A Summit County jury convicted the Kamas real estate agent in March 2026 of murdering her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl in 2022, and of trying to poison him weeks earlier. She was sentenced to life without parole, maintains her innocence and is appealing. A separate 26-count financial-crimes case is pending.
On Oct. 15, 2026, Richins asked the judge for a new lawyer in her pending financial-crimes case, writing that her relationship with her public defender had broken down; among her reasons, she said the lawyer had previously represented the prosecution's key witness in the murder trial.43 At a hearing on Monday, Oct. 19, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik granted the public defender's request to withdraw once a replacement is appointed, and the case remains on hold until then.23 Earlier, on Aug. 28, Mrazik ordered her to repay nearly $1.4 million in life insurance proceeds she collected after her husband's death.65
Kouri Darden married Eric Richins in June 2013, when she was 23 and he was 31, and the couple signed a prenuptial agreement that kept their income and assets separate unless he died while they were married, CBS News reported.16 Eric Richins was a stonemason who worked for nearly 12 years at C&E Masonry with a business partner, who testified that the company lent $200,000 to Kouri Richins’s real estate business in October 2020.21 In November 2020 Eric Richins created a living trust naming one of his sisters as trustee; a lawyer told a court that he wanted to protect his finances from his wife and keep her from managing his property after his death, according to CBS News.16
Prosecutors told jurors that by early 2022 Richins owed more than $4.5 million to 20 lenders and expected to inherit her husband’s $2 million stake in his company, which a divorce would have barred.25 In the separate financial-crimes case, prosecutors allege that by the end of 2021 she “stood on the precipice of total financial collapse”; those allegations have not been tried.7
According to charging documents reported by NBC News, Richins left her husband his favorite sandwich from a local diner with a note on Valentine’s Day 2022; he broke out in hives after a bite, used his son’s EpiPen and took Benadryl, and told one friend “you almost lost me” and another that he thought his wife had tried to poison him.31 The documents noted that he had no food allergies and that opioids, including fentanyl, can cause reactions that include hives.31 His business partner testified that when Eric Richins called him that day, the urgency and fear in his voice stood out.21 Prosecutors added the attempted-murder charge in March 2024, arguing that Richins learned from the failed attempt and used those lessons 17 days later.30
The prosecution’s key witness was a former housekeeper for Richins who testified under a grant of immunity.1723 She testified that Richins asked her in early 2022 to find pain medication for “an investor,” that she obtained pills for Richins four times, including a bag of pills she said she bought from a man at a gas station on Feb. 11, 2022, and that Richins later asked for something stronger, referring to “some of the Michael Jackson stuff.”23 She testified that when she asked Richins a few days after Eric Richins’s death whether the pills had been for him, Richins said no and told her he had died of a brain aneurysm; phone records shown in court included a text from Richins three days after the death asking whether she still had her “hookup.”23 The man she named as her supplier testified that he sold her what he believed was oxycodone, not fentanyl, after earlier telling investigators otherwise.22
Under cross-examination, the housekeeper acknowledged using drugs “very regularly” at the time and testing positive for methamphetamine in early 2022, and the defense pointed to differences between her trial testimony and her 2023 interviews with investigators.2322 Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told the court, “While she may be confused, she is not untruthful.”22
Richins called 911 and told the dispatcher that her husband was pale, had no pulse and was cold; the dispatcher guided her through CPR until medics arrived, according to the recording played at trial.21 She told a detective that the couple had shots of alcohol before going to bed around 9 p.m., that she left the bedroom to comfort a child after a nightmare, and that when she returned she found her husband cold.21 According to the probable cause statement, as reported in 2023, she told investigators she had made him a mixed vodka drink to celebrate a home sale.33 Body-camera video showed her telling a deputy that he sometimes took a THC gummy before bed, though she did not think he had, and that he had no history of illicit drug use.2417
