Utah woman who wrote book on grief after husband's death found guilty of murdering him

"Prosecutors said Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that her husband Eric Richins drank in March 2022. Prosecutors said she was $4.5m in debt and falsely believed that when her husband died, she would inherit his estate worth more than $4m. They also said she was planning a future with another man she was seeing on the side."

"Richins was also convicted of other felonies, including an attempted murder charge in what authorities alleged was another effort to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine's Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him black out. Jurors also found Richins guilty of forgery and fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after his death."

"The scheduled five-week trial was cut short last week when Kouri Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team abruptly rested its case without calling any witnesses. Richins' lawyers said they were confident that prosecutors did not produce enough evidence to convict her of murder."

Kouri Richins was convicted of aggravated murder for poisoning her husband Eric with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022. Prosecutors established that Richins, a real estate agent, was $4.5 million in debt and believed she would inherit her husband's $4 million estate. She was also having an affair and wanted to leave her husband without losing his money. The jury deliberated for under three hours. Richins was additionally convicted of attempted murder from a Valentine's Day poisoning attempt, forgery, and fraudulent insurance claims. She faces 25 years to life in prison at sentencing scheduled for May 13. Notably, Richins self-published a children's book about coping with grief after her husband's death.

Read at www.theguardian.com