Utah mom sentenced to life for husband’s murder, insurance fraud

Kouri Richins will spend the rest of her life in prison after a Summit County judge sentenced the 35-year-old Kamas-area mother and real estate agent to life without parole for killing her husband, Eric Richins, and carrying out related fraud. Judge Richard Mrazik imposed the maximum penalty on May 13, 2026, the day Eric Richins would have turned 44, after describing a defendant who killed for financial gain as “simply too dangerous to ever be free.”

The sentence closed a case built around poisoning evidence, money trouble, and the split between Richins’ public image and the allegations against her. A Summit County jury convicted her on March 16, 2026, after about three hours of deliberation following a three-week trial. Jurors found her guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud, and forgery. Prosecutors said Eric Richins died of fentanyl intoxication on March 4, 2022, and that the fentanyl level in his blood was about five times the lethal dosage. They also alleged she first tried to kill him on Valentine’s Day 2022 before the fatal poisoning.

Court records and testimony traced a long financial conflict inside the marriage. Kouri and Eric Richins married in 2013 and signed a prenuptial agreement. Eric later consulted divorce and estate-planning lawyers in 2020 after concerns about money and assets. Records described allegations that Kouri Richins borrowed $250,000 in 2019 without his permission, later withdrew money from his accounts, and misused or stole about $494,000 in total, according to a petition filed by Eric’s sister. Prosecutors also said she obtained a $100,000 life-insurance policy on his life using his forged signature and later filed a claim after his death.

The case drew further scrutiny because Richins wrote and self-published a children’s book about grief, Are You With Me?, after her husband’s death and before her arrest in May 2023. Her sentencing hearing focused on the impact on Eric Richins’ family and the couple’s three sons, whose counselors read statements saying they feared their mother. Kouri Richins addressed her sons directly, maintained her innocence, and said she would appeal. Her lawyers asked for a sentence of 25 years to life with parole eligibility, while prosecutors argued the boys should never have to worry about seeing their mother again.

Defense attorneys said they plan to seek a new trial and appeal both the conviction and sentence. For Eric Richins’ family, the life term marked the end of a closely watched prosecution that combined forensic evidence, financial motive, and a public persona built after his death.