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Eric Richins, a Utah man who was allegedly poisoned by his wife of nine years, took “highly unusual steps” to prevent his wife from becoming the sole beneficiary of his estate after his death, his lawyer said.
Prosecutors allege Kouri Richins, 33, killed her 39-year-old husband by spiking his cocktail with fentanyl on the evening of March 3, 2022, at their home in Kamas, just outside Park City, while their three sons slept.
“Eric made and requested several unusual to very unusual choices and provisions for his estate plan,” estate planning attorney Kristal Bowman-Carter wrote in a statement filed in Summit County in connection with the Kouri Richins murder trial.
Prior to his death, Eric took Kouri out of his will and instead made his sister and father the beneficiaries. His family told authorities he feared for his life after Kouri allegedly tried to poison him several years ago in Greece and again on Valentine’s Day last year.
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Kouri Richins, a mother of three from Utah, is accused of murdering her husband of nine years, Eric Richins, with fentanyl last year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/Family Handout)
Bowman-Carter said she met Eric Richins in 2018 when he asked her to draft a purchase-sale agreement for his masonry business. In October 2020, he approached her again to discuss his estate planning.
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“During our meeting he told me he had two primary goals. His first goal was to protect him in the short term from fairly recently discovered and ongoing abuse and misuse of his finances by his wife Kouri Richins…His second was to protect the three young sons he and Kouri had together in the long run by ensuring that Kouri would never be able to manage his property after his death,” Bowman-Carter wrote.
Utah prosecutors charge Kouri Richins, 33, with poisoning her husband Eric Richins, 39, with fentanyl last year at their home in Kamas, outside Park City, while their three young sons slept. (Facebook/Kouri Richins)
Eric believed that appointing someone other than his wife “to manage his property after his death would protect his sons from Kouri’s poor financial choices and decisions,” she added.
Prosecutors allege that between 2015 and 2017, Kouri purchased four different life insurance policies for Eric’s life totaling more than $1.9 million.
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Skye Lazaro, Kouri’s attorney in the murder case, said at a bail hearing on Monday that making bad financial decisions does not make her client a murderer.
Kouri Richins at a bail hearing on Monday, June 12, 2023 in Park City, Utah. A judge decided to detain her for the duration of her trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
“Being bad with money doesn’t make you a murderer. Being bad at managing your bills makes you bad at math, but it doesn’t make you a murderer,” she said, according to KUTV.
In November 2020, Eric Bowman-Carter asked to make his sister, Katie, his caregiver instead of his wife, which the attorney described as “highly unusual” as most spouses list each other as their caregiver. He later changed his mind and made Kouri his primary care provider, Bowman-Carter explained.
Utah author Kouri Richins allegedly attempted to steal her husband’s life insurance benefits before his death in March 2022. (KPCW via AP/family handout)
Eric also made it clear that while he wanted his children to be the main beneficiaries of his estate, Kouri only “benefited from the minimum amount he needed to leave her and she had no control over” her share or the share of her children in Eric’s estate. He then chose his sister and father as his successors, his lawyer wrote.
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On January 1, 2022, months before Eric’s death, Kouri “secretly and without consent changed the beneficiary for his $2 million life insurance policy policy to himself,” the document says. Eric received notification of the change and reverted the beneficiary to his business partner.
Eric Richins had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his blood. (Facebook/Kouri Richins)
According to other court documents filed last month, the pair had financial disagreements over Kouri’s desire to purchase a nearly $2 million mansion under construction in Wasatch County. The 33-year-old owner of a real estate company, wanted to flip the mansion and sell for a profit, says a writ.
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Kouri is accused of spiked her husband’s Moscow Mule with fentanyl, an opioid that is lethal in small doses, while they were celebrating a house sale on March 3, 2022. The next day, Kouri reportedly struck a deal with the mansion of Wasatch County “alone,” after her husband was pronounced dead.
The charges against Kouri Richins are based on officers’ interactions with Richins and an unnamed acquaintance who apparently told authorities she sold fentanyl to the mother of three. (Facebook/Kouri Richins)
When authorities contacted Bowman-Carter and asked her to explain the details of Eric’s will to Kouri, the lawyer said she “became very upset” and started screaming.
“Kouri yelled, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ and “How could you do this to me?” and ‘This is my house,'” Bowman-Carter said. “I explained to her that the Trust owned the house and told her, ‘This is not your house.'”
After Eric’s death, Kouri wrote a children’s book about death, “Are You With Me?”
A description of the book, which was listed on Amazon for $14.99, describes it as “a must-read for any child who has experienced the pain of loss, and for parents who want to give their children the emotional support they need. to cure.” and grow.”
A judge denied bail for Kouri Monday in a Summit County courtroom.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to [email protected] or on Twitter at @audpants.