Dr. Pamela Sue Ulmer, who performed the autopsy, testified that she found 15 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl, a toxic amount, and no evidence of injury; she did not classify the manner of death.24 Prosecutors alleged the dose was five times a lethal amount.1724 The lead detective testified that no fentanyl was found in the home or the family’s vehicles and that the trash cans were empty; Richins told her the housekeeper had emptied them.21 The defense noted that investigators did not test the copper mugs, an empty 2016 hydrocodone bottle in Eric Richins’s bedside drawer, or pills allegedly passed to Richins.251820
Prosecutors alleged that Richins took out life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with benefits totaling about $2 million.1732 A Salt Lake City police forensic document examiner testified that he found no evidence that Eric Richins signed a life insurance application bearing his name, that it “looked like a simulated forgery,” and that he could not determine who wrote it.21 The forgery count is tied to a policy with TruStage, and the jury convicted her of fraudulently collecting insurance benefits after the death.518
A digital forensic analyst testified that Richins’s phone search history included queries about lethal doses of fentanyl and how poisoning appears on a death certificate, the Associated Press reported.17 Text messages showed her discussing leaving her husband and marrying another man, according to the AP.17 Jurors also saw a six-page letter, titled “Walk the Dog!!,” found in her jail cell in September 2023; prosecutors said it outlined false testimony for her mother and brother, including that her husband got “pain pills and fentanyl from Mexico,” while her lawyers said it was fiction she had been writing.2017 Detective Jeff O’Driscoll testified that texts showed her children’s book was written by a ghostwriter.2017
Before trial, the Utah Supreme Court held that state law “does not permit summoning prospective jurors from two counties,” rejecting a joint request by both sides to draw jurors from Salt Lake County as well as Summit County.129 The trial opened Feb. 23, 2026, before Judge Richard Mrazik.25 Prosecutors called 42 witnesses over about three weeks; Richins waived her right to testify, and the defense rested without calling witnesses.1819 On March 16, 2026, after deliberating just under three hours, a jury of six men and two women found her guilty on all five counts.1819 KPCW later reported that the jury found she acted for monetary gain.8
The defense asked for 25 years to life with the possibility of parole; prosecutors argued against parole, citing the children’s well-being.13 On May 13, 2026, Judge Mrazik sentenced Richins to life in prison without parole and imposed prison terms on the other four counts, to run consecutively, KPCW reported.1314 He said that after the Valentine’s Day attempt she spent “the next 17 days not changing course, but doubling down,” asked, “And for what? Money,” and said she was “simply too dangerous to ever be free.”13 Statements from her three sons, read by their counselors, expressed fear of their mother; Eric Richins’s father asked for the maximum sentence, and her mother asked the court not to bar parole.1314 On Aug. 28, 2026, the judge ordered restitution of $1,017,018.49 to Auto-Owners Insurance and $352,562.61 to TruStage, the life insurance she collected; her lawyer did not contest the amount but asked that it be paused during the appeal.65
Her lawyers filed a notice of appeal on May 26, 2026, and the case was referred to the Utah Court of Appeals.12 On July 1 they moved for a new trial, alleging “irregularities in the trial proceedings and cumulative error,” and asked that a different judge hear it, arguing Judge Mrazik had been biased against the defense.11108 On July 29, Judge Kara Pettit rejected the request to disqualify Judge Mrazik, finding it procedurally defective and late, and that the trial video the defense submitted did not show the “extreme” conduct required; KPCW reported that the new-trial motion itself remained pending.98
Prosecutors originally charged mortgage-fraud and forgery counts alongside the murder; in November 2024 Judge Mrazik ordered some of them tried separately, and on June 27, 2025, prosecutors filed a separate 26-count case.2627 It alleges that between June 2021 and January 2022 she lied to mortgage lenders about her bank balances and wrote bad checks to keep company accounts positive, and that she used a $45,000 payment from a friend under a rent-to-own agreement to pay company debts.27 Richins has not been tried on these charges and is presumed innocent of them. Her defense said at the time that the new charges reflected weakness in the murder case.27 The case was on hold during the murder trial and remains on hold until a new public defender is appointed.3
Richins was born Kouri Darden; she was 23 when she married in 2013.16 She started K Richins Realty LLC in 2019, buying, renovating and reselling homes, and her family says she usually had three houses under way at a time, CBS News reported.16 She and Eric Richins had three sons.1613 Her mother and her brother have spoken on her behalf, and a family friend said after sentencing that many in her family disagree with the verdict.1613
No mental-health testimony or court findings about her health appear in the sources reviewed.
