Fox’s first — To outsiders, Khouri and Eric Richins had it all. Nine years of marriage, three sons, a successful career, and a decent-sized roof over our heads in Camas, Utah..
But after Eric, a successful masonry business owner, suddenly died at age 39 of fentanyl poisoning in his home on March 3, 2022, Summit County authorities and prosecutors began to paint a dark picture of a seemingly perfect family. It started to become clear.
In 2023, authorities charged Khouri, now 35, with aggravated murder and drug possession, alleging that he poisoned Eric with illegal drugs as a way to collect millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds.
The same night Eric died, authorities say Eric, Khouri and her mother, Lisa Darden, were celebrating the recent construction of a $2 million mansion that Khouri was building in Wasatch County. announced. According to the warrant, the 33-year-old man, who was running a real estate company, wanted to complete construction on the mansion and sell it for a profit.
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Eric Richins’ obituary describes him as “an avid outdoorsman and dedicated hunter.” He enjoyed helping out on his family’s ranch and growing a “successful” masonry business. His obituary also notes that he was a devoted family man. (Facebook/Kori Richins)
After her husband’s death, Kouri continued to write and sell a children’s book about her father’s death, “Are You With Me?”.
Now, a recently unsealed search warrant reveals an even darker truth about the family.
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In May 2023, Summit County Sheriff’s Office detectives concluded that Darden may have been “involved in planning and orchestrating Eric’s death” based on her own connection to the 2006 suspicious death. He filed a search warrant affidavit stating his belief.
Kuri Richins, a Utah mother of three, listens during a state hearing on September 1, 2023 in Park City, Utah, where she fatally poisoned her husband, Eric Richins. and later wrote a children’s book about grief, authorities allege. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/Pool)
“An investigation into Kuri Richens’ associates revealed that in 2006 Richens’ mother, Lisa Durden, was living with an adult woman with whom she had a romantic relationship. In April of that year, her boyfriend He passed away suddenly.” Summit County detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.
An autopsy revealed Darden’s partner’s “immediate cause of death was drug intoxication resulting from an oxycodone overdose.”
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The charges against Kuri Richins are based on interactions between police officers, Richins and an anonymous acquaintance who allegedly told authorities he sold fentanyl to the mother of three children. (Facebook/Kori Richins)
“Further investigation revealed that Lisa Darden had been named as a beneficiary of her partner’s estate shortly before her death,” the detective continued. “The woman did have a prescription for oxycodone and was reportedly struggling with drug abuse. However, she was not a recovering addict at the time of her death. My training And based on experience, this would probably rule out the possibility of drug addiction and the possibility of an accidental overdose. ”
“This may eliminate the possibility of an accidental overdose.”
The detective added that Darden’s “proximity to the scene of his partner’s suspicious overdose death” and her close relationship with her daughter “raise the possibility that she was involved in the planning and orchestration of Eric’s death.” said.
read the affidavit
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Skye Lazarus, the attorney representing Cori Richens, denied the detective’s suggestion that Darden’s partner had 112,000 Americans between May 2022 and May 2023. He said he was a victim of a national opioid crisis that has killed people.
“Summit County is well aware that opioid addiction and fentanyl overdose are prevalent problems nationwide. According to the CDC, 150 people die each day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. have died,” Lazarus said in a statement to FOX News Digital.
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Lazarus continued, “Summit County is not only the first Utah to file a lawsuit against a ‘big pharma’ opioid manufacturer, but also the Park City Police Department, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Summit County Prosecutors, Park City School District issued a joint statement warning the public that increasing amounts of fentanyl, a drug that is causing a spike in accidental overdoses nationwide, have been found. . ”
Utah mother of three Kuri Richens (left) wrote a children’s book about her grief after authorities say she poisoned her husband Eric Richens, Friday, September 1, 2023. Speaks with attorney Skye Lazzaro during a status hearing in Park City. , Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Darden’s partner, Lazarus, said he was “one of the millions of people who have struggled with and ended up addicted to opioids” and was “not in any way ‘suspicious'”.
