Utah mother Kouri Richins faces trial over her husband's death

PARK CITY, Utah – The preliminary hearing ended around noon Tuesday in the case of Kouri Richins, who is accused of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a fatal dose of fentanyl.

On the final day of the preliminary hearing, a key point of contention was whether Richins had attempted to kill her husband on February 14, 2022 – about two weeks before his death – by giving him a breakfast sandwich laced with fentanyl.

Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said that after eating the sandwich, Eric Richins texted Kouri saying he had a medical emergency and was considering going to the hospital. Bloodworth highlighted Kouri's response: “Take a nap.”

Bloodworth also claimed that Kouri later confided in her lover and expressed a desire for Eric to disappear in order to make her life perfect. Bloodworth also claimed that Kouri eventually texted saying she wanted “something stronger.”

“The drug is the same; the drug dealer is the same,” Bloodworth told the court. “Putting it in a sandwich where Eric Richins could take a bite, feel the effects and put the sandwich back down was not the right way to administer a lethal dose of fentanyl. Instead, she administered it with a lemon shot, where Eric Richins would choke it all down at once… she learns that it takes a whole truckload of fentanyl to kill him.”

Kouri's defense attorney Kathy Nester countered those claims, claiming that Eric Richins had a normal day after the alleged poisoning – running errands, taking the kids to practice and making work calls. Nester argued that if fentanyl had been in the sandwich, Eric would have become seriously ill much sooner.

Nester also questioned the evidence suggesting that Eric's symptoms indicated fentanyl poisoning.

“There are so many reasons why Mr. Richins was not feeling well that day and took a nap,” Nester said.

She added: “When you bring eggs home, you eat them quickly, so it's quite possible that she had breakfast with her husband that morning… If she had put fentanyl in his egg sandwich and he had eaten it, he would not have been well two hours later; he was not well.”

Judge Richard Mrazik has scheduled the trial for April 28 to May 22, excluding Fridays. Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges related to her husband's death.

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