Cori Richens, a Utah mother of three and a children’s book author charged in 2022 with the murder of her husband, allegedly texted her boyfriend the night her husband died.
In 2023, authorities charged Ms. Richins, now 35, with aggravated murder and drug possession, and on March 3, 2022, arrested her husband, Eric Richens, as a means to collect millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds. He claimed he was poisoned with illegal fentanyl. She is now facing a new attempted murder charge for allegedly poisoning her husband on February 14, 2022.
“Apparently, [Summit] The County Attorney’s Office and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office continue their investigation and are able to uncover more and more about what was happening before Eric was ultimately murdered.” Greg Skordas, the attorney representing him, told FOX. News Digital. “I think it’s entirely appropriate that they continue that investigation and bring further charges.”
Prosecutors also allege in the new indictment that on the night Eric was killed, Khoury texted him about an “affair.”
Utah writer’s mother suspected of poisoning her husband; police say she may have been “involved in planning” his death
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)
“On the night Eric Richens died, March 3, 2022, at 7:22 p.m., the defendant’s paramour sent the defendant a text message with a photo of the two kissing,” documents filed Monday said. “I love you” was attached to the caption.” “At 8:36 p.m., the defendant responded: ‘…I love you.’ [kiss emoji]”
Skordas previously told Fox News Digital after Khouri was first charged with Eric’s murder that he believed Khouri was having an affair.
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Kuri Richens, left, a Utah mother of three, says she has written a children’s book about her grief after authorities poisoned her husband, Eric Richens, on Friday, September 1, 2023. Standing with attorney Skye Lazarus during a status hearing in Park. City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
“We always knew that Khouri was having an extramarital affair,” he said Wednesday. “It’s just that the district attorney’s office didn’t see it as relevant to the charges. As they dug deeper, they found that she wanted Eric out of her life for non-financial reasons. I think another motive has come to light.”
”[I]I don’t think there is any other motive other than economics for wanting Eric out of her life. ”
Khouri’s attorney, Skye Lazzaro, maintained her client’s innocence in light of the new charges.
Utah mother of three Kuri Richins (left) says she has written a children’s book about her grief after authorities poisoned her husband Eric Richins, September 1, 2023 He speaks with attorney Skye Lazzaro during a status hearing Friday at the park. City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
“We have reviewed the state’s amended information filed today. There is nothing in the document that affects Ms. Khoury’s approach to defending any charges brought against her by the state,” Lazarus told Fox News Digital. There’s nothing,” he said. “She continues to maintain her innocence.”
Prosecutors initially argued that Khoury killed Eric in order to collect millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds and sell a $2 million Wasatch County mansion that was under construction at the time of Eric’s death. The family reportedly did not agree to the investment.
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KPCW reports that Kuri Richens purchased the 22,000-sq. The warrant shows that he entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the residence in Ft. (Town Lift, Will Skadden)
On the same night Eric died, authorities said he, Khouri and her mother, Lisa Durden, were celebrating Khouri’s recent closing on the mansion in question. According to search warrants, 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.
That night, while celebrating, Khouri allegedly gave her husband a Moscow Mule laced with fentanyl. The coroner determined that Eric had more than five times the lethal dose of illegal fentanyl in his system at the time of his death. The new charging documents say that investigators also found “16,000 ng/ml of quetiapine,” which is described as an atypical antipsychotic drug “commonly used as a sleep aid,” in Eric Richens’ gastric fluid. Says.
Utah prosecutors accuse Kuri Richins of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl while their three young sons slept in their home in the Park City suburb of Camas in 2022. . (Facebook/Kori Richins)
The next day, after her husband was pronounced dead, Khouri allegedly signed a contract for the mansion “on her own.”
Previous court documents included information about the alleged Valentine’s Day poisoning, but Khouri had not been formally charged in the case until Monday.
Utah author charged with murdering husband, arrested on suspicion of trying to steal life insurance money
This photo provided by KPCW.org shows Kouri Richins at the KPCW studio on April 12, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (KPCW.org via AP)
Erik’s family told authorities after the killing that they feared for his life after Khouri allegedly tried to poison him several years ago in Greece and again on Valentine’s Day in 2022. She told two of her closest friends that Eric had a sandwich on Valentine’s Day. Kouri leaves him with the note, but immediately breaks out in hives. He took his son’s EpiPen and fell asleep for hours after ingesting Benadryl.
“I think my wife tried to poison me.”
Kouri insisted to other witnesses that the sandwich had been purchased from a diner and was not poisoned.
Eric Richens removed Cory Richens from his will before he died. His estate is worth approximately $3.6 million. (Facebook/Eric Richins)
Eric’s estate planning attorney said that in 2020, Eric had taken complicated steps to overturn Khouri’s will.
“His first goal was to protect himself in the short term from the very recently discovered and ongoing abuse and financial misuse of his wife Kuri Richens. and Mr. Khouri’s three young sons, who had been with him for many years. I was able to end my term by ensuring that I was never in a position to manage Mr. Khouri’s estate after his death.” wrote Eric’s estate planning attorney, Crystal Bowman Carter, in previously filed court documents.
A search warrant recently unsealed earlier this month implicates Khouri’s mother, Lisa Darden, in Eric’s death.
A bail hearing was held on Monday, June 12, 2023 in Park City, Utah, where authorities say the Utah mother of three poisoned her husband with a poison and wrote a children’s book about her grief. A bail hearing will be held for Kuri Richins, the mother of The judge ruled that she would remain in custody for the duration of her trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
In May 2023, summit county sheriff’s office Detectives filed a search warrant affidavit expressing a belief that Darden may have been “involved in planning and coordinating Eric’s death” based on her own connection to the 2006 suspicious death.
Detectives investigating Kohli learned that Darden had been living with a female lover who suddenly died of an oxycodone overdose in 2006.
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“Further investigation revealed that Lisa Darden had been named as the beneficiary of her partner’s estate shortly before her death,” detectives wrote in the search warrant. “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. ”
A bail hearing was held on Monday, June 12, 2023 in Park City, Utah, where authorities say the Utah mother of three poisoned her husband with a poison and wrote a children’s book about her grief. A bail hearing will be held for Kuri Richins, the mother of The judge ruled that she would remain in custody for the duration of her trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Lazarus denied the detective’s suggestion that Darden’s partner was a victim of the nationwide opioid crisis that killed 112,000 Americans between May 2022 and May 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said he was a person.
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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.
The house where Kuri Richens and Eric Richens lived in Frances, Utah on May 11, 2023. Kuri Richens is a woman who wrote a children’s book about her grief after the death of her husband and was later arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
In May 2022, about two months after Eric’s death, Darden told Kouri that a witness (who told police in January 2022 that Kouri contacted Eric about fentanyl) “He was letting his mouth slip,” the new indictment states.
“Information from ‘Ms. Darden’s phone call’ directed law enforcement to her and her involvement in this,” Skordas said.
“This is a natural product of some of the search warrants following the investigation that is being conducted here to implicate Lisa Darden,” the attorney said.
Skordas added that it is “not a concern” to his team that “new charges have been filed and new evidence is being investigated” in the case ahead of Khouri’s preliminary hearing.
