Prosecutors are bringing up the alleged search history of children’s book author Kouri Richins
A woman’s alleged search history is being brought up by prosecutors after the mother and children’s book author was accused of murdering her husband by lacing his cocktail with a fatal amount of fentanyl.
Kouri Richins — accused of murdering her husband Eric Richins on March 3, 2022 — has an iPhone search history featuring articles about fentanyl, life insurance payments and investigations, according to documents released Friday ahead of her Monday detention hearing in Park City, Utah, which were obtained by CNN.
As the outlet reports, prosecutors called the phone searches “incriminating,” as they allegedly include the following phrases and questions: “can cops force you to do a lie detector test,” “Luxury prisons for the rich in America,” “death certificate says pending, will life insurance still pay,” “If someone is poisoned what does it go down on the death certificate as,” and “How to permanently delete information from an iPhone remotely.” The alleged searches can be viewed online.
Richins was charged with one count of first-degree aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, per court documents previously obtained by . She allegedly concocted a deadly Moscow Mule for Eric, 39, that contained five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, the documents stated. Eric, who drank the beverage to celebrate a recent real estate deal for Richins’ business, was pronounced dead hours later.
CNN now reports that her defense wrote in a motion that “law enforcement never identified or seized any fentanyl or other illicit drugs from the Family Home.”
“The State has provided no evidence that there was fentanyl found in the home,” a motion reportedly read. “Nor have they provided any evidence that Kouri gave Eric the fentanyl at issue.”
Richins — who published a children’s book on grief a year after her husband’s death and threw a party at the couple’s Kamas, Utah, home the day after his alleged murder, authorities say — has also been accused of trying to change a life insurance police and withdrawing money without her husband’s knowledge, per CNN.
Her lawyers responded in a filing that “there is no evidence identifying the computer from which the login was initiated” in regards to the policy, and that she had a right to the money from their joint accounts, according to the outlet. Eric allegedly changed the beneficiaries of his will and life insurance policy from his wife to his sister before he died, as previously reported by .
On Monday, Richins’ attorneys argued in court that she should be released on bail during the trial, calling the prosecutions’ evidence circumstantial since police didn’t seize fentanyl from their home, local network WJW reports.
Her legal team argued that prosecutors “worked backward in an effort to support” the idea that she poisoned Eric, the outlet reports. Her defense also accused detectives of unlawful detaining and question following a search warrant in 2022.
In March 2023, a year after her husband’s death, Richins released a children’s book on grief, titled Are You With Me? Its product description on Amazon said the book was “written to create peace and comfort for children who have lost a loved one.” The book has since been pulled from Amazon.
According to KCPW News, Richins had a sequel in the works, titled Mom, How Far Away is Heaven? She and Eric share three children.
Prosecutors previously cited a medical examiner and said Eric died of a fentanyl overdose, with an autopsy indicating he had approximately five times the lethal amount in his system.
After Eric’s death, investigators obtained search warrants and seized the family’s electronic devices, during which they discovered several texts between Richins and an acquaintance she was allegedly buying drugs from, per previously reviewed documents.
Investigators interviewed the acquaintance, who alleged Richins purchased hydrocodone from them sometime between December 2021 and February 2022. She allegedly reached back out to the acquaintance weeks later requesting a more potent drug — “some of the Michael Jackson stuff,” the acquaintance said Richin told them, per the documents. She then allegedly obtained 15 to 30 fentanyl pills worth $900 in February 2022. Prior to Eric’s death, court documents alleged Richins tried to fatally poison Eric on multiple occasions in the past.
Per Law & Crime, C.L. — a woman who “from time to time over the years, provided housekeeping services for Kouri and was paid by check for doing so” — allegedly bought the drugs that killed Eric. Cooperating with investigators, her testimony was used at Monday’s hearing, however the defense argued her testimony couldn’t be trusted, the outlet reports.
Eric’s obituary states he “lived to the fullest and with few regrets.”
“Eric did absolutely everything in his power to provide his family with every possible opportunity to learn, grow, and have fun,” it reads, in part.