Two days after his death, Richins and one of his sisters fought over a safe in the home; Richins later pleaded no contest to assault, CBS News reported.16 Eric Richins’s family has pursued a civil claim under Utah’s “slayer statute,” which bars a person who killed someone from inheriting from them, and Richins is litigating property issues in that case.18
In March 2023 she published Are You With Me?, a children’s picture book about grief that she said was meant to help her sons cope, and promoted it on local television and radio.161733 Prosecutors argued at trial that she promoted the book to build a narrative and cover up the killing.17 Texts shown at trial put the ghostwriting cost at $10,000.20
Richins was held without bail in the Summit County Jail from her arrest in May 2023 through her trial.2718 At sentencing she addressed her sons, saying, “I would never ever leave you boys, and I am so sorry,” and said she should not be blamed “for something [she] didn’t do.”1413 She appeared by video at the August restitution hearing and did not speak.5
Eric Richins was 39 when he died; he would have turned 44 on the day of the sentencing.3015 At sentencing one of his sisters asked people to remember him “by performing a kind act for a stranger,” and his father said the family misses him every day.1314
Summit County prosecutors argued that Richins, about $4.5 million in debt, killed her husband for his money and expected to inherit his estate, and that she had tried to poison him with a fentanyl-laced sandwich on Valentine's Day 2022.1725 Chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors in opening statements that she "murdered Eric for his money, and for a fresh start at life," and in closing urged them, "Do not let her get away with murder."2518
Her lawyers argued that the state could not show how fentanyl entered Eric Richins's body or that she put it there, called the investigation "sloppy" and "driven by bias," and said it was led by his family and a private investigator they hired.1825 They argued that he was addicted to painkillers and that the key prosecution witness, who testified under a grant of immunity, had reason to lie.17 After sentencing, her lawyer said she "maintains her innocence"; Richins told the court, "I will appeal and fight these charges no matter how long it takes."1413
Kouri Darden, 23, marries Eric Richins; they sign a prenuptial agreement the same day, CBS News reported.16
Eric Richins creates a living trust naming one of his sisters as trustee; his wife is not told of it before his death.16
Eric Richins falls ill after eating a sandwich his wife left for him; prosecutors later charge this as attempted murder.3130
Eric Richins is found dead at the couple's home in Kamas; an autopsy finds a toxic level of fentanyl.3324
Richins publishes a children's book about grief, Are You With Me?1617
She is arrested and charged with aggravated murder.33
After a preliminary hearing, Judge Mrazik rules there is enough evidence for a jury trial.30
The Utah Supreme Court holds that state law does not allow jurors to be summoned from two counties for one trial.128
Prosecutors file a separate 26-count financial-crimes case.27
The murder trial opens in Park City.25
The jury finds her guilty on all five counts after about three hours of deliberation.1819
Judge Mrazik sentences her to life in prison without parole, on what would have been Eric Richins's 44th birthday.1315
Her lawyers file a notice of appeal.12
A second judge rejects her request to disqualify Judge Mrazik; her motion for a new trial remains pending.89
She is ordered to repay nearly $1.4 million in life insurance proceeds.65
The judge allows her public defender in the financial-crimes case to withdraw once a replacement is found.23
A review hearing on the financial-crimes case and her legal representation is scheduled for Nov. 6, 2026, TownLift reported.3 Her appeal of the murder conviction is before the Utah Court of Appeals, which will consider whether the trial court conducted the case correctly, KPCW reported.12 Her lawyers have said they may ask the appellate court to pause the restitution order while the appeal proceeds.5 The sources reviewed report no ruling on her motion for a new trial as of Oct. 27, 2026, and no trial date in the financial-crimes case.