Kouri Richens' handyman was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after the grieving author told police she tried to buy fentanyl from him, weeks before he was charged with using the drug to poison her husband. Court documents revealed that he had died.
William Hayden Jeffs, 35, made the claims when he was interviewed by police earlier this year as part of a long-running investigation into the 2022 death of Richins' husband, Eric Richins. KSL reportedHe cited a newly unsealed search warrant related to the case.
Ms Jeffs, who worked at several homes owned by Ms Richins, said the real estate agent, a mother of three, had worked on her behalf weeks before her husband drank the deadly Moscow Mule on March 4. He claimed he asked if he could get fentanyl and propofol. 2022.
During questioning, the handyman allegedly showed police copies of text messages supporting his claims, court documents said.
It was not immediately clear when the interview took place.
But in a tragic turn of events, Jeffs was killed in a traffic accident on Sept. 30 while out riding his Harley-Davidson, according to search warrants and search warrants. Online obituary.
After Jeffs' death, a judge issued a search warrant for Jeffs' cellphone as evidence in the case against Richins, according to court filings.
The search warrant did not specify exactly what evidence was obtained. They also could not reveal Jeffs' response to Richins' request for drugs or whether he provided them.
A few weeks ago, on Valentine's Day 2022, Richins tried unsuccessfully to mix commercial fentanyl into her husband's breakfast sandwich at their home near Park City, adding five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid to a Moscow Mule cocktail. He has been accused of confusing them.
A year after her husband's death, Ms. Richins self-published a picture book titled “Are You With Me?'' about a father who grows angel wings and watches over his young son.
Richins, who has repeatedly said her husband's death was unexpected, said she wrote the book to help her sons cope with the loss of their father.
But prosecutors say Richens killed her husband for financial and romantic reasons. She had been having an affair and had racked up debts, and she wanted to settle it with the money she mistakenly believed she would inherit after his death.
In a statement following the revelation of the newly unsealed search warrant, Richins' attorney Kathy Nester said: ”
Richins, who has been in jail since his arrest in March 2023, has pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, including aggravated murder and insurance fraud.
She is scheduled to go on trial next April.