“This is tragic and unfortunately all too common,” the attorney said.
In a November 2023 interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Darden maintained his daughter’s innocence.
Darden said, “I don’t believe in my heart that Cori could never kill Eric, but he can kill anything, he can kill anyone,” and later said that Cori and Eric were “a couple and very much in love.” “I was very happy,” he added.
Cori Richins is pictured during a bail hearing in Park City, Utah on June 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/Pool)
But court documents suggest otherwise.
Prosecutors claim Kouri bought four different lives Eric’s life insurance policy The total amount from 2015 to 2017 was over $1.9 million.
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Crystal Bowman-Carter, the attorney responsible for Eric Richens’ estate planning, said that before his sudden death, “his “He made and requested some unusual and highly unusual choices and provisions in his estate plan.” Court documents say his sister and father will be the beneficiaries instead.
Kuri Richins, a Utah mother of three, (left) sits with attorney Skye Lazarus during a status hearing in Park City, Utah, on September 1, 2023. Authorities say she poisoned her husband, Eric Richins. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/Pool)
Kouri’s family told authorities that they feared for his life after he allegedly tried to poison her in Greece several years ago and again on Valentine’s Day in 2022.
Ms. Bowman-Carter said Eric reached out to her in 2020 to discuss estate planning.
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“During our meeting, he told me he had two main goals. His first goal was to eliminate the most recently discovered and ongoing financial abuse and abuse by his wife, Cori Richins. It was to protect him in the short term.…His second goal was to protect himself.After Mr. Kouri’s death, he and Mr. Kouri’s They co-parented their three young sons together over the long term,” Bowman-Carter wrote.
Utah author Cori Richens allegedly tried to steal her husband’s life insurance money before he died in March 2022. (KPCW/Family Handout via AP)
Eric added that he believed that “appointing someone other than his wife to manage his estate after his death would protect his sons from Kouri’s poor financial choices and decisions.”
Eric also said he wanted his children to be the primary beneficiaries of his estate, but that Khouri “should only benefit from the minimum amount necessary to leave her; I can’t control the share or the children’s share.” Eric’s mansion. He then went on to select her sister and father as successor trustees, the lawyers wrote.
On January 1, 2022, several months before Eric’s death, Kouri “secretly and unauthorizedly changed his beneficiary.” 2 million dollar life insurance Eric received notification of the change and transferred the beneficiary back to his business partner.
Utah children’s book author Cori Richens had a controversial relationship with her husband over financial disagreements before she allegedly killed him with fentanyl. (Town Lift, Will Skadden/Facebook)
Three months later, while celebrating the purchase of a Moscow Mule, she allegedly spiked her husband’s Moscow Mule with fentanyl, an opioid that can be fatal in small amounts. $2 million Wasatch County mansion, it was clearly a subject of disagreement between the couple. The next day, after her husband was pronounced dead, Khouri allegedly signed a contract for the mansion “on her own.”
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According to KUTV, Khouri’s defense attorney in the murder case, Skye Lazzaro, said at a bail hearing last summer that poor financial decisions do not make her client a murderer. .
Kuri Richins watches a bail hearing on June 12, 2023 in Park City, Utah. Her judge ruled that she would remain in custody for the duration of her trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/Pool)
When authorities contacted Bowman-Carter and asked her to explain the details of Eric’s will to Khouri, the attorney said, the defendant became “extremely agitated” and began screaming, according to court documents. Ta.
“Kohli screamed, “What’s wrong?” “How can you do this to me?” And “This is my home,” Bowman-Carter said. “I explained to her that the trust owned her home and said, ‘This is not your home.’
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office referred Fox News Digital to the Summit County Attorney’s Office. The attorney’s office declined to comment on the affidavit.
FOX News Digital reached out to Greg Skordas, an attorney representing the families of Darden Skordas and Eric Richins.
