It’s the house Kamas Realtor Kouri Richins wanted to flip but her late husband, Eric Richins, thought was too expensive.
The 20,000-square-foot mansion sits on 8.75 acres north of state Route 113 in east Midway at 106 North Legacy Way. It’s got a 3,000-square-foot guest house too.
The property was a source of disagreement in Eric and Kouri’s marriage. The couple was under contract at the time of Eric’s death in March 2022. Public search warrants say it was going to cost them nearly $2 million and that Eric thought it was too expensive.
On Monday, Summit County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kouri, who is charged with murdering Eric with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl while celebrating purchasing the house. She went on to write a children's book about grieving his death afterward.
Search warrants say Eric’s family members thought he planned to tell Kouri they weren’t buying the Midway mansion. The day after her husband died, on March 5, Kouri closed the deal.
She held a gathering at the family home that day too, and according to search warrants, it was then that Kouri learned she’d been cut out of Eric’s will, “making her financially unstable.”
Two weeks after Eric died, Kouri put the home was back up online with an asking price of about $4.8 million, and now there’s a buyer.
Realtor Mike Malmrose has been the property’s listing agent since at least March 2022, before Summit County authorities made the murder investigation public. He confirmed the mansion is now under contract. The asking price is $3.75 million.
The next step, he said, is to hold the buyer’s due diligence meeting Monday. After that, he’ll have a better sense of if the deal will ultimately go through.
Malmrose’s company, Rosewood Homes, LLC, posted a concept video on YouTube last year when it went back on the market.
The video shows the ultimate vision for the 8-bed and 11.5-bath property: a therapy pool, full-sized pool, exercise room, golf simulator, indoor volleyball court and room designed for virtual reality installations.
If the buyer doesn’t close, Malmrose said he “doesn’t know what the plan B would be.” But he indicated a couple other buyers were interested.
That would be good news for Kouri, who retained not only criminal defense attorney Skye Lazaro but also bankruptcy attorney Austin Nate.
Neither attorney responded to requests for comment about Kouri’s pending murder case at the time of this report.
Summit County prosecutors declined to comment beyond repeating facts already entered into the public record.
Prosecutors cited in particular the national attention the Richins case has quickly garnered since Monday and the presumption of innocence.
They said they are professionally obligated to protect Kouri’s rights by insuring a fair and impartial jury and protecting unreleased facts about the case.
Eric’s family and business partner have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Kouri Richins is charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
She is being held without bond at the Summit County Jail. Her detention hearing is scheduled for May 19.
Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik will consider whether she is a flight risk or an ongoing threat to the community in deciding whether she will be held in jail while the criminal case against her is pending.
