trial of Kouri Richins, who has been indicted on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud, and forgery, will open three years after the crime. The trial is expected to last about five weeks and conclude around March 27.

Children's author Kuri Richins indicted on charges of poisoning her husband. Associated Press and Yonhap News Agency

Prosecutors believe that on March 4, 2022, Richins killed her husband, Eric Richins, by giving him a lethal dose of fentanyl. An autopsy found fentanyl in the victim’s system at roughly five times the fatal level. Prosecutors suspect that at the time of the incident she provided her husband, who was asleep in the couple’s bedroom, with a drink laced with the drug. They also allege that shortly before his death she purchased fentanyl through an acquaintance and prepared to obtain financial gains by taking out additional life insurance policies in her husband’s name and changing the beneficiary to herself.

Prosecutors further allege that Richins was planning a new life with her lover after receiving the insurance payout. Testimony from people around the couple has been submitted as evidence. According to reports, witnesses have testified that, while alive, Eric Richins told an acquaintance and his younger sister words to the effect that “my wife seems to be trying to hurt me.” At the time of the incident, Richins told police that “one of my sons had a nightmare, so I went to his room around 9:30 p.m. and fell asleep there, and about six hours later when I returned to the master bedroom, I found my husband dead.” However, about a year later, in May 2023, she was arrested as the prime suspect.

Richinseu published Are You With Me? in March 2023 to console his three sons' grief. The book helps children who have lost family members cope with their loss. Goodreads

The case drew wide public attention because of the children’s book Richins published after her husband’s death. In March 2023, she released “Are You With Me?” to comfort her three sons in their grief. The book is intended to help children who have lost family members cope with their loss, and at the time of publication she appeared on local broadcasts, presenting herself as mourning her husband. However, just two months after the book came out, she was arrested on murder charges, marking a dramatic turn in the case.

Richins has completely denied the charges. Her defense team has argued that the evidence is insufficient, stressing that the acquaintance who allegedly sold her the drugs has recanted the original statement and now claims to have sold a different type of narcotic, not fentanyl. They also cite the fact that no fentanyl was found at the defendant’s residence as grounds for acquittal. If she is found guilty of aggravated murder in this trial, Richins could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The proceedings are expected to feature intense disputes over how the drugs were obtained, the changes made to the insurance policies, and the credibility of the surrounding witnesses’ testimony.