From Housewife to Prison
Cori Richens, a mother from Utah who poisoned her husband, effectively leaving her three sons without a father, is set to be transferred to the same prison where other infamous mothers like Ruby Franke and Megan Huntsman are incarcerated.
Richens, who gained notoriety for authoring a children’s grief book after killing her husband, Eric Richens, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. She will enter the Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) in the coming week, as confirmed by the state Department of Corrections.
Noteworthy inmates currently at Beehive State Prison include Huntsman, who was convicted in 2015 for suffocating and strangling six newborns over a decade and is serving a sentence ranging from 15 years to life near Salt Lake City.
Huntsman, now 51, had claimed she was battling addiction when she killed one of her infants, wrapping the baby in various materials and placing it in a box in her garage in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Additionally, authorities uncovered the body of another baby, which they suspect was stillborn.
Also at the facility is Ruby Franke, known for a now-defunct YouTube show called “8 Passengers.” She pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in 2023, charged with starving and torturing two of her six children.
Another inmate, Dan Lafferty, is there for the murder of his sister-in-law and her 15-month-old daughter, a case that inspired Jon Krakauer’s book, “Under the Banner of Heaven,” which later became a Hulu series.
Troy Michael Kell, a death row inmate, is also housed in the same establishment for fatally stabbing a fellow inmate 67 times, a crime captured on video.
Richens was convicted on March 4, 2022, for spiking Eric’s Moscow Mule cocktail with a fatal dose of fentanyl. This was not her first attempt; she had tried to poison him with the same drug in his sandwich just weeks earlier, but he survived.
During the sentencing, Richens’ three sons presented a heartfelt letter to the court, expressing their fear of their mother and urging the judge to impose a life sentence.
It’s believed Richens resorted to murder in hopes of claiming Eric’s $4 million estate, which would have alleviated her financial burdens and allowed her to start anew with her handyman boyfriend.
